Yes, it is. When did you try? They keep coming up with new updates, I hardly recognize it from 3 months ago.
snarkhuntrsays
I tried it out when it was new and crap way back in the day. Tried it again a few months ago – I can see what people get out of it but the whole world(s) just seem repetitive and soul-less to me. I played it for a few weeks off and on, but just found that the time it took and the fun I was having didn’t match up well.
Each new planet explored just seemed like box-ticking to meet some achievement and there wasn’t any sense of discovery for me.
PYONGYANG (The Borowitz Report)—Kim Jong Un was incandescent with rage on Wednesday as he accused Donald J. Trump of stealing his idea of gathering his top military brass for an orgy of propaganda.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Kim said of Tuesday’s event in Quantico, Virginia. “That asshole totally ripped me off.”
“The summoning of the nation’s generals, the insistence on loyalty, the unhinged rhetoric—I had all of that,” the North Korean dictator added. “The only thing I didn’t have was the weird drunk guy with all the makeup.”
In another accusation, Kim claimed Trump lifted his idea of attacking American cities, stating, “Washington DC, Los Angeles, Chicago—they were all on my target list. The only one I didn’t have was Portland. Why is he attacking Portland? That makes zero sense.”
The Senate voted on both the Republican, House-passed continuing resolution and the Democratic counter proposal later in the day. Both failed.
House Republicans are still away from D.C., prompting taunts from House Democrats, who gathered behind House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) for a press briefing on the House steps Tuesday morning, to come back and “do their jobs.”
A Monday meeting between Jeffries, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and President Trump did not move the needle. Soon after the meeting, Trump posted an AI deepfake video of Schumer saying Democrats are “woke pieces of shit” with Jeffries nodding along in a sombrero — not exactly the move of an engaged negotiator.
“President Trump didn’t seem to be seriously negotiating yesterday. So until Republicans get serious, things don’t look good,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) told reporters.
“They’re in charge. They have to convene a negotiation. They haven’t done that … they have not convened a negotiation. They have not been serious about it, and the fact that they aren’t even here in the House of Representatives is proof that they’re not serious about it,” Murphy added.
“The Republicans can end this shutdown by giving back health care to the American people and not keeping fucking them over every single day,” Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) told reporters coming out of the Senate Dem caucus luncheon when asked if the caucus discussed how to get out of a shutdown. “That’s how we end this thing. They should do their jobs.”
Trump is just openly threatening to ransack the federal government if Democrats don’t cave. The White House OMB hinted at employing this strategy last week. “Trump: We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible and bad for them like cutting vast numbers of people out. Cutting things they like, cutting programs they like.
We can do things medically and other ways including benefits. We can cut large numbers of people”
Hud.gov has a new look: a red banner stretching across the top of the website, the text reading, “The radical left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands. The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people.”
The Trump administration has been pulling out all the stops in recent days to try to pin the blame for a shutdown on Dems — who have been pushing for an extension of ACA subsidies and for the Trump White House to stop cutting funding appropriated by Congress in exchange for their votes.
“Of course, I’m concerned. I’m concerned about people who won’t have access to government services,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) told reporters when asked about the consequences of a shutdown.
“But I’m also concerned about a Republican Party that thinks it can take a trillion dollars out of our health care system and make every American family pay for that, and that the Republicans will just dance on away,” she continued. “They’re willing to help out their billionaire buddies. After all, all these cuts to health care were so that they could fund tax breaks for billionaires and billionaire corporations. It’s time for Democrats to stand up and say, ‘No more.’” […]
“Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promised to deliver groundbreaking news on autism research in September. It’s October. He failed.”
The White House Cabinet meeting held in April was weird for a great many reasons, but it was a comment from Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that stood out. At Donald Trump’s “direction,” the health secretary declared that U.S. officials would discover the causes of autism — in less than six months.
“We’ve launched a massive testing and research effort that’s going to involve hundreds of scientists from around the world,” Kennedy boasted. “By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic, and we’ll be able to eliminate those exposures.”
The president seemed delighted, responding that such news would be “so big.” He proceeded to ask Kennedy: “So, you think you’re going to have a pretty good idea, huh?”
“We will know by September,” the secretary replied.
To that end, the public learned in June that Kennedy had hired David Geier, a longtime anti-vaccine activist, to help hunt for evidence about the causes of autism. Two months later, at another White House Cabinet meeting, the health secretary had an opportunity to lower expectations, but he did the opposite. [video]
“We are doing very well,” Kennedy said, referring to his team’s research efforts. “We will have announcements, as promised, in September. We’re finding interventions, certain interventions now that are clearly, almost certainly causing autism and we’re going to be able to address those in September.”
So, whatever happened to this?
To be sure, the president and Kennedy held a White House event last week in which Trump peddled a series of absurdities, culminating in him saying “Don’t take Tylenol” 11 times. At no point, however, did the president or his health secretary get around to identifying “what has caused” autism or undermining the science that proves that vaccines do not cause autism.
It led Dr. Jerome Adams, who served as Trump’s surgeon general during the president’s first term, to note online: “The White House, HHS, and all of the media have (completely) buried the lede. Every news headline should actually read: ‘Despite bringing the full resources of the U.S. government to bear, RFK fails to find a connection between vaccines and autism!’”
It was hardly an unreasonable point. Kennedy told the public, more than once, that he would deliver groundbreaking news in September. He and his team then launched “a massive testing and research effort,” which included “hundreds of scientists from around the world,” all in the hopes of confirming RFK Jr.’s unscientific ideas.[!]
“IGs exist as instruments of accountability by identifying wrongdoing. It’s precisely why Trump and his team see them as obstacles and enemies.”
There were plenty of problems with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s ridiculous speech to the nation’s generals and admirals, but one of the key areas of concern was the beleaguered Pentagon chief’s vision for how the DOD would operate in the coming months and years.
As The Washington Post reported, “Hegseth said he will overhaul the military channels that allow troops and defense personnel to file whistleblower complaints, report toxic leadership or point out discrimination based on race, gender, sexuality or religion.”
[…] the secretary told military leaders, “The [Defense Department’s internal watchdog] has been weaponized, putting complainers, ideologues and poor performers in the driver’s seat.” (Hegseth neglected to mention that he’s facing an ongoing investigation from the DOD inspector general.)
[…] a new model in which military personnel who see wrongdoing, waste or mismanagement — people Hegseth described as “complainers” — will find it more difficult to blow the whistle and have their concerns addressed.
But making matters far worse is that this offensive isn’t limited to the Pentagon. The New York Times reported:
The White House last week informed a federal office charged with conducting oversight of the Trump administration that it was blocking congressionally approved money for its operations for the coming fiscal year […]
[…] on the fifth night of his second term, Donald Trump executed his first Friday Night News Dump of 2025, firing at least 18 inspectors general who were responsible for rooting out corruption, ethical lapses and mismanagement in federal agencies throughout the government.
Trump did not appear to have the legal authority to take such steps, but he did it anyway. Nearly nine months later, the White House is going even further to gut IG offices.
As for the motivation behind the moves, nothing about this is subtle: Inspectors general exist as instruments of accountability. They identify wrongdoing. That’s precisely why Trump and his team have come to see them as obstacles and enemies.
The good news is that a handful of congressional Republicans, including Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Susan Collins of Maine, quickly expressed their disapproval and wrote to Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, “urgently request[ing] an explanation” of a decision they said would “disrupt numerous important oversight functions.”
The bad news is that Collins and Grassley have written similar requests to the Trump administration for months, and the GOP senators’ efforts have amounted to nothing.
@Acyn
Trump: San Francisco and Chicago, New York, Los Angeles… We’ll straighten them out one-by-one. It will be a major part for some of the people in this room. It’s a war too. It’s a war from within
7:10 AM · Sep 30, 2025
AND, this stupidity, what an addled 19th Century mind – – –
@Acyn
Trump: I think we should start thinking about battleships… It is something we’re considering, the concept of battleship. Six inch side solid steel. Not aluminum that melts if it looks at a missile coming at it. Starts melting. Bullets are a lot less expensive than missiles.
6:55 AM · Sep 30, 2025
“We could come up with a new system that would be much better” than Obamacare, the president said, seemingly unaware of his own record.
Exactly 12 years ago, congressional Republicans followed Sen. Ted Cruz’s lead and shut down the federal government for one reason: health care. At the time, the Texas senator and his colleagues believed a shutdown offered one last opportunity to derail the Affordable Care Act before it was fully implemented.
Two weeks later, after the Obama White House and congressional Democrats refused to pay Cruz’s ransom, GOP officials grudgingly accepted reality and retreated.
[…] In 2025, unlike in 2013, it’s Democrats who are fighting to protect the ACA from a Republican majority that’s already taken steps to sabotage the system known as Obamacare, and Republicans are prepared to make things worse by allowing new price hikes to take effect in the coming weeks.
Summarizing the dispute, the editorial board of The New York Times explained, “What the two parties are fighting about is whether Americans should have access to affordable health care. President Trump is seeking to deprive millions of Americans of their health insurance, and Senate Democrats are refusing to acquiesce.” [Well said.]
So, with just hours remaining before the shutdown deadline, the president made fresh comments about the existing system. [video]
“Obamacare is not a good thing. It’s been bad,” Trump said, deriding the popular and effective health care reform law. He added that he’s told congressional Democrats, “We could come up with a new system that would be much better.”
The comments came a few months after the president also said he and his party had “a chance to actually do a health care that is much better than Obamacare.”
By all appearances, he has no idea why this is laughable.
About a year ago, during a presidential debate, ABC News’ Linsey Davis reminded Trump that he’d “long vowed to repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act. She then asked, “So tonight, nine years after you first started running, do you have a plan, and can you tell us what it is?”
The Republican meandered for a while — he claimed to have “saved” the ACA during his first term, which was a brazen lie — before assuring voters that he and his team are “working on things.”
Asked in a follow-up question whether he has a plan to replace Obamacare or not, Trump replied, “I have concepts of a plan.” He added that Americans should expect to hear more about this “in the not-too-distant future.”
We’re still waiting.
[…] In mid-July 2020, […] Trump appeared on Fox News and said, “We’re signing a health care plan within two weeks, a full and complete health care plan.”
As regular readers might recall, two weeks went by, and the “full and complete” health care plan was nowhere to be found. As July 2020 neared its end, the then-president was pressed for some kind of explanation. He told reporters, “We’re going to be doing a very inclusive health care plan. I’ll be signing it sometime very soon. It might be Sunday [Aug. 2], but it’s going to be very soon.” [Scoff]
On Aug. 3, 2020, Trump presented a new timeline: “I do want to say that we’re going to be introducing a tremendous health care plan sometime prior — hopefully, prior to the end of the month. It’s just about completed now.” [LOL]
[…] In mid-September 2020, the then-president balked at the idea that he was failing to follow through on his promise. “I have it all ready. I have it all ready,” Trump told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, adding, “I have it all ready.”
[…] A month later, the Republican told CBS News’ Lesley Stahl his health care blueprint would be “announced very soon.” After Trump abruptly ended the interview, then-White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany handed the “60 Minutes” anchor a thick binder that she said included the White House health care plan. It did not. [!]
That was five years ago this month. Keep this in mind as Trump, apparently indifferent to appearances, declares, “We could come up with a new system that would be much better.”
It’s not often that Senate Republicans muster the courage to tell Donald Trump and his team, “Whoa, hold on, we can’t go that far.”
As a rule, the process surrounding Donald Trump’s nominees is relatively efficient. The president taps a loyalist with dubious qualification; Senate Republicans do what the White House tells them to do; and the nominees are confirmed to powerful positions that most shouldn’t have.
But there are some exceptions to the rule. Indeed, the list of failed Trump nominees has quietly become rather long. The list includes Matt Gaetz, Dave Weldon, Ed Martin, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, Chad Chronister, Kathleen Sgamma, Jared Isaacman and, as of this week, E.J. Antoni. NBC News reported:
The White House on Tuesday withdrew the nomination of E.J. Antoni, a conservative economist, to be the next commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. … Antoni, a contributor to Project 2025, was backed by Steve Bannon for the post.
For those unfamiliar with Antoni and his nomination, let’s take a minute to review how we arrived at this point.
A couple of weeks after Trump responded to his ugly record on jobs by firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics without cause, the president introduced his own nominee: Antoni, the chief economist at the Heritage Foundation. Almost immediately, he was exposed as an almost cartoonishly poor choice.
His academic background, for example, left little doubt that he was spectacularly unqualified to lead the bureau [!]. […] Antoni also had a record of misunderstanding the very government data he was supposed to oversee; he’d signaled an interest in moving away from releasing monthly job reports; he’d derided Social Security as a “Ponzi scheme”; and he’d helped craft the right-wing Project 2025 blueprint.
[…] Just when it seemed Antoni’s record couldn’t get much worse, NBC News reported that the BLS nominee was also among the crowd outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Soon after, CNN and Wired separately reported on Antoni’s since-deleted Twitter account, which featured sexually degrading attacks on Kamala Harris, derogatory remarks about gay people, conspiracy theories and weird references to weapons used by Nazi Germany in World War II. [!] [I snipped other offensive comments that Antoni posted online.]
[…] In mid-September, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted that Antoni could be counted on to generate “truthful and honest data.” In late September, the White House pulled the plug on this fiasco.
[…] only the third time since Election Day 2024 when just enough Senate Republicans mustered the courage to say, effectively, “Whoa, hold on, we can’t go that far,” following comparable reactions to Gaetz and Martin.
[…] the Trump White House obviously didn’t bother to do its due diligence on Antoni, reinforcing concerns about rampant incompetence in the West Wing.
[…] In addition to promoting offensive AI videos, during the run-up to the shutdown deadline, Trump acted erratically, agreeing to bipartisan talks, then reversing course, only then to reverse course again. He publicly urged his own party’s leaders not to negotiate with Democrats, while falsely claiming that Democratic votes wouldn’t be needed to keep the government open.
Now, as the shutdown begins, the president has said he’s prepared to take “irreversible” actions, including cutting unidentified “benefits,” all while suggesting he’ll be required to fire “a lot” of federal workers — a move that wouldn’t be necessary and might not even be legal.
With just hours remaining before the deadline, Trump boasted, “A lot of good can come down from shutdowns,” which indicated that he was looking forward to the mess, rather trying to avoid it.
As political scientist Jonathan Bernstein explained earlier this week, “the structural basics” of this shutdown appear to be favor Republican, “but it is possible that Trump can overcome that and convince people to blame him.”
[…] The White House is already hiring back a substantial number of fired workers because they’re not able to run things with such a depleted workforce. That’s not because they believe in good government. They’re doing it because it’s causing problems which either upset key Republican stakeholders or threaten the president’s popularity.
They are the government. They run it. They own it. They can say they’re going to fire everyone except the military and ICE. But the blowback is on them — non-functioning services, delayed checks, government facilities closed, flight delays, government workers without paychecks, etc. Those things are unpopular. They’re a big reason why Trump himself gave in after a few weeks in 2018-2019 when he closed the government down on himself demanding money to build his wall.
[…] The whole logic of the Republicans’ shutdown argument is that the shutdown sucks, people will think it sucks and that the public will blame Democrats for doing it and pressure them to stop. The permanent firing threat means the White House is going to make that permanent even after the Democrats have apparently thrown in the towel. There’s a big problem with that strategy.
In any case, the folks in charge inevitably take the hit for things not working […]
Re: Lynna, OM @ #5…
My daughter came across a claim that the generals at the big meeting are now referring to Hegseth and Trump as “little Boy” and “Fat Man” because their speeches totally bombed. (For those unaware, those were names applied to the two nuclear bombs dropped on Japan in August 1945.)
And, as regards Trump’s comments about battleships… The belt armor on the Iowa class ships was 12 inches, not 6 inches.
“The self-ruling Danish territory, coveted by Donald Trump, has vast caches of rare earth elements.”
Britain is closing in on a long-desired critical minerals partnership with Greenland […]
The move comes just months after Donald Trump threatened to annex the Arctic island, which is seen as an increasingly important geopolitical player due to its vast reserves of rare earth minerals.
Its icy terrain holds 40 of the 50 minerals that the U.S. deems vital to its national security. The resources, from uranium to graphite, are crucial to manufacturing and global supply chains.
[…] Prime Minister Keir Starmer could sign the agreement as soon as this week when he visits Denmark’s capital Copenhagen for the European Political Community summit.
[…] Britain will have to confer with others — not only Denmark, but its European counterparts, to avoid any awkwardness, said Dr. Patrick Schröder, senior research fellow of the Environment and Society Centre at Chatham House.
“I think it’d be really important for the U.K. to engage on this with other European countries, especially the Nordics and Denmark,” he said. “That would be quite important to ensure this is not being perceived as the U.K. trying to beat Europe to access the minerals.”
Much like Washington, Brussels is eager to carve out its own stake, with Greenland’s foreign minister recently signalling interest in deepening EU ties — and flagging the island’s mineral wealth as a key area for cooperation.
The deal has to work for both Britain and Greenland — and crucially for the island’s indigenous communities.
[…] Denmark currently provides an annual block grant to the island, but that support shrinks as Greenland’s mineral revenues grow. The grant “gives Denmark more influence over political decisions,” Schröder explained, “and that’s actually one reason why Greenland also wants to benefit more from mining. They are looking at this as a form of revenue, so that would then also increase their independence from the Danish budget.” […]
Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey on Wednesday described President Trump’s Quantico, Va., remarks to top generals as less than admirable.
“I’ve been doing this a long time. That presentation at Quantico from the president and secretary of Defense was one of the most bizarre, unsettling events I’ve ever encountered,” McCaffrey said […]
“The president sounded incoherent, exhausted, rabidly partisan, at times stupid, meandering, couldn’t hold a thought together,” he added.
During his remarks on Tuesday, the president announced plans to use “dangerous” cities as “training grounds” for military efforts, alleging the United States was undergoing a “war from within.”
[…] Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the meeting was “an expensive, dangerous dereliction of leadership.”
“Even more troubling was Mr. Hegseth’s ultimatum to America’s senior officers: conform to his political worldview or step aside,” Reed said in a Tuesday statement. “That demand is profoundly dangerous. It signals that partisan loyalty matters more than capability, judgment, or service to the Constitution, undermining the principle of a professional, nonpartisan military.
“His words were divisive and corrosive to the force itself. America’s military strength depends on men and women of every race, gender, and creed. By dismissing and marginalizing servicemembers who do not fit his narrow vision, Hegseth insulted those who serve honorably and eroded the cohesion that makes our military strong,” he added. […]
“Here Are Your Clips Of Late Night Audiences Laughing At Loser Pete Hegseth”
[…] Nothing pierces an authoritarian’s sense of his own importance and power like the cacophony of voices pointing and laughing at them. […]
[Pete Hegseth looked at the camera and issued this warning]
“Should our enemies choose, foolishly, to challenge us, they will be crushed by the violence, precision, and ferocity of the War Department. In other words, to our enemies, F-A-F-O.”
Try to watch the video without just losing it. [video at the link]
See? You can’t. And neither can late night audiences. Because both Kimmel and Stephen Colbert made use of that clip […]
More commentary, and more video snippets, available at the link.
whheydt @16, funny, and appropriate. Especially considering that Hegseth dissed “fat generals and admirals” in his speech.
More related commentary:
[…] Speaking to military leaders in Virginia on Tuesday, Hegseth said: “It’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops.” Hegseth went on to target military leadership, saying, “it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country and the world. It’s a bad look.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom reposted a video of Hegseth’s remarks on X, accompanied by a photo of Trump removing his jacket at a McDonald’s. The Democratic governor wrote: “I guess the Commander in Chief needs to go!” […]
U.S. District Judge David Campbell wrote in a 32-page opinion that Sigal Chattah “is not validly serving as Acting U.S. Attorney” and therefore her involvement in prosecutions “would be unlawful.”
Chattah is the second U.S. attorney installed by the Trump administration to see her authority stripped by a federal judge in recent months. In August, a federal judge disqualified Alina Habba as acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey, though that ruling is on pause pending appeal.
Not exactly the same steps as they used for Habba but the same effect. When it became clear she couldn’t pass Congress the Trump administration took steps to bypass the legal process. Chattah was seen as so toxic that Trump never formally nominated her but still wanted her to be US Attorney, an absurdity itself. National Review: Was Lindsey Halligan Validly Appointed as United States Attorney?
As I understand the facts, it seems highly doubtful that Lindsey Halligan has been validly appointed as United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. If her appointment is invalid, so is her indictment of Comey.
It appears there are issues with Halligan’s appointment also. And since she was the only attorney involved in the bringing the charges if she gets kicked the whole case goes up in smoke. In the other situations multiple lawyers were involved so the judge just kicked the illegal attorney general and said they can’t be involved in this case or any future cases, not that the case is rejected. Comey’s lawyers are sure to bring this up, probably fairly soon.
This is Ed Whelen, who holds the Antonin Scalia Chair in Constitutional Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a heavily Heritage Foundation influenced group. Not exactly a left wing kind of guy. If he is saying the appointment is invalid there are huge gaping issues. Essentially it boils down to Erik Siebert was still an interim appointment when he left/was fired. This means that the district court gets the next pick, the president doesn’t get to appoint a string of interim attorney generals.
JMsays
MSNBC: Nicolle Wallace calls conduct in video of New Jersey mayor’s arrest a ‘stain on this country’
MSNBC noticed a really bad bit of video. In another case the DOJ released some body cam video from the arrest of the mayor of Newark. This was probably a mistake, if they had been aware the senior figures would have tried to keep this under wraps. The video appears to show that order for the arrest came from Todd Blanche, current Deputy Attorney General and previous personal lawyer for Trump. Somebody also gave orders for body cams to be turned off, hiding evidence of the arrest.
snarkhuntrsays
@21, 23
The US was a country created with Norms for the conduct of government instead of actual rules, and for centuries it has been maintained this way. Why that is is something I don’t fully understand: likely the consequence of a bunch of wealthy gentlemen running the show and trusting that none of their peers would rock the apple cart too much by being overly blatant with their corruption and criminality.
Over the last few decades, people on the right have been testing and retesting those norms and discovering that there simply aren’t any rules at all. The only limits on what they could do with their governmental power were their own consciences. Having ruthlessly purged their party of anyone of conscience, they are now free to exercise unchecked power.
Unfortunately the Democrats seem to believe that if they just try hard enough, they can make it 1990 again, that the Republicans will voluntarily submit themselves to rules and morality. That they will cease their endless public lying and distortion and come back to consensus reality. They believe this so strongly, that they have resisted any call to impose rules and order on their opponents – after all, it can’t be a gentleman’s agreement if it has teeth, can it?
In the event that the Centre of the political spectrum in the States ever happens to take power again, hopefully there is enough spine there to push the creation of actual rules – and to punish the lackeys of the Trump administration severely enough for the rules and laws that they did break that the next wannabe dictator can’t find people to do his bidding. I don’t have much faith in this though. If the Democrats manage to squeak out enough midterm victories to take power in the House and/or Senate, I fully expect them to waste time ‘reaching across the aisle’ and ‘building consensus’ with the party that would happily decapitate the whole lot of them the next chance it gets.
StevoRsays
In summary biullionaires rule and Palestinians sidelined :
The proposal suggests a few billionaires who could sit on the board and flags it would include an investment body tasked with generating “real financial returns”.Critics say the plan sidelines Palestinians while giving power to foreigners who are “motivated by capital interests”.
Over the past year, Australia’s oceans have been hotter than ever before.
Its impacts were felt all across the nation — even for those as far away from the coast as you can get.
“It looks like the warm oceans probably contributed to some of the significant weather events that we saw [over the last year],” BOM senior climatologist Simon Grainger said.
Data from the past 125 years shows July to June sea surface temperatures around the country were far higher than any previous record.
And it wasn’t just one pocket of hot water skewing the figures.
Source :
StevoRsays
Over the past year, Australia’s oceans have been hotter than ever before.
Its impacts were felt all across the nation — even for those as far away from the coast as you can get.
“It looks like the warm oceans probably contributed to some of the significant weather events that we saw [over the last year],” BOM senior climatologist Simon Grainger said.
Data from the past 125 years shows July to June sea surface temperatures around the country were far higher than any previous record.
And it wasn’t just one pocket of hot water skewing the figures.
“During his first term, the president treated ethics laws as punchlines. During his second term, the problem is vastly worse.”
Shortly before the latest government shutdown began, the abuses were common. Federal agencies’ websites started pushing partisan political messages, blaming Democrats for the looming breakdown, and federal workers in multiple departments started receiving related political emails from their superiors.
After the deadline came and went, more federal agencies followed suit, pushing partisan propaganda intended to advance the White House’s political messaging. Soon, out-of-office emails became political instruments, too. NBC News reported:
A number of federal agencies are putting out messages blaming Democratic senators for the current government shutdown, in a sharp break from how departments have handled shutdowns in the past. Traditionally, agencies provide information on the status of the funding lapse and what services won’t be available, but stay away from partisan talking points. Some civil servants, who are supposed to be nonpartisan, are being encouraged to push out the messages as well.
The Department of Labor, for example, sent a message to its employees, suggesting out-of-office notifications that reflected “template language” provided by the Trump White House. Furloughed federal employees at other agencies were also directed to blame Democrats, whether or not they believed that message. [!]
The Department of Veterans Affairs included partisan messaging in a newsletter message sent to veterans.
This is a departure from how federal offices worked during previous shutdowns and is not simply a reflection of Donald Trump’s radicalism or the toxicity of contemporary politics. Rather, there are laws in place that other administrations used to follow, which the Republican White House is now choosing to ignore.
It’s precisely why the issue is apparently headed to court. NBC News also reported:
A nonprofit consumer advocacy group filed a Hatch Act complaint against Kelly Loeffler, the head of the Small Business Administration, for a message on the SBA’s homepage that accuses Senate Democrats of causing the government shutdown. Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen, wrote in the complaint that the agency’s homepage featured ‘a highly partisan post targeting both employees and the public asserting that congressional Democrats are solely responsible for the shutdown and causing financial harm to small businesses and the American public.’
The agency’s homepage message currently tells the public that Senate Democrats are responsible for a government shutdown “that is preventing the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) from serving America’s 36 million small businesses.”
A federal ethics law called the Hatch Act is intended to limit the political activities of federal workers. The reasoning behind the law is obvious: Public resources should not be used to advance partisan goals.
[…] In Trump’s first term, the president and his team expressed indifference toward the Hatch Act and treated the ethics law as the punchline to a joke, but not during his government shutdowns. During Trump’s second term, the president and his team appear even more eager to act like they’re above the law, and rules and limits just didn’t apply to them.
“Whether Trump realizes this or not, the more he and his team try to fight celebrities, the smaller and more pitiful the White House appears.”
In 1947, as Republican Sen. Joe McCarthy helped fuel a notorious “red scare,” the Committee for the First Amendment was formed to push back against the tide. Academy Award winner Henry Fonda, a few years after his decorated World War II military service, was among the committee’s earliest and most prominent members.
Nearly eight decades later, his daughter is helping carry a very similar torch. The Associated Press reported:
Drawing upon her personal and political past, Jane Fonda has revived an activist group from the Cold War era that was backed by her father and fellow Oscar winner, Henry Fonda. Jane Fonda announced she had launched a 21st century incarnation of the Committee for the First Amendment, originally formed in 1947 in response to Congressional hearings aimed against screenwriters and directors — notably the so-called ‘Hollywood Ten’ — and their alleged Communist ties. Signers of the new organization’s mission statement include Florence Pugh, Sean Penn, Billie Eilish, Pedro Pascal and hundreds of others.
[Good. That will certainly get a lot of media attention, with the result that some people will hear reporting that does NOT come from Fox News, and they will hear facts instead of Trump’s lies.]
“I’m 87 years old. I’ve seen war, repression, protest, and backlash. I’ve been celebrated, and I’ve been branded an enemy of the state. But I can tell you this: this is the most frightening moment of my life,” Fonda wrote in a letter inviting her peers to join the re-established group. “When I feel scared, I look to history. I wish there were a secret playbook with all the answers — but there never has been. The only thing that has ever worked — time and time again — is solidarity: binding together, finding bravery in numbers too big to ignore, and standing up for one another.”
Donald Trump’s White House responded in the same way it always does: by going on the offensive against a critic.
“Hanoi Jane is free to share whatever bad opinions she wants,” a White House spokesperson said. “As someone who actually knows what it’s like to be censored, President Trump is a strong supporter of free speech and Democrat [sic] allegations to the contrary are so false, they’re laughable.”
For now, let’s not dwell on the fact that the president has never been a victim of government censorship. Let’s also brush past the absurdity of the White House’s claim that Trump is “a strong supporter of free speech” two weeks after he and his administration helped push a comedian off the air, suggested “evening shows” are “not allowed” to criticize him and argued that networks that give him “only bad publicity” risk losing their broadcast licenses.
Rather, what I’m struck by is the White House’s willingness to go after Fonda in the first place.
[…] Trump and his operation have shown a disproportionate interest in targeting celebrities.
Before Fonda it was Ariana Grande. Before Grande it was Selena Gomez. Before Gomez it was Tom Hanks.
In May, the president demanded investigations into Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey and Bono. A week earlier, when Trump was still in the midst of a Middle East trip, the Republican set aside some time to suggest that Taylor Swift is no longer “hot,” due entirely to his criticisms of the pop star.
Soon after, the White House took aim at “South Park,” as the president continued to rail against late-night comedians.
Whether Trump realizes this or not, the more he and his team try to fight celebrities, the more the White House appears small and pitiful. For all the effort Republicans invest in making the president out to be some powerful colossus, what we’re left with is a flailing man whose operation feels compelled to whine about actors, cartoons and late-night monologues.
There were a couple of government shutdowns during Donald Trump’s first term, including the one the president personally began in late 2018, which lasted 35 days and proved to be the longest in American history. At no point, however, did the Republican or his administration try to use the breakdown as a vehicle for retaliation against states that failed to vote for him.
Things are different in his second term. As The New York Times summarized:
The Trump administration took steps on Wednesday to maximize the pain of the government shutdown, halting billions of dollars in funds for Democratic-led states while readying a plan to lay off potentially droves of civil servants imminently. The moves by the White House appeared both unprecedented and punitive, underscoring the risks of a fiscal stalemate that had no end in sight. It also evinced how President Trump might try to leverage the governmentwide closure to achieve his agenda, slash the budget and exact revenge on his political enemies.
[…] with the federal government shut down, the Republican White House is pursuing more expansive abuses, targeting programs and entire states.
The Times’ report added, “In a series of social media posts, Russell T. Vought, the White House budget director, said the administration had paused or moved to cancel the delivery of about $26 billion in previously approved funds across a range of programs, describing the money as wasteful or in need of further review.”
In an especially glaring example, Vought used social media to declare, “Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being cancelled.”
Putting aside the facts that the “Green New Deal” agenda was never approved; that federal energy policy is not a “scam”; and that the climate crisis is not solely of interest to “the Left”; the far-right head of the Office of Management and Budget proceeded to list 16 states that will no longer receive federal funding — money that was already approved by Congress — for energy projects.
What do these 16 states have in common? They all voted for the Democratic presidential ticket in the 2024 election, and they all have two Democratic U.S. senators.
[…] the Trump administration also halted federal funding — which, again, had already been approved by Congress — for infrastructure and transportation projects in New York City […]
Democratic leaders said in a joint statement soon after. “By blocking billions of bipartisan infrastructure dollars for the Gateway Tunnel and Second Avenue Subway, Trump isn’t hurting Democrats — he’s hurting the nurses, teachers, first responders, and everyday commuters from New York and New Jersey who rely on safe, reliable transit to get to work, school, to shop and home to their families.”
Vice President JD Vance treated the developments like a joke. [video]
[…] “We’re less than a day into this shutdown, and Trump [and] Vought are illegally punishing Democrat-led states,” Sen. Patty Murray of Washington wrote online. “This administration is clearly salivating at the opportunity to hurt people and using the shutdown they caused as the pretext to do it. These mafioso tactics will not work.”
A handful of big-name comedians have made their way to Saudi Arabia for the royal family-funded Riyadh Comedy Festival, but there’s one glaring problem with, well, the entire premise of their participation.
Comedians who’ve accepted giant checks to crack jokes for the crown prince—who the U.S. government declared had journalist Jamal Khashoggi murdered—are having trouble standing on their “free speech” soap boxes, since they’re forbidden from making jokes negatively referencing Saudi Arabia or the royal family or criticizing the “legal system” or their religion.
And they’re not joking about these limitations.
Comedian Tim Dillon said during a podcast that he was willing to “look the other way” for the $375,000 paycheck. But after publicly joking about slavery in Saudi Arabia, his offer was rescinded.
Notorious funny guys like Bill Burr, who previously said that comedians should have the freedom to joke as they please, are also giving up their freedoms to perform at the festival. And even Saudi Arabia’s long history of human rights abuses didn’t stop some high-grossing comedians.
[…] these comedians’ willingness to give up their free speech in exchange for a paycheck comes at a rather unfortunate time.
On Sept. 17, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was pulled off the air for his comments about […] the alleged killer of far-right activist Charlie Kirk. As the right celebrated the move, several comedians came to Kimmel’s defense.
A day after the announcement, Dillion called the move a “politically motivated hit job.”
“Anyone who cares about the ability to speak freely for a living should be disturbed by this,” he wrote.
Other comedians have called out the hypocrisy.
[…] comedian Atsuko Okatsuka, who turned down an offer to perform at the festival, wrote on Threads. “They had to adhere to censorship rules about the types of jokes they can make.” [social media post]
Similarly, comedian David Cross expressed his “disgust” with comedians throwing away their beliefs for a paycheck.
“I am disgusted, and deeply disappointed in this whole gross thing,” he wrote on his website. “That people I admire, with unarguable talent, would condone this totalitarian fiefdom for … what, a fourth house? A boat? More sneakers?”
And though Burr has already defended his performance at the festival, it’s yet to be seen if the others will get back to defending free speech now that they’ve got a fresh wad of cash.
President Donald Trump and his lackeys are in an all-out push to blame Democrats for the government shutdown. It’s laughable—Republicans control the White House, the Senate, the House, and for good measure, the Supreme Court. Democrats have no power.
But, Republicans will counter, Democrats in the Senate are filibustering! No funding extension can happen without at least some Democratic support, right?
Well, sure? There currently is a filibuster. But that’s not a hard rule.
Democrats killed it for lower-level judges and executive branch confirmations. Republicans ditched the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees.
Both parties have limited the power of the filibuster when it suited them. There is nothing preventing Republicans from eliminating the filibuster on a simple majority up-or-down vote.
Even this year, Republicans have weakened the filibuster, changing the rules ad hoc to ram through their unpopular agenda.
So nothing is stopping them from doing it now. They have the votes, and they could immediately reopen the government without Democratic support if they really wanted to.
So why aren’t they doing it? Because they want Americans to suffer, and they’re hoping they can pin the pain on Democrats. It’s that simple.
[…] “Hi, guys,” Ocasio-Cortez says while walking through the Capitol. “So the government is shut down, which means that Capitol tours are closed. But we had a bus of kids from the Bronx and schools that came all the way down here for a tour. […] so I’m giving them a tour today. Say, ‘hi,’ everybody! So I’m on capitol tour duty.” [video]
[…]
Stephen Miller: “All that bullshit is done, over, it’s finished. The gangbangers you deal with- they think they’re ruthless? They have no idea how ruthless we are. They think they’re tough? They have no idea how tough we are. They think they’re hardcore? We are so much more hardcore than they are”
Video at the link.
Commentary:
The very funny transcript:
“I see the guns and badges in this room. You are unleashed. Whatever you need to get done, we are gonna get it done. This is Memphis. This is the United States of America. All that bullshit is done! It’s over! it’s finished! The gangbangers that you deal with — they think they’re ruthless? They have no idea how ruthless we are. They think they’re tough? They have no idea how tough we are. They think they’re hardcore? We are so much more hardcore than they are. And we have the entire weight of the United States government behind us. When President Trump makes a decision, this team behind me executes.”
[…] THE GANGBANGERS THINK THEY’RE RUTHLESS? WE ARE RUTHLESS! THEY THINK THEY ARE HARDCORE? WE ARE HARDCORE!
Said the little squeaky man who travels with all the security and the whole internet calls “Pee Wee German.”
[…] What a weird video. What a weird little man.
You really get an idea of how truly scared this disturbed, angry, hissing man is of all minorities […] He’s created this monolithic scary idea of The Gangbangers in his head, like he’s been shitting his pants scared of them ever since he was verbally abusing janitors in Santa Monica, terrified that he was going to take a wrong turn after school one day and end up in Watts, and then the BOYZ ‘N THE HOOD were gonna GIT HIM!
But now? HE’S IN CHARGE […]
Who wants to watch that video that reveals what a sick fuck Stephen Miller was in high school, talking about the janitors, way back when he only looked 71 years old as opposed to the current undead look he’s rocking? Here it is: [video]
As for the Trump attack on Memphis, they’re doing the usual, it seems, setting up traffic stops and fishing for crimes, obviously focusing on areas where they’re likely to find Black and Latino people, because Trump Nazis and fascists don’t hunt for crimes, they hunt for people, and they’ll dummy up an indictment later, right, Lindsey Halligan?
Last night they were camped in one of the most Latino sections of Memphis, and we’re already hearing reports of excessive force and general thuggish behavior. […]
Yes, they’re clearly doing their whole “keeping us safe” rigamarole, which in Stephen Miller’s sick brain apparently equates to terrorizing people who speak Spanish. […]
Also last night they apparently caused a three-car pile-up in another majority-minority neighborhood: [Photos from WREG News Channel 3 at the link] […]
[…] On Saturday, for reasons unknown, Trump amplified a video of a fake, AI-generated Fox News segment in which a computer-generated version of himself declared that “every American will soon receive their own MedBed card” that will grant them access to new “MedBed hospitals.”
there are magical, futuristic beds that can cure every disease, regrow missing limbs and even reverse the human aging process. (A Politico report noted, “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.”) […]
on Wednesday, a reporter asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt what, exactly, Trump was trying to communicate to the public. [video]
[…] “I think the president saw the video and posted it, and then took it down,” she replied. “And he has the right to do that. It’s his social media. He’s incredibly transparent, as you all know. … He likes to share memes, he likes to share videos. … I think it’s quite refreshing that we have a president who is so open and honest.”
So, a few things.
First, no one has said Trump lacked the “right” to promote preposterous pseudoscience via social media. Rather, the question was why he did it and what his decision tells us about his state of mind.
Second, pushing bonkers videos via social media does not make an official “incredibly transparent.” If the White House wants to talk about Trump’s affinity for transparency, it can get back to us after the public gets access to his tax returns, the Epstein files and the video of border czar Tom Homan allegedly accepting a bag full of cash from undercover FBI agents. [Good points.]
Third, Leavitt’s suggestion that Trump promoting a “medbed” video is a reflection of his honesty is almost as weird as the fake Fox News segment itself.
[…] Leavitt had several days to come up with something to say about this, and the fact that this was the line she settled on speaks volumes about just how bananas Trump’s move was.
Not “refreshing,” and not “honest.” “Clearly bonkers,” would have been an appropriate description. I do note that Leavitt confirmed that it was Trump himself who posted that video.
“As a video catches foreign leaders laughing at one of the American president’s mistakes, this was not an isolated incident.”
Donald Trump doesn’t know exactly how many wars he has ended, he’s pretty sure it’s “a lot.” Over the summer, the president boasted about having ended five wars, six wars and, most recently, seven wars (or quite possibly 10 wars).
The reality, of course, is that Trump has wildly exaggerated his record, taking credit for resolving conflicts he had little to do with, and even pointing to wars that haven’t actually been resolved. What’s more, in a couple of instances, the Republican president has slipped up and pointed to wars that never happened in the first place, including an imaginary conflict between Cambodia and Armenia, as well as a recent boast on Fox News in which he said, “I solved wars that was unsolvable,” pointing to a conflict between Azerbaijan and Albania.”
The trouble, of course, is that Azerbaijan and Albania weren’t at war. Trump slipped up and confused Albania and Armenia.
The mistake did not go unnoticed among the leaders of the relevant nations. Politico reported:
U.S. President Donald Trump’s geographic confusion was the butt of a joke between world leaders at a summit Thursday. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama was filmed poking fun with French President Emmanuel Macron and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev at the European Political Community meeting in Copenhagen on Thursday.
“You should make an apology … to us because you didn’t congratulate us on the peace deal that President Trump made between Albania and Azerbaijan,” [LOL] Rama told Macron, as Aliyev was seen laughing.
Playing along, the French president replied: “I am sorry for that.” [video]
I mention all of this, not because Trump confused two countries with similar names — a harmless error that could’ve happened to anyone — but because the American president seems to hate being the subject of ridicule, especially on the international stage, but it keeps happening anyway.
In 2019, for example, Macron, then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson were recorded at a Buckingham Palace reception, apparently mocking their American counterpart. A year earlier, during remarks at the U.N. General Assembly, Trump bragged about how impressed he is with himself, at which point some of the diplomats in the room started audibly laughing.
These are two of the more memorable examples, but the list keeps going.
For all of Trump’s boasts about how he has singlehandedly improved international respect for the United States, the evidence suggests many of his global counterparts see him as a punchline.
Activists on board a flotilla of vessels sailing toward Gaza said late Wednesday that the Israeli navy had intercepted at least 19 of its boats as they approached the besieged Palestinian territory. Israeli authorities said the activists on board, including Greta Thunberg, were safe and being transferred to Israel. [video]
The Global Sumud Flotilla, composed of nearly 50 boats and 500 activists, is carrying a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza. The Sirius, Alma and Adara boats were intercepted some 70 nautical miles (80 miles) from the coast of Gaza, according to organizers who shared live positions of the flotilla. The group, which includes Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela, former Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau and several European lawmakers, said it remained undeterred in its mission to break the Israeli blockade and bring aid to Palestinians.
[…] Greg Stoker, an American veteran aboard the Ohwayla, one of the boats in the flotilla, said that around a dozen naval vessels with their transponders off had approached it. “They are currently hailing our vessels, telling us to turn off our engines and await further instructions or our boats will be seized and we will face the consequences,” he said in a shaky video posted on Instagram. Israeli authorities used water cannons against some of the boats, Stoker and other activists reported on social media. [map at the link]
[…] Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the Israeli operation was expected to take 2-3 hours. He told state TV Rai that the boats would be towed to Israel’s port of Ashdod and the activists would be deported in the coming days. He also said Israeli forces have been told “not to use violence.”
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry condemned Israel’s interception of the boats denouncing it as an “act of terrorism” and severe breach of international law. In a statement, the ministry said it was taking initiatives to ensure the immediate release of Turkish citizens and other passengers detained by the Israeli forces.
Colombia President Gustavo Petro said late Wednesday he would expel Israel’s diplomatic delegation in the South American country if the Israeli military intercepted the flotilla. He said he will also terminate his country’s free trade agreement with Israel.
Petro has repeatedly described Israel’s siege of Gaza as genocide. He broke diplomatic ties with Israel in May 2024 over the Israel-Hamas war, prompting the departure of Ambassador Gali Dagan, but an unspecified number of consular services staff remain in Colombia.
[…] The vessels were sailing in international waters north of Egypt and had entered what activists and others called a “danger zone.” While still in international waters, it is an area where the Israeli navy has stopped other boats attempting to break its blockade in the past and which the flotilla has been warned not to cross.
After a tense encounter with two Israeli military vessels in the early hours of Wednesday, activists had resumed their journey and were broadcasting their voyage on livestreams from several of the boats. […]
As night fell, they detected via radar several unidentified vessels approaching them and put their life vests on ahead of the Israeli military’s imminent arrival. Some activists were able to broadcast the moment Israeli forces approached them live from their smartphones before tossing their devices into the water.
The flotilla, which began its journey from the Spanish port of Barcelona a month ago, was to reach the shores of Gaza by Thursday morning, organizers had said earlier.
[…] this flotilla, with dozens of boats, was the largest attempt yet to break the Israeli maritime blockade of the Gaza strip that has been ongoing for 18 years.
[…] Israel’s government has accused some of the flotilla members of being linked to Hamas, while providing little evidence to support the claim. Activists have strongly rejected the accusations and said Israel was trying to justify potential attacks on them.
European governments, including Spain and Italy, which had sent their navy ships to escort the flotilla during part of its journey, urged the activists to turn back and avoid confrontation. But while Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni said late Tuesday the flotilla’s actions risked undermining U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent proposal for resolving the war in Gaza, Spain’s prime minister defended them.
“We must remember it is a humanitarian mission that wouldn’t be taking place if the Israeli government had allowed for the entry of aid,” Pedro Sánchez told reporters on Wednesday. [Good point]
“They present no threat nor danger to Israel,” he said.
[…] The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates that a state only has jurisdiction up to 12 nautical miles (19 kilometers) from its shores. In general, states don’t have the right to seize ships in international waters, though armed conflict is an exception to this.
Yuval Shany, an expert on international law at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said that as long as Israel’s blockade of Gaza is “militarily justified” — meant to keep out weapons — and the ship intended to break the siege, Israel can intercept the vessel after prior warning. Whether the blockade is militarily justified and the legality of the blockade is a point of contention.
But the flotilla argues they are a civilian, unarmed group and that the passage of humanitarian aid is guaranteed in international law.
Omer Shatz, an Israeli international law expert who teaches at Sciences Po University in Paris and co-litigated a previous flotilla case before the Israeli supreme court, told The Associated Press that even if the disputed siege of Gaza was considered lawful, “international law paves a humanitarian road from the high seas to Gaza — both in international and national waters off Gaza,” he said.
“If the basic needs of the population are not provided by the occupying power, there is a right to provide humanitarian aid, albeit under certain conditions,” Shatz said. Israel, for example, would have a right to board and search the vessels carrying aid to verify its cargo, similarly to what it does with aid trucks crossing into Gaza by land.
Around 300 federal officers from the FBI, Border Patrol, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives raided a five-story apartment building in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood in the early hours of Tuesday morning, breaking down doors indiscriminately and dragging people out of their apartments without any pretense of showing a warrant. Nearly every apartment in the building was entered or approached, and people were dragged out of the building, including men, women, and children, many in night clothes, and some completely naked. The raid was part of the Trump administration’s ongoing “Operation Midway Blitz” in the Chicago area, just to call to mind the Nazi invasion of Europe at the beginning of WWII.
Those forced from their homes at gunpoint included US citizens, who were forced to wait in the back of rental vans and held for hours while the federal thugs confirmed their identities and searched databases for outstanding warrants that could provide a pretext for inflating the operation’s arrest numbers.
In case you haven’t recently had a ninth-grade social studies class, we’ll remind you that the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution, rather quaintly, states that
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Those protections apply equally to both US citizens and noncitizens, even people who are in the country without documentation. […] any normal city police department would be sued out of existence if it tried to get away with busting down every door in a building and detaining everyone without a warrant. ICE probably will face no legal repercussions, since suing the federal government for violations is a hell of a lot more difficult.
[…] The raid sure did a great job of creating terror, as ABC 7 Chicago reports. [video]
Neighbors like Eboni Watson say they ducked for cover as they heard several flash bangs.“They was terrified. The kids was crying. People was screaming. They looked very distraught. I was out there crying when I seen the little girl come around the corner, because they was bringing the kids down, too, had them zip tied to each other,” Watson said. “That’s all I kept asking. What is the morality? Where’s the human? One of them literally laughed. He was standing right here. He said, ‘fuck them kids.’” [obscenity restored by Wonkette]
And just think, the federal agents managed to inflict all that trauma on little kids even without the deployment of National Guard or regular military troops, which is next on Donald Trump’s terrorize-Americans agenda for Chicago and other cities. Remember his charming little AI slop fantasy from a few weeks back? [social media post]
Neighbors said the federal stormtroopers used flash-bang grenades to add some shock and awe inside the building at 7500 S. South Shore Drive, […] some of the goons even rappelled down to the roof from Blackhawk helicopters. […]
The Department of Homeland Security claimed that the massive show of unconstitutional force against people in their homes was aimed at arresting members of the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua, the Trump administration’s designated go-to enemy when it wants to justify illegal federal actions like disappearing people to foreign torture prisons without due process and murdering people on the high seas.
As usual when it claims it’s going after Tren de Aragua, the government offered no evidence indicating any members of that gang were among the 37 people arrested in the raid. A DHS press release claimed only that some of those arrested “are believed to be involved in drug trafficking and distribution, weapons crimes and immigration violators.”
Among the not-criminal citizens dragged out of their apartments was Rodrick Johnson, 67, who said agents broke down his door, cuffed him with zip-ties, and left him tied up in a van outside the building for three hours. “I asked [agents] why they were holding me if I was an American citizen, and they said I had to wait until they looked me up,” Jones said. He asked them to show a warrant, and he asked them for a lawyer, but the goon squad didn’t bother responding to either request. […]
Resident Pertissue Fisher told ABC7 Chicago that ICE grabbed people first and asked questions later, and that they “just treated us like we were nothing.”
Fisher said she came out to the hallway of her apartment complex on the corner of 75th and South Shore Drive in her nightgown around 10 p.m. Monday only to find armed ICE agents yelling “police.”
“It was scary, because I had never had a gun in my face,” Fisher said. “They asked my name and my date of birth and asked me, did I have any warrants? And I told them, ‘No,’ I didn’t.”
Fisher said she was handcuffed before being released around 3 a.m., and she was told that if anyone had any kind of warrant out for them, even if it was unrelated to immigration, they would not be released.
Fisher also spoke to CBS News Chicago, explaining that she and other Black citizens were held in the back of one van, while Venezuelan detainees were loaded into a different van. [video]
In a text message, ICE spokesperson Emily Covington reacted to photos of people being herded into vans and ICE agents swarming from the backs of rented box vans, “No detainees were placed in a U-Haul.” True enough, because “BUDGET” was on the vans in big bold letters. [Dry and bitter humor]
Dare we hope that the whole fucking fascist takeover of American cities will fall apart when truck rental companies start enforcing their rules against letting people ride in vans’ cargo areas? Yeah, probably not gonna happen.
Another resident of the building, Dan Jones, 27, said that he woke up when agents tried to break down his door around 1:00 in the morning, but that they couldn’t break the double lock, so he went back to sleep. When he woke up in the morning and left for work, his neighbors, who he says were mostly Venezuelan, were all missing and the hallway was littered with broken doors and belongings.
When Jones returned home from work, he found that his place had also been broken into and tossed.
Jones said he entered his unit to find all of his electronics and furniture missing, and all of his clothes and shoes thrown on the floor. Jones said he had no idea who took his belongings and hadn’t received answers from Chicago police. […]
Jones said that his Venezuelan neighbors were “cool people,” and that they all took turns cleaning the hallway because the building’s owners didn’t bother doing maintenance. He wondered what had happened to the neighbors’ children.
Following the raid, Charles Szymanski, a neighbor who documented the raid with photos, said that the building’s power was cut, and that every story of the building had broken windows. “They tore the whole building apart,” Szymanski said.
Others who went inside said the building had been completely cleared of residents; Maira Khwaja, a local journalist with the Invisible Institute, said that water was leaking from the floors and ceilings of the building, and that “It seemed clear that the living conditions were horrible beforehand. ”
More damage left behind by the ICE stormtroopers […]
A small moving crew said they had been hired after the raid to clear out now-vacant units […] Doors were boarded up. In one room, there were zip ties and blood stains on the floor next to baby shoes. Flies swarmed around open fridges.
Water damage had caved in ceilings. Strollers and air conditioners and more things left behind blocked the middle of dark hallways. The lobby elevators were broken, with their buttons perpetually lit on the down arrow.
Jones and Johnson told the Chicago Sun Times they suspect the landlords (no press organizations have been able to find them) will evict the residents now.
But don’t worry, anyone: This was a huge success, at least according to Border Patrol Commander-At-Large Gregory Bovino, who offered this sunny take on the raid:
“How about you live in the apartment next-door to the Tren de Aragua members that are trafficking prostitution, guns, drugs and taking advantage of American citizens in a violent way,” Bovino said.
Far better for your own government to keep you safe by trashing both your constitutional rights and your home, in the name of catching dangerous traffickers, or maybe some busboys and cooks. You people should all get down on your knees and thank Mad King Donald Trump for destroying your building in order to save it.
birgerjohanssonsays
“DEMS Launch INVESTIGATION into $ 17 Trillion Trump Theft ?!!!”
The Republicans keep saying they have brought in 17 trillion. So where is the alleged money?
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=2qqd98OjYnk
“EXCLUSIVE: Senior government officials privately warn against firings during shutdown”
“The Trump administration has telegraphed that mass firings are coming, but officials have cautioned that such moves could violate appropriations law.”
Senior federal officials have quietly counseled several agencies against firing employees while the government is shut down — as President Donald Trump has suggested he will — warning the strategy may violate appropriations law, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations.
The officials cautioned that firings — known as RIFs, or reductions in force — could be vulnerable to legal challenges under statutes labor unions cited this week in a lawsuit seeking to block threatened mass layoffs. For example, the Antideficiency Act prohibits the federal government from obligating or expending any money not appropriated by Congress. It also forbids incurring new expenses during a shutdown, when funding has lapsed; some federal government officials have concluded the prohibition could extend to the kind of severance payments that accompany reductions in force.
Trump and White House Budget Director Russell Vought, whose office oversees apportionment law and has led the administration’s preparation for terminations, have repeatedly said mass dismissals would come during a government shutdown. Plans for such firings have been developed at several agencies, according to two federal officials familiar with the matter who, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail internal conversations. […]
Asked about the legal concerns, White House Office of Management and Budget communications director Rachel Cauley said in a written statement that “issuing RIFs is an excepted activity to fulfill the President’s constitutional authority to supervise and control the Executive Branch, similar to conducting foreign policy.”
The warnings from top officials are at odds with the confident rhetoric that has emerged from the White House in recent days as administration officials have sought to use the stalemate with Democratic leaders to their advantage. […]
The shutdown has temporarily furloughed around 750,000 federal workers and completely shuttered several agencies, including the Department of Education, the Commerce Department, the Labor Department and the State Department. National parks will largely remain open, though visitor centers, parking lots and museums will be closed. Programs that are not funded by annual appropriations laws such as Social Security and the U.S. Postal Service will continue, as will work necessary to national security and defense.
[…] “I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent,” Trump said Thursday on Truth Social. “I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity.” [Sheesh]
[…] Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday described the firings as an unfortunate necessity.
“We are going to have to lay some people off if the shutdown continues,” he told reporters. “We don’t like that. We don’t necessarily want to do it, but we’re going to do what we have to do to keep the American people’s essential services continuing to run.”
Vance did not elaborate on how laying off federal workers would help preserve federal services. [!] There is no legal requirement that the government fire employees during a shutdown, and such action has never been taken as a result of a shutdown. […]
Federal employment lawyers said the dismissals would almost certainly be illegal, violating rules that guide the process of federal layoffs. Federal regulations governing reductions in force (RIFs) say that agencies can dismiss employees for one of several reasons, including a lack of work, a reorganization or a shortage of funds.
“But that has never been interpreted to refer to a temporary lapse of funding because of Congress not getting its act together and causing some sort of shutdown,” said Debra D’Agostino, founding partner of a law firm devoted to representing federal employees. […]
“Temperatures across the region are expected to be up to 30 degrees higher than normal on Friday and Saturday.”
[…] An extraordinary October heat wave could bring record-breaking temperatures to the northern Plains and Upper Midwest in the coming days, with Minneapolis forecast to reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit this weekend.
Temperatures across the region are expected to be up to 30 degrees higher than normal on Friday and Saturday. Highs well above 80 degrees will be common from South Dakota east to Illinois. […]
Dozens of new daily temperature records could be set Friday and into the weekend, including in Minneapolis; Bismarck, North Dakota; Rapid City, South Dakota; Madison, Wisconsin; and Moline, Illinois.
These parts of the country are largely unaccustomed to summery conditions at this time of year. The Minneapolis-St. Paul area, for instance, has only hit or exceeded 90 degrees in October three times in recorded history, according to data from the National Weather Service, which has maintained temperature records since 1872.
Heat waves are becoming more frequent and more severe as a result of climate change, studies have shown. Extreme heat events are also expected to last longer as the planet warms.
This week’s unusual warmth is caused by a ridge of high pressure that remains parked over the Plains and Midwest, according to the National Weather Service. When these areas of high pressure stall over land, they tend to trap hot air and drive up temperatures for days on end.
johnson catmansays
re Lynna @50:
Asked about the legal concerns, White House Office of Management and Budget communications director Rachel Cauley said in a written statement that “issuing RIFs is an excepted activity to fulfill the President’s constitutional authority to supervise and control the Executive Branch, similar to conducting foreign policy.”
A communications director that doesn’t know the difference between “accepted” and “excepted” in a written statement should be fired.
birgerjohanssonsays
” Frieren- After Journey’s End’
“Stark lost everything to gambling”
#shorts
(the group needs a spellcaster, a hero and a priest- priests can tap directly into the power of their gods instead of being limited to their own power)
I wish I could just open a ‘stargate’ for you and bring you over to this side of the Atlantic until the idiot has imploded.
.
Of course, the academics have already started the move on their own. Fortunately the exchange rate between the $ and the € is not too bad. Yet.
@24 snarkhuntr:
There are a lot of problems with the US government, the lack of written laws for certain things is only one of them.
3. Congressional lockup. Congress is barely capable of doing anything. Too much of the right would rather see the government fail then work with the left. The actual moderates have no power. The entire process is frozen with almost nothing getting done. Just the basics of passing a budget require complex procedural maneuvers.
One of the primary limitations on the power of the president is congress but currently they won’t do anything. Nixon resigned when it became clear that the Republicans would investigate and impeach him. Trump has done things that border on treason and the Republicans are just lying to back him up.
2. Government by emergency. Since Congress began to freeze up a couple of decades ago things have been kept going by declaring emergencies that let the president and other officials go around the normal rules. These emergency rules exist for good reasons but are not designed for operating in a state of continuous emergency. They are designed to suspend normal checks and safeguards when a situation requires immediate action and Trump is abusing that to the limits.
3. Legal assumption of good faith. The court system assumes the executive branch is acting in good faith and gives it a fair bit of leeway. If the DOJ asks for a delay they almost always get it, if they ask to refile they almost always get permission and so on. This has never been entirely the case but the DOJ is usually careful to not abuse the system and not bring cases they don’t think they have a good chance of winning. They don’t throw charges at people and see what sticks the way local prosecutors sometimes do. They don’t bring cases and appeal cases just to delay things, they don’t intentionally delay paperwork just to slow down the legal process. They are not intentionally obscure to the judges, the DOJ doesn’t intentionally leave out information. They don’t bring cases at the whim of the president just for revenge.
The court has slowly begun to pick up on this at the district level but the appeal courts have not really and the Supreme Court is working on the side of the president too often.
As for actually fixing the system, fixing Congress somehow is the real issue. If Congress functioned reasonably well the rest of the issues would work themselves out. Pinning down some of the traditional things around the president with actual laws would be a significant improvement. Trump has shown though that an effective enforcement method is as important as something just being illegal.
On the other points there should be tweaking of the emergency laws so that emergencies must be approved by Congress to stick for more then a week or so and require regular confirmation after that. The court also needs to give a bit less leeway to the DOJ. In particular it needs to be recognized that the DOJ is a national organization and bad acts in one district/one case should have some consideration in other ones.
Israel’s defense minister on Wednesday ordered all remaining Palestinians to leave Gaza City, saying it was their ‘last opportunity’ and that anyone who stayed would be considered a militant supporter and face the ‘full force’ of Israel’s latest offensive.
Robert Morris, the Texas megachurch pastor who built Gateway Church into one of the largest congregations in the country, pleaded guilty Thursday in Osage County District Court to charges that he sexually abused a girl in the 1980s. Morris, 64, entered the plea before Judge Cindy Pickerill, admitting to five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child.
Switzerland’s glaciers have faced ‘enormous’ melting this year with a 3% drop in total volume — the fourth-largest annual drop on record — due to the effects of global warming, top Swiss glaciologists reported Wednesday.
The lead U.S. agency for protecting the electric grid, water supply and other critical services from hacking has furloughed most of its already trimmed-down staff in the government shutdown, just as a decade-old law giving companies leeway to collaborate on cyberdefense expired.
The twin impacts leave employees at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and outside professionals unsettled as they try to fend off a surge in sophisticated hacks from China as well as continued ransomware threats.
The White House on Wednesday abruptly fired a large share of the council members advising the National Endowment for the Humanities, retaining only four appointees of President Donald Trump, according to terminated members reached by The Washington Post and an updated list on the agency’s website.
The Trump administration’s unprecedented efforts to aggregate the personal data of Americans are facing a new legal challenge. A class action federal lawsuit filed Tuesday argues the Trump administration’s actions that aggregated personal data on hundreds of millions of Americans from various federal agencies violated federal privacy laws and the U.S. Constitution, put sensitive data at risk of security breaches, and could lead to the disenfranchisement of eligible voters.
The Trump administration’s unprecedented efforts to aggregate the personal data of Americans are facing a new legal challenge. A class action federal lawsuit filed Tuesday argues the Trump administration’s actions that aggregated personal data on hundreds of millions of Americans from various federal agencies violated federal privacy laws and the U.S. Constitution, put sensitive data at risk of security breaches, and could lead to the disenfranchisement of eligible voters.
The FBI said on Wednesday it had cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish group that tracks antisemitism, after Republicans criticized the group for including slain activist Charlie Kirk’s organization in a glossary on extremism.
“Following military strikes on civilian boats in international waters, the White House has come up with a legal rationale that’s hard to take seriously.”
Related video at the link.
About a month after Donald Trump first bragged about a military strike on a civilian boat in international waters that killed 11 people, the president spoke to the nation’s generals and admirals and commented on his handiwork. His comments were chilling.
Reflecting on the apparent fact that there are now fewer boats in Venezuelan waters because local fishermen are afraid that the U.S. might kill them, Trump told military leaders, “It’s amazing what strength will do.”
It was a glimpse into a twisted perspective. As [Trump] sees it, using the military to kill civilians in international waters reflects “strength.” Of course, by that logic, those who follow the rule of law are necessarily “weak” in Trump’s eyes.
As the deadly military operations continued and the White House claimed that it was targeting “narco-terrorists,” there was no shortage of questions as to whether the administration’s strikes were legal. Even John Yoo, the notorious former deputy assistant attorney general under George W. Bush, has suggested that the White House might be crossing a legal line.
It’s against this backdrop that The New York Times reported:
President Trump has decided that the United States is engaged in a formal ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels his team has labeled terrorist organizations and that suspected smugglers for such groups are ‘unlawful combatants,’ the administration said in a confidential notice to Congress this week. The notice was sent to several congressional committees and obtained by The New York Times.
In other words, as far as the White House is concerned, the president isn’t murdering civilians with military strikes. Rather, he’s engaged in a lawful military campaign against drug cartels with which Trump has unilaterally “determined” the U.S. is in “armed conflict.”
The Times’ report, which has been independently verified by NBC News, added that the move reflects the president’s maximalist approach to sweeping wartime powers.
Geoffrey Corn, a retired judge advocate general lawyer who was formerly the Army’s senior adviser for law-of-war issues, argued that drug cartels are not engaged in “hostilities” — which would mean the White House is crossing a legal line.
“This is not stretching the envelope,” Corn told the Times. “This is shredding it. This is tearing it apart.” [True]
About a month into his second term, as part of a “Friday Night Massacre,” Trump fired Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman CQ Brown Jr., the country’s highest-ranking military officer. As dramatic as this was, the general’s ouster was part of a broader purge: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also announced the firing of Adm. Lisa Franchetti, chief of naval operations, and Gen. James Slife, Air Force vice chief of staff.
Then the Trump administration announced that it was firing the top lawyers for the Army, Navy and Air Force. Steve Vladeck, a law professor at Georgetown University, wrote via Bluesky that the ouster of these judge advocates general was “just as bad as, if not worse” than Trump’s other Friday night firings.
In an op-ed for The Washington Post, Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a former Army paratrooper, explained that the firings of the military’s most senior legal advisers was “an unprecedented and explicit move to install officers who will yield to the president’s interpretation of the law, with the expectation they will be little more than yes men on the most consequential questions of military law.” [Yep]
Roughly eight months later, the administration is dealing with a consequential question of military law, and as it struggles to craft a coherent answer, the absence of those judge advocates general — who were responsible for, among other things, determining whether presidential orders are legal — is clearly being felt.
There’s a popular saying about a pot and a kettle, but it doesn’t seem like Elon Musk has heard it.
The Tesla CEO took to his social media kingdom, X, on Thursday to smear the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights advocacy group, as a hate-filled propaganda machine.
“The SPLC is an evil organization that spreads hate propaganda relentlessly,” Musk wrote. “It needs to be shut down.”
His latest verbal attack on the SPLC was in reaction to a separate post by far-right influencer Mike Cernovich, who falsely blamed the SPLC’s tracking of domestic extremism for “incit[ing] a mass shooting” against right-wing activist group Family Research Council in 2012.
It makes sense why Musk would hate an extremism-tracking group, given that he himself regularly advocates for far-right extremism.
In January, Musk threw up his arm in a Nazi-style salute during a rally celebrating Trump’s inauguration. And in July, the multibillionaire’s artificial intelligence program, Grok, called itself “MechaHitler” and spewed other antisemitic drivel.
In 2024, the father of 14 known children said his transgender daughter Vivian Wilson was figuratively “dead, killed by the woke mind virus.” That same year, Wilson alleged Musk regularly harassed her as a child for being feminine.
Beyond Musk, the right is pushing a narrative that leftist activists are largely violent and dangerous. Trump has repeatedly labeled liberal activists as “radical” and as “terrorists.” However, research has consistently found that right-wing extremists have carried out far more violence than left-win extremists in recent history. […]
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared on Fox News Thursday, dropping any pretense that the Trump administration’s “strategy” for securing Democratic votes to fund the government is anything more than mob-style extortion.
“The Democrats should know that they put the White House and the president in this position. And if they don’t want further harm on their constituents back home, then they need to reopen the government. It’s very simple,” she said. “Pass the clean continuing resolution, and all of this goes away.” [video]
Leavitt also mentioned President Donald Trump’s meeting with Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, who was one of the architects of the wildly unpopular Project 2025.
The meeting, which Trump has presented as a discussion about which “Democrat Agencies” to cut, is a clear retaliation against Democrats for refusing to support the GOP’s defunding of health care subsidies.
The Trump administration has found yet another way to bring universities to heel.
No longer content to just yank federal funding to compel compliance, President Donald Trump—ever the tacky salesman—came up with a new idea: forcing schools to agree to a 10-point “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” in exchange for preferential access to federal funds.
There’s no doubt that the administration thinks this is a cute way to sidestep accusations about—and lawsuits over—its illegal withholding of federal funds from universities that have displeased King Trump in some way. But this arrangement is no better.
Essentially, schools will get more federal money if they agree to let the government tell them what to do. Much of this is just an incoherent demand […] Schools need to have a “vibrant marketplace of ideas on campus” while simultaneously agreeing that no employees can express any political views on behalf of the school.
The compact also literally demands schools to be more welcoming to conservatives, which includes abolishing any departments that “purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas.” [!]
[…] Other demands include a five-year tuition freeze, requiring applicants to take the SAT or other standardized test, and halting grade inflation. And, of course, there are demands that there be no race-or sex-based preferences in hiring and that transgender women be barred from women’s locker rooms and sports. [Just a few, little, reasonable demands.]
[…] no more than 5% of students coming from one country. For schools with endowments exceeding a certain threshold, students enrolled in “hard science” majors would have their tuition waived.
So all that schools need to do to get “multiple positive benefits,” including “substantial and meaningful federal grants,” is to totally alter their curriculum, departments, admissions, hiring, and sports teams to conform to whatever racist, transphobic, or xenophobic thought that skitters across Trump’s gray matter at any given time. […]
Agreeing to basically give over school governance to the government does come with one significant benefit. Signing the compact apparently shows that a school is in compliance with federal civil rights laws, allowing it to basically evade the administration’s fake, retaliatory civil rights “investigations.”
And just to make sure that schools don’t sneak any diversity or liberal ideas back in, they would have to agree to hire an independent auditor to oversee the school’s adherence to the compact and report back to the Department of Justice. Schools that sign the compact also get invitations to the White House and meetings with officials.
Man, imagine selling out your school just to get an invite to the gold-plated monstrosity that is the Oval Office these days.
Nine schools received this initial “invitation”: Vanderbilt University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Arizona, Brown University, and the University of Virginia.
The schools were apparently chosen because the Trump administration views them as “highly reasonable.” What does highly reasonable mean to these people? Per May Mailman, the unqualified [person] overseeing this, it means that “they have a president who is a reformer or a board that has really indicated they are committed to a higher-quality education.”
Ah, so they have a conservative willing to buckle.
At least one school on the list is absolutely ready to lick this boot.
Here’s Kevin Eltife, chair of the University of Texas Board of Regents:
“The University of Texas system is honored that our flagship — the University of Texas at Austin — has been named as one of only nine institutions in the U.S. selected by the Trump administration for potential funding advantages under its new Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education. We enthusiastically look forward to engaging with university officials and reviewing the compact immediately.”
Damn, dude. Have a little dignity.
The notion of a “compact” between the government and higher education institutions forced to adopt the government’s views is wildly authoritarian. But Trump isn’t going to stop until he has destroyed the independence of U.S. universities.
Can’t have people learning about things that might make them critical of conservatives, right?
Team Trump lowers itself to new and ridiculous levels in order to blame Joe Biden:
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent struggled to spin the fallout from the Trump administration’s misguided trade war, blaming former President Joe Biden for China’s response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
In May, China stopped purchasing American soybeans, in response to Trump’s increased tariffs on the country. China is the world’s single largest importer of soybeans, and this has obviously harmed U.S. farmers of the crop.
“At the meeting in Geneva, when I asked [Chinese diplomats], ‘Why didn’t you continue buying soybeans and the other products?’ they had one word,” Bessent said. “Guess what it was? Biden.”
Even conservative CNBC host Joe Kernen was having a hard time buying Bessent’s spin.
“Biden?” Kernen said, incredulously. “Oh, that sounds like malarkey. Come on, man.” [video]
The Trump administration’s tariffs have been so devastating on American farmers that many are hoping to receive a federal bailout. Trump has floated the idea of using tariff revenues to keep them afloat, rather than simply ease the tariffs.
Despite all available evidence, Bessent, an overrated former hedge fund manager, once called Trump more “economically sophisticated” than past presidents.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz slammed the Republican Party and President Donald Trump over its expected use of their government shutdown to fire even more federal workers.
“We’re in a massive misinformation campaign, the president himself tweeting out AI videos of fake news reports on health care,” Walz said at a Thursday press conference. “This is really dangerous, and it’s really hard. And I cannot express to you the concern and the absolute bafflement and fear of our European allies asking me, ‘Is this stuff really going on?’” [video]
“They’re going to tell you this, and like with the VA [Department of Veterans Affairs], and this is what really drives me crazy,” Walz continued. “They’ll come back and tell you, ‘Oh, we’re not firing anybody important. We’re not going to fire doctors. No, no. Just the people who change the linens or get the surgical instruments clean so they’re ready to go.’ Those people aren’t there. Or the IT, the people that allow you to schedule your appointment with the VA. There’s a reason that all these people work together in agencies, and everybody’s valuable in them.”
Despite the Republican Party controlling the White House, House, and Senate, they continue to blame Democrats for shutting down the government.
In July, when Republicans voted on the first spending bill for 2026, with cuts that would knock 15 million people off healthcare, I stood right here, and I asked my Republican colleagues in the Senate to grow a spine and stand up for Americans. We are here today because the Republicans refused. Instead, Republicans bowed down to Trump, and, now, people all across this country will suffer.
Let’s be clear: Republicans shut down the government because they would rather make healthcare more expensive than keep the government running. That is literally where we are right now. Republicans control the House. Republicans control the Senate. Republicans control the White House. They are in power. It is their job to keep the government running for the American people, and they have failed. Donald Trump and the Republicans own this shutdown. Don’t take it from me. Listen to Donald J. Trump. In 2013, Trump himself said about a potential government shutdown:
If there is a shutdown, I think it would be a tremendously negative mark on the President of the United States. He’s the one that has to get people together.
That is Donald J. Trump. Now, at the same time, Trump said:
The President has to lead. You have to get people in a room, and you have to just make deals for the good of the country.
Donald Trump today should listen to Donald Trump from yesterday. Instead, Trump, Mr. “Art of the Deal,” hasn’t been able to cut a deal for the most basic government functions. Wow. As Trump said, that is “a tremendously negative mark on the President of the United States.”
Let me say it again. Democrats are fighting to roll back the Republican cuts that would take away healthcare from millions of people and raise health insurance premiums for millions more. That is it. That is what we are asking for. We have been asking for months to negotiate over this, and the Republicans have said no. What are they doing right now? Are they making counteroffers? Are they saying, “We could go this far, not this far”? Nope. They are simply saying no.
So now, when a family is forced to the brink of bankruptcy from one bad medical diagnosis, Trump and the Republicans own it. Republicans insist that those healthcare cuts go through. When community hospitals have to shut down, Trump and Republicans own it. When kids with cancer can’t get treatment because potentially lifesaving research grants come to a screeching halt, Trump and Republicans own it. When insurance premiums skyrocket, Trump and Republicans own it.
Healthcare in America was already broken, but Trump and Republicans are making it much, much worse. They ripped away money that covers mamas giving birth and neighbors who need wheelchairs and home health aides, and they handed it over to giant corporations and billionaire CEOs. Democrats believe that no one should go bankrupt because they got sick and needed to see a doctor. So Democrats are here to say we are willing to fight for families who need healthcare.
[…] Trump is already doing his best to shut down government or at least to shut down the parts of government that he doesn’t like. Since day one, Trump has been trying to illegally wipe away millions of dollars for programs that Congress already agreed to fund. Trump and his buddy Elon Musk have fired tens of thousands of Federal workers. Trump is declaring American cities as ‘‘war zones’’ and sending troops to invade communities. Trump is playing King time and time again, and Republicans in Congress are bowing down and letting him do it.
While all of that is going on, Republicans in Congress want Democrats just to sign a blank check and hand it over to Trump and let him continue to shut down whatever he doesn’t like and to destroy our democracy. They want us to agree to a budget, knowing full well that Trump will then turn around tomorrow and delete this part or that part or whatever he doesn’t like, just like he has already done. Why would we play along with that farce? Why would we throw our support behind a deal that, any time, any day, Trump could just decide he doesn’t feel like honoring it? And why would we do that without getting anything in return to help American families who are struggling with high costs, particularly the healthcare costs that Republicans are driving up? To do that would be a betrayal of the American people.
[…] this Trump shutdown will hurt people. Because of Republicans, children across this country could lose access to childcare through Head Start. Because of Republicans, the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center will now stop enrolling patients in clinical trials that could be their only shot at treatment. Because of Republicans, air traffic controller hiring will stop, at a time when we are already dealing with a dangerous shortage. Because of Republicans, park rangers and thousands of other civil servants won’t get paid. Because of Republicans, Donald Trump’s corruption and chaos will continue.
So what is next? Well, Democrats want to keep the government open, and we want rollbacks of the Republican cuts that will cost 15 million Americans their healthcare coverage and drive up insurance costs for everyone else. This isn’t partisan. This is a righteous fight on behalf of everyone who needs healthcare, everyone who might need to go to the hospital, everyone who counts on a community clinic or a home health aide, whether they are a Democrat, a Republican, an Independent, or a ‘‘none of the above.’’ We are in this fight for Americans and for American healthcare, and it is only the Senate Republicans, led by Donald Trump, who stand in the way.
I know we’ve got people out there that aren’t doing the best on messaging, but its not everyone and IMO the message here is simple enough that I think many Americans are going to be able to see who is on the right side of this one.
Musk’s wealth hits new high
Tech mogul Elon Musk became the first person to achieve a net worth of $500 billion, briefly touching the half-trillion-dollar milestone before dipping back down.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO crossed the $500 billion mark Wednesday afternoon on Forbes’s Real-Time Billionaires tracker. As of Thursday evening, he sat at $485. 8 billion.
Musk is about $136 billion richer than his closest peer, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
Ellison briefly overtook Musk as the world’s richest person earlier this month, as his cloud company saw its stock soar on strong quarterly results.
Musk’s wealth is closely tied to Tesla’s performance, both of which fluctuated significantly over the past year.
His net worth soared in late 2024, as the electric vehicle maker’s stock rose on the assumption that his companies would benefit from Musk’s close relationship with President Trump.
However, Tesla’s value tumbled when Musk took on the highly controversial role leading the Department of Government Efficiency, bringing his net worth down with it.
Both have recovered since the billionaire left the White House and returned his attention to his companies.
After several quarters of weak sales, Tesla saw a bump in the third quarter, with deliveries up 7.4 percent from last year, according to new data released Thursday.
The company delivered 497,099 vehicles in the three-month period from July to September.
The EV maker could eventually turn Musk into the world’s first trillionaire.
Tesla has put forward a new pay package for its CEO that would grant him about 423 million shares if the company meets a series of milestones over the next decade. If those goals are met, the shares would be worth about $1 trillion.
Tesla shareholders are set to vote on the pay package in November. It comes as Musk’s 2018 pay package remains tied up in court, after a Delaware judge ruled it wasn’t negotiated fairly.
@75 Lynna, OM posted an article about the muskrat’s wealth that stated ‘the shares would be worth about $1 trillion.’
I reply: I detest the abusive destructive values system of the elongated muskrat. But, ANYONE who has that much wealth is obscene and wasteful in my opinion. They cannot possibly need that much wealth. Consider how many millions in this country have lost their jobs, are living hand-to-mouth, or, are working for an absurdly tiny fraction of what their CEO’s make. Anyone that considers that those billionaires have really earned, or are worth that much, must to be morally bankrupt themselves.
“A top federal prosecutor on national security matters is unemployed because of a dubious allegation that appears to be unfounded.”
Every federal prosecutor’s office is important, but some stand out for unique reasons. The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, for example, prosecutes a lot of cases related to the financial industry. The U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., is notable for its role handling cases related to the federal government.
The U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, meanwhile, handles many of the country’s most sensitive national security cases. It’s against this backdrop that NBC News reported:
A top national security prosecutor in a key federal office was fired Wednesday after a pro-Trump writer, without evidence, linked him to internal pushback over the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey last week. Michael Ben’Ary, a veteran prosecutor who was serving as chief of the national security unit for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, was fired on Wednesday, three sources familiar with the situation told NBC News.
The timeline is important. On Wednesday, an influential pro-Trump activist and writer named Julie Kelly published an item via social media in which she asserted that the public “can only assume” that Ben’Ary “was a big part of the internal resistance” to indicting Comey. [Vague, trolling online … that can get you fired!]
Kelly didn’t substantiate the claim, and there’s reporting that Ben’Ary had nothing to do with deliberations regarding Comey’s case. But in 2025, far-right influencers are steering the White House, which meant Attorney General Pam Bondi’s DOJ fired the lawyer just hours after Kelly’s missive appeared online.
Or to put it another way, the top federal prosecutor on national security matters, in an office that handles many of the country’s most sensitive national security cases, is unemployed because of a dubious allegation that appears to be wrong. (To the extent that it matters, even if Ben’Ary had been involved in the Comey case, that wouldn’t have been grounds for dismissal, but that the claim appears baseless adds insult to injury.)
No one benefits from this, least of all the American public. But it happened anyway. More to the point, it keeps happening anyway.
A federal prosecutor in Miami was recently fired because far-right activists discovered that he criticized Donald Trump eight years ago while in private practice. A federal prosecutor in California was recently fired because she urged immigration officials to comply with a court order. The full list of prosecutors caught up in the purge federal law enforcement because they worked on cases the president didn’t like has been difficult to keep up with.
For that matter, specifically in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, Ben’Ary wasn’t the only prosecutor ousted without cause: Erik Siebert, the former U.S. attorney in the office (and a former Trump nominee), was forced out because he wouldn’t bring baseless criminal charges against Trump’s political enemies.
Alas, that’s not the end of the list. The Washington Post reported:
Lawyers inside the high-profile U.S. attorney’s office prosecuting former FBI director James B. Comey are unnerved by what they see as an unprecedented push by President Donald Trump to inject politics into their staffing and charging decisions, according to three people familiar with the matter, a strategy they say could jeopardize national security investigations. The Justice Department in recent days fired two longtime prosecutors who had risen to leadership positions within the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia, said the three people, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
The firings, of course, came on the heels of Trump installing an unqualified loyalist, Lindsey Halligan, as the interim U.S. attorney in the district.
Predictably, these developments have had a destabilizing effect, with law enforcement personnel left to wonder who might be terminated without cause next.
“In the current administration, whistleblowers keep losing their jobs after speaking up. Take the NIH’s Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, for example.”
Earlier this year, Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, discovered that Donald Trump’s appointees were repeatedly questioning the role of vaccines in protecting health. When she raised concerns, Marrazzo was demoted.
That, however, was not the end of the dispute. The infectious diseases specialist filed a whistleblower complaint, and as The New York Times reported in a new piece, that appears to have led to her ouster. From the article:
Three weeks after a leading scientist at the National Institutes of Health filed a whistle-blower complaint against the Trump administration, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy fired her, according to her lawyer and a copy of the termination letter. … Dr. Marrazzo said in her complaint last month that the N.I.H. had placed her on administrative leave after she objected to Trump administration actions that she said had endangered research subjects, defied court orders and undermined vaccine research.
In theory, Marrazzo might have been able to turn to the federal agency dedicated to protecting whistleblowers, but Donald Trump fired its director and gutted the office.
Making matters worse is the familiarity of the circumstances. Indeed, it was earlier this week when two government civil rights lawyers who spoke out about the Trump administration’s efforts to limit enforcement of the Fair Housing Act were removed from their posts and escorted out of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
About a month earlier, Charles Borges, the Social Security Administration’s former chief data officer, filed a remarkable whistleblower complaint that led to his “involuntary resignation.”
In theory, there’s nothing especially partisan or ideological about whistleblowers. Sometimes those who work in federal agencies will see some kind of wrongdoing — corruption, mismanagement, inefficiencies, fraud and misuse of resources, etc. — and it’s in everyone’s interest to have a system in which such witnesses are able to come forward, confident in the knowledge that they’ll be heard and respected without being punished.
In practice, that system appears to be unraveling with unnerving speed, sending a signal to federal officials: Those who speak up should expect to be punished.
As the second full day of the latest government shutdown got underway, Donald Trump published an odd message to his social media platform, which raised plenty of eyebrows throughout the political world.
“I have a meeting today with [White House Budget Director] Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat [sic] Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent,” the president wrote.
We don’t yet know what transpired at that meeting, but Trump’s weird phrasing was itself notable. For example, there are no federal departments or offices that should be called “Democrat Agencies.” There are only American agencies, which do work on behalf of the American people and which are currently led, at least in part, by Trump’s own appointees.
Similarly, the idea that federal agencies deserve to be condemned as “a political SCAM” is every bit as bizarre as it sounds. We’re talking about offices, some of which have been around for many years, that were created by Congress. Their existence is reinforced in federal law, which the president is required to enforce.
[…] Vought, the president wrote, is “of PROJECT 2025 Fame.” As The Associated Press summarized:
President Donald Trump is openly embracing the conservative blueprint he desperately tried to distance himself from during the 2024 campaign, as one of its architects works to use the government shutdown to accelerate his goals of slashing the size of the federal workforce and punishing Democratic states.
[…] throughout the 2024 campaign, Trump realized that the Project 2025 agenda was so radical and unpopular that he treated is as radioactive. “I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it,” Trump said over the summer about the blueprint largely written by members of his own team. He added, “I have nothing to do with them.”
As Election Day approached, Trump went so far as to question whether it was even legal for people to air campaign ads pointing out his connections to Project 2025. It came on the heels of an online item in which he said, “I have, and had, nothing to do with it, NEVER READ IT, NEVER SAW IT.”
All the while, Democrats tried to warn the public that if Trump returned to power, he’d abandon the pretense and begin implementing the Project 2025 plan, using the radical blueprint as his governing agenda.
A year later, we now have confirmation that Democrats were right. Upon returning to power, the Republican president and his White House team put Project 2025’s authors in positions of power, implemented its provisions and have abandoned efforts to distance Trump from the plan he pretended to know nothing about. [True, true, true.]
“This is extortion, plain and simple.”–Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at UC Berkeley, on President Trump’s proposed “compact” with universities
[…] the DOJ wants to use the ongoing government shutdown to shut down court proceedings, claiming that they can’t possibly work during the furlough for… reasons. But judges aren’t buying it.
First, the DOJ tried to get Judge Amit Mehta to agree to postpone a final hearing in the government’s antitrust case against Google. Their motion in the Google case cited the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits the government from accepting voluntary services or expending funds without an appropriation “except for emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property.”
Nah, said the federal judge, pointing out that the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said no in a similar case in 2019 when President Donald Trump shut the government down back then.
And it’s not about being tough on Trump in particular or anything like that. A concurrence in that 2019 case noted that when the government shut down during Obama’s second term in 2013, the government made motions to stay oral arguments in at least 16 cases, all of which were denied.
Mehta also pointed out that the DOJ’s own contingency plan for the shutdown says that most of the department’s employees aren’t subject to furlough because “a significant portion of the Department’s mission relates to the safety of human life and the protection of property, and primarily for this reason, the Department has a high percentage of activities and employees that are excepted from the Antideficiency Act .”
Watching the administration suddenly pretend to be concerned about the Antideficiency Act is cute, given that it is having the big law firms that bent the knee to Trump perform free legal work for the government, which actually does violate the Act’s prohibition on accepting voluntary services.
The administration tried the same argument in Washington, D.C.’s suit against the administration. Yes, the administration’s contention is that there’s no issue, appropriations-wise, with the costly efforts of keeping D.C. under Trump’s thumb, but having to go to court about it is a bridge too far, so the case should be stayed and the 2,300 troops currently in D.C. must stick around until the shutdown is done.
That didn’t work out for the DOJ so well, though they did manage to land a short extension on their briefing schedule.
The Trump administration is also trying to get a stay in wrongfully deported immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case, making the same loser argument they brought in the Google and D.C. cases.
The DOJ pretending to be just a widdle guy during the shutdown is also ridiculous because the agency, overall, only furloughed 11% of its workers. Now, agencies that conservatives hate, like the Environmental Protection Agency and the Departments of Labor and Education, all had over 75% of their employees slated for furlough.
[…] The administration kept most DOJ employees on the rolls because that agency is critical to Trump’s retaliation jamboree and use of lawfare. [True!]
[…] protecting so many employees from furlough seems to have backfired for the DOJ. They didn’t furlough most of their employees, but then turned around and whined to the courts that the furloughs made it impossible to continue handling cases. That’s patently ridiculous, and it’s good that judges are calling it out. […]
Department of Education staffers who were furloughed during the GOP’s government shutdown say that their email accounts were hijacked to push partisan messaging without their consent.
Five officials told NBC News that someone altered their out-of-office messages to blame Democrats for the shutdown, saying that they had initially used the agency’s standard, neutral language, only to find it replaced with GOP talking points.
For example, one message originally read:
There is a temporary shutdown of the U.S. government due to a lapse in appropriations. I will respond to your message if it is allowable as an excepted activity or as soon as possible after the temporary shutdown ends.
But it was changed it to:
Thank you for contacting me. On September 10, 2025, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5371, a clean continuing resolution. Unfortunately, Democrat Senators are blocking passage of H.R. 5371 in the Senate which has led to a lapse in appropriations. Due to the lapse of appropriations, I am currently in furlough status. I will respond to emails once government functions resume.
Even worse, one staffer said that they switched their message back to the neutral version, only to see it changed again.
“None of us consented to this. And it’s written in the first-person, as if I’m the one conveying this message, and I’m not,” they told NBC. “I don’t agree with it. I don’t think it’s ethical or legal. I think it violates the Hatch Act.”
Another staffer agreed: “I took the statement they sent us earlier in the week to use. And I pasted it on top of that—basically a standard out-of-office. They went in and manipulated my out-of-office reply. I guess they’re now making us all guilty of violating the Hatch Act.”
[…] But this isn’t just about staff email signatures. Across the federal government, agencies are being repurposed as partisan mouthpieces.
The State Department’s website, which initially carried a neutral message about limited updates due to a “lapse” in funding, now blames “the Democrat-led shutdown.”
And the Small Business Administration’s website claims that Senate Democrats are blocking small business loans. The Justice Department has also slapped a banner across its page declaring, “Democrats have shut down the government.”
At the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a pop-up message blares, “The Radical Left in Congress shut down the government.”
Weaponizing official government websites is bad enough, but the Department of Education’s approach is more insidious, dragging civil servants into the GOP’s talking points as if they personally endorse them.
Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and GOP leaders have been hammering the same false line that Democrats caused the shutdown by demanding benefits for undocumented immigrants. [Undocument immigrants are not eligible for benefits, and that is current law.] In reality, Democrats are fighting to keep health care subsidies affordable for American families.
[…] [The Trump administration is] using government machinery to spin a story that isn’t landing and, in the process, making it’s own party’s mess even bigger.
Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware appeared on Fox News Thursday, where host Martha MacCallum attempted to both-sides the GOP’s inflammatory and racist lies about Democratic efforts to end President Donald Trump’s government shutdown.
“There are people who came to the country illegally who got looped in under temporary protection status, who do receive those benefits,” MacCallum said, before Coons quickly interrupted with a firm, “No.” [video]
MacCallum [said]: “I understand that there’s two sides to this argument, but those are the people that are getting argued over right now.”
“There’s not two sides to this argument,” Coons replied. “The president said Democrats want to give a gold-plated Medicare program for illegal aliens. That’s not true. You can only benefit from the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid if you have legal status in this country. We are not fighting for health care for people who are here illegally,” he continued. “That’s not true. We are fighting for health care for Americans.”
“All right,” MacCallum conceded. “I understand and appreciate your point on that.”
What The GOP Is Talking About When They Talk About ‘Healthcare For Illegals’
Welcome to Day Two of the government shutdown that we are having because Republicans want people to have to pay more for health care and the Democrats don’t. Federal workers aren’t getting paid, benefits are going to get screwed up, and the usual shutdown chaos will ensue. […]
Democrats want to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies that allow millions of Americans to afford health insurance. Without these subsidies, 26 million people who currently qualify for subsidies will pay more than double what they are currently paying, and 4 million people who currently have health insurance will not be able to afford it.
The other sticking point is that Democrats want to undo the massive cuts to Medicaid that will lead to even more people not having health insurance.
According to one analysis, these cuts will cause 51,000 preventable deaths a year […]
However, the Republicans are trying to make this whole thing about “Democrats are causing this shutdown because they want to take your money and give free healthcare to ‘illegals’ because they care about them more than they care about YOU!” instead. [NRCC video that is full of lies.]
[…] the subsidies are very, very popular. According to a poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 77 percent of Americans support extending them, including 91 percent of Democrats, 80 percent of independents, and 63 percent of Republicans.
But what is it that they are actually talking about? Let’s discuss!
So, first of all — yes, the state of California, for now, uses its own state funds to allow undocumented immigrants to sign up for Medi-Cal. This is not that, although personally, I obviously think that’s a good thing […] As of the notoriously grotesque Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 (PRWORA), however, undocumented immigrants are, in fact, barred from receiving any kind of federally subsidized healthcare, including Medicaid, Medicare, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or the aforementioned Affordable Care Act subsidies.
What we are actually talking about here, with regard to the shutdown, is emergency Medicaid, which accounts for just a teensy-tiny bit of those Medicaid cuts.
Emergency Medicaid is one of the very few exceptions to the PRWORA statutes. It allows hospitals to be reimbursed when they provide emergency medical care to those who are barred from receiving Medicaid but would otherwise qualify for it. This includes not just undocumented immigrants, but others who are lawfully present in the United States but who don’t yet have legal status.
“A lot of emergency health care at hospitals that are provided to illegal aliens, that was funded by the federal government,” JD Vance said in a FOX News interview on Wednesday. “We turned off that funding because, of course, we want American citizens to benefit from those hospital services, not to be taxed, and then to have those hospital services go to illegal aliens.”
However, this does not actually mean they will not receive those hospital services. Hospitals that accept Medicare are legally obligated to provide this care, under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA). Therefore, without emergency Medicaid, hospitals will be required to just absorb those costs. Does that save the average US taxpayer money? It does not! In fact, it will very likely lead to hospitals having to charge us more.
It’s not quite clear how Vance actually wants to see this work. […] does he want to see undocumented people rejected from hospitals and bleeding out in the streets? Does he want EMTs to make an educated guess as to an unconscious person’s immigration status? What does he think should happen if an undocumented child gets hit by a car? […]
There will be, to the great disappointment of many of the MAGA faithful, no actual harm to undocumented immigrants as a result of the cuts to emergency Medicaid, just the hospitals that are legally obligated to treat them.
The second thing at issue has absolutely nothing to do, at all, with undocumented immigrants, but rather with allowing those who are what is called “lawfully present” to apply for certain federally funded healthcare programs, including Medicaid and CHIP. There are around 1.4 million people in the United States who fit this criteria, including DACA recipients, those with Temporary Protected Status, people in the process of getting their green cards, refugees, asylum-seekers who are not yet official, victims of trafficking, those who are here on parole status for urgent humanitarian reasons (for instance, those fleeing the war in Ukraine), and others.
Democrats say yes to healthcare for these people, because it’s pretty messed up to keep refugees and sex-trafficking victims from seeing a doctor. [!] Republicans claim that it is necessary to bar healthcare for them because the Biden administration granted this status to too many people that they do not want to be here. The thing is, if they were to revoke the lawfully present status of those people, they would no longer be eligible for those programs. So, really, they’re just being cruel to the most vulnerable among us. They want those people, who are likely extremely poor, and their children, to not have healthcare.
[…] JD Vance can talk all he wants about how he wants “American citizens to benefit from those hospital services,” but that rings pretty hollow when the Republicans are also taking those services away from American citizens [I snipped details] [Rural hospitals at risk map is available at the link]
Indeed, rural clinics are already shutting down in anticipation of the cuts. […]
StevoRsays
The number of heat-related deaths in Spain between May 16 and September 30 hit 3,832, an 87.6% increase from the same period in 2024, the health ministry said Thursday. Nearly two-thirds of the deaths involved people over the age of 85, and almost 96% were over 65, it said in a statement.
The figures were estimated using statistical models, the statement said, adding that they may still be revised.
The ministry used data from Spain’s Mortality Monitoring System (MoMo), which tracks daily mortality nationwide and compares it to historical trends.
The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99% of the world’s oceans, raising concerns for its $2 billion-a-year American lobster fishery. Scientists at William & Mary’s Batten School & VIMS have been studying the impacts of ocean acidification and warming on lobster reproduction, and the results of their most recent research suggest the rising temperatures pose the greatest risk.
Utilizing a purpose-built experimental facility designed by Professor Emily Rivest and housed in the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences & VIMS’ Seawater Research Laboratory, the researchers exposed egg-bearing lobsters from the Gulf of Maine to water temperature and pH conditions that mimic those predicted for 2060.
Published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, the results revealed that the embryos can handle ocean acidification surprisingly well, but increased temperatures led to distinct stress responses that ultimately resulted in smaller larvae.
Sea level rise could put more than 100 million buildings across the Global South at risk of regular flooding if fossil fuel emissions are not curbed quickly, according to a new McGill-led study published in npj Urban Sustainability.
The research provides the first large-scale, building-by-building assessment of the impact of long-term sea level rise on coastal infrastructure in Africa, Southeast Asia and Central and South America. The team used detailed satellite maps and elevation data to estimate how many buildings would be inundated at various levels of sea level rise over multi-century timescales.
Well, its alreay Friday here – actually early Saturday morn FWIW but still :
A comet from another star system will swing by Mars on Friday as a fleet of spacecraft trains its sights on the interstellar visitor.
The comet known as 3I/Atlas will hurtle within 18 million miles (29 million kilometers) of the red planet, its closest approach during its trek through the inner solar system. Its breakneck speed: 193,000 mph (310,000 kph).
Both of the European Space Agency’s satellites around Mars are already aiming their cameras at the comet, which is only the third interstellar object known to have passed our way. NASA’s satellite and rovers at the red planet are also available to assist in the observations.
Discovered in July, the comet poses no threat to Earth or its neighboring planets. It will come closest to the sun at the end of October. Throughout November, ESA’s Juice spacecraft, which is headed to Jupiter and its icy moons, will keep an eye on the comet.
The comet will make its closest approach to Earth in December, passing within 167 million miles (269 million kilometers).
A huge “wave” is rippling through our galaxy, pushing billions of stars in its wake, a new study reveals.
The Milky Way’s galactic wave was spotted in mapping data from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Gaia space telescope, which charted the positions and movement patterns of millions of stars with high accuracy before retiring earlier this year.
Like ripples in a pond, the wave has a very large influence: It affects stars between 30,000 and 65,000 light-years away from the galaxy’s center, ESA officials said in a statement. That’s a large percentage of the Milky Way, which is roughly 100,000 light-years across.
^ Not a Radcliffe wave – that’s a different one. Specifically one discussed here :
Observations from the European Space Agency’s recently retired Gaia mission indicate that around 14 million years ago, our solar system passed through a dense, star-forming region in the direction of the constellation Orion. This region is part of a vast network of star clusters that spans nearly 9,000 light-years and is sculpted into a structure that astronomers have dubbed the Radcliffe Wave in honor of the Harvard Radcliffe Institute in Massachusetts, where the wave’s existence was confirmed.
When our solar system swirled through this structure millions of years ago, it may have received an increased flow of interstellar dust. The timing of this event aligns with Earth’s transition from a warmer to a cooler climate, as reflected in the expansion of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. This raises the possibility that the encounter could have contributed to that climatic shift in concert with several other factors and ongoing processes, the new study posits.
Via DW news – thought there was amention of a poll saying 80% of Italians oppsoe Isreal’s action in gaza or something like that butcannot find it now..
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s staunch support for Hamas is a major source of tension with Israel. Relations between the countries have grown increasingly hostile over the war. Some observers say Israel could try to hit Hamas targets in Turkey.
“Republicans apparently want Democrats to stop using the kind of incendiary political rhetoric that the president uses all the time.”
The morning after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed, Fox News’ Lawrence Jones told viewers, “No side owns political violence, both sides have participated in this. But there is one side that continues to say that the other side is ‘evil’ and ‘hateful.’”
Oddly enough, I’m inclined to agree, though not in the way the Fox News co-host probably meant.
In the weeks since Kirk’s slaying, countless Republicans have repeated effectively the same line: Democrats and their allies on the left have created a dangerous political climate. Words such as “fascist,” the argument goes, are so incendiary that they inspire violence, such as the shooting that killed Kirk.
There are plenty of problems with the GOP’s pitch, but near the top of the list is the fact that Donald Trump keeps using the kind of rhetoric that his party keeps condemning. HuffPost reported:
President Donald Trump called the Democrats ‘the party of hate, evil, and Satan’ in a Truth Social post on Thursday. That’s the headline over an entry he shared featuring mostly awkward photos of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), former President Joe Biden and former first lady Jill Biden.
[…] It’s not clear who, exactly, created the image that the president promoted, but Trump really did amplify a message that explicitly called Democrats “The Party Of Hate, Evil, And Satan.” (More than 12 hours later, the online item has not been taken down.)
The reference to “Satan” was unusual for the president, but broadly speaking, the rhetorical push was entirely in line with his recent messaging. At Kirk’s memorial service, for example, Trump talked about how much he “hates” his political opponents — echoing a word he has repeated many times in reference to his contempt for Americans he disagrees with.
At a recent White House Faith Office luncheon, the president also condemned Democrats as “evil people.”
All of this dovetailed with Trump telling Americans that his political opponents are “fascists,” [!] who are also guilty of “treason.” [!] His domestic foes, the president has added, are also “enemies of the people,” “the enemy within” and “threats to democracy.” [!]
[…] What is it that the president wants people to do when he pushes such a message?
A video posted on X by the Department of Homeland Security included a brief flash of a character who has become associated with violent racist and neo-Nazi content online.
The clip, which was published on Thursday evening, features text that says “LIFE AFTER ALL CRIMINAL ALIENS ARE DEPORTED” and “the future is bright” alongside a quick succession of vintage shots of activities, President Trump as a younger man, and famous movies including “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Predator,” and “The Breakfast Club.” About 15 seconds into the montage, “Mac Tonight” makes an appearance.
“Mac Tonight,” also known as the “Moon Man,” was used in a McDonald’s marketing and commercial campaign in the 1980’s. The character’s most prominent feature is a crescent moon-shaped head and sunglasses. A 1987 article in the Pensacola News Journal described him as a “cool guy with a lounge-lizard voice and shades worn even at night.” The campaign, which included animatronics, was meant to promote evening dining at the fast food chain. It was discontinued due, in part, to legal drama.
More recently, the “Mac Tonight” character became popular with far-right activists and neo-Nazis online. In 2019, the Anti Defamation League added “Mac Tonight” to its database of “hate symbols” that the organization said are among the “most frequently used by a variety of white supremacist groups and movements, as well as some other types of hate groups. In its entry on the character, the ADL said that internet users began to display it alongside “violent or racist rap songs” in the 2000s and that, by 2015, it was firmly “associated with alt right language and imagery, including explicit white supremacist imagery.” [social media post, with video]
[…] researchers at the ADL are not the only ones who have documented the notable association between “Mac Tonight,” violently racist memes, and neo-Nazis. Earlier this year, a group of academics in Florida published an article that documented the “Moon Man” on 99 “white power music album covers.” They reported the figure often appeared “along with depictions of firearms, Nazi symbolism, and pro-Confederate images as well as anti-Semitic and anti-Black imagery and examples of political violence.” Know Your Meme also has an entry on the McDonald’s mascot noting it is frequently used in “racist parodies of various rap songs” and “often depicted as a member of the Ku Klux Klan, who advocates using violence against non-white minorities.” Within hours of the video being posted by DHS, the “Eyes on the Right” account on Bluesky pointed out the “Mac Tonight” cameo.
[…] The memes and racially charged content come as DHS is conducting a “Defend The Homeland” drive to recruit Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to participate in raids. While the Trump administration — including in the “Mac Tonight” video — has said its deportation push is focused on criminals, non-criminals and even U.S. citizens have been caught up in the crosshairs. On Tuesday, ICE agents made headlines with a nighttime raid where they busted down doors in a Chicago apartment building detained multiple citizens for hours and removed residents, including children, some of whom were reportedly naked, from their homes.
TPM reached out to DHS to ask why “Mac Tonight” was included in the video, how it related to the idea of “LIFE AFTER ALL CRIMINAL ALIENS ARE DEPORTED,” and whether the agency was aware of the symbol’s racist associations. We received a response from an unnamed DHS spokesperson who said, “Loving hot, tasty, McDonald’s does not make you a Nazi.”
[…] far right meme culture often exploits these grey areas. Neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes has discussed how “irony is so important for giving a lot of cover” to extremist views.
Having some degree of plausible deniability is one reason memes and cartoon imagery have gained traction in white supremacist circles. And now, some of those same memes and images are popular on the Trump administration’s social media.
New York Times: U.S. Military Attacked Boat Off Venezuela, Killing Four Men, Hegseth Says
“It was the fourth strike in the Trump administration’s legally disputed campaign targeting suspected drug runners in the Caribbean Sea.”
The U.S. military killed four men aboard a boat in international waters near Venezuela, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Friday, in the first such strike since the Trump administration told Congress that the United States was engaged in a formal “armed conflict” with Latin American cartels.
In his posting, Mr. Hegseth accused the four dead men of having been smuggling narcotics, without offering evidence. He also asserted that they were “affiliated” with one of the cartels and gangs that the Trump administration has designated as foreign terrorist organizations, but did not specify which.
The strike was the fourth known attack by the U.S. military on boats in the Caribbean Sea dating back to Sept. 2. In all, the military has now summarily killed 21 people it says were smuggling drugs as if they were not criminal suspects but enemy soldiers in a war zone. [!]
“Our intelligence, without a doubt, confirmed that this vessel was trafficking narcotics, the people onboard were narco-terrorists, and they were operating on a known narco-trafficking transit route,” Mr. Hegseth wrote. “These strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over!!!!”
As with the Trump administration’s previous announcements of such strikes last month, Mr. Hegseth posted a brief aerial surveillance video showing a go-fast-style boat moving across the surface of the sea and then blowing up. He said he had directed the strike on President Trump’s orders.
There were few other details. Mr. Hegseth said the attack took place “just off the coast of Venezuela” but in international waters and did not identify the nationalities of the dead.
Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, has denounced the attacks. Mr. Maduro called an earlier strike a “heinous crime” and “a military attack on civilians who were not at war and were not militarily threatening any country.” He said that if the United States believed that the boat’s passengers were drug traffickers, they should have been arrested.
It is illegal for the military to deliberately kill civilians — even suspected criminals — who are not directly participating in hostilities. The Trump administration told Congress this week that Mr. Trump had “determined” that the United States was engaged in an armed conflict with the cartels his administration had designated as terrorist groups, and that people crewing vessels suspected of smuggling drugs for such groups were “unlawful combatants,” not civilians.
The legitimacy of the idea that Mr. Trump can treat trafficking a dangerous product as the kind of hostility or armed attack that can trigger a state of armed conflict — and with it, a right to use lethal military force without running afoul of murder laws — has been sharply contested by a range of legal specialists in laws governing the use of force.
Those critics include retired judge advocate general officers who formerly advised the military on when it could use force. Notably, Mr. Hegseth has expressed loathing for so-called JAG lawyers and fired the top ones in February after he was confirmed.
[…] The U.S. Coast Guard, assisted by the Navy, has long dealt with drug trafficking by interdicting boats and, if suspicions of smuggling proved accurate, seizing their cargo and arresting their crews for prosecution.
But in late July, Mr. Trump signed a still-secret order directing the Pentagon to start using military force against Latin American criminal groups his administration has labeled terrorists. Since August, the U.S. military has built up naval forces in the south Caribbean Sea.
On Sept. 2, in the first use of that authority, Special Operations forces attacked a boat that Mr. Trump said was smuggling drugs and carrying 11 members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang his administration has called a terrorist group. In a report to Congress, Mr. Trump justified the strike as a matter of self-defense against drug traffickers.
There are lingering questions about what happened with that strike. It is not clear why so many people were aboard, raising suspicions that some may have been migrants rather than crew members. People briefed on a lengthier video of the operation than the one the administration released say that the boat had turned around before the U.S. military struck, apparently spooked by an aircraft, and that it was hit repeatedly before it sank.
A second boat strike, on Sept. 15, killed three Venezuelans, Mr. Trump has said, without specifying a group. In his letter to Congress declaring that the United States is now in a “noninternational armed conflict” with drug cartels designated as terrorist organizations, he also called the three people killed in that strike “unlawful combatants.”
A third, on Sept. 19, also killed three people, Mr. Trump said, this time without specifying a nationality or group.
The military has developed a proposal to potentially extend the campaign into strikes inside Venezuelan territory, according to current and former officials, but it is not clear whether Mr. Trump has made a decision about that. In addition, several of his top aides have been pushing to use military force to remove Mr. Maduro.
Mr. Maduro was indicted by the U.S. Justice Department on drug trafficking and corruption charges in Mr. Trump’s first term, and the United States under presidents of both parties has accused him of stealing the 2024 presidential election in Venezuela. The Trump administration has called him illegitimate and doubled a reward for his capture.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts appeared on CBS News Friday, where she took host Tony Dokoupil to task after he echoed a context-free GOP talking point about undocumented immigrants receiving health insurance.
“So, Senator, you know, Republicans say what you’re really fighting for is taxpayer dollars for, as they put it, illegal aliens,” Dokoupil began. “I know that’s not strictly true, but there is a provision—”
“—Excuse me? Not strictly true’?” Warren interrupted. “It’s a flat-out lie. There is nothing in Medicaid, there is nothing in Medicare that permits one undocumented immigrant to get $1 of assistance. [video]
Warren went on to clarify what is “strictly true.”
“What we’re saying is that whenever hospitals give care, what is going to be the level of reimbursement? And the Republicans said it’s going to be a low level. The Democrats said, ‘we just want to go back to the level it was before because you’re going to bankrupt hospitals.’ You’re going to put rural hospitals out of business,” she said.
And she’s right.
Since the GOP passed President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” rural hospitals have been shuttering in anticipation of the massive cuts to Medicaid.
Instead of taking accountability, now the GOP is working double time to blame Democrats and scapegoat immigrants, hoping that fear and misinformation will cover up the fact that their policies are shutting down hospitals and forcing people off of their health insurance.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics was supposed to release the September jobs report on Friday—one that would likely have shown yet another disappointing month of job creation as President Donald Trump’s tariffs cripple the labor market.
But the report was not released, even though it is complete and could be made public, because the federal government is shut down and the Trump administration deemed BLS employees to be nonessential. […]
Not releasing the monthly jobs report is bad for a number of reasons.
First and foremost is that the Federal Reserve uses the jobs report as critical data when assessing how to handle interest rates. Without that data, the Federal Reserve is flying blind when determining whether to change interest rate levels, which would have major consequences for the already struggling economy.
The next meeting of the Federal Reserve’s committee that sets rates is on Oct. 28 and 29. If the government is not reopened by then, then the bank will have to make its decision without the jobs data.
In fact, William Beach, a former BLS commissioner who now serves as the executive director of a budget think tank on Capitol Hill, said it’s possible we may never see the report.
“All the data have been collected and processed. Thus, BLS might publish the jobs report as soon as it reopens,” Beach wrote in a Q&A about the shutdown. “However, that unscheduled publication would require approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the White House. OMB approves a publication schedule at the beginning of the year for all statistical reports designated as Principal Federal Economic Indicators. The jobs report is one of those reports. Any change in that schedule needs OMB approval.”
More than that, however, is that it’s super convenient for Trump that he gets to withhold a job report and avoid yet more negative press that his economy is in the crapper. [!]
Already, Trump fired the BLS director after the labor statistics agency released a jobs report that Trump didn’t like. He had chosen Nazi-loving, traitorous, unqualified hack E.J. Antoni to replace the fired BLS chief because he wanted to stop the monthly job reports altogether in order to save Trump from embarrassment. (Trump ended up rescinding Antoni’s nomination amid opposition to Atoni’s credentials).
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) sent a letter to Russell Vought, the Project 2025 mastermind and current director of the Office of Management and Budget, to tell him to release September’s job numbers despite the shutdown.
“Withholding this data would undermine the Fed’s ability to make informed decisions that affect every American household through interest rates, the job market, and price stability,” Warren wrote in the letter. “I urge you to authorize the release of the September Employment Situation report without delay. The American people deserve transparency about the state of our economy.” [chart at the link]
Ultimately, there is another monthly jobs report compiled by the payroll firm ADP. It’s not considered to be the blue ribbon data that the BLS compiles, but it does provide some idea of how the labor market is doing.
The last ADP jobs report released on Wednesday showed that the private sector shed jobs in September. In fact, ADP has shown that the private sector has lost jobs in three out of the last four months, as companies have had to make cuts thanks to Trump’s idiotic tariffs cutting into their profit margins.
And the Trump administration is now struggling with how to respond to the fact that ADP is showing the labor market in the toilet. [social media post, with video]
Apparently to Trump and his goons, up is down, left is right, and the shitty economy is actually great!
House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared on Fox News Friday, where he tried—and failed—to reassure voters about the GOP’s government shutdown.
When asked to present Republicans’ plan to address Americans’ concerns about rising health care costs—a crisis of their own making—Johnson came up empty.
“We’re all concerned about that. But if they look at the facts, Republicans are the ones that are solving the problem in the big, beautiful bill,” he said. [video]
Johnson then pivoted to the debunked and racist talking point about undocumented immigrants getting health care.
“But what about people who are not on Medicaid?” host Dana Perino asked. “People who are either on the Obama exchanges or are worried they’re going to lose their employer-sponsored health insurance?”
“Yes, we have a lot of reforms that we need to push through,” Johnson replied vaguely. “But the answer is not to grow government and further subsidize insurance companies, which is exactly what those subsidies do.”
If you want to see a Republican spin a calorie-free word salad, just ask them what they plan to do about rising health care costs.
Senate Democrats and Republicans on Friday failed to pass competing bills to fund the government, extending the shutdown into next week. […]
Shortly after the failed votes, the House GOP said it would extend its recess through Oct. 13, a move to put pressure on Senate Democrats.
Senate Democrats have said the House GOP should be at the Capitol to negotiate a new deal, so the decision increases the likelihood the shutdown will last until the middle of October. […]
Hamas on Friday said it could accept parts of a Trump administration peace deal to end the war in Gaza, including the release of Israeli hostagers living and dead, according to the Associated Press.
This is the first public response since President Trump layed out a Sunday deadline that promised “HELL” if they rejected the deal.
Hamas said other elements of Trump’s 20-point peace plan would require further consultation, the Associated Press reported. […]
Trump on Friday demanded Hamas accept the full proposal and a deadline of Sunday at 6 p.m. Washington time to receive a response. He warned he would give Israel a greenlight to scale up its military offensive in the strip, which is currently focused on a full assault on Gaza City.
Trump’s 20-point plan, unveiled on Monday, demands Hamas lay down its arms and enter into an immediate ceasefire with Israel. Hamas fighters who renounce fighting and wish to remain in Gaza will be granted amnesty while others can take advantage of safe passage to third countries.
Trump had given Hamas has 72 hours to hand over hostages it kidnapped from Israel during its Oct 7, 2023 terrorist attack. This is said to include 20 living and the bodies of 28 deceased hostages.
Israel is also set to release Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, as part of the truce and in return for hostages.
A ceasefire respected by both sides would also allow for a surge of humanitarian support into the strip, where more than one million Palestinians are enduring hunger and displacement.
birgerjohanssonsays
Renato Casaro, the renowned Italian film poster artist has died.
StevoRsays
@110. Lynna, OM : AJ has live updates on this. Phew! Phew? Peace at last?
Hamas has submitted its response to US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, with the group agreeing to hand over administration of the enclave to Palestinian technocrats and free all Israeli captives.
The Palestinian group’s response did not address the crucial issue of its disarmament, but it said it was willing to “immediately enter” peace negotiations through mediators.
In a video address following Hamas’s statement, President Trump said the development was “unprecedented”, before cautioning that it’s important to get the “final word down in concrete”.
Trump also said he believes Hamas is ready for a “lasting peace”, as he called on Israel to “immediately stop bombing Gaza” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
At least hope that things can get better from here now and atleats the killing stops (?) for now..
Don’t trust Trump or Netanyahu one bit tho’
StevoRsays
Analysis piece by Laura Tingle and yeah, it does actually seem to have been updated I think? :
In the meantime, the Israeli prime minister and the US president have seriously displeased a lot of countries around the world who feel they have been misled.
It has been a week in which the underlying perception that just as Vladamir Putin played Donald Trump for a sucker, Netanyahu had done the same. The perception was Netanyahu had both played to Trump’s narcissism and dictated the terms that suited him in the proposal.
Combine that sense of Israel directing US policy with the ever-escalating chaos of the Trump administration and you end up with a lot of countries around the world that are not just feeling a bit sullen but strangely remote from cooperating with anything either country wants to do. And that’s just the politicians and policy makers.
We may have passed the peak of solar maximum, but that doesn’t mean the aurora season is winding down. In fact, the years after solar maximum can be some of the most exciting for skywatchers.
Space weather physicist Tamitha Skov describes one potential late-cycle outburst as the sun’s “last gasp”, a dramatic finale that could trigger powerful geomagnetic storms and impressive auroras on Earth.
But even without that encore, scientists agree the declining phase of the solar cycle can be especially turbulent, and particularly good for aurora chasers.
A federal judge says he believes the immigrant defendant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the administration wrongly sent to El Salvador, may have been targeted with a criminal charge by the Justice Department this year out of vindictiveness.
The finding sets up another round of court proceedings where Abrego Garcia’s lawyers will be able to dig into the Justice Department’s decision-making this year. They are attempting to have two criminal charges he faces in the Tennessee federal court dismissed and seek evidence that may show the Trump administration’s approach has been improper.
Vindictive prosecution is normally a dead issue, defendants complain about it a lot but normally making a case is very hard. Prosecutors have a lot of leeway in selecting which cases they bring. The Trump administration is violating the rules all over the place in ways that make the vindictive prosecution claim a lot more likely to stick.
In a well run government senior officials avoid talking about active cases except in the most broad terms and avoid saying the defendant is guilty. Trump and officials under him have straight up said they are targeting their political enemies and those that irritate Trump.
It will be interesting to see what the questioning and investigation turns up. Who ordered the prosecution and what grounds did they give? Did they leave any records? How will the judge react when it turns out they didn’t keep records they are legally required to keep?
I have a distinct impression that if a Carrington Event-style natural disaster were to occur today (and it would do serious damage to power grids and communications networks, with real, live casualties — and more than a few real dead casualties), the USA in particular would immediately jump to the conclusion that it had to be terrorism and launch an attack on some randomly-selected “enemy”, who was also just trying to pick themself up from the rubble.
birgerjohanssonsays
Susan Sarandon 79 today.
Same age as POTUS, but she looks and talks a hell of a lot better.
The Supreme Court paved the way [yesterday] for the Trump administration to revoke temporary legal status for up to 600,000 Venezuelan immigrants, meaning some could ultimately be deported.
The court granted an emergency request filed by the Trump administration seeking to block a judge’s ruling that said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem failed to follow the correct process in revoking Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans.
The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, in May granted an earlier emergency request filed by the Trump administration in the same case.
The latest filing came after California-based U.S. District Judge Edward Chen on Sept. 5 again ruled against the administration, this time in the form of a final decision rather than a preliminary one.
“Although the posture of the case has changed, the parties’ legal arguments and relative harms generally have not. The same result that we reached in May is appropriate here,” the unsigned court order said.
The court’s three liberal justices dissented.
One of them, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, wrote a dissenting opinion criticizing the court for once again granting an emergency request filed by the Trump administration, as it has done in 20 other cases.
“I cannot abide our repeated, gratuitous, and harmful interference with cases pending in the lower courts while lives hang in the balance, I dissent,” she wrote.
The Trump administration has argued that Chen’s latest ruling was effectively in defiance of the earlier Supreme Court decision. Lower courts had rejected that argument, noting that the high court had not offered an explanation for its earlier emergency ruling.
“We can only guess as to the court’s rationale when it provides none,” a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals noted.
The National TPS Alliance and individual Venezuelans challenged the Trump administration’s decision to revoke the protections.
Ahilan Arulanantham, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, echoed Jackson’s criticism of how the court has intervened so aggressively in cases involving Trump.
“This is perhaps the most extreme sign that the Supreme Court has abandoned law for politics,” he said in a statement.
Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said “today’s Supreme Court victory is a win for the American people and commonsense.”
“The American people should not have had to go to the Supreme Court twice to see justice done,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “Temporary Protected Status was always supposed to be just that: Temporary. Yet, previous administrations abused, exploited, and mangled TPS into a de facto amnesty program.”
The case focuses on a decision made at the tail end of the Biden administration to extend protections for Venezuelans under the federal Temporary Protected Status program.
Taking note of political instability in Venezuela, the Biden administration in March 2021 said Venezuelans were eligible for temporary protected status under the program, which has existed since 1990 to provide humanitarian relief to people from countries reeling from war, natural disasters or other catastrophes.
Applicants have legal status in the United States and can apply for work authorization for up to 18 months, subject to extensions.
The Biden administration protections were due to expire in October 2026.
Without that protection, affected people are subject to deportation via the normal legal process but can seek other avenues for remaining in the United States by, for example, claiming asylum. […]
The Trump administration announced Friday that it is putting $2.1 billion in funding for Chicago infrastructure projects on hold, the latest move to target Democratic-run cities during the government shutdown.
The Trump administration has approved a new generic version of the mifepristone abortion pill, a decision made by the Food and Drug Administration this week that is now prompting an uproar among antiabortion leaders.
Tech company Apple has blocked its users from accessing ICEBlock, an application that notifies people where Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity is taking place, in the company’s latest act of capitulation to the president’s authoritarian ambitions.
A statue depicting President Donald Trump and the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein reappeared Thursday on the National Mall amid the government shutdown.
The bronze-colored figures — shown holding hands and each with one leg lifted in the air — were first installed last week but removed by U.S. Park Police on Sept. 24. The statue, titled “Best Friends Forever,” includes a plaque that reads: “In honor of friendship month, we celebrate the long-standing bond between President Donald J. Trump and his closest friend Jeffrey Epstein.” […]
The Department of Treasury is in talks to mint a $1 coin that will feature President Donald Trump’s face, a move the administration says will mark the 250th anniversary of the country.
U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach confirmed in a post on X that his department is in talks to mint the Trump coin. Beach responded to right-wing media personality Steve Guest, who posted an image of the possible coin, writing, “No fake news here. These first drafts honoring America’s 250th Birthday and @POTUS are real. Looking forward to sharing more soon, once the obstructionist shutdown of the United States government is over.”
One side of the coin would feature a profile of Trump’s face […], while the back would feature an image of Trump with his fist in the air in front of an America flag with the text “FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT,” the words Trump spoke after the attempt on his life in July 2024.
“Despite the radical left’s forced shutdown of our government, the facts are clear: Under the historic leadership of President Donald J. Trump, our nation is entering its 250th anniversary stronger, more prosperous, and better than ever before,” a Treasury Department spokesperson told Politico. “While a final $1 dollar coin design has not yet been selected to commemorate the United States’ semiquincentennial, this first draft reflects well the enduring spirit of our country and democracy, even in the face of immense obstacles.” [Propaganda!!]
Aside from the fact that it’s incredibly tacky and egomaniacal for Trump’s administration to mint a coin of himself, it is also illegal. In 31 U.S. Code § 5114, it says, “Only the portrait of a deceased individual may appear on United States currency and securities.”
[…] Trump is such an egomaniac that you could absolutely see him ignoring the law so that he could get his fugly face on the very U.S. currency he is devaluing with his idiotic economic policies.
[…] this would be the latest way Trump is using taxpayer dollars to celebrate himself. Already, he spent millions on what turned out to be the lamest military parade of all time, which took place on his birthday. Trump is also defacing the White House by putting his tacky and hideous gold ornaments all over the walls of the Oval Office. And he’s even building a gigantic, gaudy ballroom that will be bigger than the White House itself—even continuing the construction of the gargantuan stain on the White House complex despite the government shutdown.
At the end of the day, Trump fancies himself as a king. Ignoring the law to put his face on currency would put him one step closer to achieving that goal.
“The attacks came after Hamas said it has agreed to release all Israeli hostages and expressed willingness to negotiate through mediators on President Donald Trump’s peace plan.”
Israel airstrikes hit the Gaza Strip on Saturday, local authorities said, hours after President Donald Trump called to halt the bombing, saying that Hamas was ready for peace.
Israeli fire killed six people across Gaza, Reuters reported, citing officials, while the Israel Defense Forces said a large part of the enclave remains a dangerous combat zone.
One strike killed four people in a house in Gaza City while another killed two others in Khan Younis, authorities said.
The attacks came after Hamas said Friday it has agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, and expressed willingness to negotiate through mediators on Trump’s 20-point plan for peace.
Trump later said that Israel “must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza,” writing on Truth Social that Hamas was “ready for a lasting PEACE.”
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said early Saturday that Israel was preparing “to immediately implement the first phase of Trump’s plan for the immediate release of all hostages.” [Reponses from residents of Gaza, plus video of destruction]
But attacks have continued on the enclave, and the Israel Defense Forces said Saturday it continued to surround Gaza City, and that “attempting to return to it poses a significant risk.”
“The area north of Wadi Gaza is still considered a dangerous combat zone,” Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, said in a post on X, referring to a river valley that is considered an informal divider between the northern and southern halves of Gaza.
Israeli strikes killed at least 66 people and injured over 250 in the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said Saturday, adding that the total death toll in the enclave had passed 67,000 after the addition of more than 700 people whose data had been verified.
Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government, does not say how many of those killed were civilians versus combatants, but the United Nations and other independent experts consider its figures to be reliable.
It was unclear how many of the most recent deaths took place after Trump’s announcement.
The Ministry of Health reported two deaths of children due to famine and malnutrition in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths from malnutrition to 459, including 154 children, it said.
The U.N. aid agency for Palestinians, known as UNRWA, called on Israel to allow the flow of humanitarian aid to resume through the U.N. […]
Populist right-wing leader Andrej Babiš and his ANO movement are poised for victory in a pivotal election that risks turning Czechia into another source of headache for the EU.
With ballots counted in 90 percent of electoral districts, ANO is leading with 35 percent of the vote, well ahead of Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s governing center-right coalition Spolu (Together), which is polling around 22 percent. […]
Will rfkJr’s health advice help tRUMP qualify to be on a coin? Just askin’ for a friend
The Federal Code says; 31 U.S. Code § 5114 “Only the portrait of a deceased individual may appear on United States currency and securities.”
He did it again, another war crime in America’s name. Former Fox News host and Secretary of Real He-Man No Fat Chicks WAR Pete Hegseth blew up a fourth boat of people in international waters off the coast of Venezuela, bringing his boat-blowup death toll to 24. And then he posted the snuff video on his X feed.
Watch if you have the stomach for that sort of thing. [video]
And Trump posted the clip and pounded on his web site that the people in the boat were coming with enough drugs to kill 25 TO 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE.
And oh yeah, by the way, it seems we are at war with Venezuela now. Trump quietly declared the US to be in formal armed conflict with them last week, via a confidential memo that he sent to congressional committees, informing them of the fact. Is that how war is supposed to work? Guess it doesn’t matter any more, about the war powers and the war crimes. JD Vance sure doesn’t give one shit! [social media post]
And Secretary Toughskins and company have already prepared a list of targets to strike inside Venezuela, and deployed at least eight ships with more than 4,000 personnel to the waters in the region, and sent F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico.
Sure sounds like a NEW WAR!
Why would anybody sign up for the military ever again? If you aren’t picking up garbage in Washington DC while your fellow citizens throw sandwiches at you, you might be blowing up some fishermen trying to catch dinner for their family, under the command of Boozehound and Bone Spurs, who are gutting the VA. With your paycheck now delayed indefinitely. How disgusted must the rank-and-file be right now?
just like the previous 17 people killed by US boat strikes, there’s been no official confirmation of the identity or occupation of the deceased, or evidence produced. The Venezuelan government claims they were not drug smugglers. Even if they were, the penalty for drug smuggling into the US is not death.
And let us use our own intelligence here. Look at the bounce on that boat! It’s not transporting substantial amounts of anything.
And does it make any fucking sense that some Alejandro Sosa-level international drug kingpin would be using a speedboat to travel more than 1,000 nautical miles from Venezuela to Miami to deliver a few Igloo coolers worth of drugs? International drug lords make use of shipping containers or hidey-holes on big ships with lots of places to stick things, or submarines […]
And the entire Caribbean is between here and there. Bermuda, Jamaica, Epstein Island. Not only were these boats not anywhere close to entering American territory, they’d have to pass by multiple other countries to even get in the vicinity of the Gulf of America. (Though Puerto Rico’s reasonably close.) [map]
And Venezuela plays virtually no role in the international fentanyl trade. Fentanyl is mostly produced in Mexico with chemicals from China. Venezuela has been accepting flights of deportees, just like the US asked. Also 17 out of 18 US intelligence agencies assessed that Tren de Aragua is actually not run by Maduro and/or the Venezuelan government. Though Presidente Nicholas Maduro is a bad-guy dictator, and indicted in the US for trafficking that he surely at least enabled, and he also he rudely refused to leave office after he was voted out. […]
So what is to be gained here? Their oil and natural goodies in a favorable coup, perhaps? Encouragement for Russia and China’s respective expansive notions? Or is it just all part of the Stephen Miller plan to isolate America and make enemies in every part of the globe? […]
Maybe Hegseth and Miller just really, really want to blow some people up, because they’ve always wanted to and now they can, with no one to stop them. […]
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Saturday said that he was informed by the Trump administration that the Department of Defense plans to federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard and deploy them within his state.
“It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will,” Pritzker said in a statement, adding that he was given an ultimatum by Defense Department officials: “call up your troops, or we will.”
“I want to be clear: there is no need for military troops on the ground in the State of Illinois,” Pritzker added. “I will not call up our National Guard to further Trump’s acts of aggression against our people.” [video]
[…] The news comes as the Trump administration and officials in Portland, Ore., await a ruling from a federal judge regarding a separate deployment of National Guard troops that the president authorized to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in Portland on Friday.
That move activated 200 National Guard troops in Portland as part of the president’s agenda to curb crime in American cities.
The state of Oregon and the city of Portland sued the Trump administration in an attempt to stop the president from sending National Guard troops there, pushing back on the president’s claims that the protests were violent or out of control.
The case comes after Trump said in a social media post last week that he was directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to deploy troops to Portland, claiming that the city was “under siege from attack by Antifa and other domestic terrorists.” […]
a top deputy to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, was reportedly exchanging messages with War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s adviser […] the texts reveal discussions about deploying the 82nd Airborne Division to Portland, a unit better known for parachuting into World War battlefields and Afghanistan than patrolling American streets. […] “Between you and I, I think Pete just wants the top cover from the boss if anything goes sideways […] 82nd is like our top tier for abroad. So it will cause a lot of headlines. Probably why [Hegseth] wants potus to tell him to do it.”
[…]
Elsewhere the exchange revealed information about other ongoing campaigns within the cabinet, […] insulting FBI director Kash Patel as a “giant douche canoe.”
@132 Lynna, OM posted about: https://www.wonkette.com/p/guess-were-at-war-with-venezuela
Sure sounds like a NEW WAR!
I reply: I can’t keep track of all the wars tRUMP and his chicken-hawks have started:
war on science
war on education
war on trans
war on antifa
war on poor people
and on and on ad nauseam!
I keep hearing my mind shout ‘make it stop’! But, there doesn’t seem to be any means strong enough to stop the murderous madness that rules this country.
President Donald Trump’s freezing of funds for Democratic-led states has raised concerns among some centrist Republicans in the U.S. Congress, who worry that leaning into these divisions could make it harder to end an ongoing government shutdown.
“You’re going to create a bad faith environment here that could put us further out. They need to be very judicious,” Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who is involved in informal bipartisan talks to end the shutdown, told reporters in the U.S. Capitol this week.
Trump and the hard right isn’t acting in good faith? You don’t say. Why is it suddenly a concern now? Why didn’t you speak up back when the administration started acting in bad faith? Oh, wait, your retiring aren’t you so there isn’t much that Trump can do against you is there?
Tillis, a North Carolina lawmaker who announced his retirement after clashing with Trump earlier this year, said he hoped the White House was coordinating its actions with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, who are trying to persuade their Democratic counterparts to support a short-term funding bill that would reopen federal agencies and fund government operations through November 21.
Thune and Johnson are not really trying to persuade the Democrats, they are trying to bully the Democrats. They have refused to negotiate and are still repeating lies about the Democratic position. Trump is just making fun of Democrats.
It’s funny that the moderates think they have any power when Trump is pushing as far to the right as the courts will let him get away with.
“The best time for the opposition to take a stand, rather than settle for untrustworthy promises, is right now.”
Related video at the link.
This isn’t a normal government shutdown, and past shutdowns shouldn’t be treated as models for how Democrats respond to their current crisis.
[…] Shutdowns inevitably harm federal workers and the millions of Americans who rely on their services, but the Trump administration is illegally removing federal employees and dismantling government programs already, part of its broader attack on constitutional checks and balances.
Unfortunately, making things better for the American people coming out of this shutdown is probably not an option. Either Trump makes things worse with Democratic affirmation, or Trump makes things worse despite Democratic opposition. But in these unusual circumstances, things getting worse — and faster — could actually help pull America back from the brink of dictatorship.
Painful as it may be, Democrats should refuse to play ball with the Trump administration. This White House cannot credibly commit to following the law, and rather than enter budget negotiations in good faith, it threatens even more lawbreaking to force Democratic acquiescence. […]
The United States government is not currently operating under the Constitution. The executive branch has usurped congressional authority, ignores numerous court orders and violates rights — transforming the country from a rule-of-law democracy into a deepening authoritarianism. The administration is consolidating institutional power at agencies that used to be professional and partially independent, most visibly at the Department of Justice. Broader regime consolidation is also happening outside government, as Trump-allied oligarchs take over more of the information ecosystem.
That requires a different counterstrategy than typical politics.
When the law required Trump to leave power after losing re-election in 2020, he attempted a self-coup — and that was before the Supreme Court majority helped him escape legal accountability for it — so there’s reason to fear he won’t step down as constitutionally required at the end of this term. In the meantime, the White House’s institutional control is likely to increase, even if it weakens the institutions in the process.
That means the best time for the opposition to take a stand, rather than settle for untrustworthy promises, is right now.
The administration’s desire for dominance is bottomless, but its capacity is not. The Trump White House is abusing power and hurting people but faces resistance from a deeply ingrained democratic American culture.
The main counterforce to Trump’s authoritarian ambitions is his deep and growing unpopularity. Trump’s approval rating is down to the high 30s, and he’s underwater on nearly every issue, even on supposed signatures like the economy and immigration.
Growing societal opposition means more civil society leaders willing to say “no” — such as Disney/ABC reinstating Jimmy Kimmel after consumer pressure, or UC Berkeley law dean Erwin Chemerinsky calling Trump’s proposed deals with universities “extortion” and urging collective refusal.
Actions like these counteract Trump’s intimidation, making him seem smaller. By contrast, corporations, universities and other institutions surrendering without being forced makes him seem stronger, like the winds are blowing his way.
Societal opposition also has an institutional impact via state and congressional elections. Republicans are trying to corrupt them […] with extreme red-state gerrymanders, some transparently aimed at disenfranchising Black voters.
But enough votes can overcome that, especially if retaliatory gerrymanders in California and other blue states help keep the playing field near even. However he might like to, Trump doesn’t currently hold enough power to rig independent elections in 50 states.
The bigger the backlash to Trump’s overreach, the bigger a blue wave. Democrats stand a decent chance of getting control of the House, which gives them powers of agenda setting, oversight and a piece of whatever remains of legislation. A big enough wave and they’ll capture the Senate too, but that’s a long shot given the seats up for election this year. Still, any gains in the Senate increase Democrats’ institutional leverage and their chance of taking control after the next election.
In normal politics, sustaining budget fights is hard for Democrats, because they’re the party more interested in government functioning. […] But Democratic opposition to Trump’s lawbreaking is a stronger principle and message, and so serious that taking a stand is worth whatever short-term pain it causes.
Ever the bully, Trump’s instinct is to threaten and escalate. Instead of cowing before that, pro-democracy forces should welcome it. The president acting like a repressive dictator now — instead of waiting for consolidated power — plays to the opposition’s advantage.
For example, Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought announced $8 billion in cuts to green energy funds from selected states, all of which have two Democratic senators and voted for Kamala Harris. That’s no less than taxation without representation. Those blue states — which include the biggest “donor states” that pay more in federal taxes than they get back, effectively subsidizing the rest — will have federal outlays unconstitutionally canceled, in violation of law duly passed by representatives from those states, among others.
Don’t buy the canard that this is retaliation for Democratic intransigence, or that shutdowns grant the executive branch vast new powers. Vought has advocated this sort of illegal rescission for years, including as the lead author of Project 2025. [True]
It’s hard in today’s information environment, but the more Americans see stuff like this, the better. […] ICE reportedly planning to target Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show could yield something productive. While the actions themselves would be awful, seeing the cruelty and inhumanity play out during the year’s most watched event would force more Americans to reckon with the Trump administration’s attacks on rights.
“Win the shutdown” in the old sense does not apply. Trump and the Republicans control the White House, House and Senate, along with the Supreme Court. They can pass a budget on their own if they want. Yes, the filibuster sets a 60-vote threshold in the Senate, but a simple majority can easily change that, like Republicans recently did so they could confirm 48 judges at once.
Democrats should ignore hand-wringing pundits whose minds are stuck in the past, remember that the next national election is over a year away, and use that time to rally Americans against the forces destroying their democracy, strengthening the opposition’s hand for the even bigger fights to come.
Instead of rescuing Trump and Republicans from themselves, take an unwavering stand against their attack on constitutional democracy.
A federal, Trump-appointed judge granted Portland’s request for temporary protection from imminent National Guard occupation Saturday night.
Judge Karin Immergut wrote that some of the Trump administration’s arguments risk disrupting the basic premise that the United States is a country of “Constitutional law, not martial law.”
“Defendants have made a range of arguments that, if accepted, risk blurring the line between civil and military federal power — to the detriment of this nation,” she wrote.
The Trump administration immediately appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Immergut on Friday seemed poised to grant the temporary restraining order, as the administration’s lawyers struggled mightily during oral arguments to point to recent unrest in Portland that would justify the deployment.
“As of September 27, 2025, it had been months since there was any sustained level of violent or disruptive protest activity in Portland,” she wrote.
She added that law enforcement had managed what sporadic episodes there were outside an ICE facility that had been the site of larger protests earlier in the summer. She also dismissed the administration’s arguments that violence elsewhere — Justice Department lawyers had cited the killing of ICE detainees in Dallas — heightened the risk of violence in Portland specifically.
The DOJ’s argument that Portland’s occasional use of other types of federal troops as backup demonstrated that local law enforcement was unable to cope similarly didn’t pass muster: “If the President could equate diversion of federal resources with his inability to execute federal law, then the President could send military troops virtually anywhere at any time,” she said.
She also wrote that President Trump’s own words hurt his case, as his hyperbolic descriptions of Portland as war-ravaged and burning showed that his “determination was simply untethered to the facts.”
The same day that Immergut handed down her ruling, Trump announced that he would deploy 300 National Guard troops to Chicago. That occupation is opposed by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) — who called the deployment “outrageous and un-American” — and will also likely be met with legal challenges.
Read the ruling here: [Ruling available at the link]
Two weeks ago, the Arkansas Department of Education told child care providers their funding was being cut. Why? Because the federal Child Care Development Block Grant—slashed by President Donald Trump, who carried Arkansas 64–34—is drying up.
Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva told lawmakers that, starting with the new fiscal year, those federal dollars are gone, with no guarantee they’ll return.
“The current model that we have is unsustainable,” he admitted, adding it would cost Arkansas $80 million to make up the shortfall.
Arkansas is a moocher state. It has the 14th largest gap in the country between what it pays into the federal treasury and what it takes out. For decades, taxpayers in California, New York, New Jersey, and Washington have been footing the bill for Arkansas families.
Liberals never complained—we believe in lifting everyone. And how did conservatives repay that generosity? By embracing a racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic politics that’s tearing the country apart.
So congrats, Arkansas! Some trans kids somewhere can’t play sports!
And all it cost you was your child care.
And your rural health care.
And your farms.
Meanwhile, Republicans passed a tax bill that handed windfalls to the wealthy in those very blue states they rail against, while Trump’s Treasury signed off on a $20 billion bailout for his buddy in Argentina—which is a lot more than $80 million. […]
We’re in Day Four of the third Trump shutdown, so let’s check in on the important things the president of the United States is doing to get government back to work for the American People! He spent much of Thursday evening in intense negotiations with … uh … OK, he actually spent the night shitposting. […]
But just look how he filled his fake Twitter with crappy memes and AI slop, for the American People! The great leader whose administration warned us following Charlie Kirk’s murder that angry words could get people killed offered this smart take on how Democrats are literally in league with Satan, but only because we probably made him do it […].
[social media post]
Trump followed that up with a fan-made AI slop video depicting budget director Russell Vought as the Grim Reaper, in a song parody of “Don’t Fear The Reaper” that had great imagery of an animated AI Trump banging a cowbell out of sync with the actual beat. [video]
We liked the AI-slop detail where the office full of useless Washington bureaucrats, all fearing Vought’s vengeance, have their computer monitors facing the wrong way [LOL]. [screenshot]
But Trump has also been busy using the shutdown as an excuse for fucking up the government, or at least his acolytes have — we haven’t had a live sighting of Trump for a couple days […]
Karoline Leavitt: Nobody Enjoys Cutting Jobs. OK, The President Does, But That’s OK
ABC News reporter Mary Bruce asked Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt about the contrast between the White House’s claim that at this difficult time, it’s trying to avoid massive layoffs, and, well, the fun Grim Reaper stuff Trump clearly enjoys shitposting.
“The president has described this as an unprecedented opportunity to lay off additional workers. He’s posted a video likening it to the grim reaper. Which is it? Is this an opportunity to fire more workers or an unfortunate consequence?” Bruce asked.
Leavitt claimed that “both can be true at the same time.”
“We don’t like laying people off. Nobody takes joy and if you think that, that’s very sad you view the White House and our staff as wanting to put people out of work. Nobody wants to do that, but sometimes in government, you have to make the tough decisions,” she added.
Yeah, shame on you for thinking Trump enjoys acting like a sociopath who gets his jollies from firing useless bureaucrats. He’s just trying to keep the nation’s spirits up. Y[…]
Tough Luck About Those Infrastructure Projects, Cities!
As they promised, Trump and Vought are merrily using the shutdown as an excuse to withhold congressionally allocated funding to cities with Democratic elected leaders, in complete violation of the Constitution and the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, which Vought decided in Project 2025 is unconstitutional. Usually people wait for the Supreme Court to decide that, but Vought is in a hurry because even after the heady days of DOGE firing all the don’t-let-nuclear-stockpile-decay people, there’s still so much government left to dismantle.
Friday, Vought and the Department of Transportation announced that funding would be frozen for two mass transit projects in Chicago, because the Chicago Transit Authority — the transit authority, not the band of the same name — had supposedly engaged in “unconstitutional practices” by doing a DEI, which Trump declared illegal, remember? $2.1 billion appropriated by Congress for the infrastructure programs, the “CTA Red Line Extension” and “CTA Red and Purple Modernization Project,” will be put on hold until Vought determines whether the transit projects might conceivably help Black people.
The move follows Vought’s first attack on transportation funding on Tuesday, when he announced that $18 billion for transit projects in New York and New Jersey would be withheld for similarly alleged “unconstitutional” diversity programs. That halted work on the Gateway Tunnel, which would ease commuting into New York by building a new train tunnel under the Hudson River, and also stopped an extension of the Second Avenue Subway line in New York City.
[…] on Wednesday, the administration canceled nearly $8 billion in energy projects that Vought called “Green New Scam funding,” and surprise, surprise, the cuts were all located in states that voted for Kamala Harris […]
‘Democrat Agencies’? Which Ones Are Those?
Also on Thursday, Trump gleefully announced that he would have Vought do some budget violence to “Democrat Agencies,” whatever those are, and like maybe three people in America were shocked to see Trump acknowledge that he’d lied last year when he disavowed any links between his campaign and Project 2025. Who could have guessed? [social media post]
As it turns out, CNN went full Sweet Summer Child, and actually pretended to ask whether Trump had not really understood what Project 2025 was when he disavowed it (archive link).
Was he telling the truth before?
Did he just not understand that thing that he said earlier?
Is he just trolling all of us?
The answer could be some combination of all three, especially in the case of Thursday’s post, and the “unprecedented opportunity” Trump says he now has to hack away at federal agencies during the government shutdown.
Somehow, “Trump is a habitual liar, and that social media post simply confirms what everyone has known for months” does not appear in the piece. Wow.
As I say, Trump didn’t actually specify what these “Democrat Agencies” were, and as far as I can tell, no entire government offices have been wiped out. […]
Americans Know Trump And Republicans Did This
We’ll close with a little poll porn for you: A Washington Post poll taken Tuesday, the first day of the shutdown, found that 47 percent of US adults blame Trump and congressional Republicans for the shutdown, while 30 percent blame Democrats.
A pretty high 23 percent said they were unsure […] If the shutdown drags on, as seems likely, that percentage is likely to decrease as people get grumpy about government services not being available.
Also fun: Independents were far more likely to blame Trump and Republicans for the shutdown than to blame Democrats (50 percent to 22 percent). As you’d expect, there was a partisan divide in who blamed whom, but Democrats were far more likely to blame Republicans (87 percent) than Republicans to blame Democrats (67 percent). That reflects a slightly larger proportion of Rs than Ds blaming their own party (8 percent vs just 2 percent), but also a much higher “not sure” response among Republicans. [Chart]
On extending the expiring subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, the top issue that Democrats are pushing for in the shutdown […], people are actually very much in favor of healthcare not being more fucking expensive […]
And finally, you really should go read this New Republic interview with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), who pushed for a more aggressive Democratic stance going into the shutdown, and goddamnit, he’s right, the end.
Update: I knew I forgot something! There’s also this NPR story about how in the end, it may not be any negotiations or demands or even basic decency (ha!) that ends the shutdown. Once it starts causing long delays and missed flights due to Air Traffic Controllers reaching their stress limits working without pay, that might inconvenience so many congresscritters and their donors that they’ll find a surprise solution to the shutdown, as happened in the last shutdown, in 2019.
And now, a bonus feel-good post of Kristi Noem not being allowed to use the restroom in an Illinois police station Friday […]
“EXCLUSIVE: Trump plan would limit disability benefits for older Americans”
“Trump administration officials are considering eliminating age as a factor in deciding whether someone is capable of working”
The Trump administration is preparing a plan that will make it harder for older Americans to qualify for Social Security disability payments, part of an overhaul of the federal safety net for poor, older and disabled people that could result in hundreds of thousands of people losing benefits, according to people familiar with the plans.
Currently, the Social Security Administration evaluates disability claims by considering age, work experience and education to determine if a person can adjust to other types of work. Older applicants, typically over 50, have a better chance of qualifying because age is treated as a limitation in adapting to many jobs.
But now officials are considering eliminating age as a factor entirely or raising the threshold to age 60 […] They also plan to modernize labor market data used to judge whether claimants can work, replacing an outdated jobs database that includes obsolete occupations like nut sorters and telephone quotation clerks […]
Jack Smalligan, senior policy fellow at the Urban Institute and a former Office of Management and Budget official through five administrations, wrote in a recent paper that if the proposed rule reduced eligibility for the disability program by 10 percent, 750,000 fewer people would receive benefits for all or part of the next decade. In addition, 80,000 fewer widows and children would receive benefits due to the loss in eligibility of a spouse or parent.
[…] Older workers who claim retirement benefits at age 62 rather than receive Social Security’s disability insurance would receive 30 percent less in benefits for the rest of their lives.
“The criteria already is really tight enough that we’re actually restricting some people we probably should allow,” Smalligan said in an interview.
SSA spokesman Barton Mackey said the agency is working on plans to “propose improvements to the disability adjudication process to ensure our disability program remains current and can be more efficiently administered.”
“This includes proposing policy updates to occupational data sources and optimizing their use to serve our customers and preserve the trust funds,” Mackey said. “Once the proposal is fully developed, we will share it publicly and request public comment through the standard rulemaking process. … As with any rulemaking, we will consider and analyze public comments before deciding whether to finalize the rule.”
People familiar with the proposed changes said they are a priority of Russell Vought [!], director of the Office of Management and Budget, who sought during Trump’s first term to update the disability rolls through executive action. […]
“We felt that so many more jobs are now available to disabled people,” said Mark Warshawsky, who led work on the earlier proposed rule as the SSA’s deputy commissioner for retirement and disability policy during the first Trump administration. “The nature of work has changed.”
[…] Senate Finance Committee ranking Democrat Ron Wyden (Oregon) argued that the rule change is just the first step in broader Republican plans to cut Social Security.
“This is Phase One of the Republican campaign to force Americans to work into old age to access their earned Social Security benefits, and represents the largest cut to disability insurance in American history,” Wyden said in a statement to The Post. “Americans with disabilities have worked and paid into Social Security just like everybody else, and they do not deserve the indignity of more bureaucratic water torture to get what they paid for.”
The $11 billion disability program is separate from Social Security’s retirement system. It is also far more difficult to qualify for benefits under the program than the disability system for veterans.
Qualifying for disability benefits is a multistep process that can take years […] One of the first steps in the process is determining if the applicant has a serious illness or condition on a list of impairments, such as ALS, terminal cancer or chronic heart failure.
If their condition is not dire, the applicant’s age, work experience and education become factors the government must weigh to decide if their disability still allows them to work. If they are over 50, they have a better shot at qualifying for benefits because they are considered less able to adapt to new work. These factors have been responsible for making about 42 percent of applicants eligible for benefits, Social Security data from 2022 shows.
[…] With the aim of modernizing the jobs data it uses, Social Security has paid the Bureau of Labor Statistics more than $300 million to build a complex directory of 21st century jobs. […] as of today, the agency is still not using the modern data when reviewing disability claims.
[…] starting next year the agency plans to develop a computer-generated database using the modern jobs data to determine which jobs, if any, someone seeking benefits could perform. Disability advocates say they worry that the database will be programmed to come up with a vast array of jobs, particularly if advancing age is no longer a limiting factor, and will end up denying benefits to tens of thousands of claimants every year. [Yep. That sounds likely. And any appeal process will be a nightmare (or Russell Vought’s sweet dream.)]
Michelle Spadafore, a senior attorney at New York Legal Assistance Group, said she frequently finds older disabled clients are not able to go back to work if they are denied benefits because they struggle to keep up with the technical and physical skills required of modern work. In addition, employers may be less inclined to hire workers nearing retirement age over younger hires. “[…] disability benefits are almost always less money than full-time wages.”
[…] initial denials of disability claims are up, […] which found the SSA has approved nearly 3 percent fewer claims last fiscal year compared to this one.
More than 15 million Americans receive monthly disability checks as part of two programs: Social Security Disability Insurance — for those with a work history who have become disabled before retirement — and Supplemental Security Income, an anti-poverty program for poor elderly and disabled people that pays about $800 per month.
At the same time, Social Security is working on plans to rescind a Biden-era rule that expanded SSI eligibility for recipients who live with relatives or roommates receiving help from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or other public assistance. Restoring stricter standards could roll back payments for about 400,000 Americans, according to an August report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Spadafore said she expects her clients impacted by this change could see their payments reduced by a third, and other cuts to SNAP as part of Trump’s sweeping tax and spending plan could further devastate households. […]
birgerjohanssonsays
WHOA! Trump panics as press conference resurfaces shedding light on his DARK PAST (if Howard Lutnik realised Epstein was a creep within a few minutes, why did DJT hang out with E for two decades?)
I just realised Howard Lutnik – who looks ancient- is a couple of weeks younger than me. I need to start planning for my funeral.
lumipunasays
Hello.
I keep seeing news from the lawless seas. The regular US war/security show against drugs and terrorism now features lethal military attacks on alleged drug boats in international waters, with no pretense of concern about legality. The Israeli Navy is gung-ho detaining people and destroying property in international waters, even though they could apparently get some legal cover by waiting until the Sumud flotilla enters Gaza territorial waters.
Meanwhile here in Finland, a local court in Helsinki gave its verdict on the Eagle S sabotage tanker case, and it’s a real WTFwhopper.
Three members of the 20-strong crew stood accused of sabotage, and had to stay in Finland for many months for the court proceedings while the ship was allowed to sail. They argued that they’d just accidentally ended up dragging the anchor on sea floor for many miles. This happened in international waters just outside Finnish, Estonian and Russian waters. They argued that they’d been tricked into entering Finnish territorial waters, while not planning to allow the ship be legally seized.
In the end, all that was irrelevant. The court decided, bizarrely, that it has no jurisdiction in this case. While conceding that the alleged sabotage affected Finland and effectively took place here, some international sea administration treaty decrees that crimes committed by sailors in international waters can only be adjudicated by their home country (in this case India, Georgia) or the ship’s flag country (Cook Islands). No word on whether anything is going to happen on that front – I guess not.
Estonians, probably, now have the impression that the Finnish justice system is in Russia’s pocket. I’m wondering about that, too.
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California said the Trump administration was sending 300 National Guard troops from his state to Portland, Ore., a decision he called a “breathtaking abuse of power.”
The move came a day after a federal judge blocked the White House from deploying Oregon’s National Guard in response to protests over immigration enforcement in Portland. In Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker condemned the actions of federal agents in Chicago, saying that administration officials wanted to create a “war zone so they can send in even more troops.”
[…] The Trump administration sent 300 federalized members of the California National Guard to Oregon early Sunday, after being blocked by a federal court from deploying the Oregon National Guard in that state […]
The move came less than a day after Judge Karin Immergut of the U.S. District Court in Oregon issued a temporary restraining order preventing Mr. Trump and the Defense Department from mobilizing 200 Oregon troops for a 60-day deployment there. Mr. Trump had said the troops were needed to respond to demonstrations at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, but the judge wrote that she expected a trial court to agree with the state’s contention that the president had exceeded his constitutional authority.
“They are on their way there now,” [!] Mr. Newsom said of the California troops in a statement. “This isn’t about public safety, it’s about power. The commander in chief is using the U.S. military as a political weapon against American citizens. We will take this fight to court, but the public cannot stay silent in the face of such reckless and authoritarian conduct by the president of the United States.”
The president has pushed to deploy National Guard troops in a number of major U.S. cities, most of them heavily Democratic, and has said that military forces were needed to combat crime and support immigration enforcement. On Saturday, Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois, a Democrat, said that Mr. Trump planned to send 300 Guard troops to Chicago soon. The president has sent Guard troops to Washington, D.C., as well.
Earlier this year, Mr. Trump sent nearly 5,000 National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles during protests there over aggressive immigration enforcement. Most of the troops have since been withdrawn.
A federal judge has ruled that those troops were used illegally for domestic law enforcement. But that ruling has been stayed pending an appeal, and 300 troops remained deployed in Southern California. It was those troops that have been sent to Oregon, Mr. Newsom said.
Saturday Night Live presented sketches that addressed current controversies, including Pete Hegseth’s speech to military officers at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Northern Virginia.
The LIES and PROPAGANDA are getting VERY DANGEROUS: https://digbysblog.net/2025/10/04/what-theyre-seeing-2/
The scary thing about them is that sooo many knuckle-dragging magat imbeciles are slurping this up and are willing to use violence.
While others are rightly blasting the New York Times and the rest of the White House Press Corps who shrink in fear of a Trump tweet, the Portland Oregonian called out the Trump Administration succinctly and correctly over the past 24 hours.
First they sent reporters to the ICE facility in South Portland and had them report what they saw. There was a lone protestor wearing a mask at 6 a.m. A group of people tabling and handing out information about constitutional rights at 8 a.m. A guy in a chicken suit at 10 a.m., a lady holding a sign that said “Veterans against militarization,” in the rain at noon, a California tourist holding a sign saying “DJT Out of Portland at 2 p.m.”
And then around 3 the “MAGA granny” and former January 6th rioter showed up because she wanted to see the battlefield. What she had to say takes the cake.
Nearby, Pamela Hemphill sat smoking a cigarette in a blue lawn chair. The 72-year-old, once known as “MAGA Granny,” said she wanted to see what the “war-ravaged” city President Trump described actually looked like.
“They aren’t violent,” Hemphill said of the protesters she’s interacted with. “They’re some of the sweetest people.”
The Oregonian inserted the following into their headline, “Is this what ‘lawless mayhem” looks like?”
Earlier today this assorted eccentric group of protestors that represents the wonderful City of Portland, Oregon so well decided to march from a park to the ICE Office. They were met by federal officers who threw tear gas into the crowd. The Oregonian noted it was the federal officers that threw tear gas into the crowd and then in the second paragraph of the article noted that they saw no reason protestors should’ve been arrested […]
“The right-wing populist vows to slash support for Ukraine, challenge increased military spending and confront Brussels over the Green Deal.”
[…] Andrej Babiš and his ANO movement gained a decisive win in a pivotal Czech parliamentary election, […] in a vote that risks turning Czechia into another headache for the EU.
ANO was well ahead with nearly 35 percent of the vote, with ballots counted in more than 99 percent of electoral districts. That compared with Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s governing center-right coalition Spolu (Together), which had around 23 percent. […]
, the State Election Commission, which is compiling provisional results from more than 14,800 locations across Czechia and worldwide, is expected to confirm the final outcome by Monday. But the introduction of new mail-in voting could cause delays.
In total, 4,462 candidates and 26 parties are competing. Voter turnout was estimated at 68 percent, the highest since the 1998 elections.
[…] Europe has been watching the Czech elections with caution, as Babiš has vowed to scrap the ammunition initiative for Ukraine, challenge NATO’s plans to boost military spending, and confront the European Commission over the Green Deal.
Critics fear that if the right-wing billionaire regains power, the Czech Republic could become a new bête noire for the EU alongside Viktor Orbán’s Hungary and Robert Fico’s Slovakia.
[…] Babiš will likely fall short of securing a majority in the 200-seat lower house, meaning he will need parliamentary support to form a government. All of the country’s mainstream parties have ruled out working with Babiš after the election, leaving him no choice but turn to more extreme options. [chart showing poll results]
[…] Babiš on Saturday evening said he aims to form a single-party minority government, supported by the SPD and the Motorists for Themselves.
[…] Babiš campaigned on promises of cheaper energy, higher pensions and putting Czechia’s interests ahead of Ukraine’s. His appeal is likened to that of Donald Trump in the United States.
A billionaire agricultural tycoon, Babiš already served as prime minister from 2017 to 2021. He ran for president in 2023 but lost to Army General Petr Pavel.
Babiš is a well-known figure in Brussels, especially due to a long-standing legal case in which he is suspected of defrauding the EU of €2 million to allow his agriculture empire Agrofert to receive subsidies intended for medium-sized businesses. [Oh good, he is also a con man, a guy runs scams. Very Trump-like.]
That case is now back on the table as Babiš is currently awaiting a verdict from the Prague District Court. Unless new evidence is found, the court is obliged to take its lead from Prague’s High Court, which in June overturned an earlier ruling clearing Babiš of wrongdoing.
Babiš denies any guilt, insisting the case is politically motivated. However, it could still jeopardize his return as prime minister if the president chooses not to appoint him over his conflict of interest tied to Agrofert, a scenario which remains unlikely but not impossible.
President Pavel said he will meet all the parties that make it into the parliament on Sunday.
The judge was out walking her dog at the time, but her husband (a former State Senator and son were injured.
birgerjohanssonsays
I just heard a pro-Trump man killed two women over Charlie Kirk but I know no further details.
birgerjohanssonsays
It was a 17-year old who mowed down two girls on an e-bike using a jeep travelling at 70 miles per hour.
One of the girls had mocked Charlie Kirk. There is also the issue of whether she had rejected his advances. His social media presence indicates he is unstable.
I learned something today. Thanks to South Park, I found out about the Hohenzollern eagle that also appears in “numerous” other contexts, but not so much the last 80 years.
Can you not do that?! I thought he’d fuckin’s died! X-D
Try, “Happy Birthday, Bob Geldof”!
Silentbobsays
I mean, I’m sorry but your comment literally sounds like an inscription on a fucking tomestone. Maybe throw in a “many happy returns” next time dude. Just sayin.”
birgerjohanssonsays
OK, I did not mean to freak you out
Remember, I must internally translate Swedish into English. Sometimes it gets ass-backwards.
.
Paleolithic birthday cake.
.https://www.facebook.com/share/r/16SMP7WbhD/
No translation needed.
birgerjohanssonsays
Robert Reich
“What a Vietnam War Hard Hat Riot Says about Today’s Culture Wars”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=AF-G9Iov28M
I remember those days! Even Swedish newspapers covered it.
BTW, please read the comments at Youtube.
StevoRsays
The Nobel Prize for Medicine has been given to three scientists for discovering how our immune systems protect us from microbes.
Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi won for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.
Peripheral immune tolerance is one way the body helps keep the immune system from getting out of whack and attacking its own tissues.
The reichwing malaise is being spread by the Christianist White Supremacist bigots of the USA here – right into South Oz :
The Australian affiliate of late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA is moving into South Australia ahead of next year’s state election, but some politicians say the group is “out of step with mainstream values”.
On Monday, Turning Point Australia announced the appointment of conservative social media personality George-Alexander Mamalis as its new state coordinator.
Mr Mamalis is an ex-staffer to former environment minister and opposition leader David Speirs, One Nation MLC-turned-independent Sarah Game, and federal Liberal senator Alex Antic.
Those last named all being local far reichwing politicians albiet Speirs was a former SA LNP Opposition leader I’ve encountered personally.
birgerjohanssonsays
StevoR @ 167
Thank you for covering that! I take a short break for lunch and naturally stuff happens.
.
“20 Forgotten British Names You Rarely Hear Today”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=SZH3WAo4PGc
birgerjohanssonsays
This dude needs a Hugo Boss outfit, complete with Hohenzollern eagles and “sun symbols”.
That’s horrific. Imagine what a different world we would be living in if there had been even a remotely viable opposition to Trump.
But no. It was too hard. Literally no one in the US could come up with anything more palatable to voters than Trump. Fucking useless.
Silentbobsays
… and bear in mind, they weren’t asked to come with an alternative to some genius. Just an alternative to a racist, misogynist, pathologically lying, venal, immoral, real estate grifter. But they couldn’t do it. Pathetic.
Silentbobsays
… and convicted felon. The Democrats were so shit they couldn’t beat a convicted felon. What the actual fuck?
“At least for now, if GOP lawmakers believe the government shutdown is going well for them, they’re looking at a landscape that doesn’t appear to exist.”
On the fifth day of the ongoing government shutdown, House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” and complained about the lack of activity on Capitol. “It’s kind of quiet around here,” the Louisiana Republican said. “It has been for the last several days, and it’s very unfortunate.”
In case this isn’t obvious, Congress is “kind of quiet” because the GOP-led House isn’t in session. In fact, as recently as Friday afternoon, one congressional leader announced that House members would have this week off, too, rather than return to the Hill and try to get something done.
[…] Johnson tried to assure the public that congressional Republicans are “working around the clock,” which seemed rather amusing given that Johnson just gave House members another week off for no apparent reason.
Nevertheless, as the shutdown approaches the one-week mark, The Associated Press reported that Republican lawmakers “believe they hold the upper hand.” There is some evidence to the contrary. NBC News reported:
The U.S. government is shut down, and Americans are more inclined to blame President Donald Trump and Republicans for it, according to four independent, national polls conducted just before or during the funding lapse.
In fact, the data is surprisingly consistent: National surveys from The Washington Post, New York Times/Siena, Morning Consult and Marist/PBS News/NPR all found Americans more inclined to blame Republicans than Democrats. (Note: I’m no longer allowed to use Oxford commas, but the Morning Consult poll is separate and distinct from the Marist/PBS News/NPR one.)
Asked Friday about the Post’s poll, Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas told CNN that he discounts the results because of many other surveys that he insisted “say just the opposite.” Asked to name one, he couldn’t.
That’s probably because no such polls exist. [LOL]
[…] it’s GOP officials who’ve spent the last three decades shutting down the government — or at least threatening to do so on a very regular basis — and they’ve created a political brand that’s widely recognized by much of the public.
[…] at least for now, if GOP lawmakers “believe they hold the upper hand,” they’re looking at a landscape that doesn’t appear to exist.
“Too often, Donald Trump sounds like someone who just wandered into the Oval Office, unaware of events unfolding around him.”
Related video at the link, with informed experts commenting.
Donald Trump’s record on counterterrorism was already a mess when the president and his administration took steps to make matters vastly worse. As the White House intensified its campaign to punish blue states, Trump’s Department of Homeland Security took steps to cut $187 million for antiterrorism programs in New York.
A few days later, facing a fierce backlash, the Republican administration reversed course and announced that the funds would be restored. But as the dust settles on those developments, it’s worth appreciating how and why the president undid the damage. The New York Times reported on the “frantic effort” that unfolded behind the scenes:
The cuts, which represented the largest federal defunding of police operations in New York in decades, were made by the Department of Homeland Security, without explanation and without the approval of President Trump, White House officials said. Indeed, President Trump was blindsided by the decision to defund the police, not learning of the cuts until Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York called him on Sunday to protest the change after the fact, according to three people with knowledge of the call.
[…] the process “underscored the chaos unfolding as the Trump administration moves to punish political adversaries by stopping the flow of billions of dollars in federal funds that had already been allocated nationwide.”
In other words, the president was on board with using federal funds as a political weapon, right up until the governor of New York told him that he’d imposed drastic cuts to counterterrorism operations in the nation’s largest city, at which point Trump effectively replied, “I did what now?” [JFC]
If the circumstances seem at all familiar, it’s not your imagination: The president often appears clueless about the events unfolding around him.
A few days earlier, as part of a half-hearted, last-minute attempt to prevent a government shutdown, Trump welcomed congressional leaders to the White House for a meeting. After it failed to produce results, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that [Trump] was apparently “not aware” of the key elements of the Democratic position.
A month earlier, Trump said he didn’t “know anything about” a failed top-secret mission in North Korea in 2019, which he reportedly authorized. “I could look but I know nothing about it,” he added. “I don’t know anything about it. I’m hearing about it for the first time.”
At a White House event in July, a reporter noted the Trump administration had paused a shipment of military aid intended for Ukraine a week earlier. Asked who approved this, the president replied, “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”
In May, during a Q&A with a White House press pool, Trump was asked about his administration’s new student visa policy, and he responded in a way that suggested he had no idea what the reporter was talking about.
Weeks earlier, less than 24 hours after he nominated Dr. Casey Means to serve as the nation’s next surgeon general, the president conceded that he didn’t know Casey Means.
The day before that, amid reports that the administration was planning to expand its deportations agenda to Libya, Trump was pressed on the policy. “I don’t know,” he responded. “You’ll have to ask the Department of Homeland Security.”
The same week, NBC News aired Trump’s appearance on “Meet the Press,” and when host Kristen Welker asked whether everyone in the United States is entitled to due process, the president replied, “I don’t know. I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.” When Welker reminded her guest about the Fifth Amendment, Trump again said, “I don’t know.”
As part of the same exchange, Welker went on to say, “[D]on’t you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?” Once again, Trump answered, “I don’t know.”
As the interview continued, the host asked whether anyone in his administration had been in contact with El Salvador about returning Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the U.S. “I don’t know,” the president said. “You’d have to ask the attorney general that question.”
Around the same time, during a White House meeting with members of the World Cup task force, a reporter asked Trump about the ban on Russia competing in next year’s FIFA World Cup tournament. “I didn’t know that. Is that right?” Trump responded.
A day later, fielding questions in the Oval Office, Trump was asked whether he agreed with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s comments about possible tariff exemptions for certain family consumer goods. “I don’t know, I’ll think about it,” the president said. “I don’t know. I really don’t.”
Around the same time, a reporter reminded Trump that Vice President JD Vance had said Russia was asking for too much to end the war in Ukraine. “When did he say that?” the president asked. Reminded that the vice president had made the comments hours earlier, Trump added, “Well, it’s possible that’s right. He may know some things.”
In case that wasn’t quite enough, at the same Q&A, Trump also said he had no idea that Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina had announced his opposition to Ed Martin’s U.S. attorney nomination a day earlier.
In April, Time magazine asked Trump how much the U.S. government is paying El Salvador to imprison immigrants. “I don’t know,” the president responded. Asked if he approved the payments, the Republican added, “No, I didn’t.”
A month earlier, Trump was asked about four U.S. soldiers who’d gone missing during a NATO training exercise in Lithuania, and the president was clueless. Asked about the apparent assassination of a Russian general, Trump again had no idea what the reporter was talking about.
When [Trump] was asked about the Signal group chat scandal and whether he believed classified information was shared, he replied, “I don’t know. I’m not sure, you have to ask the various people involved.”
These weren’t trick questions. No one appeared to be trying to trip up the president with unexpected inquiries about obscure topics. In all of these instances, Trump should’ve been able to respond to the questions with substantive responses.
But he didn’t. […]
Trump has taken a keen interest in countless trivialities, but on substantive issues, he’s offering a lot of shrugged shoulders and blank stares.
As for why this matters, there are a handful of angles to keep in mind. Right off the bat, in a great many instances in recent months Trump has sounded a bit too much like a man who just wandered into the Oval Office.
What’s more, most objective observers would probably agree that if Joe Biden had repeatedly said “I don’t know” in response to simple questions about his own administration, it would be front-page news — and the Democrat’s responses would be played on a loop for hours on end in conservative media.
Similarly, Trump has personally invested considerable time and energy in accusing Biden of having been a doddering old “autopen” president who was unaware of events unfolding around him. Given the frequency with which Trump clings to “I don’t know” responses, he should probably consider a new line of attack.
Finally, let’s not forget that Trump’s authoritarian tendencies are rooted, at least in part, in the idea that governmental power must be concentrated in the president’s hands, to be executed as he sees fit.
It makes Trump’s apparent cluelessness that much more alarming.
“A scandal-plagued former Fox News host is destabilizing the U.S. military.”
Toward the end of his unsettling speech to the nation’s generals and admirals last week, in which he effectively made the case that testosterone is the key to modern warfare, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered an unsubtle message to his audience.
“If the words I’m speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign,” the beleaguered Pentagon chief said.
It was a pointed reminder that Hegseth is not exactly open to engaging with military leaders whose views differ from his own. On the contrary, he’s proven himself eager to purge the armed forces of those he deems unworthy — a campaign that’s still ongoing. Politico reported:
Defense Secretary Pete Hesgeth on Friday fired Navy chief of staff Jon Harrison, an unusually powerful top aide who had orchestrated a reshuffle of the service’s bureaucracy. … The Pentagon, in a statement, confirmed Harrison’s departure. ‘He will no longer serve as Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Navy,’ it said. ‘We are grateful for his service to the Department.’
Harrison’s ouster roughly coincided with two high-profile military retirements — Gen. Bryan Fenton, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command, and Gen. Thomas Bussiere, a top Air Force commander — though it’s unclear if their departures had anything to do with Hegseth.
There was no ambiguity, however, in late August when the defense secretary fired Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, who served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and Rear Admiral Milton Sands, a Navy SEAL officer who oversaw the Naval Special Warfare Command.
Four days earlier, Gen. David Allvin, the chief of staff of the Air Force, was also shown the door.
The broader purge also includes Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh, who was both the head of U.S. Cyber Command and the director of the National Security Agency; Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gen. James Slife, former vice chief of staff of the Air Force; Adm. Linda Fagan, the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard; Adm. Lisa Franchetti; Lt. Gen. Jennifer Short; Lt. Gen. Joseph B. Berger III, the Army’s top military lawyer; Lt. Gen. Charles Plummer, the Air Force’s top military lawyer; and Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the only woman on NATO’s military committee. [Wow. That’s quite a list.]
Each of these instances is important in its own right, but let’s not miss the forest for the trees: A scandal-plagued former Fox News host is destabilizing the U.S. military.
Earlier this year, five former defense secretaries — including retired Gen. Jim Mattis, Trump’s first defense secretary — condemned the firings as “reckless.” Their joint letter, addressed to Congress, asked that the House and the Senate hold “immediate hearings to assess the national security implications” of the dismissals.
Hegseth and the administration appear to have ignored the concerns; the purge is ongoing; and GOP leaders on Capitol Hill have scheduled no such hearings.
Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, who served as a Marine officer in Iraq and who now serves on the House Armed Services Committee, spoke to Politico about Hegseth’s purges, which the congressman described as politically motivated.
“That’s a recipe not just for a politicized military, but an authoritarian military,” Moulton said. “That’s the way militaries work in Russia and China and North Korea.”
The Massachusetts Democrat made those comments in May. The problem is worse now.
A federal judge on Sunday night blocked the Trump administration from deploying hundreds of out-of-state National Guard troops to Oregon, even as President Trump turned to the Texas guard in a widening hunt for military forces to send to Democratic cities.
Commentary:
[…] Let’s pause to review how we arrived at this point, because as Columbia University political scientist Lindsay P. Cohn summarized, Americans are now watching “the adjudication of some of the most important constitutional issues of federalism, executive discretion, and judicial review” since the 19th century.
About a month ago, the president raised the prospect of deploying the Guard to Portland, Oregon, because of something he’d seen on television the night before. It’s not altogether clear what he saw or whether the footage was from five years ago.
Nine days ago, Trump followed up on this, announcing publicly that he was directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “provide all necessary Troops” to Portland, adding that he was also “authorizing Full Force, if necessary.” (It wasn’t clear what that meant, exactly, though it sounded as though the American president was authorizing the use of military force against Americans on American soil.)
The White House added soon after that the deployments were necessary to end “the radical left’s reign of terror in Portland” — which did not and does not exist — adding that Oregon’s largest city is “war-ravaged” — a description of conditions with no basis in reality.
Local and state officials filed suit and succeeded: On Saturday, U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, blocked the president from deploying 200 National Guard troops to Portland.
“This country has a longstanding and foundational tradition of resistance to government overreach, especially in the form of military intrusion into civil affairs,” Immergut wrote.
“This historical tradition boils down to a simple proposition: this is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law. Defendants have made a range of arguments that, if accepted, risk blurring the line between civil and military federal power — to the detriment of this nation,” she added.
The White House did not take the news well. Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller characterized the restraining order as “legal insurrection,” adding that he believed Guard deployments were “an absolute necessity” in order to, among other things, protect “the Republic itself.”
For his part, the president told reporters that Portland is “burning to the ground” (again, it’s really not), adding, “All you have to do is look at the TV.” The Republican concluded, in reference to a federal judge he appointed, “That judge ought to be ashamed of himself.” (Immergut is a woman. It’s not clear why Trump mis-gendered her.)
But the West Wing did far more than just whine and peddle nonsense. Indeed, as the weekend progressed, Trump also tried to send hundreds of California National Guard troops to Portland, while mustering hundreds more from Texas. [!]
[…] The aforementioned Times report added, “Judge Immergut, an appointee of President Trump, called an emergency hearing Sunday, then broadened her restraining order to cover ‘the relocation, federalization or deployment of members of the National Guard of any state or the District of Columbia in the state of Oregon,’ telling Justice Department lawyers that the president was ‘in direct contravention’ of her order.”
The Trump-appointed judge went on to note that the White House’s assessment about violent civil unrest in Portland was “untethered to facts.”
All of which is to say, the rule of law is holding on — for now. […]
I went into the weekend anticipating that today’s Morning Memo would be focused on the Friday ruling by a federal judge in Tennessee that there is a “realistic likelihood” that the Trump Justice Department’s criminal prosecution of Kilmar Abrego Garcia is vindictive.
But over the weekend, the Trump administration’s attempt to deploy the National Guard in Oregon blew up into a constitutional clash as serious as any we’ve seen so far this year (including, ironically, the clash over Abrego Garcia’s wrongful deportation).
TPM’s Kate Riga was all over the details of the legal battle that played out over the weekend:
– Friday afternoon: U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, voices extreme skepticism about whether the facts on the ground in peaceful Portland provide any reasonable basis for President Trump to deploy the Oregon National Guard.
– Saturday afternoon: Judge Immergut issues a temporary restraining order blocking President Trump from deploying the Oregon National Guard. Over the next 24 hours, President Trump makes moves to deploy the California and Texas national guards to Oregon.
– Sunday evening: Judge Immergut holds an emergency hearing in which she rakes the DOJ attorney over the coals and issues a second temporary restraining order blocking the deployment of any federalized national guard troops to Oregon.
[Good summary.]
[…] I want to emphasize the significance of the administration’s brazen end-run around a Trump-appointed federal judge. As an irate Judge Immergut noted in Sunday’s hearing, the administration acted in “direct contravention” of her order. Given that nothing had changed on the ground, the legal reasoning for her initial order still applied, she said, and the administration was “simply circumventing” it.
Between Immergut issuing her two TROs, the administration filed an emergency appeal with the 9th Circuit, so this may play out pretty quickly this week, with the Supreme Court possibly getting a chance to weigh in.
The measure imposed $50,000 fines for officers who knowingly enforced those federal laws, which include possession of firearms by some domestic violence offenders and weapons registration and tracking.
Abrego Garcia Wins Step 1 of Vindictive Prosecution Claim
In a remarkable ruling, U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. of Nashville has found a “realistic likelihood” that Kilmar Abego Garcia is the victim of vindictive prosecution by the Trump Justice Department. The ruling opens the door for Abrego Garcia to conduct discovery into the administration’s motives for prosecuting him on charges of human smuggling in a case that had been dormant since a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. The closed investigation was reopened after Abrego Garcia successfully challenged his wrongful deportation to El Salvador despite a immigration judge order that blocked his removal to his native country.
What’s especially striking about Judge Crenshaw’s ruling is that he is mostly willing to accept that the local U.S. Attorney’s Office itself did not act with malice or bad faith in bringing the case against Abrego Garcia, but he is unconvinced that higher-ups in the administration, most particularly Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, were acting in good faith. [!]
Pointing to public statements Blanche has made about the case, Crenshaw wrote: “Deputy Attorney General Blanche’s remarkable statements could directly establish that the motivations for Abrego’s criminal charges stem from his exercise of his constitutional and statutory rights to bring suit against the Executive Official Defendants, rather than a genuine desire to prosecute him for alleged criminal misconduct.”
[…] the next step is for Abrego Garcia to conduct additional discovery into the DOJ’s motives and actions, setting up the potential for unusually revealing insights into how the White House and Main Justice under Trump are using DOJ as a political weapon. [!]
Judge Crenshaw indicated he is going to keep the discovery inquiries narrow, so this isn’t going to be a wide-ranging fishing expedition, but it’s nonetheless a remarkable turn of events. Still, I would caution that finding solid evidence of vindictive prosecution is difficult, and the legal standard that Abrego Garcia must meet remains very high. This is just a first step, but a federal judge accepting the premise that there’s plausible evidence of a vindictive prosecution in this case is a major development.
FBI Agent Suspended for Refusing to Perp Walk Comey
A FBI agent has been suspended (some reports say fired) for refusing to subject former FBI Director Jim Comey to the public spectacle of a perp walk. Comey, who was indicted on President Trump’s order, was issued a summons to appear in court, not an arrest warrant, so it wasn’t immediately clear how the FBI would expose Comey to public ridicule. But CBS News reported that an effort was still underway to do so:
The source told CBS News that leadership asked for “large, beefy” agents to conduct an arrest of Comey “in full kit,” including Kevlar vests and exterior wear emblazoned with the FBI logo. It was suggested that a supervisory special agent in the violent crimes division of the FBI’s Washington Field Office would be able to put together the kinds of agents who fit the bill, the source said. [JFC]
The agent, however, refused to participate in this plan, believing it would be inappropriate and highly unusual for a white-collar defendant like Comey, according to the source. He was then suspended for insubordination.
Reacting to the news on X, FBI Director Kash Patel dismissed MSNBC as an “ass clown factory” but also seemed to confirm at least the suspension of an agent: “In this @fbi, follow the chain of command or get relieved.”
In a farewell letter to colleagues that was taped to his office door, fired federal prosecutor Michael Ben’Ary warned that “the leadership is more concerned with punishing the President’s perceived enemies than they are with protecting our national security.”
Ben’Ary, a top national security prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia, was abruptly fired last week without cause for reasons that remain unknown.
While urging his colleagues “to do the right thing, in the right way, for the right reasons,” Ben’Ary wrote:
I took an oath to our Constitution, as did each of you, and it remains your responsibility to uphold that oath in the work that you do. It is this oath that requires you to follow the facts and the law wherever they lead, free from fear or favor, and unhindered by political interference. In recent months, the political leadership of the Department have violated these principles, jeopardizing our national security and making American citizens less safe.
Same link as in comment 179.
In that statement, Ben’Ary revealed the plain truth.
As much as there was going on from Friday through Sunday, the pièce de résistance of Trump era absurdity was a Star-Tribune story about a White House aide who was in Minnesota last week for his uncle’s funeral cavalierly using Signal to talk with other administration officials about deploying active duty military (including the 82nd Airborne!) to Portland to put down the wildly overblown threat of protestors.
Stephen Miller deputy Anthony Salisbury’s Signal use was so careless that an unidentified bystander was able to photograph his phone and passed on images of the active chat to the Star-Tribune: “Over the course of several conversations, totaling dozens of messages, Salisbury chatted candidly, and at times profanely, about a wide range of matters with [Defense Secretary Pete] Hegseth’s adviser Patrick Weaver and other high-ranking federal officials.”
[…] Picture this: An elderly couple. He was wearing his Vietnam veterans cap, and using his walker. They were violently pushed to the ground by a large group of agents who rushed them. She sustained a concussion.
The Oregonian reports the couple joined the protest on a spur of the moment when they saw the kickoff rally at the neighborhood park from their kitchen window. They walk past the ICE building daily with their dog. Laurie Eckman and Richard Eckman, a Vietnam war veteran with 10 years active duty, collected the signs they saved from the June 14 No Kings rally in Portland and headed to the park. Richard’s sign said: “Vets against militarization” and Laurie’s said: “Will swap 1 Little King Donald for 10,000-plus immigrants.” They joined this group because it looked peaceful and not threatening.
Soon the crowd marched to the ICE facility, with the couple carrying their signs and Richard using his walker. Around 1 pm, a group of federal agents came out and arrested at least three people, including one of the protest leaders who federal agents dragged into the ICE building.
[…] Around 2 pm a large group of agents burst out of the building and rushed at the Eckmans and other protesters, knocking them down to the ground.
The Eckmans were helped by a small group of protestors including a doctor and after a time were able to begin the walk home. They were met by four Portland Police officers.
According to The Oregonian report “They very kindly wanted to make sure I was okay,” Laurie Eckman said. “And they explained that they were not allowed to make verbal contact with the feds and had to stay about a block away. They were very solicitous of me, which I appreciated very much.”
The Eckmans then went to the emergency room and found Laurie Eckman sustained a concussion, but her husband wasn’t injured.
The Supreme Court said Monday that it would not hear Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal of her sex-trafficking conviction, declining to consider arguments from the imprisoned associate of deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein that she was improperly prosecuted.
Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 in New York, has said that under a plea agreement her ex-boyfriend Epstein reached years earlier in Florida, federal officials pledged not to prosecute any of his potential co-conspirators, which should have prohibited her case from proceeding. […]
KGsays
Literally no one in the US could come up with anything more palatable to voters than Trump. Fucking useless… Just an alternative to a racist, misogynist, pathologically lying, venal, immoral, real estate grifter. But they couldn’t do it. Pathetic.- Silentbob@171, 172
You rightly blame one major contributor to the disaster that is USA 2025. But I blame the other as well: the very considerable proportion of the American electorate who are attracted to “a racist, misogynist, pathologically lying, venal, immoral, real estate grifter.” After all, no-one had any excuse for not knowing that that is what Trump is.
“Bari Weiss, a founder of The Free Press, will become editor in chief of CBS News.”
The Bari Weiss era at CBS News has begun.
In a move that is expected to shake up the broadcast news landscape, CBS’s owner, Paramount, said on Monday that it was buying The Free Press, an upstart digital news site founded just four years ago, and appointing its co-founder, Ms. Weiss, as the editor in chief of CBS News.
The purchase price was roughly $150 million in cash and Paramount stock, according to two people familiar with the terms who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The total amount will be paid out over time, and it may fluctuate depending on the price of Paramount’s stock.
The acquisition puts one of the country’s most traditional news institutions — the former home of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite — under the editorial guidance of a journalist who rose to fame in part by critiquing old-line media institutions that she deemed timid and untrustworthy. Ms. Weiss is also a stalwart champion of Israel, and her site frequently lambastes the perceived excesses of the so-called woke left.
Ms. Weiss, 41, has never run a TV network, and in her role will have influence over hundreds of producers, anchors and reporters around the world. She will report to David Ellison, Paramount’s chief executive, and work alongside Tom Cibrowski, the president of CBS News.
[I snipped a lot of details. See the link for more information.]
In a news conference with reporters in the days after the deal closed, Mr. Ellison said that the news organization wanted to appeal to the 70 percent of Americans who define themselves as center-left or center-right. “We want to be in the truth business, we want to be in the fact business,” Mr. Ellison said.
Since then, Paramount has hired Kenneth R. Weinstein, a former chief executive of the Hudson Institute, a right-leaning policy think tank, as an ombudsman, with power to review complaints about the network. CBS has also changed its rules for handling some political interviews after pressure from the Trump administration. […]
We may have to wait-and-see, but overall I think this is bad news.
“The federal guidance comes after many states have already announced their own Covid vaccine recommendations, creating ‘unprecedented’ levels of confusion, one expert said.”
Related video at the link.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday updated its Covid vaccine guidance to recommend Covid shots for people 65 and older and only after they consult a doctor or pharmacist.
A press release from the agency said acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill signed off on the recommendations of an agency advisory panel last week, capping months of confusion and concern about this season’s Covid vaccine. […]
The CDC’s sign-off on Monday does not mean people younger than 65 are barred from getting a Covid vaccine — they still can do so, after consulting with a doctor or pharmacist.
Adding in this so-called shared clinical decision-making essentially “puts up one more little barrier” to getting the shot, said Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, a professor of global health and infectious diseases at Stanford University. “It’s kind of a vague term that says you should have your doctor or your provider or pharmacist tell you what the risks and benefits are before you get the vaccine.”
But how easy it is to get a Covid shot may depend on where you live.
In previous years, states have generally mirrored the CDC’s vaccine guidance, particularly that of the vaccine advisory panel, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, ACIP, which had been considered one of the foremost authorities on vaccinations.
Prior to the CDC’s announcement, 26 states (mostly blue states with Democratic governors) had already set their own Covid shot guidance to keep access as broad as possible […]
The result is a complex hodgepodge of Covid vaccine policies nationwide.
“We now have had a breakdown in consensus between the federal government and the states as to how to manage Covid immunization,” said Dr. Ofer Levy, director of the Precision Vaccines Program at Boston Children’s Hospital. […]
Illinois, Maryland and Washington, D.C., for example, officially recommend universal Covid vaccination for everyone 6 months and older. Other states, like California, Michigan and Minnesota, recommend the shots for everyone 3 years and older.
“Viruses don’t respect state borders,” Levy said. “From the perspective of protecting the public against infectious diseases, the last thing you would want as a strategy is to protect different states differently. It’s confusing, it’s inconsistent, and it leaves certain people vulnerable.”
What’s more, some doctors’ offices might not have any incentive to stock the vaccine since the CDC’s recommendation focuses on older adults. Last season, 23% of adults and 13% of children got the Covid vaccine, according to the CDC. […]
In a statement, Amy Thibault, a spokesperson for CVS Health, said its pharmacies would be ready to administer Covid shots for people ages 5 and older as soon as the CDC signed off.
Walgreens starts Covid vaccines at age 3. A spokesperson for Walgreens said in an email that the pharmacy chain “will offer the 2025-2026 COVID-19 vaccines at locations nationwide” without a prescription.
Do I need a Covid shot?
While a summer uptick in cases appears to have peaked in most areas of the country, according to CDC surveillance, every year since the Covid pandemic started in 2020 has also had a winter wave.
Like the flu shot, the Covid vaccine doesn’t necessarily stop a person from getting infected with the virus. But it does reduce the chances of severe illness, hospitalization or death.
Pfizer and Moderna’s updated Covid shots target the LP.8.1 variant, which was the dominant strain in the U.S. earlier this year but has been overtaken by newer variants. Novavax’s updated Covid shot targets an even older strain, called JN.1.
As of Sept. 27, LP.8.1 accounts for just 3% of all new Covid cases, according to the CDC. A strain called XFG is now dominant, accounting for at least 85% of new Covid cases. All are descendants of the omicron variant, which emerged in late 2021.
Research presented by Moderna and Pfizer at an FDA advisory committee meeting in May found that the updated shot generated a modestly stronger immune response to the strains circulating at that time than last year’s Covid shots.
It typically takes a few weeks after the Covid vaccine for immunity to build.
Is the Covid shot free?
Most people with insurance who want a Covid vaccine should be able to get it free this year.
Ahead of the CDC’s advisory committee meeting, AHIP, a health insurance industry trade group, said that private plans will continue to cover all CDC-recommended vaccines that were recommended as of Sept. 1, meaning its previous Covid shot recommendation for everyone 6 months and older still applies.
Medicare, Medicaid and other government health programs will continue to cover the shots at no cost, according to an HHS spokesperson.
“ ‘I will never do anything that will jeopardize or hurt Social Security or Medicare,’ Trump vowed in 2024. I have bad news for voters who believed him.”
About a decade ago, Donald Trump stressed one specific point as a way of differentiating himself from his adopted political party. “I’m not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican, and I’m not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid,” Trump declared in 2015. “Every other Republican’s going to cut, and even if they wouldn’t, they don’t know what to do because they don’t know where the money is. I do. I do.”
Once in office, that didn’t quite work out. As a Washington Post report summarized in 2023, “His avowed stance, however, is at odds with Trump’s own record as president: Each of Trump’s White House budget proposals included cuts to Social Security and Medicare programs.” (He also failed to figure out “where the money is.”)
Nevertheless, as Trump tried to return to power last year, he again declared: “I will never do anything that will jeopardize or hurt Social Security or Medicare. We’ll have to do it elsewhere. But we’re not going to do anything to hurt them.”
[…] Trump and his team are poised to again let down those who believed he’d leave the social insurance programs untouched. The Washington Post reported that the administration is eyeing a new policy that would make it harder for older Americans to qualify for Social Security disability payments. From the article:
The Social Security Administration evaluates disability claims by considering age, work experience and education to determine if a person can adjust to other types of work. Older applicants, typically over 50, have a better chance of qualifying because age is treated as a limitation in adapting to many jobs. But now officials are considering eliminating age as a factor entirely or raising the threshold to age 60, according to three people familiar with the plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private discussions.
[see comment 146]
How many Americans would lose access to disability benefits under the proposed rule changes? According to the Post’s report, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC, one recent analysis put the total at over 750,000 people.
[…] The New York Times reported two weeks ago that problems are intensifying as frontline SSA workers “are asked on a daily basis to do more with less.”
The Times quoted one Social Security technical expert who works in a field office in the Midwest, who said, “In my 24 years, I have never seen it so bad to the point that a lot of us are medicated.” The worker said she takes an anti-anxiety medication daily.
As for Medicare, the health care program is facing Trump-imposed challenges of its own. The Times reported last week:
Millions of low-income seniors are missing out on crucial help paying for Medicare — and the recently enacted federal budget law blocks an effort to help them get it. The Trump administration budget law does not reduce any of Medicare’s standard benefits. But the law does suspend until 2034 a requirement that states adopt a Biden-era plan to increase enrollment in state-run Medicaid programs that help seniors who qualify get a hand paying for out-of-pocket Medicare costs.
Before Trump took office, the Biden administration set out to make it easier for Americans to enroll in Medicare Savings Programs by streamlining the bureaucratic process. Now, the incumbent administration has blocked implementation of the policy — for nearly a decade.
In case that weren’t quite enough, NBC News reported two weeks ago that Team Trump is moving forward with a program that will “find out how much money an artificial intelligence algorithm could save the federal government by denying care to Medicare patients.” [!] From the article:
The pilot program, designed to weed out wasteful, ‘low-value’ services, amounts to a federal expansion of an unpopular process called prior authorization, which requires patients or someone on their medical team to seek insurance approval before proceeding with certain procedures, tests, and prescriptions. It will affect Medicare patients, and the doctors and hospitals who care for them, in Arizona, Ohio, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Texas, and Washington, starting Jan. 1 and running through 2031.
“I will never do anything that will jeopardize or hurt Social Security or Medicare,” Trump vowed last year. I have some bad news for voters who believed him.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
@166 birgerjohansson: PBS covered that last week. (This link to the documentary is probably geolocked to the US.)
On May 8, 1970, “the Hard Hat Riot” erupted in lower Manhattan. At midday, construction workers, including those building the World Trade Center, violently clashed with students demonstrating against the Vietnam War. […] the workmen, who came to be known as “hardhats,” were at the cutting edge of a new kind of class war. With the war in Vietnam raging on, it was the sons of the working class who were doing most of the fighting. Workmen saw the protesting students as privileged “draft dodgers” disparaging the country and those who fought for it. On the other side, many student activists saw the workers as pawns, unwilling to see the changes that America needed.
whheydtsays
Re: Lynna, OM @ #191…
I’m planning to get a COVID booster this week. If I need to talk to a pharmacist, it’ll be a short conversation. I live in California, I’m 76, and I have several comorbidities…
“A key federal prosecutor in Virginia is resisting bringing charges against Letitia James.”
A top prosecutor in Virginia has informed colleagues she plans to decline to seek charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, resisting intense pressure from President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with her discussions.
Elizabeth Yusi, who oversees major criminal prosecutions in the Norfolk office of the Eastern District of Virginia, has confided to co-workers that she sees no probable cause to believe James engaged in mortgage fraud, the two sources told MSNBC. Yusi plans to present her conclusion to the president’s new interim U.S. attorney, Lindsey Halligan, in the coming weeks, they said.
Trump installed Halligan after he announced two weeks ago that he would fire the first acting U.S. attorney he appointed to the post, Erik Siebert, who resisted seeking fraud charges against James and other charges against former FBI Director James Comey. Siebert resigned Sept. 19 after learning he would lose his job.
Trump then named Halligan, a White House aide and insurance lawyer with no prosecutorial experience who had previously been his personal defense lawyer, to replace Siebert. A few days after taking the reins in the Eastern District, Halligan sought and won the indictment of Comey on charges of lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding, a case that Siebert and office colleagues considered too weak to charge, the people said.
Prosecutors in the Eastern District are now bracing for Yusi to be fired for her own resistance to try a case that many lawyers have said lacks sufficient evidence, according to the two people.
Trump has publicly called on the Justice Department to criminally prosecute James, despite the conclusion of career prosecutors that they cannot prove she lied or intended to lie on a mortgage application for her niece’s home, according to the people. In a Truth Social post Saturday, Trump called James “SCUM,” saying she should be removed as New York attorney general and pointing to what he called “her WITCH HUNT against President Donald J. Trump, and others.”
[…] Career prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia also fear their colleagues will be pressured to seek an indictment against James, or risk being fired […]
Such preliminary charging decisions are normally recommended by line prosecutors who would be sifting through the facts in the investigation and would report to Yusi. But in the politically charged case of James, the senior supervisor in the Norfolk office has taken measures to try to protect her staff who have been handling the case before a grand jury […]
“This supervisor clearly is doing the right and ethical thing by refusing to bend her legal conclusions to fit the president’s desire for political retribution,” Randall Eliason, the former top public corruption prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and a retired law professor, told MSNBC.
But he said it is “tragic” that career prosecutors are being “forced to choose between honoring their oaths and risking their livelihood” and “forced out by the president’s politicization of the Justice Department.” […]
In perhaps the most overt lie ever told, House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Monday that it’s Republicans who are working to fix health care in the United States.
“Let me look right into the camera and tell you very clearly: Republicans are the ones concerned about health care. Republicans are the party working around the clock every day to fix health care. This is not talking points for us: we’ve done it,” Johnson told reporters at the Capitol on Monday.
Where do we even begin with this absolute whopper that anyone with half a brain and a rudimentary understanding of politics over the last decade and a half of politics knows is a lie.
First, to say Republicans are “working around the clock” to fix health care is false, as the House is in its third week of recess as Johnson refuses to negotiate with Democrats on a government funding bill.
But more than that, Republicans have been fighting tooth and nail for years to not only block the passage of health care reforms, but to repeal the advances Democrats have made on the issue. Not a single Republican lawmaker voted to pass the Affordable Care Act back in 2009.
And since its passage, Republicans took dozens of votes to repeal the landmark health care law, which blocked insurance companies from denying coverage to people with preexisting conditions, expanded coverage to low-income Americans, and offered subsidies to others who struggle to afford insurance.
In 2017, during President Donald Trump’s first disastrous term, Republicans led an overwhelmingly unpopular campaign to repeal the ACA in its entirety—failing at the 11th hour amid a massive outcry to the GOP’s plan that would have caused a massive 22 million people to lose their insurance.
Now in power again, congressional Republicans are again taxing an axe to health care coverage. Republicans in a party-line vote passed the “One Big, Beautiful Bill”—which made a massive $1.1 trillion in cuts to the Medicaid program that provides coverage to the poorest Americans. [!] Because of those cuts, more than 15 million people will lose their insurance by 2034.
Meanwhile, the government is currently shut down because Republicans are refusing to negotiate with Democrats on extending subsidies that help millions afford their insurance plans. If those subsidies expire, not only will millions lose their coverage, but premiums will skyrocket for everyone else […]
[…] a massive 71% of voters want the health care subsidies to be extended. That includes 80% of independents, and even more than a third of Republicans.
What’s more, Trump—who has been promising better health care for Americans since he first ran for office in 2015—has still not released his plan for how he’ll achieve that.
Just give him another two weeks, though. Maybe then he’ll finally tell us about the “concepts” of his plan.
birger @202: The most pretentious crap about films I’ve seen and loved (or seen and hated, for that matter) are the supposed ‘analyses’ of them. See also Rashomon.
“Donald Trump’s Big Pharma Showdown Ends with a Whimper,” by John Cassidy
“Wall Street is celebrating the White House’s deal with Pfizer on drug prices. Patients shouldn’t be.”
It’s hard to find things that Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders agree on, but one point of consensus is that pharmaceutical companies have long been ripping off Americans by charging extortionate prices for prescription medications. “Americans are being screwed, and it’s no good. They’re not going to put up with it,” Trump said in February, at a White House event. In May, he issued an executive order declaring that the Administration would impose lower prices by fiat if drugmakers didn’t align their U.S. prices with what they charge in other countries. “I agree with President Trump,” Sanders commented in a statement. “It is an outrage that the American people pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.”
In addition to threatening to introduce price controls, the Trump Administration was preparing the way for tariffs on drugs and their ingredients, many of which come from abroad. Wall Street paid attention to these threats. Between Trump’s election last November and the beginning of April, a period in which the stock market as a whole rose sharply, drug stocks fell by about twenty per cent. That was then. Last week, the President, standing alongside the C.E.O. of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, announced plans for a government-run website, TrumpRx, on which Pfizer would list some of its drugs at prices discounted up to eighty-five per cent.
A White House fact sheet said the Administration and Pfizer, the world’s fourth-largest pharmaceutical company by revenue, had reached an agreement to “bring American drug prices in line with the lowest paid by other developed nations (known as the most-favored-nation, or MFN, price).” Wasn’t this more bad news for drugmakers? Investors didn’t think so. In two days, Pfizer’s shares jumped up by fourteen per cent. The stocks of other pharmaceutical companies also rose strongly based on predictions that they would strike similar deals. By the end of the week, the S. & P. Pharmaceuticals Select Industry Index had surpassed its November high.
A closer inspection of the Pfizer agreement shows that Trump has turned out to be a paper tiger. “It’s a lot of nothing,” Craig Garthwaite, the director of the health-care program at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, told me. “For most people, it will have very little effect on drug prices.” Rena Conti, an economist and expert on the biopharmaceutical industry who works at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, issued a similar assessment: “Top line is: it’s a win for Pfizer, but not a win for American patients.” Rather than radically restructuring drug pricing and distribution, the agreement amounted to “fiddling around the edges,” she said.
In the American drug industry, practically anything that preserves the status quo is a victory for Big Pharma firms, which, according to a study by the Journal of the American Medical Association, boast a net profit margin of 13.8 per cent compared to 7.7 per cent for S. & P. 500 companies in other sectors. Years ago, I asked a senior executive at a prominent drugmaker why it employed so many lobbyists in Washington. After looking at me as if I were a naïf, he explained that the industry generated most of its revenues and the vast majority of its profits in the U.S. In other countries, such as Britain and France, companies were forced to negotiate the prices they charged with government-run or single-payer health-care systems that have a lot of bargaining leverage. But in this country—where health care is balkanized and the largest public drug-buyer in the U.S., Medicare, was legally prevented from negotiating with drugmakers—the industry was able to charge much higher prices. It was well worth paying an army of lobbyists to try to preserve this privileged position.
Between 1998 and the middle of this year, according to data from OpenSecrets, a public-interest group that tracks money in politics, Big Pharma spent more than $6.3 billion on lobbying. During that period, the most significant reform related to drug pricing came in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which empowered Medicare to haggle prices with drug companies. In principle, this was a landmark development, but the negotiated prices won’t go into effect until next year and will initially apply to just ten prescription drugs, out of thousands. (In subsequent years, the number is scheduled to grow.) If Trump was really determined to stand up to Big Pharma, he would be pressing for a rapid expansion of this initiative, but he isn’t doing that. And, even if he did, he would have to corral Republicans in Congress to support the new legislation required, which certainly wouldn’t be easy: the Inflation Reduction Act was passed without a single G.O.P. vote.
In place of real reform, we now have the Pfizer agreement, and its headline proposal to launch TrumpRx. In a press release about the deal, Pfizer said it would offer many of its primary-care medications at prices averaging half their list prices. This sounded promising, but industry analysts quickly pointed out that about ninety per cent of Americans get their prescribed medications through insurance plans. For these people, it would still likely be cheaper to get the drugs the traditional way and pay the co-payment. Garthwaite said buying drugs through TrumpRx could conceivably benefit “a small subset of people,” principally among the population that doesn’t have any insurance coverage. But many medications would still be prohibitively expensive. Conti calculated that, even with Pfizer’s announced forty-per-cent discount for Xeljanz, a popular treatment for arthritis and other inflammatory diseases, it could still cost patients more than fifteen thousand dollars a year. [!] [Healthcare for rich people, not for thee or me.]
Even if TrumpRx does get up and running next year, as the White House indicated it will, its existence is unlikely to alter the prices at which drugmakers sell the great bulk of their products. In fact, the Wall Street Journal, citing senior Administration officials, reported that TrumpRx wouldn’t actually sell any drugs at all. It would instead refer users to direct-to-consumer websites, where purchases could be made. In the scathing estimation of The American Prospect’s David Dayen, TrumpRx would merely “filter people to the latest drug industry tactic to avoid patient anger over high prices.” [!!]
The Administration’s claim that the agreement would bring U.S. drug prices in line with lower prices charged overseas also demands inspection. Its fact sheet acknowledged that Pfizer is pledging to guarantee these low prices solely for drugs purchased through Medicaid, the public health-care system for low-income Americans. But Medicaid plans, which are managed at the state level, already receive hefty discounts on list prices. Conti pointed to a 2021 study that found that these discounts amounted to sixty-five per cent off retail prices. If the Pfizer agreement is replicated with other drugmakers, it could conceivably further enlarge the Medicaid discounts. But they wouldn’t apply to the prices that drug companies charge Medicare or private insurance plans. [Facts … and math.]
Another, and ostensibly more significant, element of the Pfizer agreement is the Administration’s claim that the deal would have the effect of “guaranteeing MFN prices on all new innovative medicines Pfizer brings to market.” […]
But the terms of the Pfizer agreement are confidential, so how, exactly, the White House plans to assure global price parity remains unknown. In a press release, Pfizer merely said, “We’ve established a balanced global pricing approach that continues to recognize the value of innovation while ensuring prices in the U.S. and other developed countries are both reasonable and sustainable.” The experts I spoke with expressed skepticism about this commitment. “It’s not clear what it really amounts to,” Garthwaite said. “We are doing policy by press release. My guess is that Pfizer has agreed that they will launch new drugs at the same list price everywhere, but that they will still do separate negotiations from there. It’s not the same thing as saying the net prices will be the same.” Conti said that the Pfizer agreement, if adopted widely, could lead drugmakers to raise their prices in other countries rather than bringing them down here in the U.S. “That’s actually been a talking point in the industry for the past couple of years,” she noted.
In short, it looks like the concessions that the company made are relatively minor. In return, Pfizer received a three-year exemption from Trump’s tariffs of as much as a hundred per cent on imports of branded or patented drugs, which were scheduled to go into effect on October 1st but which have now been paused. For Pfizer, a company with a global supply chain and more than ten manufacturing plants in Europe alone, escaping Trump’s levies was a major win. “We now have the certainty and stability we need on two critical fronts, tariffs and pricing, that have suppressed the industry’s valuations to historic lows,” Bourla, Pfizer’s C.E.O., said. He clearly thinks he got a good deal. Analysts and investors agree. Who would contradict them? ♦
Russia attacked towns and cities across Ukraine before dawn on Sunday in another deadly large-scale missile and drone bombardment that the authorities said was aimed in large part at crippling the nation’s energy grid.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said that about 500 Russian attack drones and 50 missiles were launched overnight. Drones continued to swarm Ukrainian skies throughout the morning and early afternoon on Sunday.
[…] “Today, the Russians once again targeted our infrastructure — everything that ensures normal life for our people,” Mr. Zelensky said in a statement. “We need more protection and faster implementation of all defense agreements, especially on air defense, to deprive this aerial terror of any meaning.”
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, wrote on social media on Sunday that Europe would keep supporting Ukraine “as long as needed” against what she described as Russia’s “terror attacks on Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure.”
Much of the overnight barrage was focused on Lviv, in western Ukraine, where four members of a family were killed when a strike hit a house in a village on the outskirts of the city, according to the local authorities. At least three other people were wounded.
As smoke rose over Lviv’s historic downtown, many in the region were left without power as emergency crews raced to repair damage. It was a scene repeated across the vast expanse of the country, with strikes reported in a number of other regions, including Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odesa and Kirovohrad.
The Ukrainian Air Force said that Russia had launched a total of 496 attack drones and 53 missiles overnight. Of those, 57 drones and 14 missiles evaded air defenses, according to an Air Force statement.
Many recent attacks have taken aim at Ukraine’s energy grid, the Ministry of Energy said in a statement, knocking out power to large numbers of people. That followed a pattern that has played out every winter since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. […]
[…] Trump said Monday that all medium- and heavy-duty trucks imported into the United States will face a 25% tariff rate starting November 1, a significant escalation of his effort to protect U.S. companies from foreign competition.
Trump last month had said heavy truck imports would face new duties on Oct. 1 on national security grounds, saying the new tariffs were to protect manufacturers from “unfair outside competition” and that the move would benefit companies such as Paccar-owned (PCAR.O), opens new tab Peterbilt and Kenworth and Daimler Truck-owned (DTGGe.DE), opens new tab Freightliner.
Under trade deals reached with Japan and the European Union, the United States has agreed to 15% tariffs on light-duty vehicles but it is not clear if they will face that rate for larger vehicles.
The Trump administration has also allowed producers to deduct the value of U.S. components from tariffs paid on light-duty vehicles assembled in Canada and Mexico.
Larger vehicles include everything from delivery trucks, garbage trucks, public utility trucks, transit, shuttle, and school buses and tractor-trailer trucks as well as semi-trucks and heavy-duty vocational vehicles.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce earlier urged the Commerce Department not to impose new truck tariffs, noting the top five import sources are Mexico, Canada, Japan, Germany, and Finland “all of which are allies or close partners of the United States posing no threat to U.S. national security.”
Mexico is the largest exporter of medium- and heavy-duty trucks to the United States. A study released in January said imports of those larger vehicles from Mexico have tripled since 2019 to around 340,000 today, according to government statistics.
Under the North American free trade deal USMCA, medium- and heavy-duty trucks move tariffs free if at least 64% of a heavy truck’s value originates in North America, via parts like engines and axles, raw materials such as steel, or assembly labor.
Tariffs could also affect Chrysler-parent Stellantis, which produces heavy-duty Ram trucks and commercial vans in Mexico. Stellantis had been lobbying the White House not to impose steep tariffs on its Mexican-made trucks.
Sweden’s Volvo Group is building a $700 million heavy-truck factory in Monterrey, Mexico, due to start operations in 2026.
[…] Mexico opposed new tariffs, telling the Commerce Department in May that all Mexican trucks exported to the United States have on average 50% U.S. content, including diesel engines.
Last year, the United States imported almost $128 billion in heavy vehicle parts from Mexico, accounting for approximately 28% of total U.S. imports, Mexico said.
Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano has a new job, everybody! You’re looking at the new CEO of the Internal Revenue Service.
No, he’s not stepping down from running the SSA. Why would you think that? And, yes, there has never been such a thing as a “CEO” of a government agency, but why not be the first?
So let’s see if we can diagram this.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is also the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. He’s not going to step down from that job, but Bisignano will run the agency as the CEO, while Bessent stays on in name only. Sure, seems totally legit and doesn’t look at all like the Trump administration is just trying to avoid more Senate confirmations.
Since Bisignano has been appointed to a made-up position, no one knows if it requires Senate confirmation. So, yes, Bisignano will be running both the SSA and the IRS.
But why, pray tell, is he taking on this side hustle?
According to the Trump administration, it’s because the IRS and SSA “share many of the same technological and customer service goals.”
It’s probably more accurate that […] Trump wants a beholden crony at both agencies because both have big, delicious databases that he wants to crack open for his deportation machine. [Probably true.]
If you’re wondering what kind of experience Bisignano brings to either of these gigs, all you have to know is that he literally had to Google “what is the SSA commissioner” when he was offered the job—a story that Bisignano thinks is funny and endearing, not utterly unhinged.
And it isn’t like Bisignano has covered himself in glory at the SSA thus far. He did oversee the agency explicitly lying about phone service issues […]
So why, exactly, does Bisignano have not one but two Cabinet jobs now? Mostly because he used to be the CEO of big rapacious companies like Fiserv, and because he and his wife donated more than $1 million to Trump and Trump-related efforts in the last 6 years. So the usual reasons anyone has a job in this administration, really.
Bisignano replaces Billy Long, the former auctioneer who used to advise business owners on how to cheat on their taxes […] This will be the seventh person in this role since Trump took office. That’s about one every five or six weeks […]
Trump has to keep engaging in all of these complicated shenanigans to get around the fact that his candidates are terrible and often—as he well knows—unconfirmable. Yes, Bisignano was confirmed as head of the SSA by a party-line vote, but who knows if the Senate would rouse itself again to give him the nod for the IRS?
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz was interviewed at an Aspen Institute event, where—rather than offering a solution to the skyrocketing health care costs under the Trump administration—he effectively admitted that things are going rather poorly.
“That’s why the president asked me three times if I really wanted the job, because he knows these are challenges. Commercial health insurance rates, which I don’t regulate, are going up almost 10% this year as well. So it’s not just Medicare,” Oz said. “The prices of care are going up. Hospitals are more expensive. Salaries are more expensive. Pharma prices have gone up. There’s lots to be concerned about.” [video]
Like most of the Republican Party, not even President Donald Trump’s own Cabinet can spin a solution for the rising costs of health care. After nearly two decades of promising—and failing to deliver—a comprehensive health care plan, the best the GOP can do is acknowledge the problem it created. […]
It’s been two weeks since Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva won a special election for Arizona’s 7th Congressional District, defeating her Republican opponent in a landslide that dwarfed the 22-point margin Democrats won the seat by in 2024.
But Speaker Mike Johnson still hasn’t sworn Grijalva into the seat, which became vacant in March when her father died of complications from cancer.
And GOP lawmakers are now admitting Johnson is slow-walking Grijalva’s swearing in because of the Epstein files.
Once she’s sworn in, Grijalva will be the final signature on the petition that would force Johnson to hold a vote on a bipartisan bill that would compel the Trump administration to release the files it possesses on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. If the bill came up for a vote before the full House, it would likely pass—embarrassing Johnson’s Dear Leader Donald Trump, who wants to keep the files secret likely because his name has been confirmed to be littered throughout the documents.
“Contrary to what he says, @SpeakerJohnson is doing everything he can, including delaying the swearing in of the most recently elected member of Congress and spreading misinformation about the legislation, to block a vote in Congress on legislation to release the Epstein files,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who co-sponsored legislation, wrote Monday in a post on X.
Massie was responding to an interview Johnson gave to MSNBC, in which Johnson claimed that he was “for maximum disclosure” but that the government doesn’t want to release the files to “protect the innocent victims” who Epstein abused. [video]
Of course, the legislation that would force the Epstein files to be released specifically says that information that would identify victims would be redacted—so Johnson’s claim is a red herring.
Grijalva, for her part, has been demanding that Johnson swear her in so she can get to work for her constituents—who have been without congressional representation since her father died on March 13.
“The people of Southern Arizona deserve representation and I’m ready to get to work. Swear me in NOW @SpeakerJohnson!” Grijalva wrote Monday in a post on X.
Johnson, for his part, claims he can’t swear Grijalva in because Congress isn’t in session.
But that, too, is an absurd lie, as back in April Johnson swore in two GOP lawmakers the day after they won special elections in Florida— even though Congress was in recess at the time.
[…] Massie is hammering Johnson for not calling Congress into session.
“The government is shut down, but the House refuses to go back in session. Why are we in recess? Because the day we go back into session, I have 218 votes for the discharge petition to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files,” Massie wrote in a post on X on Sunday night. “@SpeakerJohnson doesn’t want that to be the news.”
But ultimately, no matter how much Johnson tries to delay Grijalva’s swearing in, the fact is that she will be seated in the coming days. And then Johnson will have a mess on his hands as he tries to stop the Epstein files legislation from passing. […]
Jacob Chansley, better known as the shirtless, bison-horned “QAnon Shaman” from the Capitol cosplay riot on Jan. 6, 2021, is, unfortunately, back in the news. This time, he’s filed a lawsuit that either definitively proves that he and everyone involved in the riots were not of sound mind or that he is just another performatively crazy crank trying to hop on the right-wing grifter gravy train.
Nut job probably self written legal complaint trying to sue Trump as part of an extensive list of people who are keeping Chansley from taking his rightful place as president. It’s amusing on it’s own but I want to see Trump replay, he doesn’t like it when people he does favors for don’t blindly support him.
In Chansley’s telling, he’s been surveilled by the NSA under the Patriot Act while crafting a second Declaration of Independence. If you’re wondering how Warner Bros. fits into all this, he alleges that Warner Bros. stole the ideas for The Dark Knight and Avatar from his writings.
Given his history it wouldn’t surprise me if somebody is keeping an eye on him. The rest of his claims are rambling street guy crazy level stuff.
whheydtsays
Re: JM @ #211…
I want to read about the deposition when Chansley grills Trump. (In reality, I expect it won’t get very far, as the first judge to see it will probably laugh it out of court.)
Russia is preparing to import gasoline from China and other Asian countries to offset a growing domestic fuel shortage, following the shutdown of nearly 40% of its oil refining capacity, the pro-government outlet Kommersant reported on Oct. 1.
According to the outlet, Russia is considering importing fuel from China, South Korea, and Singapore to stabilize its domestic market.
To facilitate imports, the Russian government reportedly plans to lift import duties on fuel entering through select checkpoints in the Far East. The state will also subsidize importers by covering the gap between global market prices and lower domestic fuel prices, utilizing funds from the federal budget.
Russia is planning on large scale importing of fuel subsidized by the Russian government to try and stabilize the oil situation. In all probability this will be mostly China simply because they have the pipeline connections and the industrial processing capacity to do it. China will be buying crude oil from Russia, processing it into usable gasoline and selling to back to Russia. You can be sure there will be a hefty markup on doing that. Notice also that Singapore is far too small to matter except that they can act as a third party for Russia to buy gasoline under somebody else’s name.
They are also looking at getting gasoline from Belarus. Belarus has the processing capacity to sell gasoline to Russia and because of sanctions, cut off from other places to sell it. This could become a significant business but Belarus has to be very careful not to get involved in the war.
This is a sign of desperation and a reflection of the necessity of keeping the transportation network running.
House Democrats are urging the Department of Homeland Security to mandate that immigration officials clearly identify themselves […] There have been at least three instances of men impersonating ICE agents in order to [kidnap and assault] women [in North Carolina, Maryland, and New York].
Vale Juno mission it seems – a working spacecraft round our solar systems largets world which we might have lost thansk to the shutdown and Trump. Leftcircling Jove forwhat ican gather but info is scarce onthis.
NASA’s spinning spacecraft studying the satellites of the solar system’s largest celestial body (aside from the sun), may already be switched off, but the space agency won’t say. …
..(Snip)..
..NASA has extended Juno’s mission multiple times, most recently in 2021, guaranteeing operations through Sept. 30, 2025. That date has now passed, and with the U.S. government shut down, there is no word yet on whether Juno will come out alive on the other side.
… (Snip)..
In an email shared with Space.com, NASA Planetary Science Division Media Lead Molly Wasser referenced Juno’s 2021 extension saying the “mission was extended to September of 2025. This is the most recent update. Regarding the future of the mission, NASA will abide by the law.”
Due to the government shutdown, NASA is currently unable to say whether Juno is still operating or already powered down. At the time of publication, responses from agency officials state that “NASA is currently closed due to a lapse in government funding … Please reach back out after an appropriation or continuing resolution is approved.”
Under shutdown rules, only missions that fall under “excepted activities” — those required to protect life, property, or national security — can continue operations or communications. NASA’s continuity plans also specify that carryover funding may only be applied to “presidential priorities,” which limits what science programs can proceed during a lapse.
Juno does not fall into those protected categories, and was also zeroed-out on the President’s fiscal year 2026 budget request — making the mission, presumably, not a priority. So, until normal government operations resume, the spacecraft’s future is uncertain.
Scientists John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis have won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for “the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit”, the award-giving body has announced.
“This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics has provided opportunities for developing the next generation of quantum technology, including quantum cryptography, quantum computers, and quantum sensors,” the prize-awarding body said in a statement.
The government may be shut down, but space exploration advocates are still pleading NASA’s case on Capitol Hill. On Monday (Oct. 6), the nonprofit Planetary Society held a “day of action” to urge Congress to restore NASA’s science funding, which was slashed nearly in half in the White House’s proposed 2026 federal budget.
Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye spoke at a “Save NASA Science” press conference on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. He laid out the impact to the space agency and the broader U.S. science community should President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2026 (FY26) presidential budget proposal (PBR) turn into law.
“These proposed cuts would force the premature termination of dozens of missions — fully functioning spacecraft summarily turned off, development work on virtually every future science mission summarily halted,” Nye said at the event, which featured over 300 supporters and 20 national organizations.
The PBR, which was released in May, cut NASA’s funding by the largest amount in the agency’s history. The White House’s proposed plan slashes NASA’s overall budget by 24%, with a 47% reduction to science programs. Since then, the Planetary Society has been trying to raise public awareness and work with Congress to restore NASA’s budget in the appropriations bill.
“When it comes to exploration, there is no private option,” Nye said Monday. “NASA Science is a bargain. For every dollar spent, at least three come back into the economy. Last year, NASA’s investment in science generated more than $20 billion of economic growth and supported over 80,000 jobs in all 50 states.”
Nye argued that science and exploration aren’t just suggestions — they’re part of the foundation of the country.
Single vote saves Italian MEP Ilaria Salis from Hungarian prison. Salis herself has welcomed the vote as a victory for democracy and antifascism, but obviously, it’s a perilously narrow one. I guess many of those who voted to lift her immunity did so out of malice towards her as a representative of the left rather than for love of Orbán, but that the leader of the EPP (the “respectable” right in the European Parliament) is ready to ally with fascists against the protections from political persecution (“lawfare”) MEPs need, in order to pursue a political vendeta, is itself shameful and alarming.
KGsays
StevoR@218,
It’s a common belief (or half-belief or belief pretended for satirical purposes) on the left that Trump is actually a bought and paid for agent of Russia. But his attacks on NASA suggest that he must actually be in the pay of China, since China is the only state capable of rivalling the USA in space. I discount Russia – I doubt the regime’s ability to do more than maintain some Soviet-era capacity; the EU is not a state, and is increasingly paralyzed by political division and economic crisis; Japan, India, the UAE… are bit-players for the forseeable future.
ICE violence caught on camera featured among evidence in new lawsuit
Video is 4:16 minutes
Judge spanks Trump lawyer for trying to skate past block on National Guard to Oregon
Video is 4:38 minutes
Pritzker digs in against Trump abuse of National Guard; warns of 2026 Trump scheme
Video is 10:49 minutes
StevoRsays
@220. Kg : “It’s a common belief (or half-belief or belief pretended for satirical purposes) on the left that Trump is actually a bought and paid for agent of Russia.”
Thing is that’s scarily plausible and I’m not That sure that its wrong..
“A Trump loyalist is helping lead the CIA. The same Trump loyalist is also apparently in control the CIA’s legal judgments. What could possibly go wrong?”
Much of the public might be unfamiliar with Michael Ellis, but as regular readers might recall, he was a rather important figure during Donald Trump’s first term. In 2017, for example, Ellis was accused of using his position in the White House counsel’s office to feed sensitive information to one of the president’s congressional allies.
Two years later, then-Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testified under oath that Ellis was one of the officials responsible for transferring the summary of the infamous 2019 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the National Security Council’s top-secret computer server.
After Trump returned to the presidency, he rewarded Ellis with a dramatic promotion: The Republican operative and longtime Trump loyalist is now the deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
On Monday, The New York Times reported:
Michael Ellis, the deputy director of the C.I.A., has abruptly demoted a career lawyer who had been serving as the agency’s acting general counsel since January and installed himself in that role, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Ellis, who played a role in a series of controversies during President Trump’s first term, is also retaining his position as the No. 2 official at the C.I.A.
I realize that bureaucratic flowcharts don’t exactly qualify as online clickbait, but take a minute to consider the significance of a move like this: According to the Times’ reporting, […] a Trump loyalist is helping lead the CIA, and the same Trump loyalist is also in control the agency’s legal judgments.
Stephen Gillers, a New York University professor of legal ethics, told the Times that the arrangement seems “rather bizarre,” which seems more than fair. Gillers noted, however, “If the deputy director wants to do something and needs a legal opinion about whether or not he can do it, he can’t advise himself.”
Well, the CIA’s deputy director shouldn’t be able to advise himself on legal matters, but if the Times’ account is correct, that’s precisely the dynamic the Trump appointee has created at the agency.
The CIA didn’t comment on the arrangement, but a spokesperson for the agency did note that the president has nominated a different person, State Department lawyer Joshua Simmons, to serve as the CIA’s new general counsel. That’s true, and at least in theory, if he’s confirmed by the Senate, Ellis will no longer serve in both capacities.
That would, of course, be a big step in the right direction, though in the meantime, the problem will apparently persist.
“Given football’s popularity, common sense might suggest the president would be eager to align himself with the league, but he can’t seem to help himself.”
It’s not exactly a secret that professional football has an enormous and loyal following in the United States, and the NFL’s cultural footprint has few credible rivals. Common sense might suggest that political leaders would want to align themselves with the league, if for no other reason than to side with the American mainstream.
Donald Trump and his administration, however, can’t seem to help themselves.
Five years ago, Politico highlighted the president’s “decadeslong grudge against the NFL” and the eagerness with which he incorporated the league into his broader “culture war strategy.” Also in Trump’s first term, then-Vice President Mike Pence went to an NFL game, saw some players engage in a brief, peaceful and symbolic protest, and then left before kickoff in a performative display that cost taxpayers a fair amount of money.
Five years later, Team Trump is still at it. After the league announced that Latin superstar and Trump critic Bad Bunny would headline the next Super Bowl halftime show, a controversial podcast personality asked Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last week whether the NFL was possibly sending a message to the administration. She replied, “They suck and we’ll win and God will bless us.”
Noem added, in apparent reference to league officials, “They won’t be able to sleep at night. … They’re so weak.”
This week, the president had some related thoughts of his own. [social media post, with video]
On Newsmax’s Greg Kelly program, the conservative host raised the possibility of conservatives agreeing to “blow off the NFL” with a possible “boycott.” Trump responded that he’s unfamiliar with Bad Bunny, but he nevertheless considered the entertainer’s role as a Super Bowl halftime performer as “absolutely ridiculous.”
The president quickly added that he dislikes the league’s kickoff rule, saying it looks “ridiculous” and “terrible.” (The rule was instituted last year, but Trump continues to complain about it with unnerving frequency.)
What’s more, earlier this summer, Trump used his social media platform to argue that the Washington Commanders should return to its previous, offensive name, adding, “I may put a restriction on them that if they don’t change the name back. … I won’t make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington.”
Since returning to power, the president has taken steps to exert unusual influence over everything from the economy to higher education, the judiciary to the media, the military to museums, labor unions to law enforcement, health care to corporations, independent federal agencies to banks, cultural institutions to nonprofit organizations, the legal profession to the entertainment industry.
Evidently, it’s time to add professional football to his growing list of culture war targets.
Embedded links to sources are available at the main link.
“The president isn’t just boasting about imaginary negotiations, he’s also moving further away from the Democratic position on health care.”
Related video at the link.
t would be an overstatement to say there have been no bipartisan talks related to the government shutdown. Early last week, with just one day remaining before the shutdown deadline, Donald Trump welcomed congressional leaders from both chambers and both parties to the White House for a conversation. (The president agreed to the meeting after a series of odd public reversals.)
Though the Republican has bragged for years about his alleged world-class dealmaking abilities, Trump barely even tried to negotiate an agreement; he responded to the meeting by promoting offensive, AI-generated videos; and the government shut down soon after.
A week later, the president said something unexpected about the process of resolving the standoff. “We have a negotiation going on right now with the Democrats,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday afternoon. “That could lead to very good things.” [social media post and video]
For those eager to see the shutdown end, the comment offered a degree of hope — at least initially. It wasn’t long, however, before the public learned that the talks the president referred to did not, and do not, exist.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters that he hadn’t “heard a word” from the White House since Trump’s failed meeting early last week. Around the same time, fellow New York Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released a written statement that read in part, “Trump’s claim isn’t true — but if he’s finally ready to work with Democrats, we’ll be at the table.”
Trust is at the heart of all effective negotiations, which makes it all the more significant that the president keeps lying — about what Democrats are seeking, about undocumented immigrants’ access to health care coverage and, as of Monday afternoon, even about the existence of bipartisan talks.
At the same White House event, Trump added that he’d be open to “the right deal” with congressional Democrats, but quickly added, in reference to the Affordable Care Act and coverage costs, “You have subsidies, that’s the problem with Obamacare. The subsidies are so much, it’s billions and billions of dollars is being wasted.”
Or put another way, as the ongoing government shutdown reaches the one-week mark, the president isn’t just boasting about imaginary negotiations, he also seems to have moved further away from the Democratic position that created the breakdown in the first place.
Hours later, Trump elaborated on his position by way of his social media platform. “I am happy to work with the Democrats on their Failed Healthcare Policies, or anything else, but first they must allow our Government to re-open,” he wrote.
First, the ACA is a popular and effective program.
Second, Trump’s latest position is that Democrats should give Republicans what they want, at which point the president might consider working with the minority party — in some undetermined way, at some undermined point — after they no longer have any leverage.
This probably won’t prove effective. Call it a hunch.
Things got weird during a press conference Monday, when President Donald Trump was asked whether he would consider pardoning convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell—whose appeal to overturn her conviction was rejected by the Supreme Court.
“Who are we talking about?” Trump asked CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, who had posed the question.
“Ghislaine Maxwell,” Collins replied.
“You know, I haven’t heard the name in so long. I can say this, that I’d have to take a look at it. I would have to take a look,” Trump said, claiming that he had no knowledge of the Supreme Court’s decision. “I have a lot of people who have asked me for pardons. I call him ‘Puff Daddy’—has asked me for a pardon.” [video]
After growing increasingly frustrated by the public’s response to his refusal to release the long-promised Epstein files, Trump has managed to avoid talking about his old buddy Jeffrey Epstein and former Epstein associate Maxwell for nearly one month.
So it’s totally understandable that Trump doesn’t recall her name now.
StevoRsays
@103. Lynna, OM : “Thanks for all the astronomical news up-thread StevoR. Fascinating stuff.”
A draft memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) [That’s Russell Vought again] is raising the possibility that furloughed federal workers may not be entitled to back pay from their time off during the government shutdown.
An administration confirmed to The Hill that the memo, which was first reported by Axios, hinges on an aggressive interpretation of the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, which President Trump signed during the last government shutdown.
The OMB memo argues the law does not automatically guarantee that all furloughed employees are guaranteed back pay. It cites a line in the amended version of the law, which states that furloughed workers will receive back pay “subject to the enactment of appropriations Acts ending the lapse.”
Attempts to withhold back pay for furloughed workers would face legal challenges from employees’ unions. It would also be at odds with guidance issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) last month ahead of the ongoing government shutdown.
The OPM guidance features answers to frequently asked questions, including whether furloughed employees will get paid.
“Yes. After the lapse in appropriations has ended, employees who were furloughed as the result of the lapse will receive retroactive pay for those furlough periods. Retroactive pay will be provided on the earliest date possible after the lapse ends, regardless of scheduled pay dates.”
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who serves as the vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, pushed back on the OMB memo as a “baseless attempt to try and scare & intimidate workers by an administration run by crooks and cowards.”
“The letter of the law is as plain as can be—federal workers, including furloughed workers, are entitled to their back pay following a shutdown,” Murray said.
Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, called the OMB memo an “obvious misinterpretation of the law.”
“As we’ve said before, the livelihoods of the patriotic Americans serving their country in the federal government are not bargaining chips in a political game,” Kelley said in a statement. “It’s long past time for these attacks on federal employees to stop and for Congress to come together, resolve their differences, and end this shutdown.”
The memo on back pay is the latest example of how the Trump administration is threatening action against federal workers amid the shutdown. […]
“EXCLUSIVE: ICE kept most offices open in shutdown — but not the one inspecting detention centers”
“Agency’s entire Office of Detention Oversight has been placed on furlough, despite surging numbers of detainees and the administration’s promise that its deportation push remains unchanged.”
The Trump administration has said immigration enforcement will “remain unchanged” through the government shutdown. Officers continue to arrest migrants; detention centers remain fully operational; and the government issued new contracts for additional migrant holding facilities just last week.
But at least one team at Immigration and Customs Enforcement isn’t going into work: the Office of Detention Oversight, which inspects detention centers to ensure they meet federal standards for the safe and humane treatment of immigrants. [I snipped response from Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, who blamed Democrats.]
The contrast between that office’s temporary closure and the ongoing immigration crackdown at ICE highlights how the administration’s priorities have steered the agency’s operations during the funding impasse. During a budget shutdown, department leaders must determine which roles are “nonessential,” because only essential employees are allowed to stay on the job when federal funding has expired.
While many federal agencies have kept only a small number of essential staff on duty, DHS is in a unique position because Congress in July allocated $170 billion for border security and immigration enforcement. Agencies that received funds from that spending bill can use them to operate through the shutdown, White House budget director Russell Vought said in a memo last month. […]
Current and former officials are reportedly frustrated that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency hasn’t been able to arrest and detain more people in recent months, despite ICE getting an unprecedented $45 billion in new funding to expand its detention capacities as part of the Trump administration’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” spending package in July.
The officials pointed to a few key factors behind the pace, including a reported Homeland Security policy requiring Secretary Kristi Noem to personally sign off on contracts worth more than $100,000, as well as the influence of DHS adviser Corey Lewandowski.
Political meddling is keeping ICE from spending the money they are getting. The leaders want to approve every deal and are cutting deals to house the illegal immigrants instead of quickly building prisons. Cutting deals to house immigrants in Republican states so the money flows to Republican coffers is taking time. Without any place to put them ICE is running into limits of how many they can arrest.
There is a dark humor with the Trump administration where their fundamental incompetence and corruption get in the way of their malice and desire to hurt people.
@232 JM wrote; There is a dark humor with the Trump administration where their fundamental incompetence and corruption get in the way of their malice and desire to hurt people.
I reply: That is very true. When I read that my earlier comments came to mind:
‘They are clowns. But, they are clowns with flamethrowers’. I guess it’s just that they are having trouble authorizing the refueling of the flamethrowers.
Just heard on mainslime news that air traffic controllers have reached the breaking point and are staging a ‘sick out’.
Regarding the increasing number of crashes of all kinds of aircraft, I don’t ever want to fly again.
whheydtsays
Re: shermanj @ #235…
In the late 1950s to the mid 1960s, my father worked as a contracted field service engineer with the US Air Force. He refused to fly because he knew about too many ways an airplane could fail.
OSLO (The Borowitz Report)—Donald J. Trump reportedly “exploded with rage” on Tuesday after the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2025 Peace Prize to California Governor Gavin Newsom.
In its official statement, the Nobel committee praised Newsom for “demonstrating his dedication to the principle of peace by preventing an armed conflict between California and Oregon.”
Though the committee did not bestow its prize on Trump, it did recognize him with a laser printed “certificate of participation.”
“Deciding who will win the Peace Prize is an exhausting and stressful process,” the committee stated. “Donald Trump’s entry gave us many hours of welcome laughter.”
“GOP leaders apparently want a public debate over which party is focused on health care. Given the party’s record, that’s not a fight Republicans can win.”
After Republicans failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act during the first year of Donald Trump’s first term, the president and his White House team shifted their strategy on the issue. In fact, in 2019, the GOP administration effectively gave up on the idea of Congress tearing down the health care reform law.
Instead, Trump and his team urged the courts to take down the system and strip tens of millions of American families of their benefits.
That plan ultimately didn’t work out for Republicans, either — the ACA has repeatedly withstood scrutiny from the U.S. Supreme Court — but as the Trump White House leaned into that strategy in early 2019, a reporter asked the president what his message was to families concerned about what he might do to their health security.
“Let me tell you exactly what my message is: The Republican Party will soon be known as the party of health care,” he responded. “You watch.”
Well, we watched. Six years later, I think it’s fair to say the GOP is still not known as “the party of health care.”
The rhetorical push, however, apparently remains ongoing. Politico reported:
During a news conference Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson pushed back on Democratic rhetoric, arguing the [GOP megabill approved in July] would help ‘fix’ health care. Republican leaders have touted the bill’s ability to target fraud, waste and abuse in federal health programs. ‘Let me look right into the camera and tell you clearly: Republicans are the ones concerned about health care,’ Johnson said.
Despite the fact that Johnson gave his members another week off and they don’t appear to be doing any work on any issue, the House speaker quickly added that his party is “working around the clock every day to fix health care.” [social media post, with video]
Hours later, the Louisiana congressman told Newsmax that Trump “wants to be the health care president.”
The debate (such as it is) need not be complicated: Republicans opposed every major congressional effort at health care reform for several decades, up to and including the fight over the Affordable Care Act, which received a grand total of zero GOP votes.
In the years that followed, Republicans made every possible effort to undermine and repeal the law, despite its successes. All the while, party leaders, including Trump, offered public assurances about their ability to deliver a superior model to the ACA, and after more than a decade of false promises, the GOP — “the ones concerned about health care” — still doesn’t have a plan that exists in reality.
More recently, Republicans opposed the Democratic effort to increase ACA subsidies, making coverage even more affordable for millions of Americans, and they continue to resist efforts to maintain the status quo — which brings us to the ongoing government shutdown.
All the while, the Republican administration is gutting the nation’s public health infrastructure in unprecedented ways, undermining potentially lifesaving medical research and, in recent months, even celebrating a far-right megabill that’s poised to do more damage to the nation’s health care system than any modern piece of American legislation.
And yet, there was the House speaker, looking into a camera and declaring, “Republicans are the ones concerned about health care.”
How he managed to deliver the line with a straight face remains unclear.
“This is the first time six former surgeons general have linked arms and urged the public to recognize the nation’s health secretary as dangerous.”
The list of prominent voices who’ve called on Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign is not short. Everyone from members of Congress to leading medical organizations, members of Kennedy’s family to those who’ve worked with him at the Department of Health and Human Services, all agree on a simple conclusion: RFK Jr. should not be in his current position.
It’s reached the point at which six former surgeons general — after having served in the Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden administrations, respectively — decided to link arms and write a new opinion piece for The Washington Post, warning Americans about the degree to which they see Kennedy as a public menace.
Today, in keeping with those oaths, we are compelled to speak with one voice to say that the actions of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are endangering the health of the nation. Never before have we issued a joint public warning like this. But the profound, immediate and unprecedented threat that Kennedy’s policies and positions pose to the nation’s health cannot be ignored.
[…] this is the first time that six former surgeons general — Jerome Adams, Richard Carmona, Joycelyn Elders, Vivek Murthy, Antonia Novello and David Satcher — have issued a joint public declaration, urging the public to recognize the nation’s health secretary as dangerous.
“Rather than combating the rapid spread of health misinformation with facts and clarity, Kennedy is amplifying it,” the sextet added. “The consequences aren’t abstract. They are measured in lives lost, disease outbreaks and an erosion of public trust that will take years to rebuild.” [True]
They added, “It’s worth reminding ourselves what Kennedy puts at risk. The FDA approves lifesaving drugs and holds pharmaceutical companies to high standards of safety and effectiveness. NIH pursues and funds cutting-edge research. CDC leads in emergencies from pandemics to opioids to natural disasters. Agencies at HHS spearhead efforts to address issues regarding mental health, substance-use disorders, primary care shortages and health insurance coverage for millions of seniors, disabled individuals, and low-income Americans. Mismanaging HHS endangers America’s health, undermines national security and damages our economic resilience and international credibility.”
The retired surgeons general concluded: “Secretary Kennedy is entitled to his views. But he is not entitled to put people’s health at risk. He has rejected science, misled the public and compromised the health of Americans.”
The op-ed did not explicitly use the word “resign,” but given the circumstances, they didn’t have to.
RFK Jr. hasn’t responded to the piece, though given the thoroughness of the writers’ condemnation, it stands to reason that he’ll say very little about it and hope the public doesn’t notice it.
johnson catmansays
re Lynna @238:
And yet, there was the House speaker, looking into a camera and declaring, “Republicans are the ones concerned about health care.”
It is more like “republicans are the ones concerned that US citizens are getting health care over our objections”.
“It appears that Trump sending troops into U.S. cities hasn’t made people any less interested in protesting against him.”
On Friday, shortly before Donald Trump held what looked a lot like a political rally with active-duty U.S. Navy sailors in Norfolk, Virginia, his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the U.S. Navy chief of staff. That firing didn’t make a lot of news when it happened, likely because it is just one in a long series of firings by the Trump administration.
By definition, the military is not a political body that’s supposed to turn over every time there’s a new president, but since Trump has been back in office, the administration has been destroying the leadership of the U.S. military.
Since Trump retook the White House, over a dozen top military officials have been fired or seemingly pushed out: the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the head of the Navy SEALs, the chief of naval operations, the head of the Navy Reserve, the head of U.S. Cyber Command, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, the chief of staff of the Air Force, the vice chief of staff of the Air Force, the head of the Air Force Global Strike Command, the top legal officer in the Air Force, the top legal officer in the Army, the top legal officer in the Navy and now, the Navy chief of staff.
And on Monday, in what may or may not be related news, The New York Times reported that the administration has removed the top legal official at the CIA.
At the same time that the administration has carried out this firing spree, we have seen the president explicitly tell all the country’s top generals and admirals that he wants them to plan to bring U.S. military operations to bear against Americans in cities like San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.
Trump has already sent federalized troops, including active-duty Marines, into California’s largest city, Los Angeles. National Guard troops are still stationed in the state. And he’s now told the remaining top leadership of the military — the parts he hasn’t fired yet — that he wants the active-duty U.S. military to use both San Francisco and Los Angeles as military “training grounds.”
But the American people aren’t standing by silently. This weekend, there were big, peaceful protests against Trump and against his immigration agents in Los Angeles. It seems that sending in the troops there hasn’t made people any less interested in protesting against him.
There were protests this weekend in Memphis against Trump’s plans to send troops there. Protests continued in Chicago as well ahead of the expected arrival of federalized National Guard troops.
Federal agents have already been dispatched to the city. According to witnesses who spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times, “armed federal agents in military fatigues” have busted down doors, “pulling men, women and children from their apartments, some of them naked.”
During one raid, witnesses told the paper that agents “approached or entered nearly every apartment in the five-story building, and U.S. citizens were among those detained for hours.” They also said federal agents “used flash-bang grenades to burst through the building and several drones and helicopters were deployed.”
The Associated Press reported that “agents used unmarked trucks and a helicopter to surround the five-story apartment building … then went door to door, woke up residents and used zip ties to restrain them.”
Reporters from NewsNation, who were invited to observe the operation, said agents “rappelled from Black Hawk helicopters.”
Remember, this is what’s happening in Chicago before the military has been deployed.
A lawsuit has been brought by a group of journalists and Chicago residents to try to stop these federal agents from infringing on people’s rights to protest, and on journalists’ right to report on the protests. Meanwhile, the state of Illinois itself has also filed its own lawsuit, asking a federal judge to block Trump from escalating further by sending not just agents like these, but federalized National Guard troops into the city as well. [video]
A similar lawsuit to stop Trump from sending troops into Oregon was successful this weekend. The judge, who was appointed by Trump, first blocked the president from federalizing the Oregon National Guard to send them into Portland under his command. The judge said there was nothing in the conditions on the ground in Portland that would justify the kind of military force that Trump wanted to use these troops for.
The Trump administration responded by telling the judge it would send federalized National Guard troops from California or from Texas instead.
But that same judge, in an emergency hearing late Sunday, told the administration, in no uncertain terms, that they were obviously trying to defy her first order and they were not allowed to do that, calling their move “in direct contravention” of her earlier decision.
It’s clear Trump doesn’t have the law, the people, or even the politics on his side — and so the only response he can muster is force.
Militant Agnosticsays
Lynna@221
ICE violence caught on camera featured among evidence in new lawsuit
Video is 4:16 minutes
The video linked in Lynna’s post @221 shows an actual example of Christian Persecution.
Funny how the people who want to have mandatory prayer in schools are just fine with with shooting someone in the face with a pepper ball for praying. If you are a Christian (odds are the shooter was) what does it say about you that you find a Presbyterian minister praying at you while you are on a rooftop so threatening that you have to respond with violence.
“The deputy chief of staff’s conspiratorial vision is ridiculous, but given his position in the White House, it’d be a mistake to ignore it.”
A couple of months ago, Stephen Miller, Donald Trump’s notorious deputy chief of staff, offered an unsubtle assessment of the political opposition. “The Democrat [sic] Party is not a political party,” he said in August. “It is a domestic extremist organization.”
The comments were unsettling for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the unstated implications: If one of the president’s right-hand men sees his political opposition not as legitimate but as a public threat, that would necessarily justify a radical response. After all, domestic extremist organizations are, as a matter of course, subjected to all kinds of special scrutiny, including surveillance and criminal investigation. [!]
Less than an hour later, he kept going, publishing this related missive:
The issue before is [sic] now is very simple and clear. There is a large and growing movement of leftwing terrorism in this country. It is well organized and funded. And it is shielded by far-left Democrat [sic] judges, prosecutors and attorneys general. The only remedy is to use legitimate state power to dismantle terrorism and terror networks.
To the extent that reality still has any meaning, none of this was true. There is no “large and growing movement of leftwing terrorism in this country,” and in recent decades, most acts of political violence in the U.S. came from the right. […]
Similarly, there is no secret cabal of judges, prosecutors and state attorneys general conspiring in the shadows. Indeed, though the White House likes to pretend otherwise, several of the judges who’ve ruled against Trump in recent months have been Republican-appointed jurists — including some chosen by Trump himself.
But don’t overlook that last sentence in his missive: The “only” remedy, Miller claimed, is to use the power of the federal government to “dismantle” the cabal that he believes exists, reality notwithstanding.
Hours later, after another Trump-appointed judge blocked the president from deploying Guard troops to Oregon to deal with an imaginary crisis, Miller’s stance took a hysterical turn. “Legal insurrection,” he wrote, condemning the ruling. He proceeded to reference “an organized terrorist attack on the federal government” that warrants a robust administration response, despite the fact that it’s only underway in the overactive imaginations of Miller and his allies.
A day later, according to an NBC News tally, Miller used the word “insurrection” at least 12 times over the course of Monday.
“The essence of post-liberalism is the rejection of the notion that some neutral standards of conduct apply to all parties,” The Atlantic’s Jon Chait explained in his latest column. “Miller, like Trump, appears to believe his side stands for what is right and good, and his opponents stand for what is evil. Any methods used by Trump are ipso facto justified, and any methods used against him illegitimate.”
There might be a temptation to shrug this off, but that would be a mistake. There’s a growing body of evidence that suggests Miller isn’t just a hyper-partisan anti-immigration zealot, he also appears to be a leading White House official with a decision-making role related to military resources. [!]
The deputy chief of staff’s vision of a vast left-wing conspiracy is obviously weird and fantastical, but that doesn’t mean it’s irrelevant.
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez laughed off top Trump henchman Stephen Miller after he whined about her Monday night on Fox News.
Miller appeared for a friendly interview with right-wing hack Laura Ingraham, during which the Fox News host asked him to respond to an Instagram video of Ocasio-Cortez.
In the video, Ocasio-Cortez said Miller looked like “he is so mad that he is 4 [foot] 10 [inches tall] that he’s taking that anger out at any other population possible.” She called on her supporters to “laugh at” authoritarians like Miller as a way to undermine their power.
Miller smiled awkwardly as the clip played, then told Ingraham, “Well, we knew that her brain didn’t work. Now we know her eyes don’t work.”
Even Ingraham didn’t laugh at the pained joke, but Miller soldiered on, calling Ocasio-Cortez a “mess” and a “train wreck.” [video]
After a clip of the awkward exchange was posted online, Ocasio-Cortez reposted it and wrote, “I cannot believe they aired this and made him listen to it live 😂 […]” [social media post and video]
Miller has been one of the most visible members of the second Trump administration and has publicly advocated for Trump’s attacks on cities and states led by Democrats. Miller has been railing against judges who have ruled against the administration for violating federal law, falsely arguing that following the law amounts to a “legal insurrection.”
Miller has also been trying to use the death of bigoted conservative activist Charlie Kirk as the rallying cry to suppress left-of-center speech. He has promoted a conspiracy theory of a “vast, domestic terror movement” organized against the Trump administration, and he has announced his intention to use agencies like the Department of Justice to oppose dissenting speech.
This is in addition to the widespread deportation actions the administration is executing, which Miller has pushed for.
Those are the actions and rhetoric Ocasio-Cortez sought to undermine in her Instagram video. She argued that mockery has historically been an effective tactic against authoritarians and their culture of faux masculinity. Miller’s decision to run to the safe space of Fox News to complain about the congresswoman is a perfect validation of what she said.
PZ points out that Republicans are using an image that combines a old (2008) photo of Ecuadorian police; a fiery protest photo from Brazil (2017); and caption text that praises Trump in order to justify Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Portland.
Sheesh.
birgerjohanssonsays
Ethnolinguistic map of Europe in 600 AD. At this time, the west slavic people had pushed west to Elbe. The later German expansion east would not begin until the twelwth century.
The Circassians were genocided by the Russians as late as the 19th century.
.https://www.facebook.com/share/1CfWkZ31uT/
Fricken vultures! I’ve been looking everywhere for that shoe! :-(
birgerjohanssonsays
Silentbob @ 253
Are you an elf, a dwarf or possibly one of those long-lived Numenorans?
birgerjohanssonsays
Let’s talk elections:
“Democrats on Edge of a MAJOR Victory in California”
The Democratic politicians are coming around from “bipartisanship at all costs” to “let’s implement new liberal policies”.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=emgmJsYpIJg
birgerjohanssonsays
Scientists Reveal the DNA Ancestry of China’s First Emperor [rather, the DNA of the workers who slaved on the tomb construction]
-I recommend you skip to the 9-minute mark.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=-mmy9s_qHCY
birgerjohanssonsays
Professor David Nutt.
“Neuroscientist Ranks Every Drug By How Hard They Are to Quit! Tier List”
“Republicans are claiming that the FBI was caught “spying” on congressional Republicans and “tapping” their phones. That’s really not what happened.”
In recent years, Republican officials and their allies have searched high and low for evidence implicating the Biden-era FBI in political wrongdoing, and to date, the GOP hasn’t had much luck. This week, however, the party claimed to have finally succeeded.
On Monday, a group of congressional Republicans claimed that the FBI analyzed the personal cellphone data of nine GOP lawmakers as part of the probe into the Jan. 6 attack. NBC News reported:
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, shared a one-page, unclassified document that he said shows that the cellphone ‘tolling data’ of Republican lawmakers was sought and obtained in 2023 as part of the FBI’s ‘Arctic Frost’ investigation — a precursor of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into efforts by President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results.
[…] the analysis included eight GOP senators — Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson, South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, Tennessee’s Bill Hagerty, Missouri’s Josh Hawley, Alaska’s Dan Sullivan, Alabama’s Tommy Tuberville, Wyoming’s Cynthia Lummis and Tennessee’s Marsha Blackburn — as well as Republican Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.
The day after the claims reached the public, Grassley declared that the controversy was “worse than Watergate,” while Hawley spent much of the day claiming that his phone had been “tapped” by the FBI. (He was lying.) [Wrong, and wrong again.]
Not surprisingly, Donald Trump joined the partisan parade soon after. “Wow! Jack Smith and the Biden DOJ spied on Republican Senators and a least one Republican Congressman,” the president wrote online on Tuesday night. “This is really bad ‘stuff.’ They tried to take down the Republican Party, and got caught!!!”
Based on the available information, the truth is far more anodyne.
The New York Times reported, “The analysis of phone toll records is a common investigative tactic. … Such toll record information does not include the contents of conversations, which would require a court-approved wiretap.”
A related analysis from CNN explained that there’s nothing especially surprising about any of this.
We already knew that the phone records of some lawmakers were seized in Smith’s probe, because the Justice Department had to overcome legal hurdles posed by the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause. And it’s difficult to understand how Smith ever could have conducted such a probe without obtaining some phone records of lawmakers. That’s because Trump’s pressure on lawmakers was a key part of his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. … It would seem very difficult to piece together a case without understanding who was talking to whom, and when.
MSNBC’s Ken Dilanian emphasized a related point, noting that the former special counsel’s final report, released earlier this year, made note of these same toll records.
Plenty of other independent observers drew a similar conclusion. “It actually seems sort of obvious that if you’re investigating a former president of the United States for trying to subvert an election, you’d probe some of contacts he and alleged co-conspirators had with people he was trying to enlist/pressure to overturn the results,” Politico’s Kyle Cheney noted.
Of course, we know how the coming days, weeks, months and years will unfold. It will now be a simple “fact” that the FBI was caught “spying” on congressional Republicans and “tapping” their phones as part of a nefarious plot — a claim that will be repeated ad nauseum in conservative media. [Unfortunately, that’s true.]
But barring additional revelations, that “fact” won’t be true.
“The Constitution gives Congress what’s known as the ‘power of the purse.’ When Trump tries to claim he has his own purse, there’s a problem.”
Related video at the link.
At a White House event earlier this week, Donald Trump boasted that he’d succeeded on multiple foreign policy fronts because he had “tariffs to throw around a little bit.” What the president neglected to mention was an underlying problem: He was referring to a power he’s not supposed to have.
In the American system of government, Congress has this authority, according to the Constitution. The idea that a president can unilaterally “throw around” tariffs, based on his own wishes and whims, is at odds with how the system is designed to work.
A day later, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt went a little further down the same path. Politico reported:
The Trump administration is planning to deploy millions of dollars in tariff revenue to tide over a critical nutrition program for low-income moms and babies during the ongoing government shutdown. … The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children was expected to run out of federal funding later this week. While the program, which funds infant formula, fruits and vegetables, has dipped into contingency funds during previous shutdowns, states have never had to triage participants or turn them away.
It is certainly true that the program, generally known as WIC, is facing a budget shortfall. Now, evidently, Team Trump intends to address that shortfall by redirecting tariff revenue.
“It’s not clear exactly how much money the White House intends to spend, how the process will unfold or if it is legal,” Politico’s report added.
It’s the “or if it is legal” part of the sentence that stands out for me.
Many Americans will likely learn of developments like these and see them as encouraging news. The White House has spent much of the year fighting for tax breaks for billionaires, but in this instance, it’s apparently looking for ways to help low-income families afford infant formula and groceries. Who’s going to argue against that?
There is, however, a broader constitutional issue. In the United States, the president can’t impose his own taxes without Congress, create his own pile of money that Congress never approved, and then start allocating the funds at his discretion to whichever cause he deems fit, without Congress.
The Appropriations Clause of the Constitution helps give lawmakers what’s known as the “power of the purse.” When Trump effectively responds, “I now have my own purse,” there’s a problem.
Am I saying that struggling WIC beneficiaries should simply go without? No. I’m saying that officials should follow the law and prevent an authoritarian president from treating Congress like a doormat (again) and moving around federal funds however he pleases.
Prior reporting had already suggested that a key witness in the bogus prosecution of former FBI Director Jim Comey was not helpful to prosecutors, but ABC News has a new story out this morning that expands on the obstacle the witness presents to interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan’s case.
The witness is longtime Comey friend Daniel Richman, a law professor at Columbia University.
ABC News has consistently had good sources seemingly from within the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Its sources for the latest story are familiar with the contents of the internal memo in which career prosecutors laid out the reasons for not seeking an indictment of Comey. That decision led Trump to force out then-acting U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert (Trump’s own nominee for the permanent post) and replace him with Halligan, who promptly indicted the case personally.
As I read the ABC News story, the quoted phrases “problematic” and “likely insurmountable problems” are directly from the memo declining to prosecute:
Federal prosecutors investigating former FBI Director James Comey for allegedly making false statements to Congress determined that a central witness in their probe would prove “problematic” and likely prevent them from establishing their case to a jury, sources familiar with their findings told ABC News. …
According to prosecutors who investigated the circumstances surrounding Comey’s 2020 testimony for two months, using Richman’s testimony to prove that Comey knowingly provided false statements to Congress would result in “likely insurmountable problems” for the prosecution.
Investigators detailed those conclusions in a lengthy memo last month recommending that the office not move forward in charging Comey, according to sources familiar with the memo’s contents.
To put it bluntly, a key witness is “hostile,” in the words of Halligan’s deputy, to the prosecution’s case. Some cases can survive that kind of weakness, but prosecutors in Virginia and earlier in DC, have failed to find additional evidence that Comey lied to Congress as alleged. So there’s precious little evidence for prosecutors to use to overcome the weakness presented by Richman:
Investigators who reviewed material from Comey’s emails, including his correspondence with Richman, could not identify an instance when Comey approved leaking material to a reporter anonymously, sources told ABC News.
What’s this all mean?
(1) It reinforces Halligan’s prosecutorial misconduct in seeking an indictment against Comey despite the fatal flaws with the case already identified and spelled out by prosecutors.
(2) It shows how vulnerable the case will be to dismissal (on various grounds) before it ever gets to trial.
(3) It confirms that the point of this whole exercise — and of all of Trump’s politically motivated prosecutions — is to damage the target’s reputation, force them to spend time and money defending themselves, and in some instances take them off the political playing field (or at least wrong-foot them). A successful conviction is just icing; it’s not the ultimate objective.
One other point separate from the ABC News story: Halligan is still likely to face a challenge to the validity of her appointment as interim U.S. attorney, same as Trump interim USAs in New Jersey and Nevada. Whether it’s Comey or another criminal defendant in the Eastern District, someone is going to make that argument, and if they win it would likely nullify the Comey indictment that Halligan personally presented to the grand jury.
Comey is in court this morning in Alexandria, Virginia, for his arraignment.
I’ve become a lot more circumspect over the last decade about trumpeting the worst trolling of the MAGA right because so much of it is performative and intended to shock, provoke, and stir the pot. But since President Trump and GOP elected officials started using the assassination of Charlie Kirk to paint all political opposition as terroristic, violent, and radical, the rhetoric has shifted to a darker, more ominous place than we’ve seen in U.S. politics in at least a century.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a GOP Senate candidate, is a leading MAGA troll but the press release he put out yesterday in his official capacity is so propagandistic and chilling in the tale it spins that it serves as a good indicator of where things stand right now. It reads in part:
In response to the political assassination of national hero Charlie Kirk and the disturbing rise of leftist violence across the country, Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched undercover investigations into various groups affiliated with left-wing political violence known to be operating in Texas.
“Leftist political terrorism is a clear and present danger. Corrupted ideologies like transgenderism and Antifa are a cancer on our culture and have unleashed their deranged and drugged-up foot soldiers on the American people,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The martyrdom of Charlie Kirk marks a turning point in America. There can be no compromise with those who want us dead. To that end, I have directed my office to continue its efforts to identify, investigate, and infiltrate these leftist terror cells. To those demented souls who seek to kill, steal, and destroy our country, know this: you cannot hide, you cannot escape, and justice is coming.”
During yesterday’s Senate Judiciary Committee testimony of Attorney General Pam Bondi, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) used similarly chilling language: [Video]
Welcome to the Era of Kavanaugh Raids
We talked last week about “Kavanaugh stops,” a word play on Terry stops, morbid legal humor for ICE’s detention of U.S. citizens caught up in President Trump’s authoritarian mass deportation system. But Garrett Graff draws a different historical parallel: the Palmer raids conducted by President Woodrow Wilson’s Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer in 1919-1920:
`Palmer oversaw a series of sweeping raids against suspected Communists during the country’s first Red Scare (there are two and they’re worth distinguishing between!) that ultimately led to the arrests and detention of perhaps as many as 10,000 people across nearly 40 US cities. The raids were led by a rising bureaucratic star named J. Edgar Hoover. Many arrests and seizures happened absent any warrants; many “radicals” were detained for simply being members of entirely legal organizations.
Quote of the Day
Jamelle Bouie:
Here, I will say that this effort to use the military against American citizens — an effort backed, it seems, by almost the entire Republican Party — makes a mockery of the longstanding conservative claim that theirs is a movement of small government and states’ rights. Trump’s push to invade cities using the National Guard is as aggressive a use of federal power as one can imagine. And as we think about antecedents to this administration, this particular episode is structurally similar to the controversy over the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which required the citizens and officials of Northern free states to act as slave catchers against their will and often against the laws of the states in which they lived.
Charges were dropped against two Chicago-area protesters accused of assaulting law enforcement agents after a grand jury declined to indict them.
At a brief hearing Wednesday morning, Magistrate Judge Gabriel Fuentes of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted federal prosecutors’ motion to dismiss the complaint against Ray Collins and Jocelyne Robledo, who were arrested at a protest outside an ICE facility in the Chicago suburbs.
When Fuentes asked Assistant US Attorney Brian Havey to explain the reasons behind the motion to dismiss, Havey said the grand jury on Tuesday had returned a “no-bill,” meaning they declined to file a true bill of indictment.
The government has 30 days from the date of arrest to bring charges on these allegations, Havey said in court, so prosecutors can still pursue charges if they choose.
“Right now as things stand, the only decision made by our office is to dismiss this complaint. The case will remain open,” he said. “We have the time to decide where we want to go from here and weigh the different options.”
Bloomberg Law first reported the grand jury’s decision Tuesday night. Prosecutors on Wednesday morning filed a formal motion to dismiss the case against the two protesters.
No-bills are extremely rare, though they are growing more common in cities targeted by President Donald Trump with immigration raids, military deployments, and other federal resources to crack down on crime. […]
In remarks to reporters after the hearing, Collins’ attorney Richard Kling lauded the grand jury’s decision, saying they stood up for the First Amendment right to protest and rejected “gestapo-type troops” on the streets.
Kling, a veteran attorney who teaches at Chicago-Kent College of Law, said he had never before seen a grand jury in the district reject an indictment.
Prosecutors’ inability to secure this indictment continues a pattern mirrored in Los Angeles and Washington DC where local citizens on grand juries are providing a check on a White House-directed law enforcement takeover.
The development is a setback for the Trump administration’s surge into Chicago […]
Kling said it was notable that the grand jury likely had members on both sides of the political divide and still decided not to indict.
“You know the old saying that a good prosecutor could have a grand jury indict a ham sandwich?” Kling said. “Apparently the evidence against my client was less than a ham sandwich.”
Also Tuesday, prosecutors moved to dismiss charges against Hubert Mazur, who was charged in connection with a Broadview protest the same day as Collins and Robledo.
Grand juries also pushed back in Los Angeles this year when the temporary US attorney ordered his office to pursue indictments in protest-related cases despite being advised by his prosecutors that there was insufficient evidence, Bloomberg Law reported.
The New York Times and other media outlets have also reported that Washington, DC grand juries failed to return indictments against multiple individuals charged with federal felony counts after the Trump administration ordered street sweeps and mass arrests.
That included the grand jury’s refusal to indict a former Justice Department employee accused of throwing a sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection officer.
One week into the government shutdown, top Republican leaders appear to have lost the plot.
President Donald Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are straining to project a united front against Democrats, just barely concealing tensions over strategy that have snowballed behind the scenes since agencies closed last week.
In one stark example, Trump scrambled the congressional leaders’ messaging Monday when he told reporters in the Oval Office he would “like to see a deal made for great health care” and that he was “talking to Democrats about it.”
Within hours, Trump walked it back: “I am happy to work with the Democrats on their Failed Healthcare Policies, or anything else, but first they must allow our Government to re-open,” he wrote on Truth Social hours after his initial comments.
Johnson said Tuesday he “spoke with the president at length yesterday” about the need to reopen agencies first [Heh. Speaker Mike Johnson is on babysitting-Trump duty, which must require a lot of repetition of talking points he wants Trump to stick to.], while Thune told reporters there have been “ongoing conversations” about strategy between the top Republicans.
A White House official granted anonymity to speak about the circumstances behind the president’s statements said the Truth post was “issued to make clear that the [administration] position has not changed” and was not done at the behest of the two leaders. [LOL]
But tensions surfaced again Tuesday after a White House budget office memo raised questions about a federal law guaranteeing back pay for furloughed federal workers — one that Johnson and Thune both voted for in 2019.
These episodes are among many where the White House and Hill Republicans have been crosswise on strategy and seemingly not communicating in advance about their key moves. Many of those instances have concerned hardball tactics coming from White House budget director Russ Vought seemingly aimed at cornering Democrats by threatening blue-state spending and the federal workforce. [Yep. Both Vought and Trump are causing headaches for Republican congressional leadership. Sad.]
Not only have those moves so far failed to move Democrats off their positions, they have left Johnson and Thune flat-footed as they confront questions about the GOP strategy for ending the shutdown.
The two leaders, for instance, both struggled to square their own support for federal workers with the administration’s new position questioning back pay for furloughed employees. Thune sought to return focus to Democrats while also indicating frustration with the White House. [LOL. More sad faces.]
[…] Johnson separately said he supported back pay and praised the “extraordinary Americans who serve the federal government.”
“They serve valiantly, and they work hard, and they serve in these various agencies, doing really important work,” he said. “I tell you, the president believes that as well.”
Barely two hours later, Trump sent a different message: “I would say it depends who we’re talking about,” he told reporters when asked about guaranteeing back pay. “For the most part, we’re going to take care of our people, but for some people they don’t deserve to be taken care of.” [Whoo boy, that’s some disconnect.]
[…] The split was underscored Monday night when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a Trump loyalist with a maverick streak, took direct aim at party leaders for not addressing the looming deadline. “Not a single Republican in leadership talked to us about this or has given us a plan to help Americans deal with their health insurance premiums DOUBLING!!!” Greene wrote on X.
[…] “We are 100 percent consistent and united […]” Speaker Mike Johnson said. “The president is a dealmaker. He likes to figure these things out and work towards solutions, and that’s why he’s a bold, strong leader that America needs right now.” [Scoff]
KGsays
The Atlantic’s Jon Chait explained in his latest column. “Miller, like Trump, appears to believe his side stands for what is right and good, and his opponents stand for what is evil. Any methods used by Trump are ipso facto justified, and any methods used against him illegitimate.” – Lynna, OM@243 quoting MSNBC
I feel I must point out that although correct in this case, Chait is a pompous ass*. After spending years regarding “political correctness” as the main threat to freedom, in February 2016, according to Wikipedia:
Chait wrote a piece for New York magazine titled “Why Liberals Should Support a Trump Republican Nomination,” in which he predicted that a Trump presidency would develop similarly to the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger in California (who, like Trump, was a celebrity who became a Republican politician without any public service experience). In 2019, The Outline selected this piece as one of the “worst takes of the 2010s”, opining that “Chait’s immensely confident take […] is a humiliating crystallization of the wrongheaded thinking that propelled [Trump] to the White House.” Chait now considers Trump a “threat to the American democracy.”
*”Ass” in the British sense: a donkey or figuratively, a fool; and “pompous ass” particularly someone much less clever than they very obviously think they are.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) says he’s open to passing legislation during the government shutdown to ensure members of the military don’t miss their next paycheck on Oct. 15 and to keep critical Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic controllers on the job.
“We’re monitoring that day by day, I’m certainly open to that. We’ve done it in the past. We want to make sure our troops are paid,” Johnson told reporters at a press conference on the Senate side of the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon.
There are always a bunch of little proposals for funding various essential bits of the government during shut downs. Most are rejected but occasionally they do go through. That the Republicans are talking about it so fast is a sign of weakening position.
I suspect they also want to get funding to the air traffic controllers. They controllers already went on a couple of hour strike to remind people they are working for no pay. The air traffic controllers may also have been motivated by evidence that has surfaced that the Trump administration plans to not back pay people after the shut down. The Hill: Jeffries rejects one-year extension of ObamaCare subsidies: ‘A laughable proposition’
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday rejected a short-term extension of ObamaCare subsidies as part of the effort to reopen the government, calling it a “laughable proposition” that won’t win Democratic support.
Jeffries, though, has other ideas, saying a one-year extension is “a non-starter.” He emphasized that President Trump and Republicans had adopted a permanent extension of tax cuts for the country’s wealthiest people earlier in the year. With that in mind, he’s demanding a similarly permanent extension of the enhanced ACA subsidies, which overwhelmingly help working class people.
The proposal has some Democratic support but I don’t believe anybody has publicly lined up to vote for it. Jeffries has the right idea, accepting a temporary extension in exchange for a permanent concession is the sort of mistake the Democrats have made too often.
On Tuesday morning, shortly before Jeffries spoke, Johnson said Republicans had planned all along to use the month of October to debate the future of the ACA tax credits. But he and other GOP leaders are refusing to make that discussion a part of the current effort to reopen the government with a short-term spending bill.
The official Republican position is still even harder. Give us these permanent tax concessions and we might talk about your position later. That is a non-starter even for the Democrats but shouldn’t necessarily be taken to seriously. Johnson is notorious for taking one position publicly while negotiating from an entirely different position in private. What he says in public often has more to do with what Trump wants to hear then the Republican negotiating position.
Not that serious negotiations appear to be under way. As far as anybody can tell despite Trump talking about negotiations nothing has happened yet.
birgerjohanssonsays
Jimmy Kimmel
Trump Has NOTHING to Do with Epstein Bday Letter, Pam Bondi Grilled & Federal Workers Go Without Pay
The scale and scope of federal data and statistics that have been completely removed or otherwise compromised by Trump’s administration is too overwhelming to chronicle fully. When the president’s executive orders banning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives came down in January and February, the federal agencies now under his authority scrambled to comply. Per tallies at the time, around 8,000 webpages and approximately 3,000 datasets were taken down or modified. Some went back up, but not without changes that subject matter experts are still working to quantify nearly nine months later.
“[…] there just hadn’t been systematic analysis or transparency about what was done to them,” said Margaret Levenstein, director at the University of Michigan’s Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research. “And so we don’t know what else might have been changed.”
[…] explicit policy decisions have compromised the accuracy and adequacy of information that makes a difference in people’s lives.
Data has also been compromised as a result of Trump’s firing spree. Some of the disruption results from deep layoffs at federal statistical and research agencies like the National Occupational Research Agenda, United States Agency for International Development, and the National Center for Education Statistics, as well as the dismissal of experienced officials like ousted Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner Erika McEntarfer.
Many agencies have long flagged that budgetary constraints were limiting their ability to accrue accurate, timely data on which both the private and public sector rely. But the actions of the Trump administration have made this existing problem far worse.
“It is hard to disentangle it,” said Levenstein, “but it sort of doesn’t matter. What we need is sufficient funding and independence and a commitment to high quality data.”
“Unfortunately, I think we’re at a point where anything from the federal government has to be treated with a certain amount of skepticism if not suspicion,” echoed Dana Willbanks of the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund, “depending on who it’s coming from and who they’ve brought on board to support those positions.”
[…] Ultimately, much has changed for the worse in the world of information access and transparency since January 2025. […]
More details are available at the link, including Trump’s tampering with data related to:
Pregnancy and Family-related Data
HIV/Aids Data
COVID Vaccine Guidance Manipulated
SNAP benefits
Census Bureau public information
Climate change
Safe drinking water
National climate assessments
Environmental Protection Agency research
Weather prediction tools
Race and gender tracking for Federal workers
Workplace injuries and deaths
Right-Wing violence
National Parks and museums
Congressional funding
You probably didn’t expect House Speaker Mike Johnson to have good taste in music, but now he’s gone and confirmed it.
Reporter Pablo Manríquez of the independent outlet Migrant Insider asked Johnson for his reaction to news that global music phenomenon Bad Bunny would perform at the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show.
“I didn’t even know who Bad Bunny was, but it sounds like a terrible decision in my view,” Johnson said. [video]
“It sounds like he’s not someone who appeals to a broader audience,” Johnson continued. “And I think, you know, there’s so many eyes on the Super Bowl—a lot of young, impressionable children. And I think, in my view, you would have Lee Greenwood, role models, doing that. Not somebody like this.”
The announcement that Bad Bunny would lead the halftime show has sparked outrage in the right-wing-o-sphere, given that the artist sings in Spanish and that he endorsed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election.
Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, has had 15 songs land in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, and four of his albums have topped Billboard as well. He currently has over 79.6 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Compare that with “God Bless the USA” singer Lee Greenwood, who has less than 500,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and has never had a song crack the top 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100.
Greenwood, however, has been hawking $60 Bibles endorsed by President Donald Trump, so that’s a good enough reason to perform at the halftime show, right?
President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to be jailed—ratcheting up his retribution campaign against his perceived enemies.
“Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Trump made the comment as National Guard troops from Texas are preparing to deploy onto the streets of Chicago to guard Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from protesters demonstrating against the agents’ violent behavior toward city residents.
Pritzker quickly responded to Trump’s call for his arrest, saying he “will not back down.”
“What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?” Pritzker said in a post on Bluesky. “His masked agents already are grabbing people off the street. Separating children from their parents. Creating fear. Taking people for ‘how they look.’ Making people feel they need to carry citizenship papers. Invading our state with military troops. Sending in war helicopters in the middle of the night. Arresting elected officials asking questions. We must all stand up and speak out.”
Given that Trump has gotten yes-men in his corrupt administration to indict at least one of his enemies—former FBI Director James Comey—Democrats say everyone should take Trump’s demand to imprison Pritzker and Johnson seriously.
“Trump said this stuff all the time in the first term and people blew it off because [the Department of Justice] ignored him. But with the Comey indictment and other investigations into his enemies list this term, [we] have to take these threats deadly seriously,” Matthew Miller, who served in the Department of Justice under former President Barack Obama, wrote in a post on X on Wednesday, the day Comey is expected in federal court. “He means it, and so does the bureaucracy.”
Meanwhile, all the evidence on the ground shows that it’s Pritzker and Johnson, not Trump and ICE, who are trying to protect Illinois residents from danger. Trump’s ICE goons have been violent toward peaceful protesters and other residents of the city.
Multiple instances of ICE’s horrific behavior have been caught on video.
One video shows federal agents throwing tear gas in a busy neighborhood, near a grocery store and an elementary school. And another recent video shows masked federal officers shooting a praying priest in the head with a pepper ball. [video]
Johnson and Pritzker have both condemned the Trump administration’s violence toward Illinois residents, and even filed a lawsuit to try to stop Trump from inflaming tensions more by sending in the National Guard.
[…] Federal agents have been so violent that a group of journalists and others filed suit on Tuesday against the Trump administration, saying that federal officers’ violent behavior in Chicago is an attempt to silence them through fear, against their First Amendment rights.
[…] Meanwhile, Trump and the bloodthirsty dopes in his administration have claimed that ICE agents are the actual victims.
“Enough is enough. The Department ofJustice will stand strong when federal law enforcement officers are attacked or threatened for doing their sworn duty on behalf of the United States government,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in a Sept. 29 memo in which she said she authorized federal officials to “suppress all unlawful rioting and arrest every person suspected of threatening or assaulting a federal law enforcement officer or interfering with federal law enforcement operations.”
[…] As Trump acts more and more lawless, we have to hope the legal system continues to hold against his assaults on Americans’ basic freedoms.
“A quarter of FBI agents are assigned to immigration enforcement, per FBI data”
“The large number of reassignments reflect a vast reshaping of the agency and could put other priorities at risk”
Nearly a quarter of FBI agents across the country are currently assigned to immigration enforcement, with the number climbing to upward of 40 percent in the nation’s largest field offices, according to data from the FBI obtained by Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Virginia) and shared with The Washington Post.
The large number of reassignments reflect a vast reshaping of the nation’s premier law enforcement agency, which has focused on national security threats since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The intense focus on immigration has raised alarm among current and former FBI agents who say morale is low across the bureau as agents have less time to dedicate to the often complex cases they were hired to work on.
The Trump administration has long said that more of the FBI’s time is going into immigration enforcement, but the figure of almost 25 percent is the first precise recording of how big the shift has been. Warner requested the data in his role as the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Agents have been pulled from duties related to cybercrimes, drug trafficking, terrorism, counterintelligence and more, the statistics show. Agents assigned to immigration enforcement are working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to locate and arrest people in the country illegally.
The total amount of FBI resources devoted to immigration is probably higher than even the 25 percent figure. The FBI reassignment data Warner obtained reflects the number of agents working on immigration at least 50 percent of their time. It does not account for scores of other agents who have been detailed to immigration enforcement a lesser portion of their time. […]
“A decision is not expected to be imminent, one source said, but debate within the administration has shifted recently to more deeply exploring how and when the act might be invoked.”
White House officials have held increasingly serious discussions in recent days about President Donald Trump invoking the Insurrection Act, a rarely used 19th century law that gives the president the power to deploy active-duty troops inside the U.S. for law enforcement purposes, five people with knowledge of the talks told NBC News.
[…] A decision to invoke the act is not expected to be imminent, one senior administration official said. Were it to happen, it would be a notable escalation. The guard is currently deployed in limited support roles since active-duty members of the military are forbidden from conducting civilian law enforcement actions, such as conducting searches and making arrests. But the Insurrection Act allows the president to deploy troops inside the U.S. for that purpose. [My bet is that Trump is just looking for a way to do it, and he hasn’t found one yet … and/or, Trump is looking to create conditions on the ground that he thinks would justify invoking the Insurrection Act.]
Trump’s plans to deploy the National Guard have occasionally hit legal hurdles. A federal judge in Oregon on Sunday blocked the president from sending guard members from any state to Portland. The next day, Trump said publicly that he would invoke the Insurrection Act “if it was necessary.”
“If people were being killed, and courts were holding us up, or governors or mayors were holding us up, sure, I’d do that,” Trump said. As of now, he said, it hasn’t been needed.
[…] the debate inside the administration has shifted recently, from whether it makes sense to invoke the act to more deeply exploring how and when it might be invoked [!], both people close to the White House said.
Administration officials have drafted legal defenses and various options for invoking the act, two of the people said.
But the current, broad consensus among the president’s aides has been to exhaust all other options before taking that step […] The person close to the White House described the process as working its way up “an escalatory ladder.”
Asked about discussions regarding invoking the Insurrection Act, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement: “The Trump administration is committed to restoring law and order in American cities that are plagued by violence due to Democrat mismanagement. And President Trump will not stand by while violent rioters attack federal law enforcement officers. The administration will work to protect federal assets and officers while making American cities safe again.” [blather]
The act gives the president broad discretion regarding its invocation. It can be invoked at the request of a state or when the president determines that conditions like “unlawful obstructions,” “rebellion” or “insurrection” have made it difficult to enforce the law. During the Civil Rights era, three presidents — Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson — used the act to protect activists or enforce court orders mandating desegregation. It was last used, at the request of California’s governor, during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
[…] The White House expects that any potential invocation of the act would be met with swift legal challenges and ultimately land at the Supreme Court. [!]
Last month, a federal judge ruled that the White House’s deployment of active-duty troops to Los Angeles in June was illegal under the Posse Comitatus Act, a 19th century law that prevents the military from being used as police. After that decision, administration officials revived discussions and internal legal analyses around invoking the Insurrection Act, according to two of the people familiar with the discussions and one person close to the White House.
[…] A White House official declined to discuss specific deliberations but said the president’s legal team is focused on charting a legal pathway that can withstand judicial scrutiny. [!]
[…] “We’re working hard to look at the law and say, ‘How do we achieve the president’s vision?’”
[…] One of Trump’s deputy chiefs of staff, Stephen Miller, has been a leading and longtime proponent of invoking the Insurrection Act. Miller has been at the center of discussions on the issue since Trump took office, said the five sources plus another person familiar with the discussions.
[…] one concern that some officials have raised is that invoking the act could eventually lead to pitting active-duty U.S. troops against other Americans, this person said.
Trump has stepped up his use of the word “insurrection” to describe developments in Portland and Chicago in recent days. [!] On Monday he said the pushback on ICE agents’ attempts to carry out immigration enforcement operations in both cities is “criminal insurrection.” […]
One of the biggest stories in Republican politics right now is the pseudo “Arctic Frost” controversy. In a nutshell, the party and conservative media outlets are insisting that the Biden-era FBI was caught “spying” on GOP members and “tapping” their phones as part of the investigation into Republican efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Almost immediately after the story broke, it started unraveling into nothing, but that hasn’t stopped assorted partisans on the right and their conservative media allies from spending recent days telling Americans that the largely meaningless “scandal” is “worse than Watergate.”
[…] But we’re seeing the real-world effects of the party’s weak allegations: NBC News reported the FBI has fired at least three special agents who worked in connection with former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations, while shutting down a public corruption squad. From the article:
All three agents were previously named in documents released by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, about ‘Arctic Frost,’ an FBI probe that was the precursor to the Smith investigation. … As NBC News first reported in May, the ‘CR15’ unit, the FBI Washington Field Office’s federal corruption unit that was deeply involved in the Smith case, was folded in the spring. But the agents were not fired until Tuesday.
FBI Director Kash Patel acknowledged the developments during a Fox News interview, saying that some agents involved in subpoenaing the phone toll records of members of Congress — a benign move — had been ousted.
“You’re darn right I fired those agents, you’re darn right I blew up CR-15, the public corruption squad,” Patel said.
Broadly speaking, there are three elements to this worth keeping in mind. The first and most obvious is the absurdity of seeing the bureau oust agents who don’t appear to have done anything wrong.
The second is the pattern in which Patel keeps ousting agents who’ve done nothing wrong as part of an ongoing, monthslong purge.
Work on cases related to the criminal investigations into Donald Trump? Fired. Work on Jan. 6 cases? Fired. Took a knee for George Floyd five years ago? Fired. Display a gay pride flag on a desk at a field office? Fired. Refuse to needlessly humiliate a former FBI director? Fired. [All, unfortunately, true.]
The firings have reportedly destabilized the FBI. Evidently, the unqualified former podcast personality and conspiracy theorist whom Republicans put in charge of the bureau doesn’t care.
Finally, the fact that Patel took this opportunity not just to fire agents but to shutter an FBI group tasked with investigating public corruption is part of an indefensible pattern. [True]
NBC News recently reported, “For decades, the FBI and the Justice Department have been the main enforcers of laws against political corruption and white-collar fraud in the United States.” In 2025, however, the Trump administration “has dismantled key parts of that law enforcement infrastructure, creating what experts say is the ripest environment for corruption by public officials and business executives in a generation.” [!]
Consider the recent pattern of events:
– Trump’s Justice Department gutted its Public Integrity Section, which oversees prosecutions of public officials accused of corruption.
– Trump has cultivated an indefensible record of handing out pardons like party favors to Republicans convicted of public corruption — not because they were innocent, but because Trump saw them as partisan and ideological allies.
– The president ousted a U.S. attorney after he refused to file baseless corruption charges against some of Trump’s political enemies.
– The president ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to pause enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
– Trump fired at least 18 inspectors general who were responsible for rooting out corruption.
– Trump fired the head of the federal agency dedicated to protecting whistleblowers.
– Trump’s Justice Department abandoned a corruption case against Eric Adams.
– A Trump-appointed interim U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., demoted multiple senior supervisors who were involved in public corruption cases […]
– Trump’s Justice Department abandoned a criminal case against a former Republican congressman who’d already been found guilty of corruption by a jury. That came on the heels of Trump’s Justice Department also taking steps to abandon a criminal investigation into a different Republican congressman accused of corruption.
– And now an FBI group tasked with investigating public corruption is no more.
No one on Team Trump has ever explicitly said that it’s tolerant of corruption, but given the pattern of behavior, they really haven’t had to.
Some 500 National Guard members have arrived in the Chicago area and are mobilized for an initial period of 60 days, despite an ongoing lawsuit challenging their deployment there, according to a statement Wednesday morning from U.S. Northern Command, a part of the Defense Department.
“Elon Musk has suffered a major blow in a lawsuit over his government clearances.”
The Pentagon has to provide The New York Times information about Elon Musk’s security clearances, a federal judge ruled Wednesday—and the billionaire’s own posting habits helped decide the case.
In September 2024, the Times filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking “a list of security clearances” granted to Musk, including “any details about the extent and purview of each of the clearances.”
The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, which handles security clearances, denied access, arguing that the “privacy interest” of Musk “outweighs disclosure.” Shortly thereafter, the Times took the DCSA to court.
U.S. District Judge Denise Cote ruled that Musk himself had reduced his privacy interest by publicly boasting that he holds a “top secret clearance”—and discussing his drug use (including ketamine and marijuana) and contacts with foreign leaders (including Russian President Vladimir Putin), both of which are factors that the DCSA is supposed to consider for security clearance decisions.
“His posts on X on these topics have collectively garnered over 2 million views,” Cote observed.
Moreover, the judge noted, the Times’ request was far from sweeping, covering only a single two-page list of the security clearances of the billionaire, who, as the former head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, was granted “special government employee” status.
Outweighing Musk’s privacy interests is public interest in “whether the leader of SpaceX and Starlink holds the appropriate security clearances,” Cote said. Also, “courts have repeatedly recognized a public interest in understanding the thoroughness, fairness, and accuracy of government investigations and operations.”
Musk’s admissions about ketamine and the Kremlin “only enhance the public interest in disclosure,” the judge wrote, and the document could “provide meaningful insight” into the DCSA’s vetting processes.
If there are any further concerns about Musk’s privacy, Cote stated, the government can propose redactions for a private review by the court by next Friday.
The Justice Department on Tuesday appointed as the new head of its immigration court system a retired Marine Corps colonel who was fired from a command position as head of security at Marine Base Quantico for negligently firing a gun into the floor of his office.
Mohammed Taher clutched the lifeless body of his 2-year-old son and wept. Ever since his family’s food rations stopped arriving at their internment camp in Myanmar in April, the father had watched helplessly as his once-vibrant baby boy weakened, suffering from diarrhea and begging for food.
On May 21, exactly two weeks after Taher’s little boy died, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat before Congress and declared: “No one has died” because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program. Rubio also insisted: “No children are dying on my watch.”
That, Taher says, “is a lie.”
“I lost my son because of the funding cuts,” he says. “And it is not only me — many more children in other camps have also died helplessly from hunger, malnutrition and no medical treatment.”
Taher’s grief is echoed in families across conflict-ravaged Myanmar, where the United Nations estimates 40% of the population needs humanitarian assistance and which once counted the U.S. as its largest humanitarian donor. Now, in Asia, it has become the epicenter of the suffering unleashed upon the world’s most vulnerable by President Donald Trump’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
And like Taher’s son, Mohammed Hashim, it is Myanmar’s children who have borne the brunt of the fallout. A study published in The Lancet journal in June said the U.S. funding cuts could result in more than 14 million deaths, including more than 4.5 million children under age 5, by 2030. […]
My bet is that Trump is just looking for a way to do it [invoke the Insurrection Act], and he hasn’t found one yet … and/or, Trump is looking to create conditions on the ground that he thinks would justify invoking the Insurrection Act. – Lynna, OM@281
I’m sure you’re right – he wants the parts of the country he deems hostile effectively under military rule before the mid-terms. Anyone know if it’s clear legally whether if the President declares an insurrection when there isn’t one, orders given under the powers of the Act are themselves legal?
KGsays
I should add to #292 – he wants rule by his miltary. Does he yet have them under enough control to be confident they would follow orders clearly aimed at establishing a dictatorship? Their near-silent reception of his incoherent bafflegab when they were summoned to hear him and Hesgeth might suggest not. Whatever their politics, they must surely dislike the president and secretary a pair of arrogant, ignorant jackasses.
We still don’t seem to have confirmation that a halt to the ongoing genocide will happen. Agreement has been reached between negotiators for Israel and Hamas, but Netanyahu has said the agreement needs cabinet approval – I’m not sure whether Hamas has said anything parallel. Let’s hope the bombing does indeed stop, and the starvation blockade is lifted – and the exclusion of journalists from outside. But the mere fact that this first-stage agreement was reached so quickly shows that Trump -and probably Biden before him – could have halted the genocide at any time they chose, just by telling Netanyahu he must agree a ceasefire. And even if Israel does not find some excuse to resume the genocide once the hostages are freed, the terms of “peace” will be undisguised neo-colonialism, with the Palestinians having no say in who rules them. (Yes, Hamas has denied them that since 2006, but that does not justify treating them as colonial subjects.)
President Donald Trump bragged on Wednesday that his administration “took the freedom of speech away” with a one year penalty for “inciting riots” with flag burning — never mind that the Supreme Court of the United States clearly ruled on this exact issue decades ago.
And quoting Trump:
We took the freedom of speech away because that’s been through the courts, and the courts said “you have freedom of speech” but what has happened is when you burn a flag, it agitates and irritates crowds — never seen anything like it, on both sides — and you end up with riots. So we’re going on that basis. We’re looking at it from, not from the freedom of speech, which I always felt strongly about, but never passed the courts.
What Trump has done is try to make it illegal by ordering federal prosecutors to fish for anything they can charge people with. They can’t directly make flag burning illegal but it’s the sort of thing that probably technically violates some law if read at the broadest. They are calling for charges like starting a fire at a public event, littering, that sort of thing. If a charge is ever brought it’s likely to be killed by the Supreme Court eventually.
That isn’t the point. The point is Trump claiming he is making law, he is deciding what is to be allowed and what is not. He is controlling what can be done through fear.
Interestingly, the government doesn’t want a speedy trial. We’re “just getting our hands around” discovery, prosecutors tried to explain to the judge, telling him that the case is complicated. It isn’t. A false statements case is about as basic as they come. Prosecutors must prove the statement was made by the defendant, that it was false and the defendant knew it was false, and that it was material or important to the outcome of the government proceeding in which it was made. “This does not appear to me to be an overly complicated case,” Judge Nachmanoff told the prosecution team.
The DOJ wants to slow walk this case, the judge isn’t having though. Which is good. The DOJ officials likely want to run this slow for a combination of reasons. They likely expect to lose eventually and the longer they take the longer they avoid Trump’s wrath. If they really drag out the prosecution and appeals they might run in past Trump’s term in office. More practically the longer the case takes the longer it’s in the news and having this case run past the mid terms is in the Republicans advantage.
The prosecutors who are taking over the case from Trump’s never-before-prosecuted-a-case U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan in the Eastern District of Virginia were dropped in from the Eastern District of North Carolina, and it’s not clear they understood they had landed in the Eastern District of Virginia’s notorious “rocket docket.” As we’ve discussed, the Eastern District of Virginia fast-tracks its cases, but the new prosecution team wanted to put off turning over discovery, one of the first steps that gets a criminal prosecution underway, until mid-January. The Judge set the trial date before that. Welcome to Alexandria, Virginia.
New prosecutors have taken over for Lindsey Halligan. I’m curious just how far the DOJ had to dig for somebody to actually handle the court appearances for this case. The judge is setting a fast schedule but if the DOJ really wants to slow walk this they can dither over a bunch of things. Particularly handling of classified information.
“Trump administration officials made bizarre claims related to antifa that were rooted in the idea that it’s an actual organization. It really isn’t.”
At one point during the White House’s “antifa roundtable,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made comments she treated as important. “One of the individuals we arrested recently in Portland was the girlfriend of one of the founders of antifa,” the secretary boasted, “and we’re hoping as we go after her and prosecute her, we’ll get more and more information about the network.”
For those who watch crime shows on television, the strategy probably sounds familiar: Law enforcement arrests one low-level person, who’s pressured to identify others, as prosecutors work their way up the hierarchy of a larger criminal enterprise.
But while Noem talked about the arrest of an unnamed woman and the administration’s desire to “get more and more information” about the antifa network, the secretary failed to acknowledge one nagging detail: There is no network.
Antifa (to the extent that it exists) is made up of loosely affiliated anti-fascist activists. There is no budget. There is no membership list. There are no offices or headquarters. There are no staffers, leaders or board members. There is no hierarchy for prosecutors to pursue.
And yet, just two weeks after Donald Trump signed a ridiculous executive order designating antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization” (notwithstanding its lack of organization), the president held a roundtable discussion at the White House, which included several Cabinet members, devoted to a far-left entity that hardly exists in any meaningful way.
As the event unfolded, Noem also equated antifa with ISIS, Hezbollah and Hamas, which was every bit as odd as it sounded, given that those radical groups are actually in operation abroad.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the administration intended to “take the same approach” to antifa as it did with foreign drug cartels — an unsettling vow in light of a series of deadly military strikes against civilian boats in international waters that Trump has ordered as part of a formal “armed conflict.”
But to fully appreciate just how weird this White House conversation was, consider that Noem also took the opportunity to accuse four Democratic officials — Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson — of “covering up” terrorism. NBC News reported:
‘I was in Portland yesterday and had the chance to visit with the governor of Oregon and also the mayor there in town, and they are absolutely covering up the terrorism that is hitting their streets,’ Noem said […] ‘These leaders in these local cities, along with Pritzker and Johnson, ignore what’s going on, or, sir, they’re helping antifa cover it up,’ she added.
Ah, I see. So antifa is committing acts of terrorism, but people don’t know that, because Democratic governors and mayors are somehow in league with the criminals, “covering up” the anti-fascist activists’ violent misdeeds. [Noem is spewing propaganda at an alarming rate.]
Ordinarily, when politicians orchestrate a cover-up, they do so to keep private misconduct hidden. But in this case, according to the former congresswoman and former governor who’s currently leading the Department of Homeland Security, governors and mayors are covering up terrorism.
Why would they do this? How would they do this? Noem didn’t say, and Trump didn’t ask.
Before we get into the substantive coverage of developments related to the Trump Justice Department, a quick foray into the absurdism that is never far from the surface.
Thanks to a notebook dump by WSJ reporters in a story ostensibly about the politicization of the Justice Department under the thumb of the Trump White House, we have a bunch of new nuggets that are equal parts cringey and preposterous.
There was the time earlier this year, for instance, when President Trump cut his hand on Attorney General Pam Bondi’s gaudy wedding ring. I can’t even with this story. That and the other lowlights of the WSJ story:
– Say what you want about disgraced Attorney General John Mitchell, but he never made Richard Nixon’s hand bleed with his wedding ring (so far as we know):
Trump occasionally reminds aides about an incident last year in which Trump cut his hand on Bondi’s large wedding ring, causing him to bleed.
– Officials confirmed that Trump’s social media post demanding that Bondi hurry up and indict former FBI Director Jim Comey already was meant to be a direct message to her and not intended to put her on public blast:
Trump believed he had sent Bondi the message directly, addressing it to ‘Pam,’ and was surprised to learn it was public, the officials said. Bondi grew upset and called White House aides and Trump, who then agreed to send a second post praising Bondi as doing a ‘GREAT job.’
– No story on the absurdist Trump DOJ is complete without a cameo from Ed Martin:
He works from an office dubbed the ‘Freedom Suite’ on one end of a hallway on the deputy attorney general’s fourth floor, which visitors have described as being decorated with oversize photos of Trump and a small cup of holy water on the wall.
As with all things in the Trump era, the absurdism is an inextricable part of the corruption, retribution, and destruction. As historically significant as the ruination of the Justice Department is and as seriously as we must take it, it’s important to remember it’s been gutted by clowns and imbeciles. […]
Schiff: “You begin to wonder — do they believe they have the authority by putting some groups on a list, even domestic groups, to use lethal force against them, with no trial, no due process, no nothing? The reality is we can’t rule that out.”
“Mark Bray was teaching courses on antifascism. Turning Point USA accused him of belonging to antifa, which he denies. His flight to Spain was canceled abruptly on Wednesday night.”
A Rutgers University expert on antifa tried to [leave] the United States with his family on Wednesday night in the wake of death threats that followed President Trump’s push to characterize the left-wing antifascist movement as a domestic terrorist organization.
But when the expert, Mark Bray, got to the gate at Newark Liberty International Airport, after getting the family’s boarding passes, checking their bags and going though security, he was told by the airline that “the reservation was just canceled,” he said late Wednesday night.
It was another hurdle for Dr. Bray, a historian who published the 2017 book “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook,” and who had taught courses on anti-fascism and terrorism at Rutgers in New Jersey in relative obscurity until a few weeks ago.
In the weeks after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, he has become a target of right-wing hate, accused of being a part of the movement he studied. Jack Posobiec, a right-wing influencer, called Dr. Bray a “domestic terrorist professor” on X. The Rutgers chapter of Turning Point USA then circulated a petition accusing Dr. Bray of being an “outspoken, well-known antifa member” and called for him to be fired.
The petition referred to him as “Dr. Antifa.”
“My role in this is as a professor,” Dr. Bray, an assistant teaching professor at Rutgers, said in an interview on Wednesday, hours before his planned departure. “I’ve never been part of an antifa group, and I’m not currently. There’s an effort underway to paint me as someone who is doing the things that I’ve researched, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
The furor grew after Fox News reported on the petition. Dr. Bray’s home address was revealed on social media. He received several death threats, including one vowing to kill him in front of his students.
He notified campus and local police, but with two young children, he and his wife, who is also a Rutgers professor, decided that it would be safer to relocate to Spain and teach remotely, at least for this academic year, he said.
Because of the last-minute drama at the airport, the family missed its flight. Dr. Bray said the airline rebooked them on another flight for Thursday. He said he was hoping for the best. […] “We’re at a hotel and we’re just going to try again.”
[…] Dr. Bray said that the university had offered to provide security for his classes, but that he still felt his family would be at risk. He and his wife were approved to teach remotely as a result of the threats, he said.
On a Rutgers Reddit page, students have expressed sadness and shock that he was leaving. Faculty members, at Rutgers and beyond, have sent messages of support, he said.
[…] Several days after publishing the petition calling for Dr. Bray’s dismissal from Rutgers, the Turning Point USA chapter added an update saying that it did not support harassment or the doxxing of him or anyone else.
“I think that all death threats and doxxing are unjustified and not how political disputes should be resolved in civilized society,” Ava Kwan, a Turning Point USA chapter member, said in an email on Wednesday.
But she defended the broader point of the petition, saying, “I think Dr. Antifa, who believes in violence as a political tool, should be fired, of course. Taxpayer money should not fund the salaries of terrorists.”
For years, Turning Point USA has maintained a watch-list of hundreds of professors whom the group accuses of advancing leftist propaganda in the classroom. Dr. Bray is on the list.
He is mentioned in part because he has spoken about how militancy is sometimes required to counter fascism. In the introduction to his 2017 book, he wrote that he hoped his work would promote organizing against fascism, white supremacy and all forms of domination.
He has donated half his author proceeds from the book to the International Anti-Fascist Defense Fund, which supports the legal and medical costs of people who face charges pertaining to antifascist organizing, including in Eastern Europe, but it is not an antifa organization, he said.
“I consider myself an antifascist so far as I’m against fascism, but I’m not part of any of these groups,” he added.
A rival Change.org petition began circulating on Sunday, calling on the Rutgers chapter of Turning Point USA to be disbanded, accusing it of inciting violence and promoting hate speech. As of Wednesday, that petition had about 1,800 signatures, several hundred more than the original petition calling for Dr. Bray’s firing. [Good]
In addition to his work on antifa, Dr. Bray is a historian of modern Spain. His latest book, “The Anarchist Inquisition: Assassins, Activists and Martyrs in Spain and France,” explores activism that emerged in response to a wave of repression unleashed by the Spanish state to quash anarchist activities at the turn of the 20th century.
“Inside the ‘legal black hole’ in Eswatini, where Trump is sending detainees.”
Eswatini, the landlocked nation formerly known as Swaziland, is Africa’s last remaining absolute monarchy. It is the kind of place where King Mswati III—who took the throne as an 18-year-old four decades ago—can warn in a speech, as he did in 2023, that nobody should “complain if mercenaries kill” political activists. When one of the country’s leading human rights lawyers was murdered only hours later, the king’s representatives suggested there was no connection. No one was punished.
In other words, Eswatini is just the kind of country—small, untroubled by democracy, and presumably eager to avoid a superpower’s wrath—with which the Trump administration has been eager to do business.
In May, officials from the US and Eswatini signed a deal that allows the Trump administration to deport people from all over the world to the African nation. A copy of the arrangement I reviewed shows that the United States has agreed to pay Eswatini $5.1 million to take in up to 160 so-called “third-country nationals”—immigrants who came to the US with no ties to the country to which they are being deported.
In July, the first five of such men arrived in Eswatini, where they were sent to a maximum-security prison and detained in the country without any clear legal basis. Last weekend, the Trump administration sent 10 more people to the Eswatini prison. None of the 15 men sent to the nation are from Eswatini. But they are now under the authority of its king.
The situation is a “legal black hole,” according to Tin Thanh Nguyen, a North Carolina–based attorney who is representing five men from Vietnam and Laos now imprisoned in the African country. As he explained in a statement Monday: “I cannot call [my clients]. I cannot email them. I cannot communicate through local counsel because the Eswatini government blocks all attorney access.” [!]
The arrangement with Eswatini, which has a population of 1.1 million, is similar to the deal that allowed the United States to send more than 200 Venezuelans to an infamous prison in El Salvador earlier this year. The Venezuelans sent to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT)—most of whom had no criminal history—were released in July as part of a prisoner swap following sustained international outrage. (As we reported, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement targeted many Venezuelans because of tattoos that the agency falsely claimed were evidence of gang membership.)
Although the CECOT disappearances led to international outrage, the Trump administration’s efforts to offload people to a prison in Eswatini, along with similar arrangements with South Sudan and other African nations, have attracted much less attention.
A practice that would have been unthinkable under past administrations is becoming normalized: sending ICE detainees, without due process, to far-flung prisons in countries with notorious human rights records.
[…] All of the men DHS sent to Eswatini had served their sentences and been ordered deported. The question was (and is) not whether they can be deported, but whether the Trump administration has the authority to send people anywhere it wants, without due process, and imprison them in countries where the detainees have never broken any law.
Trina Realmuto, one of the lead lawyers in the case before Murphy, stressed that all of the class members she is representing have rights regardless of their criminal histories.
“But make no mistake,” said Realmuto, executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, “this is going to happen to people without criminal convictions.”
[…] After taking the government to court, Nhlabatsi [Sibusiso Nhlabatsi, known in Eswatini for his work as a human rights lawyer] said a legal adviser for the country’s prison system told him that he would be able to meet his clients. But when he returned to the Matsapha Correctional Complex, which houses the maximum-security prison where the men are being held, Nhlabatsi said he was “pushed from pillar to post” and made to wait hours. Finally, Nhlabatsi said the head of the prison told him that he would not be able to meet with his clients after all. The reason was absurd: The prison director claimed the men were refusing to see him.
A close friend of Roberto Mosquera, the Cuban national sent to Eswatini in July, said Mosquera told her during a brief call that he never refused to meet with Nhlabatsi. She said officials in Eswatini “just blatantly lie and say that Mr. Mosquera refuses counsel.”
Mia Unger, an immigration attorney at the Legal Aid Society in New York, represented a man sent to Eswatini named Orville Etoria. “He requested to speak with us numerous times, and he wasn’t allowed,” Unger said. “They didn’t allow him to call us.”
Etoria’s story is particularly galling because there appears to be no basis for DHS’s claim that Jamaica, his home country, refused to take him back. Unger said Etoria, who was convicted of murder nearly three decades ago and released from prison in 2021, was asked by ICE to obtain a Jamaican passport at a check-in earlier this year. He got the passport, went to another ICE check-in in June, and was taken into custody. “There was never any question of whether he was able to go to Jamaica,” Unger said. As a result, it should have been illegal to send him to Eswatini. (US law makes it clear that people can be deported to third countries only when it is “impracticable, inadvisable, or impossible” to send them to countries to which they have close ties.)
“All of these people had served their sentences,” she [Alma David, an immigration attorney with Novo Legal, is representing Mosquera and Kassim Saleh Wasil, a Yemeni national in Eswatini] stressed of the men sent to Eswatini. “They were living in the community and were not considered a danger to anybody until one day, they were picked up and sent to Eswatini.”
[…] ICE is now doubling down on these deportations. Nguyen, the North Carolina lawyer, said ICE told a group of men in detention in the United States on Saturday that they were about to be deported to Eswatini. Nguyen said the new group of deportees includes people from Cambodia, Chad, Cuba, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Flight tracking records indicate that the plane carrying them arrived in the nation around midnight Monday.
[…] Mosquera’s close friend, who requested anonymity due to fear of potential retaliation by ICE, said Mosquera had “paid his dues to society” and had turned his life around by the time he was detained by ICE at a routine check-in in June. She said Mosquera, who came to the US as a boy more than 40 years ago, should never have been sent to a prison in a country where he has never committed a crime.
“I used to believe in the Constitution,” Mosquera’s friend said. “I used to believe that I lived in the greatest country in the world.” She explained that she was born in the US after her parents left Cuba in the early 1960s. “But this is not the America that I grew up in,” she continued. “This is a whole different America.”
Akira MacKenziesays
@ 291
Yes, and the right would say that if Bill Clinton could get away with perjury then Trump should be free to do what he wants.
Also, the line “We didn’t elect a chior boy” was used by Dems to defend Slick Willie when the Jennifer Flowers scandal came to light. The right is merely throwing it back at the Dems.
@ Akira MacKenzie : Bill Clinton the ex-POTUS. Ah. The good ole days. If only even he were POTUS now.. Back when when it was Yeltsin and him – the drunk and the lecher in charge of the two global superpowers & they seemed such bad jokes before we saw what “bad”really could be.. Sigh.
StevoRsays
@ Akira MacKenzie : “Also, the line “We didn’t elect a chior boy” was used by Dems to defend Slick Willie when the Jennifer Flowers scandal came to light. The right is merely throwing it back at the Dems.”
Whatever dubious suff the Dems might do the reichwing then says “Hold my beer.” and exponentially x exponentially x infinity goes and outdoes them..
StevoRsays
Bill Clinton vs Trump I mean. Fuck. Where do we even start..
StevoRsays
The dif between a mid POTUS and the absolute sociopathic traitor who has just ended the USoA as we know it..
KGsays
Lynna, OM@299,
I’d have preferred the adjectives “sinister” and “threatening” to “weird”.
“GOP senators balked at the chance to limit the deadly military strikes the president has approved against civilian boats in the Caribbean.”
Related video at the link.
With Democrats in the congressional minority, the party has limited opportunities to stand in the way of the Republican agenda and Donald Trump’s most radical excesses. Democrats can, however, force votes on War Powers Act resolutions, which has already happened earlier this year.
This week, it happened again. The New York Times reported:
Republicans in the Senate blocked a measure on Wednesday that would bar President Trump from using military force against boats in the Caribbean Sea, turning back an effort to check his power to wage war without authorization from Congress. The vote against bringing up the Democratic resolution was 51 to 48, mostly along party lines. It came less than a week after the U.S. military carried out the fourth strike in the Trump administration’s legally disputed campaign targeting alleged drug runners in the Caribbean.
Just two Senate Republicans — Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and Kentucky’s Rand Paul — broke party ranks and supported the measure. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted with the GOP majority.
At issue, of course, is the recent series of deadly military strikes the president has approved against civilian boats in international waters, which a variety of legal observers have characterized as impermissible. The White House tried to address these concerns last week, sending Congress a notice claiming that the offensive is legal because he unilaterally “determined” that the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels. [Laughable explanation from Trump.]
But since it’s up to Congress to approve wars, two Senate Democrats — Virginia’s Tim Kaine and California’s Adam Schiff — tried to force a vote on the matter. (Privileged resolutions reach the floor, whether the majority’s leadership likes it or not.)
Schiff said on the Senate floor ahead of the vote, “The president has used our military to strike unknown targets on at least four occasions, and he is promising more. With at least 21 people dead, and more killing on the way, with the president telling us that strikes on land-based targets may be next, we ask you to join us and reassert Congress’ vital control over the war power.”
“Americans want fewer wars—not more—and our Constitution clearly grants Congress alone the power to declare one,” Kaine added. “Yet President Trump has repeatedly launched illegal military strikes in the Caribbean and has refused to provide Congress with basic information about who was killed, why the strikes were necessary, and why a standard interdiction operation wasn’t conducted. Should this lawless Administration drag our servicemembers into an escalating conflict without a specific authorization by Congress, every American will be able to tell from today’s vote if their senators tried to stop it, or rolled over.”
For 49 GOP senators and Fetterman, this proved unpersuasive.
For his part, Trump declared earlier this week that he considered the deadly military strikes to be “an act of kindness,” which was every bit as weird as it sounded.
johnson catmansays
re Lynna @300:
He works from an office dubbed the ‘Freedom Suite’ on one end of a hallway on the deputy attorney general’s fourth floor, which visitors have described as being decorated with oversize photos of Trump and a small cup of holy water on the wall.
Is that to protect him from the staring eyes of the photos or just in case Stephen Miller flies in through the window? Either way, it is a miracle (hah!) that the water doesn’t boil off.
“In Oregon’s largest city, federal officials have compiled evidence that discredits the president’s hysterical claims about local conditions.”
For months, when Donald Trump talked about deploying troops to the streets of American cities, he focused on massive urban areas with large populations. The president’s rhetoric on the subject tended to focus on places such as Chicago, Baltimore, Milwaukee and New York.
But in early September, he also raised the prospect of deploying National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, for the most Trumpian of reasons: He’d apparently seen something on television the night before.
In the weeks that followed, the president began an aggressive public relations campaign, desperately trying to persuade Americans that he was correct about Portland having descended into a lawless, Mad Max–style hellscape. Oregon’s largest city, Trump told reporters earlier this week, is currently “burning to the ground.” [FFS]
A few days later, at the White House’s weird “antifa roundtable,” the president kept going, claiming that Portland is in “worse” shape than the “bombed-out cities” shown in dystopian movies. He added, “I don’t know what could be worse than Portland. You don’t even have stores anymore. They don’t even put glass up. They put plywood on their windows.” [JFC]
Putting aside the fact that Portland still has plenty of open stores (Voodoo Doughnut remains alive and well), even Trump administration officials are making assessments of local conditions that are completely at odds with Trump’s absurd claims. The New York Times reported:
On Sept. 27, President Trump described Portland, Ore., as a ‘War ravaged’ city that was ‘under siege from attack by Antifa’ mobs protesting ICE raids. But here is how federal officers described the scene outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in southwest Portland on Sept. 25: ‘low energy.’ The next day the same: ‘low energy.’
“We ultimately have a perception-versus-reality problem,” Caroline Turco, a lawyer for the city, argued in court on Friday. “The president’s perception is that it’s ‘World War II out there.’ The reality is this is a beautiful city and with a sophisticated police force that can handle the situation.” [!]
The Times’ report, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC, was based on internal reports prepared by Federal Protective Service, a Trump administration agency tasked with protecting federal buildings. If any federal officials are going to be aware of violence at or near the ICE facility in Portland, it’s the Federal Protective Service. [!]
[…] the FPS reports, prepared daily for law enforcement partners, “offered no indication of a dangerous escalation of tensions, or unusual levels of protest activity that would prompt the level of alarm expressed by Mr. Trump.”
The body of evidence suggesting the president has manufactured a crisis is growing.
johnson catmansays
re Lynna @311: John Fetterman, the new Joe Manchin.
“[Trump] said he’d leave the future of habeas corpus up to Kristi Noem, who recently made clear that she didn’t know what habeas corpus was.”
The first sign of trouble emerged in early May. After the Trump administration suffered a series of legal setbacks in federal courts, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told reporters that he and his colleagues were “actively looking” at possibly suspending the writ of habeas corpus. [!]
This was, of course, quite bonkers. As NBC News explained soon after, the writ of habeas corpus dates back centuries, and it “grants anyone detained in the U.S. the right to see a judge, challenge the government’s evidence against them and present a defense.”
To suspend habeas — something that happened during the U.S. Civil War, for example — is to allow the government to lock people up without charges, while denying those in custody the ability to contest their incarceration.
[…] it did come up again during a weird White House event about antifa. HuffPost reported:
Donald Trump was asked at Wednesday’s White House roundtable that included far-right content creators … if he’d ‘given any more thought to possibly suspending habeas corpus to not only deal with these insurrectionists across the nation but also to continue rapidly deporting illegal aliens.’ ‘Yeah, uh, suspending who?’ the president replied.
After the questioner repeated the question, the president said: “Oh, I don’t know. I’d rather leave that to [Homeland Security Secretary] Kristi [Noem].”
The fact that Trump seemed utterly baffled by this certainly reinforced the President Bystander thesis. Indeed, the very idea that a sitting president would defer to the homeland security secretary to decide whether the government intends to suspend habeas corpus seems, at face value, to be rather insane. [True]
But making matters worse is the fact that Noem, whom Trump apparently intends to empower on the subject, recently was unable to even say what habeas corpus is.
During a congressional hearing in May, Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire asked Noem: “What is habeas corpus?”
The South Dakota Republican replied, “Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country,” at which point the senator interrupted to note: “Excuse me, that’s incorrect.”
I can appreciate why the typical American with no legal background might not be able to answer such a question extemporaneously, but Noem is not a layperson. If anyone should have a rudimentary understanding of what habeas corpus is, it’s the secretary of homeland security. But Noem flunked this very easy test […]
“Habeas corpus is the legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people,” the New Hampshire Democrat explained. “If not for that protection, the government could simply arrest people, including American citizens, and hold them indefinitely for no reason. … Habeas corpus is the foundational right that separates free societies like America from police states like North Korea.” [Good explanation.]
As part of the same congressional hearing, Noem also proceeded to argue that Trump has the constitutional authority to suspend habeas corpus, but that was wrong, too: The Constitution includes this provision as a constitutional power in Article I. [!]
In case this weren’t quite enough, when Democratic Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey asked the Cabinet secretary which part of the Constitution includes habeas corpus, Noem was again stumped.
Nevertheless, when the president was asked about whether this bedrock legal principle would remain intact in the United States, Trump appeared lost and deferred to a Cabinet secretary who also seems to have a questionable grasp on the underlying subject.
Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas signed an agreement on Thursday to cease fire and free Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, in the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s initiative to end the two-year war in Gaza that has upended the Middle East.
Israelis and Palestinians alike rejoiced after the deal was announced, the biggest step yet to end two years of war in which over 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, and return the last hostages seized by Hamas in the deadly attacks that started it.
Officials on both sides confirmed they had signed the deal following indirect talks in the Egyptian beach resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Under the deal, fighting will cease, Israel will partially withdraw from Gaza, and Hamas will free all remaining hostages it captured in the attack that precipitated the war, in exchange for hundreds of prisoners held by Israel. At the White House, Trump said he believed it would lead to “lasting peace.”
Fleets of trucks carrying food and medical aid would be allowed to surge into Gaza to relieve civilians, hundreds of thousands of whom have been sheltering in tents after Israeli forces destroyed their homes and razed entire cities to dust.
HURDLES REMAIN
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet convened ahead of an expected meeting by his full government to ratify the deal, Israeli media reported. Netanyahu said the ceasefire would take effect after ratification.
The accord, if fully implemented, would bring the two sides closer than any previous effort to halt a war that has evolved into a regional conflict, drawing in Iran, Yemen, and Lebanon, and deepened Israel’s international isolation.
Much could still go wrong. Even after the deal was signed, a Palestinian source said the list of Palestinians to be released had yet to be finalised. The group is seeking freedom for some of the most prominent Palestinian convicts held in Israeli jails, as well as hundreds of people detained during Israel’s assault.
Further steps in Trump’s 20-point plan have yet to be discussed, including how the shattered Gaza Strip is to be ruled when the fighting ends, and the ultimate fate of Hamas, which has so far rejected Israel’s demands it disarm.
[…] HOSTAGES TO BE FREED WITHIN 72 HOURS
An Israeli government spokesperson said the ceasefire would go into force within 24 hours of the government meeting. After that 24-hour period, the hostages held in Gaza would be freed within 72 hours.
Twenty Israeli hostages are still believed to be alive in Gaza, while 26 are presumed dead, and the fate of two is unknown. Hamas has indicated that recovering the bodies of the dead may take longer than releasing those who are alive.
Trump appeared likely to head to Israel around the time the hostages are due to come home, with a note from Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s office saying Herzog’s agenda for Sunday had been cleared in anticipation of a Trump visit. At the White House, Trump said he hopes to attend a signing ceremony in Egypt.
The deal received support from Arab and Western countries and was widely portrayed as a major diplomatic achievement for Trump, who cast it as a first step towards reconciliation in the wider Middle East.
[…] Western and Arab countries were meeting in Paris on Thursday to discuss an international peacekeeping force and reconstruction assistance for Gaza once the fighting stops.
Netanyahu called the deal “a diplomatic success and a national and moral victory for the State of Israel.”
But far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition have long opposed any deal with Hamas. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Hamas must be destroyed once the hostages are returned. […]
More reaction statements are available at the link.
StevoRsays
Well, this is trippy! Pre-Incan empire building boozy trippy :
The growth of a pre-Inca civilization known as the Wari may have been aided by psychedelic-laced beer, researchers propose in a new study.
The Wari flourished from roughly A.D. 600 to 1000 and are known for their mummified burials, human sacrifices, and elaborate objects created out of gold, silver and bronze. They also built cities such as Huari and Pikillaqta, which contained temples and dwellings for elite inhabitants, and controlled much of Peru as well as parts of Argentina and Chile.
(Just click a few times and works despite some subscriber-y wall- y initial annoyance.)
StevoRsays
@ johnson catman : “re Lynna @311: John Fetterman, the new Joe Manchin.””
What was wrong with the old .. Oh wait, never mind. No we do NOT need a new one.
Also thought that was Kirsten Sinema .. who? Oh yeah, never mind she seemd like a good idea / person once too.. Sigh.
StevoRsays
Oh well, that’s okay then.*.
Thousands of barrels of industrial waste litter the ocean floor off Los Angeles and have been there for decades — but scientists still don’t fully understand what chemicals this junkyard is leaking into the environment.
Now, research has revealed that some of the chemicals leaking from the barrel graveyard have been identified as strongly alkaline, the chemical opposite of acidic — and they are still concentrated enough to stop most life living nearby.
Between the 1930s and early 1970s, radioactive waste, refinery waste, chemical waste, oil-drilling waste and military explosives were dropped into 14 dump sites in deep water off the coast of Southern California, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
(Note. May come up with annoying blocky-from reading further thingy box there – but just click close / multiplication button & will work after that – did for me anyhow..)
Its okay, I’m sure Trumnp will soon shut down the EPA thatwarns us of things like this if they haven’;t already and then obvs it won;’t be a probkem ever yeah?*
Echoes of sub-plot / fragments of John Brunner’s Sheep Look Up SF novel here..
9th Circuit Judge Ryan Nelson argued so vehemently Thursday that President Trump has the power to deploy the National Guard into unwilling states on very little pretext that one suspects the arguments were doubling as his Supreme Court audition.
“The President gets to direct his resources as he deems fit and it just seems a little counterintuitive to me that the city of Portland can come in and say ‘no, you need to do it differently,’” Nelson said to Oregon’s Senior Assistant Attorney General Stacy Chaffin. “Now, I understand there’s a statute here and we’re going to have to review that, but this goes to the level of deference that I think the president is entitled to in these circumstances. And it’s not all driven by what we see on the streets, it’s also driven by, to some degree, what’s going on behind the scenes, and you don’t have full view into that.”
By Oregon’s lights, per its briefs, what was “going on behind the scenes” was Trump watching Fox News air B-roll from 2020 protests in Portland, and concluding that the “war ravaged” city needed an infusion of National Guard troops.
Nelson, with fellow Trump appointee Judge Bridget Bade (who already appeared on a list of potential Trump Supreme Court picks), were vociferous in their support of Trump deploying troops to Portland, no matter that the incidents the Justice Department pointed to as pretext occurred months before the mobilization.
“If you don’t hit it within a narrow window you lose your right — that just seems unnaturally constrained,” complained Nelson in response to Chaffin’s arguments that the most intense protests in Portland happened back in June and July, months before the late September mobilization. He added that Trump’s sending in of other federal officers “hasn’t abated it,” that there’s “still violence going on,” despite the district court’s finding that there is no current significant unrest.
District Court Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee who blocked the Oregon National Guard and then National Guard from any state from deploying to Portland, was the subject of unrelenting criticism during Thursday’s arguments.
The DOJ’s Eric McArthur, using language attorneys generally avoid when still before a judge, said that she’d “refused” to take into account evidence of unrest from earlier in the summer, which she was “clearly wrong” to do, and that she “did minimize” episodes in September as well.
Nelson piled on, saying that Immergut’s definition of “rebellion” — one of the criteria for sending in the Guard under Title 10, the law the administration has cited — is so narrow that President Lincoln wouldn’t have been able to bring in forces if he didn’t do it immediately after the Battle of Fort Sumter.
This same panel, rounded out with a Clinton appointee, on Wednesday granted the DOJ’s request for an administrative stay freezing Immergut’s first temporary restraining order, which blocked the mobilization of the Oregon National Guard. At that point, her second temporary restraining order — which she’d handed down in an emergency hearing after the Trump administration deployed the California and Texas National Guard to circumvent her first order — was not before the panel. So in effect, all Guard were still blocked from entering Portland.
That state of affairs will likely not last long.
“These are violent people, and if at any point we let down our guard, there is a serious risk of ongoing violence,” DOJ’s McArthur concluded to the friendly panel.
Another federal agency is getting dragged into the GOP’s shutdown mess.
The Internal Revenue Service announced Wednesday that it’s furloughing nearly half its workforce as the government shutdown drags on. Work to prepare for next year’s tax season will continue, but taxpayer services like call centers will grind to a halt. So will non-automated tax collections and, as the agency put it, “most headquarters and administrative functions not related to the safety of life and protection of property,” according to its latest contingency plan.
The scale is massive: about 34,400 employees will be furloughed, while roughly 39,870—just over half the workforce—will stay on the job.
Initially, the IRS avoided furloughs thanks to funding from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. But that stopgap was only meant to last the first five business days of the shutdown, which began Oct. 1. With no end in sight, the agency has pulled the plug. The ripple effects will hit fast.
“Tax returns will be arriving,” Maria Ramos, the National Treasury Employees Union chapter president in Austin, Texas, told CNN. “But there will be no one there to process them.”
A prolonged shutdown could snarl operations further as the Oct. 15 tax-filing extension deadline looms, creating headaches for accountants, small businesses, and ordinary taxpayers alike.
The IRS is already juggling dozens of tax code changes contained in the GOP’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” including some taking effect this year. Now, with tens of thousands of employees sidelined, delays are inevitable. [Chaos on the horizon.]
The union that represents IRS workers didn’t mince words.
“Due to the government shutdown, the American people lost access to many vital services provided by the IRS when the agency furloughed thousands of employees,” it said in a statement. “Expect increased wait times, backlogs, and delays implementing tax law changes as the shutdown continues. Taxpayers around the country will now have a much harder time getting the assistance they need, just as they get ready to file their extension returns due next week.”
[…] Workers told CNN that even some roles considered essential in past shutdowns—like those responsible for opening and scanning mailed returns and payments—were furloughed this time. That decision could leave stacks of paper returns sitting untouched for weeks, compounding already significant backlogs from earlier this year.
[…] There was at least one point of clarity for furloughed workers. In its furlough notice, the IRS reminded employees they are legally guaranteed back pay once the shutdown ends—a direct nod to a law passed in 2019 after a White House memo earlier this week raised concerns about whether back pay would be honored.
The decision comes as the agency is still digging out from layoffs that have already gutted its workforce by roughly 25% since President Donald Trump returned to office in January. […]
“Trump Wants to Overhaul Drug Sales. A Company Tied to His Son Stands to Benefit.”
“Family members of President Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick are poised to benefit from efforts to remake the industry”
The country’s top drugmakers are set to meet in early December at the Four Seasons hotel in Georgetown with Donald Trump Jr. and senior Trump administration officials that regulate the pharmaceutical industry.
The host: BlinkRx, an online prescription drug delivery company that this year installed Trump Jr. as a board member. The summit will conclude with a dinner at the Executive Branch, the exclusive new club founded by Trump Jr. and his close friends, according to people with knowledge of the event and a copy of the invitation viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
BlinkRx stands to benefit from a shake-up of how patients buy drugs after President Trump urged pharmaceutical companies to sell their medicines directly to consumers. BlinkRx helps drugmakers do exactly that with a service that promises to set up direct-to-patient sales programs in as little as three weeks. TrumpRx, a new government website set to launch in early 2026, would funnel patients to direct-sale sites.
[…] the gathering signaled that the White House wants them to work with the little-known BlinkRx because of its ties to the president’s family […]
[…] “BlinkRx is one of many companies in the marketplace that provide these kinds of services to manufacturers,” said Adam J. Fein, the president of Drug Channels Institute, a group that studies the pharmaceutical industry. “What is different is Trump’s son is on the board.”
[…] In addition to being on BlinkRx’s board, Trump Jr. became a partner with the investment firm 1789 Capital last November. The firm, which is co-hosting the December summit, led a $140 million funding round for BlinkRx in June 2024, according to a person familiar with the deal. […]
Days before the president announced the new TrumpRx website, a BlinkRx representative told one drug company that BlinkRx could be involved with running the site on behalf of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. [!]
[…] BlinkRx invited the leaders of more than two-dozen pharmaceutical companies to Washington for the Future of Pharmaceuticals summit in December.
The event schedule says there will be “small group” meetings with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary.
Invited companies include Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Amgen, according to a person familiar with the event, whose leaders have relationships with the administration. […]
Hudson of BlinkRx said the company “is excited to help bring together leaders from biopharma, technology, and government to discuss how to improve patient access, American competitiveness, and life-sciences innovation.”
[…] “As long as drugmakers deliver cost savings for American patients through TrumpRx, how they do so is irrelevant,” said White House spokesman Kush Desai.
[…] Drugmakers now often work through middlemen called pharmacy-benefit managers so patients can fill their prescriptions at pharmacies. Several larger companies have established their own direct-to-consumer websites in recent years, meaning they might have no need for BlinkRx’s services. But smaller companies could look to firms such as BlinkRx to help establish such programs.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s adult children are also positioned to profit from the administration’s overhauls to the drug industry. Cantor Fitzgerald—the financial-services firm that was led by Lutnick until he joined the Trump administration—took a financial stake in a company that is trying to make money by investing in bringing pharmaceutical manufacturers to the U.S. Earlier this year, Lutnick handed his ownership of Cantor Fitzgerald to trusts benefiting his adult children, and his two eldest sons were named chairman and executive vice chairman of the firm.
A new special-purpose acquisition company called Drugs Made In America Acquisition II turned to Cantor Fitzgerald to handle its $500 million initial public offering, which occurred last month. The new blank-check company, the largest SPAC listing of 2025, will target “investments in strategic on-shoring of advanced domestic manufacturing technologies for critical drugs,” according to SEC filings, a mission that positions it to benefit from the expected onshoring resulting from pharmaceutical tariffs that Lutnick and Trump have threatened.
[…] Two White House officials said they felt that Lutnick should have raised Cantor’s involvement in the SPAC as he pushed for pharmaceutical tariffs in recent weeks.
[…] As part of the deal, Cantor agreed to purchase 500,000 shares of the SPAC for $5 million, according to SEC filings. Cantor will also receive 50,000 bonus shares once the company has completed a merger with a target company.
Desai, the White House spokesman, said that Lutnick “has been critical for the administration’s success delivering on President Trump’s pledge to level the playing field on global pharmaceutical drug prices.”
The Trump administration is looking to revive a bad idea it played around with in Trump’s first term, to sell some portion of the government’s $1.6 trillion in student loan debt to private investors, Politico reports, citing three anonymous insiders who know things. The idea would be to reduce the amount of debt held by the Education Department, which currently manages student loans, before moving the whole student loan system over to either the Treasury Department […]
The idea is being discussed by “senior Education Department and Treasury Department officials,” with the aim of selling off “high-performing” parts of the student debt portfolio so rich fucking banksters can make a profit trading in people’s student loan misery like God intended.
The one possible saving grace is that actually going through with the scheme might be more complicated than it’s worth:
Selling federal student loan debt raises significant logistical and legal concerns, adding new uncertainty for borrowers. Key questions include what happens to borrower protections — typically more generous than in the private market — and whether the government would continue guaranteeing any of the loans. The federal government enjoys more powerful debt-collection abilities — such as garnishing tax returns or Social Security benefits — than do private lenders.
[…] Translation: “Joe Biden actually helped people who were struggling with student debt. We promise to put the screws to them to punish them for going to college and putting on airs. Also, we all went to Ivy League schools but we resent them.”
Federal law allows the Education Department to sell off student debt, but only if taxpayers don’t lose money on the deal. It’s just that no other administration has tried it.
An Education Department analysis done during the first Trump administration “ultimately showed that the federal student loan portfolio was worth far less than government accountants had projected.” […]
Several of the experts who spoke to Politico said the whole idea seemed dumb, which almost guarantees that Trump will push it as far as possible.
Preston Cooper, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said selling off student loans was a dubious idea that made little fiscal sense. Private investors, he said, wouldn’t be willing to pay more than the loans are worth. Even if the goal is to shrink the portfolio and ease administrative costs, he said, it likely isn’t worth it.
“I really don’t see a scenario here where taxpayers come out ahead,” he said. “I think the most likely scenario is that taxpayers get less than the loans are actually worth.” [!]
An idea so bad that even the American Enterprise Institute says it’s crap? […]
[…] it’s difficult to say what private investors would even want to buy student debt, since it’s “not a particularly attractive investment.” [Michele Zampini, a policy wonk with something called the Institute for College Access and Success, said.] There aren’t necessarily any assets that could be seized when someone can’t pay, and private companies can’t dun a borrower’s tax refund or Social Security the way the government can.
Then again, in a world where private equity never seems to run out of ways to fuck people over for the sake of profit, it may be premature to think that some clever number-diddlers won’t spring up and find a way to make bank off student debt. […]
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—After James Comey’s arraignment on Wednesday, experts warned that indicting everyone who has lied to Congress would dangerously overcrowd the nation’s prisons.
According to imprisonment expert Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota, “If we’re going to put all the people who lied to Congress in prison, we’re going to need a shit-ton more prisons.”
“You’re looking at mass incarceration on an unprecedented scale,” he cautioned.
One cost-efficient solution, he said, would be to repurpose the White House as a federal penitentiary since so many eventual inmates are already there.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat who has clashed with President Donald Trump, was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in Virginia, three sources familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News.
James was charged with one count of bank fraud and one count of false statements to a financial institution after Trump publicly called for his Justice Department appointees to bring charges against her. The indictment alleges James falsely claimed that a home in Norfolk, Virginia, was her second residence, allowing her to obtain favorable loan terms, and that she rented the property to a family of three.
James could face up to 30 years in prison and up to a $1 million fine on each count if she’s convicted.
She vehemently denied the charges against her.
“These charges are baseless, and the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost,” James said in a statement that she also read aloud in a video posted to X. “The president’s actions are a grave violation of our Constitutional order and have drawn sharp criticism from members of both parties.”
As NBC News reported in August, Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed a special attorney to probe mortgage fraud allegations against the New York attorney general, who brought a successful civil fraud case against President Donald Trump before he retook the presidency.
[…] New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Thursday on X that Americans were seeing “nothing less than the weaponization of the Justice Department […]”
It is a bit odd when someone finds it necessary to get an annual physical in April, and then another in October: “President Donald Trump will sit for a ‘routine yearly check up’ at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday, the White House announced on Wednesday, ahead of a possible trip to the Middle East.”
Speaking of health news, NBC News reports:
Bird flu is spreading again, now that wild water fowl — geese, ducks and cranes — have begun their seasonal migrations. As the birds travel, they mingle at lakes and ponds and share viruses. In poultry, bird flu cases are spiking earlier than expected.
Steve Benen summarized an Associated Press report:
If the evidence exists, why keep it under wraps? “The Trump administration has yet to provide underlying evidence to lawmakers proving that alleged drug-smuggling boats targeted by the U.S. military in a series of fatal strikes were in fact carrying narcotics, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.”
Facing a deadline next week on whether to sign a statement acknowledging new restrictions on how they do their jobs or risk being thrown out of the Pentagon, journalists who cover the U.S. military appear headed toward a showdown with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
President Donald Trump used commemorations of Columbus Day and Leif Erikson Day to whitewash historical events, including a nod to a reference popular among white supremacists.
In his Columbus Day proclamation, released on Thursday, Trump praised Christopher Columbus as “one of the most gallant and visionary men to ever walk the face of the earth,” while complaining about “left-wing arsonists who have sought to destroy his name and dishonor his memory.”
The proclamation also alleges that Columbus has been “a prime target of a vicious and merciless campaign to erase our history, slander our heroes, and attack our heritage.”
While signing the proclamation during a televised Cabinet meeting, Trump said, “We’re back, Italians! We love the Italians!” Of course, Columbus Day never went away.
The proclamation ignores the massive death and suffering that were key to Columbus’ mission on behalf of imperial forces. The historical record shows that as part of his exploration in the Americas, Columbus abducted and enslaved members of the Arawak tribe.
Writing about Spanish actions in the New World, priest Bartolome de las Casas wrote, “Our work was to exasperate, ravage, kill, mangle and destroy; small wonder, then, if they tried to kill one of us now and then.” He also said the Spaniards “thought nothing of knifing Indians by tens and twenties and of cutting slices off them to test the sharpness of their blades.”
Conservatives have long sought to minimize the severity of Columbus’ historical actions, instead preferring childish fairy tales of explorers.
Similarly, in his proclamation of Leif Erikson Day, also released Thursday, Trump hails Erikson as “guided by his deep Christian faith” and as a person who spread “exciting news of uncivilized lands.” The proclamation also takes note of “Vinland,” the area of North America colonized by the Norse people.
Invoking Viking heritage and references to Vinland has been a touchstone of the white supremacist movement. In 2017, a white supremacist who stabbed and killed two people in Oregon had recently posted on Facebook, “Hail Vinland!!! Hail Victory!!!”
Vinland has been invoked as a supposed white outpost in early America, ignoring the long-thriving Native American communities that had long ago settled in the region. Bringing up Vinland is a pathway to rewriting history, erasing the cultural legacy of non-white residents.
The proclamations aren’t written in Trump’s usual language and sound more like the work of White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller. [Yep] Miller has spent years championing white supremacist causes and rhetoric, culminating in his current role overseeing mass deportation of migrants, with a focus on Latino communities.
In contrast with Trump, former President Biden used his 2024 declaration for Columbus Day not to lavish praise on Columbus, but instead to celebrate the contributions of Italian Americans throughout the country’s history.
Biden also didn’t include any white supremacist dog whistles in his proclamation for Leif Erickson Day. Instead, Biden hailed “the history and heritage of Nordic communities in the United States, whose contributions and cultures have helped shape our Nation.”
Additionally, Biden issued a proclamation for Indigenous Peoples Day, an alternative celebration held on the same day as Columbus’ holiday. Biden explained, “The history of America’s Indigenous peoples is marked by perseverance, survival, and a deep commitment to and pride in their heritage, right to self-governance, and ways of life.”
As of this writing, Trump has not acknowledged Indigenous Peoples Day.
“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, under fire from U.S. farmers and Democratic lawmakers, has insisted that the credit swap is not a bailout.”
The United States directly purchased Argentine pesos on Thursday and finalized a $20 billion currency swap line with Argentina’s central bank, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a social media post, a rare move aimed at stabilizing turbulent financial markets in the cash-strapped Latin American ally.
“U.S. Treasury is prepared, immediately, to take whatever exceptional measures are warranted to provide stability to markets,” Bessent said, adding that the Treasury Department held four days of meetings with Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo in Washington D.C. to cement the deal.
Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei, a fervent admirer of U.S. President Donald Trump, thanked Bessent for his “strong support” and Trump for his “powerful leadership.” […]
Bessent, under fire from U.S. farmers and Democratic lawmakers, has insisted that the credit swap is not a bailout. Farmers are angry about the idea of rescuing Argentina, whose own farmers have benefited from a recent gush of sales of soybeans to China at the expense of their U.S. counterparts. Lawmakers have pushed Trump to explain how this financial help aligns with his “America First” agenda.
[…] “It is inexplicable that President Trump is propping up a foreign government, while he shuts down our own,” Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, said in a statement. “Trump promised ‘America First,’ but he’s putting himself and his billionaire buddies first and sticking Americans with the bill.”
It doesn’t help that repeated bailouts have failed to stabilize the crisis-stricken economy of Argentina. As the International Monetary Fund’s biggest debtor, it owes the global lender a staggering $41.8 billion.
[…] [Javier Mileii’s] radical austerity program has been painful, with no economic revival in sight and Argentines are losing patience.
[I snipped details of political dysfunction in Argentina.]
The U.S. financial help offers Milei a crucial reprieve. On Thursday, Argentina’s dollar-denominated bonds rose about 10% on Bessent’s confirmation of the credit line and the Buenos Aires stock market surged 15%.
Economy Minister Caputo expressed his “deepest gratitude” to Bessent following the announcement. […]
Bessent made no mention of any economic conditions attached to the swap line for Argentina, leading many observers to criticize the intervention as a pre-election reward for a loyal friend rather than an investment in a strategic partner.
“The troops will stay in Israel, where they will support logistics, transportation, engineering and planning, two U.S. officials said.”
The United States military is preparing options to deploy as many as 200 U.S. troops to Israel to support stabilization in Gaza and the flow of humanitarian aid and security assistance into the enclave, two U.S. officials familiar with the planning said.
The U.S. troops will stay in Israel, where they will support logistics, transportation, engineering and planning, the officials said.
“They will not be in Gaza. No U.S. boots on the ground in Gaza,” one of the officials said.
The effort, known as the Civil-Military Coordination Cell, comes after the announcement of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that includes the release of hostages in Gaza and nearly 2,000 Palestinians who were detained after Oct. 7, 2023.
[…] In addition to supporting aid and assistance into Gaza, the troops are expected to support the deconfliction mechanism between the two sides to make sure that both are upholding their part of the security agreements.
The United States already has troops in Israel for various missions, including missile defense, and U.S. officials previously supported the deconfliction mechanism between Israel and Hezbollah during the ceasefire in Lebanon last year.
StevoRsays
A magnitude-7.4 earthquake has struck the Mindanao region in the Philippines, sparking a tsunami warning for potentially hazardous waves, according to seismology authorities.The quake hit at a depth of 62 kilometres below ground-level, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said on Friday.
The Philippine seismology chief Teresito Bacolcol said his agency would issue a tsunami warning after the quake, which struck about 20 kilometres away from the town of Manay at 9:43am local time (11:43am AEST). One-metre waves were forecast on the country’s Pacific coast over the next two hours, the Philippine seismology office said. It also urged residents in coastal areas in the affected zone “to immediately evacuate to higher grounds or move farther inland”.
Well this sounds ominous – in interview with Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter on PBS Newshour :
The agreement, the 20-point plan, is very clear on the disarming of Hamas. And it’s also very clear that if they do not disarm, then we’re going to go back into military confrontation.
They have to disarm. Hamas cannot remain standing in Gaza. That’s the plan and that’s what has to be implemented. This plan is basically ensconced with the government’s directives for completing this war. And that’s the disarming of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza. If that doesn’t happen, then this peace plan is not going anywhere.
And if they don’t do it willingly, then this international agency that’s being created has to do it. And if the international agency doesn’t do it, Israel’s going to have to do it.
Hopefully Hamas will disarm and follow the rest of that agreement but yeah.
StevoRsays
From The New Arab online news :
The Palestinian cause has never enjoyed more momentum, awareness, and global solidarity than it does today.
This is reflected by a wave of international recognition of Palestinian statehood, giant weekly demonstrations in Western capitals, greater isolation of Israel, and a tidal shift in public opinion. Yet the Palestinian movement has also never been in a greater state of disarray, loss, and paralysis.
Gaza is decimated, the Palestinian leadership remains intractably divided, the West Bank is under an unprecedented crackdown, and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) is obsolete.
As a fragile truce takes hold and potentially signals an end to the war, numerous questions remain unanswered, with Palestinians now facing monumental challenges and uncertainties as they try to recover from two years of unparalleled Israeli violence.
Plus :
The two key questions Gazans commonly ask each other are technical. First, “is your home still standing?” Yet nearly every single person has had their home bombed, burned to the ground, razed, bulldozed, or blown to pieces. The second is “how many family members have you lost?” The average answer is over 100.
Nonetheless, there is a strong and undying willingness amongst many in Gaza to remain steadfast on the land and reject any plans for expulsion, migration, or displacement.
In addition to :
A source close to the Palestinian president told The New Arab that Abbas had been fearful that engaging in any talks with Hamas, let alone a reconciliation agreement, would have given an excuse to Western governments to delay the recognition of Palestine, which he values dearly.
The Palestinian Authority leader was also worried that Netanyahu would use reconciliation as a pretext to further weaken or even collapse the PA.
But new dynamics now give a glimmer of hope that Hamas and the PA could reconcile. Palestinians see Marwan Barghouti’s prospective release in a prisoner swap as the possible beginning of this new chapter. Barghouti commands much respect amongst Palestinians and is seen by both Fatah and Hamas as a unifying, pragmatic, and non-corrupt figure.
Hassan also added that Trump’s plan, despite being “deeply problematic for many reasons”, did create an opening for “Palestinian national reconciliation outside the governance question”, including Hamas being able to participate in PLO institutions.
@ ^ Dunno about that last line in the quoted text tho’ – maybe ex-Hamas members with Hamas gone but those formerly in it adopting new roles as part of a more moderate legitimate leadership?
New Palestinian elections with new parties and changes in leaders? With a new & more moderate set of leaders in Israel who realise they have to win back the world and give up expansonism and oppression and learn toliove with Palestinians too? Mutual reflection at the horror of what has happened leading to actual changes in views, a cultural shift to more reasonable and kinder approaches and new better leadership from both peoples? Too optimistic?
John Moralessays
“Mutual reflection at the horror of what has happened leading to actual changes in views, a cultural shift to more reasonable and kinder approaches and new better leadership from both peoples? Too optimistic?”
“So, obviously, there’s something, there’s something that’s artificially, I think, induced, something, whether it’s the vaccines in terms of these massive vaccines that are twice the size of a jar like that, of a glass of water like that,” he claimed, “I mean, into a baby’s body, and I’ve suggested get them in doses, get them in, you know, maybe 20%, 30%, but smaller, not such a big —”
Next he will say they are “tight as dish”*
*Book of Mormon reference
beholdersays
California clamps down on criticism of Israel in schools and academia.
The signing of California Assembly Bill 715 (AB 715) by Governor Gavin Newsom on October 7 marks a milestone in the bipartisan campaign to criminalize political dissent and rewrite history in the service of imperialist policy. The timing of the bill’s signing, two years since the events of October 7 and the beginning of Gaza’s genocide, was no accident.
Passed under the fraudulent banner of “antisemitism prevention,” AB 715 embodies a reactionary fusion of state power, corporate censorship and Zionist ideology. It is part of a nationwide effort to equate opposition to the Israeli state with hatred of Jewish people, silencing criticism of the Gaza genocide and US imperialism in the Middle East.
The unanimous passage of AB 715 exposes the class character of American politics. In May, the Assembly approved it 68–0; the Senate followed 35–0; and the Assembly concurred 71–0. Not a single Democrat or Republican voiced objection. The “progressive” state that boasts of diversity and inclusion has united the entire establishment behind a law attacking freedom of speech, placing in grave danger academic freedom and democratic principles.
Unanimity among the ruling class is not progress but a warning. The American capitalist class achieves consensus when preparing war, abroad or at home. AB 715 is a declaration of war on democratic rights and public education, part of the ideological groundwork for dictatorship in the United States which will only facilitate the Trump administration’s war on the working class.
Behind the humanitarian rhetoric of “safe learning environments,” AB 715 represents the most sweeping state intrusion into political expression in California’s history. The law establishes a new Office of Civil Rights (OCR) under the Government Operations Agency (of the executive branch) granting it vast powers to investigate, penalize and censor schools, teachers, students and curriculum providers. A governor-appointed “Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator” (APC), confirmed by the Senate, is authorized to shape curricula, with power to issue policy directives and propose legislation.
AB 715 amends the state’s Education Code to prohibit “advocacy, personal opinion, bias, or partisanship” in instruction and declares that discriminatory bias requires no “direct harm” or even a “protected group member.” This vague and sweeping language effectively criminalizes any viewpoint opposing official ideology. Teachers who discuss Israel’s origins, the Nakba, or the US-backed genocide in Gaza could be accused of “antisemitic bias” and face investigation or dismissal.
The law aligns California’s policy with the Biden administration’s National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, which endorses the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition equating criticism of Israel with antisemitism. Although AB 715 avoids naming IHRA directly, it adopts its logic wholesale—using the guise of anti-hate enforcement to suppress anti-Zionist, pro-Palestinian, anti-genocide and socialist expression.
Yes, humanism is astrology. Same thing. Cool spot, bro.
birgerjohanssonsays
“White House In Trump Medical Chaos After Suspicious Announcement” [and Trump carefully hides his right hand to conceal the traces of infusion].
His “annual” health checks are now six months apart.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=kaU5cpez_FU
I don’t necessarily think this is because of single-parent households. I think part of it is because girls become mothers too early to have all the maturity needed. Ideally a father would contribute to the upbringing but what if they also lack the necessary life experience?
.
In countries with functioning sex ed (and abortions) this may be less of an issue. I know plenty of single mothers and their kids are fine.
birgerjohanssonsays
Midge Ure (Ultravix, Visage et al) just turned 72. I remember him from my youth.
birgerjohanssonsays
The £1m man: why did Boris Johnson take his donor to Ukraine? | this guy helped bankroll yhe Brexit campaign.
“Most Americans don’t want to see judges impeached over anti-Trump rulings. A key House Republican said it’s “on the table” anyway.”
While there was quite a bit of talk in Republican circles earlier this year about impeaching judges, the chatter largely disappeared in recent months. Is Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio poised to bring it back? The Washington Times reported:
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said impeachment of judges who issue ‘stupid’ rulings thwarting President Trump is ‘on the table,’ though he said Congress needs to explore other options first. … Any impeachment proceedings would start in Mr. Jordan’s committee. He said that shouldn’t be the first option for judges who have foiled Mr. Trump or otherwise issued troubling rulings, but it’s ‘on the table’ as an eventual option.
The far-right Ohio Republican and Trump loyalist didn’t indicate plans to try to impeach jurists anytime soon, but he told the conservative newspaper, “I don’t think you should rule out impeachment.”
The trouble began in earnest in March, when Trumpt, taking a step he hadn’t taken before, publicly and explicitly called for the impeachment of a federal judge who’d ruled in a way the White House didn’t like. Hours later, he sat down with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham and kept the offensive going.
“[W]e have bad judges. We have very bad judges,” Trump said. “These are judges that shouldn’t be allowed. I think at a certain point you have to start looking at — what do you do when you have a rogue judge?”
There was, of course, no evidence in support of any of this rhetoric. Nevertheless, a group of congressional Republicans apparently interpreted Trump’s appeal as a directive and got to work introducing impeachment resolutions against judges who’ve ruled in ways the White House didn’t like.
Indeed, the list grew quickly. Over the course of a few weeks, GOP impeachment resolutions were filed against U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, U.S. District Court Judge Paul Engelmayer, U.S. District Court Judge John Bates, U.S. District Court Judge Amir Ali, U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell Jr., U.S. District Court Judge Theodore Chuang, and later, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer. (Technically, Engelmayer is facing two parallel impeachment measures simultaneously.)
Megadonor Elon Musk soon after joined the crusade, sending campaign donations to Republican members of Congress who supported impeaching federal judges.
And now Jordan, who chairs the committee that handles judicial impeachments, told a conservative media outlet that he considers the radical tactic to be “on the table.”
In April, a Marquette University Law School poll found that 70% of Americans opposed federal judges over anti-Trump rulings. There is, however, often big gap between what the public wants and what Republican officials decide to do. Watch this space.
MIT refuses Trump’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”
Regarding the Compact
October 10, 2025
Sally Kornbluth, President
Dear members of the MIT community,
The U.S. Department of Education recently sent MIT and eight other institutions a proposed “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” along with a letter asking that MIT review the document.
From the messages I’ve received, I know this is on the minds of many of you and that you care deeply about the Institute’s mission, its values and each other. I do too.
After considerable thought and consultation with leaders from across MIT, today I sent the following reply to U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon.
Sincerely,
Sally Kornbluth
Dear Madam Secretary,
I write in response to your letter of October 1, inviting MIT to review a “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” I acknowledge the vital importance of these matters.
I appreciated the chance to meet with you earlier this year to discuss the priorities we share for American higher education.
As we discussed, the Institute’s mission of service to the nation directs us to advance knowledge, educate students and bring knowledge to bear on the world’s great challenges. We do that in line with a clear set of values, with excellence above all. Some practical examples:
– MIT prides itself on rewarding merit. Students, faculty and staff succeed here based on the strength of their talent, ideas and hard work. For instance, the Institute was the first to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirement after the pandemic. And MIT has never had legacy preferences in admissions.
– MIT opens its doors to the most talented students regardless of their family’s finances. Admissions are need-blind. Incoming undergraduates whose families earn less than $200,000 a year pay no tuition. Nearly 88% of our last graduating class left MIT with no debt for their education. We make a wealth of free courses and low-cost certificates available to any American with an internet connection. Of the undergraduate degrees we award, 94% are in STEM fields. And in service to the nation, we cap enrollment of international undergraduates at roughly 10%.
– We value free expression, as clearly described in the MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom. We must hear facts and opinions we don’t like – and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree.
These values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they’re right, and we live by them because they support our mission – work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law.
The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
In our view, America’s leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences. Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.
As you know, MIT’s record of service to the nation is long and enduring. Eight decades ago, MIT leaders helped invent a scientific partnership between America’s research universities and the U.S. government that has delivered extraordinary benefits for the American people. We continue to believe in the power of this partnership to serve the nation.
“María Corina Machado, Venezuelan opposition leader, wins Nobel Peace Prize”
The prize honored Machado, who is in hiding, for keeping “the flame of democracy burning,” but the White House accused the Nobel jury of “placing politics over peace.”
The Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday awarded its 2025 Peace Prize to María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader who has become a symbol of democratic resistance against an increasingly authoritarian regime, even as she has been forced into hiding and barred from holding public office.
The decision, announced in Oslo’s grand City Hall, elevates Machado, known as Venezuela’s “Iron Lady,” from a besieged political figure in her own country to the world stage, joining the ranks of Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi and other laureates who have challenged autocratic rule.
The White House, which had been calling for President Donald Trump to win the prize, did not immediately congratulate Machado, but a spokesman, Steven Cheung, questioned the committee’s motives. “President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars and saving lives,” Cheung said, adding, “The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.”
Machado’s location remains undisclosed for security reasons, though supporters say she remains in Venezuela despite arrest warrants and government accusations that she has conspired to destabilize the country.
“The Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 goes to a brave and committed champion of peace — to a woman who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness,” the committee said, announcing the award.
Machado reacted with shock when reached by a representative of the Nobel committee a few minutes before her win was announced. “Oh my God … I have no words,” she said, according to a video of the call posted on X by the committee.
“This immense recognition of the struggle of all Venezuelans is an impetus to conclude our task: to conquer Freedom,” Machado wrote on X after the announcement. “We are on the threshold of victory and today more than ever we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our main allies to achieve Freedom and democracy. Venezuela will be free!”
The prize was awarded as the Trump administration — a vocal supporter of Machado — has sharply escalated military tensions with Venezuela, attacking boats in the Caribbean that Trump has said were carrying drug smugglers in international waters.
Trump has previously described Machado as a “freedom fighter.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a longtime ally of Machado, as a senator had signed a letter nominating her for the Nobel Prize last year.
Trump has declared the United States to be in “armed conflict” with drug cartels that are distributing narcotics in the U.S., according to a notification to Capitol Hill that seeks to give legal cover for taking lethal action against traffickers following the military strikes.
The administration has not provided evidence that narcotics were aboard, and the strikes prompted Venezuela to request an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
Machado, a fierce and longtime foe of Venezuela’s autocratic president, Nicolás Maduro, swept the primaries ahead of the Venezuelan presidential election in 2024 with more than 92 percent of the vote. Her team’s campaign last year represented the most significant political threat against Maduro in more than a decade of authoritarian rule. […]
Republicans gleefully celebrating the indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James:
[…] “Crooked NY AG Letitia James, used taxpayer money to maliciously prosecute President Trump over non-crimes, has now been INDICTED based on legitimate bank fraud allegations,” Rep. Claudia Tenney (D-NY) wrote in a post on X. [Nope. Not “legitimate.”]
“Back in 2024, Letitia James posted, ‘No one is above the law. Even when you think the rules don’t apply to you.’ Here’s the reality: 1–No one is above the law 2–You cannot commit mortgage fraud 3–She thought the rules didn’t apply to her 4–She got indicted. Law & order is back,” Rep. Byron Donalds (D-FL) wrote in a post on X.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY)—who is running a likely unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in New York—cheered what she called James’ “long overdue indictment” calling it a “critical step toward restoring accountability and the rule of law.”
Actual legal experts say, however, that James is unlikely to be convicted, as the charges are even less than thin gruel.
Democrats condemned the Trump DOJ for seeking the indictment, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries saying that the “baseless indictment … is part of Donald Trump’s corrupt weaponization of the criminal justice system against anyone who has sought to hold him accountable.”
“This is what tyranny looks like. President Trump is using the Justice Department as his personal attack dog, targeting Attorney General Tish James for the ‘crime’ of prosecuting him for fraud—and winning,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote in a post on X. “One U.S. Attorney already refused this case. So, Trump hand-picked an unqualified hack that would go after another political enemy. This isn’t justice. It’s revenge. And it should horrify every American who believes no one is above the law.”
James, for her part, vowed to fight the charges.
“This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system,” James said in a statement. “I am not fearful—I am fearless. We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue to fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights.”
And given that the prosecutor who sought the charges couldn’t even fill out the indictment form correctly, she’s likely to beat them.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday the U.S. will host a new Qatari air force facility in Idaho, where pilots will train to fly F-15s.
Hegseth said the Trump administration has signed the letter greenlighting the building of a Qatar Emiri air force contingent at the Mountain Home Air Force Base located in southwestern Idaho.
Qatar Emiri air force is the air arm of Qatar’s armed forces.
“Location will be host to a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots to enhance our combined training, increase lethality, interoperability,” Hegeseth said Friday. “It’s just another example of our partnership.”
Mountain Home Air Force Base, located in Elmore County, already hosts Singapore’s air force F-15SG fighter jets.
birgerjohanssonsays
Something different from DJT -related issues.
.
Joey is half japanese, and his language skills allow him to get in touch with parts of Japan that is normally unknown. Anime, manga, voice actors, restaurants, ‘no pans’ diners, even sex workers in the weird Japanese system.
‘I Spent a Day with a Real Japanese “deriheru” .
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=oyn-qEYUn68
birgerjohanssonsays
Lynnna, OM @ 355
Their revolting glee is preserved for posterity forever on digital media. Let them implicate themselves.
Right now it may seem that rules and laws do not matter. Nor do media owners give a damn (a billionaire Israeli ally just installed a super-pro-Israeli nationalist at CBS).
But the pendulum always swings back. Dubya looked like he would bring an era of GOP hegemony.
Trump and his collaborators are increasingly unhinged and arrogant. It looks like they are all powerful now, but it will change again.
birgerjohanssonsays
Joey/The Anime Man:
“I Spent a Day with a Japanese 𝔸𝕥ø𝕞𝕚𝕔 𝔹ø𝕞𝕓 Survivor”
Current and former Ubisoft employees explained to Game File that the game would have been set in the mid-19th century American South, specifically during a period known as “Reconstruction” that followed the American Civil War. The protagonist would have been a formerly enslaved Black man recruited by the titular Assassins to battle the Ku Klux Klan and other oppressive forces.
Apparently this project had been in the works for a while before Ubisoft realized just how controversial it would be. Ubisoft is not an American company and the executives apparently didn’t understand just how explosive something like that would be. The company had just gotten caught up in a controversy over a black samurai in Assasin’s Creed Shadows. This had been an issue to both American and Japanese racists. Apparently they didn’t want to wade into that again. In their position I would be iffy about the idea also.
Assasin’s Creed treats history as some props to setup around the story for name and location recognition, not something to be taken seriously. So I’m not sure I want them wading into those waters anyways.
“Court documents show they had originally hoped to charge her with abortion.”
In May of this year, a sergeant in the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office in Texas utilized a massive network of 83,000 license plate reader (LPR) cameras in order to conduct a nationwide search for a woman who had recently skipped town. The reason given? Well, on the paperwork he filed at the time, it read “had an abortion, search for female.”
Soon enough, the incident was caught and reported by 404 Media and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and cited as an example of the dangers of these kinds of surveillance systems and how they can be weaponized against those who have had abortions or are seeking abortion care, allowing law enforcement to track people to states where abortion is legal — even when doing so violates state laws that explicitly outlaw the use of LPRs to track anyone who may be seeking reproductive care, as is the case in Washington and Illinois.
However, County Sheriff Adam King and Flock, the company that owns the AI-enabled camera network, have spent the last few months swearing up and down that they were merely concerned about the woman’s safety and were investigating her as a missing person and nothing more. Certainly not as a criminal!
At the time, Sheriff King told 404 Media:
“I wanted to make sure y’all understood what that was: It wasn’t us trying to block a woman from having an abortion. It was a self-administered abortion she gave herself and her family was worried that she was going to bleed to death, and we were trying to find her to get her to a hospital. We weren’t trying to block her from leaving the state or whatever. That wasn’t the case. We just wanted to get her some medical help and that’s why we did the query on Flock.”
“The family was worried she was bleeding and needed immediate medical attention and we weren’t able to get her on the phone, they weren’t able to get her on the phone, that’s why we were checking Flock trying to find her, but it was for her safety,” he said. “That’s all it was about, her safety.”
Goodness, what an absolute mensch. What a doll! So caring and thoughtful. Surely, a friend to women, everywhere.
Or not.
New documents and court records obtained by EFF show that, initially, there was no mention of any concern for her safety and law enforcement absolutely was looking to charge her with a crime.
So here’s what actually seems to have happened. The woman’s partner called the police on May 9 to tell them that, two weeks prior, she had self-administered an abortion. He had been outside and, for some reason, walked into the bathroom to see blood and what he believed to be the non-viable fetus, which he later put in the freezer. He then assaulted her, held her at gunpoint in front of their child, and demanded she beg him for her life.
To be clear, he left that part out when he spoke to the police. The new court records are actually related to an arrest affidavit for her partner, filed after the woman went to the Sheriff’s Office to explain why she had left in the first place. So that’s how we know.
When asked why he waited so long to report this to the police, the partner said that “he had to process the event and call his family attorney.”
The police then took the Fed-Ex packaging the pills were sent in, instructions for taking medication, and pictures of the purported non-viable fetus. All the things necessary to find a missing woman about whose safety you are very concerned.
The affidavit also states that “It was discussed at the time with the District Attorney’s Office and learned the State could not statutorily charge [woman] for taking the pill to cause the abortion or miscarriage of the non-viable fetus.” Again, exactly the kind of thing you do when you are looking for a missing woman who you definitely do not want to file criminal charges against. That and citing the incident as a “death investigation” into the aborted fetus, which they also did.
You may recall from all the way up at the top of this post that the original story was that “the family” had called the Sheriff’s Office, concerned for her safety and afraid she might be bleeding out somewhere? Well, nowhere in any documents is there any family mentioned beyond the partner.
In fact, the “concerned for her safety” narrative does not appear in any documents at all until June 5, a week after the 404 Media article was published, when the officer who had conducted the search issued a “supplemental report.”
Via 404 Media:
“Deputies started to ask communication’s [sic] about looking up the victim due to a large amount of blood being found in the residence,” it states. “I never made scene on this call, just was assisting with trying to locate the victim and her children to check their welfare. I began to believe the victim may have been hurt by the [reporting person, the woman’s partner] due to the call and it not making sense […] I wanted to use resources available to help find where the victim and her children could be to make sure they were okay.”
Boy, does that ever seem like a plausible explanation!
Thankfully, it’s unlikely that Adam King will be able to float that bullshit again, as he was arrested in August by his own deputies for sexually harassing the women on his staff and then threatening to fire them for reporting it. The court has also banned him from using this kind of surveillance technology for the time being, on account of how he might use it to harass his victims.
It’s great that this time, the woman was not charged with anything, but it’s hard to trust that this will always be the case. Even knowing that something like this exists could dissuade some people from traveling to get an abortion in a state where it is legal.
Just yesterday, Texas state Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that eight people connected to a Texas midwife, whom he described as a “cabal of abortion-loving radicals,” have been arrested for practicing medicine without a license, and at least one of them with performing an illegal abortion. As much as we don’t like people practicing medicine without a license, this is the kind of thing that happens when you outlaw abortion. The midwife, Maria Margarita Rojas, is the first person to be charged in the state (in the modern era) with having performed an illegal abortion.
“Without any proof, Paxton went after Rojas, a licensed midwife dedicated to helping her pregnant patients. He heartlessly shut down several clinics that provided lawful, affordable services to families around Houston, most of whom were low-income, uninsured immigrants with few options for health care,” Jenna Hudson, a lawyer representing the group, told CNN.
It’s not just that they are going after women and health workers for things that by all rights should be legal, but that they don’t mind violating the laws of other states or arresting people on incredibly flimsy evidence in the process of doing so.
[…] In yet another outpouring of weirdassery, RFK Jr., who really is the Secretary of HHS even though that shouldn’t be possible, claimed during a Cabinet meeting yesterday that circumcision is associated with autism, because Tylenol. “There are two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism,” Kennedy proclaimed. “It’s highly likely because they’re given Tylenol.” The alleged link between aceta … acto … Tylenol and autism is already extremely dubious, and the idea that a single use of acetaminophen during circumcision increases that “risk” — as opposed to other times a child might receive it for pain relief or to reduce fever — is just plain bonkers. [USA Today]
Donald Trump has ordered the FBI to find all the files it can on Jeffrey Epstein! No wait, not him, Amelia Earhart! As George Conway noted on the Bluesky yesterday, “One of Trump’s biggest financial supporters, Timothy Mellon, is obsessed with Earhart.” Feckin’ weird. [CNN]
Wait! One more Portland! From the Daily Show. [video] […]
[…] Hey, could you use some awesome climate / clean energy news? For the first half of 2025, renewable energy provided more of the world’s electricity (34.3 percent) than coal did (33.1), according to a new report from energy thinktank Ember. First time in history that’s happened, unless you count really early on when it was like one coal generator vs. lightning. Also encouraging: some of the biggest growth in renewables is in developing countries like India, Pakistan, and China. Global carbon dioxide emissions even fell a little bit! [NPR]
One of the most heartbreaking PBS Frontline documentaries I’ve ever seen is “Poor Kids,” initially shown in 2012 and updated for a 2017 rebroadcast, which you can view on YouTube or at the PBS website. It’s a matter-of-fact look at the lives of kids in poverty, and how not having enough money weighs on nearly every aspect of their lives, down to having to give up a pet and put your Christmas videogame console in storage because neither is allowed in a homeless shelter. If you’re not a sociopath, the film leaves you wondering just what the hell is wrong with this country.
[…] Evangelist Kim Robinson, whose website is called “Heaven is Real & Fun,” was sent a vision by God, or at lease had a weird dream:
This morning I was praying and going over my notes. The lord showed me Charlie in heaven. Like I said, I don’t know anything about Charlie so I hope somebody puts it in the chat or lets me know what you know about him. But I saw Charlie this morning riding on a horse with Jesus and Jesus had given him a horse ranch. He has a horse ranch and he has all these animals and I just feel like Charlie loved horses. And right now, this morning, he was on these horses and he was on this horse ranch with Jesus. And I’m like, isn’t that amazing?
And she saw the horses and one of them LOOKED at her! We would just like to point out that, as crazy Charlie Kirk fantasies go, this is way nicer than saying you had a vision of Kirk as an avenging angel with a sword to wipe out progressives and trans people, so hooray for the Charlie Horse evangelist. Mostly Harmless! [Joe. My. God] […]
Embedded links to additional sources are available at the main link.
The Trump administration moved to begin laying off federal workers Friday while the government was shuttered, fulfilling threats from President Donald Trump to take advantage of the closure to shave off still more parts of the federal workforce he dislikes.
“The RIFs have begun,” White House budget director Russell Vought posted on X Friday afternoon, using an acronym for reductions-in-force.
A White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the plans, confirmed that the RIFs were starting, and said “they will be substantial.” The White House did not provide specifics on how many employees were affected, or at which departments.
The shutdown layoffs are the culmination of years of groundwork laid by Vought, an architect of the Project 2025 playbook for Trump’s second term, which outlined a drastically reduced federal bureaucracy. Vought’s office had threatened mass dismissals during the shutdown, perhaps even stretching into the hundreds of thousands, and told agencies they should “retain the minimal number of employees necessary.” Trump told reporters before the shutdown that he might fire “a lot” of people, and once the shutdown began, Vice President JD Vance and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt indicated that cuts were coming, as well.
[…] The layoffs run counter to recent internal warnings from senior government officials that such dismissals are legally questionable. In the first days of the shutdown, officials privately counseled agencies against conducting reductions in force, or RIFs, while the government lacks funding, because it would likely violate the law […]
Even before the layoffs began, they drew a legal challenge from several federal unions. Their lawsuit, brought against OMB and the Office of Personnel Management on Sept. 30 over threats of dismissals, argued that the administration has no authority or ability to conduct RIFs amid a shutdown, in part citing the Antideficiency Act.
“Nothing in the Antideficiency Act or any other statute authorizes RIFs of employees who work in agencies or programs with a lapse in funding,” the suit said. “Ignoring binding federal law is arbitrary and capricious.”
“EXCLUSIVE: Inside billionaire Peter Thiel’s private lectures: Warnings of ‘the Antichrist’ and U.S. destruction”
“The Washington Post reviewed leaked audio from four off-the-record lectures the tech investor delivered in San Francisco over the past month that fused beliefs about religion and technology.”
Tech billionaire Peter Thiel recently warned that Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and critics of technology or artificial intelligence are “legionnaires of the Antichrist” [JFC] in private lectures on Christianity that connected government oversight of Silicon Valley to an apocalyptic future, according to recordings reviewed by The Washington Post.
In the four, roughly two-hour lectures, which began last month and culminated Monday at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Thiel laid out his religious views to a sold-out audience told to keep the contents “off-the-record,” according to an event listing. He argued that those who propose limits on technology development not only hinder business but also threaten to usher in the destruction of the United States and an era of global totalitarian rule, according to the recordings.
“In the 17th, 18th century, the Antichrist would have been a Dr. Strangelove, a scientist who did all this sort of evil crazy science,” Thiel said in his Sept. 15 opening talk, according to the recordings. “In the 21st century, the Antichrist is a Luddite who wants to stop all science. It’s someone like Greta or Eliezer,” he said, referring to Thunberg and Eliezer Yudkowsky, a prominent critic of the tech industry’s approach to AI.
Thunberg has criticized global capitalism as a driver of environmental degradation while Yudkowsky advocates for limiting AI research to prevent the technology from surpassing human intelligence. Thiel previously funded Yudkowsky’s work but said in his Sept. 15 lecture that he is now embarrassed by the association and that the AI critic and others like him have become “deranged,” according to the recordings.
Thiel’s lectures come at a time of rising Christian nationalism in the United States. Christians have varying interpretations of the biblical Antichrist, but the figure is often understood to be an opponent of God who appears during the end-times.
The Post sent Thiel, through a spokesperson, a detailed list of questions about his remarks in the lectures, but Thiel declined to comment.
Yudkowsky said in a statement “my understanding is that authorities from multiple Christian denominations have stated that Thiel’s views, identifying the Antichrist with proposals to regulate the AI industry, are not deemed by them to be compatible with conventional Christian belief.” Spokespeople for Thunberg did not respond to a request for comment.
The Post reviewed audio recordings of all four of Thiel’s lectures, titled “The Antichrist: A Four-Part Lecture Series.” A review of a sample of the audio by Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert and professor at the University of California at Berkeley, indicated they were probably authentic and not manipulated by AI. Reuters previously reported some passages from Thiel’s lectures. […]
More at the link.
robrosays
Lynna, OM @ #354 — I was about to post “Guess who didn’t get the Nobel Peace Prize.” Poor Donny must be having a hissy fit.
robrosays
birgerjohansson @ #147 — Perhaps blackmail is another one of those little secrets DJT and E shared.
[…] Trump acts as if he can bully Americans’ economic attitudes into submission through constant, reality-defying repetition. [video]
“We have the best economy we’ve ever had,” the president declared at his latest White House Cabinet meeting. “We had the best economy in my first term, but we have an economy that’s blowing it away.”
The idea that Trump, during his first term, delivered the greatest economy ever seen by human eyes is demonstrably absurd. But the idea that our current economy has reached heights without precedent in the history of the United States is every bit as ridiculous.
This isn’t complicated. Indeed, most Americans’ dissatisfaction with the nation’s economic status quo is quite understandable: Stubborn inflation data has inched higher, while job growth and the manufacturing sector have also moved in the wrong direction amid sluggish economic growth.
What’s more, Axios reported this week:
Twenty-two states are either in a recession or on the precipice of a downturn, according to an intriguing analysis from Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. The states in contraction are spread across the country — from Washington to Virginia to Maine — and make up about a third of overall GDP. Their problems are driven largely by a mix of slowing immigration, increasing tariffs and federal job cuts, Zandi argues.
To be sure, this is not official government data — which is in shortly supply right now, as the government shutdown continues — but Moody’s Analytics has a strong reputation and a good track record, and the fact that it shows nearly half of the states either in or near a recession is tough to ignore.
The White House won’t want to hear this, but there’s other private data pointing in a similarly discouraging direction. CNBC reported this week:
Employment growth was essentially flat in September, according to data from investment giant Carlyle that seeks to fill in data gaps created by the government shutdown. The firm said its proprietary data showed job growth of just 17,000 for the month, which would be even less than the 22,000 gain in August reflected in Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
[…] if Trump thinks his nonsense is persuading a frustrated public, he’s going to be disappointed.
In the budget showdown with Republicans, Democrats had two urgent tasks.
The first—and most critical—was to rebuild credibility with their own base after their disastrous cave in March. In over 20 years of covering Democratic politics, I’ve rarely seen such raw fury at party leaders. It mirrored the resentment that fueled the tea party’s purge of establishment Republicans in the late 2000s.
And it isn’t just vibes. “Democrats now express more disapproval of their party’s congressional leadership than at any time in several decades,” reported the Pew Research Center. Decades. Just 21% of Americans view Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer favorably—including only 35% of Democrats. That trust deficit demanded a response.
The second task was to reassert the Democratic Party as the one actually fighting for people’s everyday needs—especially on cost of living and health care. On that front, Democratic discipline has been flawless. Calm, steady, grounded in core values—they’ve refused to even entertain Republican demands that would make health care more expensive. That quiet strength has Republicans tied in knots.
As I’ve noted, Republicans could end the shutdown anytime they wanted. All they’d have to do is eliminate the filibuster. They haven’t—likely because they know they’d pay a political price for raising health care costs on millions. [True]
Now, Senate Republicans are floating possible concessions to lure Democrats back to the table. Democrats, content to wait them out, are finally doing what their voters have begged for years: to stand for something, and stay standing.
That simple act—refusing to cave—has already started to rebuild trust. In the latest YouGov/Economist poll, 58% of Democrats approved of their party’s handling of the shutdown, while only 18% disapproved. That’s real progress. Republicans, by contrast, remain unified in support of their side (73% approve, 12% disapprove), but they aren’t the ones facing a credibility crisis among their base.
And Democrats’ steadfast opposition appears to be landing with the broader public. In the same poll, 41% percent blame the shutdown on President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, with another 23% blaming both sides equally. That means two-thirds of Americans hold Trump and the GOP responsible. Just 30% blame Democrats alone.
With next year’s midterms looming, that’s a dangerous place for Republicans to be.
To borrow Trump’s own words: The GOP doesn’t have the cards.
robro @367, yes, that is a nice moment of schadenfreude. Trump was thwarted … again.
OSLO, NORWAY (The Borowitz Report)—After promising on Truth Social that the gathering would be “wild,” on Friday Donald J. Trump summoned angry supporters to a rally outside the headquarters of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Urging his irate loyalists to “stop the steal,” Trump declared, “If you want to win the Nobel Peace Prize, you’ve got to fight like hell.”
In a brief public statement, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, “What a fucking baby.”
re Lynna @371: Satire used to be easily distinguished from reality but with enough seriousness that people had to think about it for a second (think A Modest Proposal by Swift). Satire has now become nearly impossible because of The Orange Turd and his republican flunkies. It is almost as if they see a piece of satire and say “Hold my beer”.
The Trump administration announced on Friday that it would allow Qatar to operate a military facility in Idaho. This follows the Qatari government giving President Donald Trump a multimillion-dollar passenger jet and giving his company a deal to develop a golf course there.
Scandal-plagued Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made the announcement during a press event with Qatar’s defense minister, Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
“Today we’re signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatar Emiri Air Force facility at the Mountain Home Airbase in Idaho,” he said, after crediting Qatar with helping to negotiate a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
The U.S. and Qatar have been in talks to have some sort of military training capacity in Idaho for years, but this announcement comes after the foreign government has thrown millions of dollars at Trump.
In May, Qatar gifted Trump a luxury jet, which the military is converting to become Air Force One. […] Following the airplane gift, Trump signed an executive order in September that promised to provide support—including militarily—to Qatar in the event of an armed attack against the Middle Eastern nation.
The Trump Organization, Trump’s private company, announced in April that it had made a deal with Qatar’s government to build a luxury golf resort there. […]
One of Trump’s most high-profile supporters, racist conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, slammed the Qatar facility announcement on Friday.
“Never thought I’d see Republicans give terror financing Muslims from Qatar a MILITARY BASE on US soil so they can murder Americans. I don’t think I’ll be voting in 2026,” she wrote. “I cannot in good conscience make any excuses for the harboring of jihadis. This is where I draw the line.”
Trump has normalized open bribery in the presidency, raking in millions in exchange for political favors and agreements. Now, American security is seemingly for sale—no matter what the consequences are for the public.
OH, you mean to tell me that funding a genocide, blowing up and murdering unidentified people in international waters, creating the department of war, pushing the name ‘war fighters’, teargassing, beating-up peacefully protesting people, etc. etc. didn’t win the magat-in-chief the PEACE prize?
Wheee! being pushed down the Death Spiral by the magat cult members. Are we enjoying the ride yet?
Qatar does not need a whole air force base to get their pilots trained in the US.
———————-
Just imagine the outcry from rethugs if a Dem President allowed a foreign military base on American soil, even from a staunch ally like Britain.
————————-
Wait until the racist Christian nationalists in the Idaho panhandle find out.
————————–
Qatar must be able to defend itself from Canadians!
Robert De Niro on Thursday called on people to take to the streets to protest President Trump in an upcoming “No Kings Day” on Oct. 18.
“The original No Kings protest was 250 years ago,” De Niro said in a video shared on The Indivisible Project’s Instagram page. “Americans decided they didn’t want to live under the rule of King George III. They declared their independence and fought a bloody war for democracy.”
“We’ve had two and a half centuries of democracy since then, often challenging, sometimes messy, always essential,” the actor continued. “And we fought in two world wars to preserve it. Now we have a would-be king who wants to take it away, King Donald I. F— that!”
“We are rising up again this time, non-violently raising our voices to declare no kings,” De Niro said. “…We’re all in this together, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Across the country, 2,000 “No Kings” protests are scheduled for Oct. 18 […]
Maybe Trump could get a prize for whining, begging and lying. Democrats could present the award in order to soothe Trump’s feelings over not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
[…] because our smooth-brained husk of a president is so excellent at making everything about himself, in the run-up to Friday you could read speculation that he might find ways to take revenge on Norway if he didn’t win. This despite the Norwegian government not actually having anything to do with choosing the winner,
That hadn’t stopped Trump from trying, because what ever does? In July, he called Norway’s finance minister, Jens Stoltenberg, to lobby for himself. And in his speech to the UN General Assembly in September, he recovered from the brutal assassination attempt against him by one of the building’s escalators to tell the assembled diplomats that he should win the award.
So when the news broke that the award was going to Machado, the White House sniffed that the Nobel is a silly trifle that no one cares about anyway. First, there was communications director and lumbering homunculus Steve Cheung, sneering about the Nobel committee putting “politics over peace”: [social media post]
And Trump lickspittle Richard Grenell wanted everyone to know that pfffft, no one should care: [social media post]
[…] And Steve Scalise, old “David Duke without the baggage” himself, thinks the Nobel committee needs to give Trump the award to restore its own credibility. Not that its credibility was in doubt anywhere except within the confines of Scalise’s imagination: [social media post, with video]
[…] the bootlicking prize might go to Rep. Buddy Carter of Georgia, who told some generic Fox News white guy that because Trump had deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, he would introduce a resolution that would … honor Trump with the Nobel Peace Prize? What? [social media post, with video]
[…] While all the ass-kissing from MAGA flunkies was ongoing, a foreign diplomat told The Guardian that Trump’s obsession with winning the prize is “a running joke” amongst himself and his peers. Trump and his people are, as ever, completely oblivious to how their actions look to the outside world.
[…] Yes, the Nobel committee awarded the peace prize to a woman [Maria Corina Machado]trying to bring peace to her nation, not to the screeching orange anger orb summarily blowing up fishing boats off the coast of it. Imagine that.
[…] this is the Trump administration, where everything is geared towards the question of How can we soothe our exalted leader’s bottomless pit of neediness today? Hence all the stupid.
@380 tRUMP thinks emoluments are something you smear on your skin to soften it.
Now, if we look at the results, we find tRUMP smearing that on his skin has only softened his BRAIN!
“Trump announces new 100 percent tariffs on China”
“Trump also said he may cancel meeting with Xi in retaliation for China’s “hostile” move to limit access to rare minerals used in manufacturing.”
President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to impose a new 100 percent tariff on goods from China, escalating tensions with Beijing after Chinese leader Xi Jinping issued new export restrictions that upended months of trade negotiations between the world’s two largest economies.
Trump announced the levy shortly after the markets closed, after stocks sank on his earlier threats to increase tariffs and cancel a meeting later this month with Xi. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down almost 900 points and the S&P 500 sank 2.7 percent in the biggest one-day drop since April. [!]
The new tariffs will take effect on Nov. 1, “or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. Average tariffs on imports from China stand at about 57 percent, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, after hitting a high of 140 percent at the peak of Trump’s trade war earlier this year. [sheesh]
Trump also wrote that he would impose export controls on “any and all critical software” as he retaliated against China’s new restrictions on rare earth minerals that are essential to the U.S. economy. The announcement could set back a U.S.-China trade deal that businesses and investors have hoped would stabilize one of world’s most consequential foreign policy relationships.
“Dependent on what China says about the hostile ‘order’ that they have just put out, I will be forced, as President of the United States of America, to financially counter their move,” Trump wrote Friday morning. Trump also said that there “seems to be no reason” to go forward with a planned meeting with Xi at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in about two weeks.
Trump retaliated as he accused China of attempting to “clog” global markets with sweeping new rare earth export controls that would stifle global access to critical raw materials required for computer chips, medical equipment, defense technology and other products. Beijing has wielded its influence over the rare earth supply chain as leverage over the United States amid ongoing trade talks.
The controls are likely to have a major impact throughout the global economy, disrupting the supply chains for the data centers and computers needed to train new artificial intelligence models. U.S. officials have been seeking alternatives to reduce the nation’s dependence on Chinese materials, but many companies are still reliant on China for their supply.
Beijing overnight also announced an antitrust probe into U.S. mobile chip giant Qualcomm, weeks after launching another into U.S. AI chip champion Nvidia. [!]
The moves sent shock waves among investors, as an index known as Wall Street’s “fear gauge” rose 30 percent, reaching its highest level since May. Companies have scrambled to respond to Trump’s frequently changing tariff regime, as the president has often changed the levies following retaliatory moves from China and instability in the U.S. markets. [That phrase: “the president has often changed the levies following retaliatory moves” is an understatement.]
Re: shermanj @ #385…
I used to have a button that gave the speed of light in furlongs/fortnight. Conveniently enough, the Linux “units” command with do that particular conversion:
pi@ddc5A:~ $ units
Currency exchange rates from FloatRates (USD base) on 2022-09-05
3753 units, 113 prefixes, 120 nonlinear units
You have: c
You want: furlongs/fortnight
* 1.8026175e+12
/ 5.5474886e-13
You have:
During those two brutal years of bombing and near-total destruction, everyone in Gaza was focused on one thing: Staying alive. We were fighting for every minute, trying not to break down, starve, or get killed. Life became an endless loop of terror and waiting for the next strike. No one had the luxury to dream about tomorrow or even to mourn the people we’d lost. If there was any kind of shelter, and that was a big if, the goal was simply to move from one shattered refuge to another, holding on by a thread. That constant awareness that death could come at any moment turned every day into an act of survival.
Then, when the explosions finally eased, a quieter kind of pain crept in: All the grief we had buried to get through the chaos. Almost everyone had someone torn away, and those pushed-aside memories came rushing back with a force that took the breath out of us. As soon as the rockets fell quiet, another fight began inside people’s chests, one full of mourning, flashbacks and relentless mental anguish. On the surface, it looked like the war was over, but it wasn’t. It was far messier than that. Even when the shelling eased, the emotional wounds kept bleeding.
Astronomers have captured a radio image showing two black holes orbiting each other for the first time, confirming a prediction that has eluded scientists for decades.
The newly released image reveals a pair of supermassive black holes locked in a cosmic dance, situated within a bright quasar known as OJ287, located about 5 billion light-years away in the constellation Cancer. Quasars are regions at the hearts of galaxies where the extreme, violent conditions around supermassive black holes cause gas and dust to heat up and glow bright.
Researchers say this new snapshot offers the clearest evidence yet that binary black holes, essentially two gravitational titans bound together, truly exist. “Quasar OJ287 is so bright that it can be detected even by amateur astronomers with private telescopes,” study lead author Mauri Valtonen, an astronomer at the University of Turku, Finland, said
Saturn’s “death star” moon Mimas might well be on the ever growing list of icy worlds in our solar system with internal sub-surface oceans :
The case for a newborn ocean on Saturn’s moon Mimas continues to build.
Research mapping the thickness of the world’s icy crust not only provides a window for how old an existing ocean might be but also probes where the crust might be at its thinnest — the perfect spot for future missions to detect the ocean. At the same time, examination of Mimas’ largest crater is providing further constraints on the age range of the potential ocean.
…(Snip)…The melting of Mimas is intrinsically tied to its orbit. Although scientists are still trying to sort through how moons in the Saturn system formed, it is likely that any ocean the satellite was birthed with had long since frozen out. Scientists believe that today’s possible ocean on Mimas isn’t a remnant of its formation, however, but rather a recent arrival — one most likely birthed by changes in the moon’s travels.
Near the distinctive zodiacal constellation of Leo if that also helps with map in link here :
The past month has seen Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) brightening rapidly ahead of its close approach to the sun, leading to growing excitement that it could shine brightly enough to be seen by the naked eye in mid-late October.
…(Snip)..
Comet Lemmon has brightened from magnitude +21.5 upon its discovery in January to approximately +5.7, according to the Comet Observation Database (COBS) maintained by the Crni Vrh Observatory in Slovenia. That technically places it above the +6 detection limit of the human eye in perfect dark sky conditions, though the light cast by the waning gibbous moon will add an extra barrier to visibility in the week ahead.
If Comet Lemmon continues its current brightening trend, it could become a beautiful, hazy naked eye target in the coming weeks, with its light becoming easier to define through a pair of binoculars, or a backyard telescope.
StevoR @392 thank for posting the new info on two black holes orbiting each other.
I see that the report includes memorable facts, like: “That long-awaited confirmation [of two black holes orbiting each other] has now come from radio observations combining Earth-based telescopes with the RadioAstron (Spektr-R) satellite, a Russian radio telescope that operated from 2011 to 2019. Its orbit extended halfway to the moon, giving astronomers a view roughly 100,000 times sharper [!] than typical optical images.”
The White House on Thursday held a roundtable that brought together the national leadership of federal law enforcement agencies with a group of right-wing Youtube streamers and social media influencers. The topic was Antifa, and the mood was a mix of aggression and paranoia.
“I’m attacked every time I do my job. When I leave my house to go to work, I’m violently assaulted,” said Cam Higby, a Turning Point USA staffer. “I’ve had guns pulled on me. I’ve been bear-sprayed. I’ve been beaten down. I’ve been almost killed.”
Higby and others spent more than an hour discussing Antifa, its origins, and its supposed encroachment on nearly every aspect of American life. What it really demonstrated was the call-and-response dynamic that exists between extremely online far-right influencers and senior administration officials.
Pro-Trump reporter Nick Sortor recounted being briefly detained by local law enforcement in Portland; Attorney General Pam Bondi replied that she and DOJ Civil Rights Division leader Harmeet Dhillon opened a “pattern and practice investigation” into the Portland PD in response. Trump asked Higby at one point to name the cable news network that treats Antifa opponents the worst; after Higby said MSNBC, Trump remarked that Comcast CEO Brian Roberts “allows that to happen.”
That dynamic carries through to the administration’s current attempt to fulfill plans that Trump has expressed since his 2016 presidential run: maximizing federal power to use as a cudgel against political opponents, trampling over safeguards that long prevented federal law enforcement and other functions from being used for partisan ends.
It still remains largely unnoticed by the mainstream press, but civil liberties advocates increasingly point to NSPM-7, a national security directive issued last month, as one of the administration’s most aggressive moves to clamp down on political opponents to date. It tells federal law enforcement and the Treasury Department to investigate and consider charging people who contribute to groups that express such common sentiments as “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity.”
As many have noted, it’s very difficult to pull off this kind of power grab in the absence of a true emergency. In the world that administration officials are trying to create, Antifa is that crisis — a threat so pressing that it justifies exceptional measures that give senior officials broad sway to pursue political opponents.
And yet the whole setup, as grave a threat as it may pose to civil liberties, remains very slapstick. At one point during the roundtable, Trump was asked if he was considering whether to suspend habeas corpus “to not only deal with these insurrectionists across the nation, but also to continue rapidly deporting illegal aliens.”
“Suspending who?” he replied, before handing it off to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. She said she hadn’t been a part of any conversations about it.
Congressional Republicans are casting a coming “No Kings” protest as a “hate America rally.”
See the video highlighted in comment 395: “Dangerous new MAGA lie: Republicans smear peaceful protesters as ‘terrorists’”
Commentary:
It’s gotten lost amid the escalation of state violence, but the Republican conflation of “protester” and “terrorist” from what was recently thought of as a more responsible wing of the party has caught my attention.
Both Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) — the latter of whom never made gains in the speakership race to replace Kevin McCarthy because he condemned the Jan. 6 insurrecxtion — have referred to the No Kings protest scheduled for 10/18 as a “hate America rally.”
Johnson said that “pro-Hamas” people and “antifa” would be in attendance, while Emmer thundered that it would appease the “terrorist wing” of the Democratic Party.
At best, this kind of rhetoric is wildly irresponsible and a sign of how hostile to peaceful protesters the party has become. At worst, it’s an incitement of violence.
I know I look like a man. I know I sound like a man and maybe even walk like a man and dress like one, too. But I’m not a man; I’m a woman. Playing sports and having muscles and a deep voice make me less feminine, yes. I’m a different kind of woman, I know, but I’m still a woman.
Time for another entry in the continuing saga of the U.S. government being reassigned to work on […] Trump’s immigration crackdown.
In the most recent development, hundreds of Department of Homeland Security employees in jobs unrelated to immigration have been ordered to transfer to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol, and the Federal Protective Service.
You might not be as familiar with the last one, which protects federal buildings. That might sound a bit sleepier than working for ICE or CBP, but not these days.
Earlier this week, FPS personnel received a memo from DHS senior officials declaring that “the limits to FPS’s authority off federal property are the edges of the constitution on one side and necessity on the other.”
Huh, what now?
In case that permission slip wasn’t crystal clear, the memo took it one step further.
“There is simply no legal barrier to FPS taking action off federal property where a reasonable nexus to protecting that property exists,” it said.
So under the guise of protecting federal property, FPS personnel can go off of that property and hurt people anyway, with no limits to their authority. [!] Great.
Who are we even putting in these jobs where the sole qualification seems to be how much violence you’re willing to commit on behalf of the state? Well, people who did not join the government for that reason.
Employees at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Transportation Security Administration, and the Coast Guard have received reassignment notices. They have one week to accept the reassignment or face termination. Upon acceptance, they’ll have 60 days to relocate.
CISA comes in for particular ire here, because how dare they not acknowledge Trump’s lie that he won the 2020 election? Former CISA Director Chris Krebs is a peak fixation of Trump’s, who stripped Krebs of his security clearances and ordered a review of the last six years of his work […]
Slashing cybersecurity personnel is certainly a choice when the government is facing a massive attack on its firewalls.
Here’s DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin with a typically fact-free statement: “Any notion that DHS is unprepared to handle threats to our nation because of these realignments is ludicrous, especially given the abject failure at the hands of CISA in the last administration.”
[…] the Trump administration also eliminated funding for CISA’s work on supporting state and local officials in election security efforts, so why not pour that money into Trump’s endless assault on immigrants?
DHS employees will join the reassigned FBI agents who have been diverted from working on actual threats to help support the lawless violence of this administration. […]
“Republicans Freaking Out Over Upcoming No Kings Rallies”
“Soros! Paid protesters! And other cliches.”
[…] Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is so upset. What’s got our nation’s most powerful Keebler elf’s nards in a vise? […]
What Johnson is mad about — blood-boilingly, cheeks-reddeningly, […] mad about — is that the Democrats won’t reopen the government before the No Kings rallies next weekend. Or, as Johnson calls them, the Democrats’ “Hate America” rallies on October 18, for which they are selling T-shirts. That last part seems to particularly offend [Johnson].
Why, he’s so mad he marched right over to his office and cancelled all House business for next week so legislators can take a few more days off. Also, in what we’re sure is a giant coincidence, it delays any sort of vote to release all the Epstein files. That’ll show ‘em.
Here in reality, there are a couple of points to make. The first is that, as Mike Johnson damn well knows, the Republicans don’t need the Democrats to reopen the government. The Senate GOP is welcome to nuke the filibuster anytime it wants, thereby lowering the threshold for passage from 60 to 50 votes, and pass the House continuing resolution. Presto, the government is funded for at least the next few weeks.
[…] Or they are perfectly fine with this shutdown, which they continue to think is going to eventually sink the Democrats’ approval ratings so low that they will cave. […]
Of course the Republicans could also sit down and negotiate with the Democrats … ha ha ha ha ha ha […] They don’t want a deal. Besides, with them having decided that rescissions by the president are totally fine, what would be the point? The Democrats are going to sit down, negotiate a compromise, and then watch as the Republicans ignore the deal and let the president cut whatever funding he wants? […]
The second point is that the nationwide No Kings rallies that are scheduled for next Saturday are the reboot of a day of peaceful protest in June against Donald Trump and the rest of the Republicans currently speeding through the Fascism for Dummies book in America. The title “No Kings” is of course a reference to America’s origins, when our Founding Fathers fought to free themselves from the rule of mad King George III. That we are a democracy that cannot be ruled by a monarch is a bedrock of American society, or was, until Trump came into office and Republicans like Johnson rolled over for him like a bunch of puppies […]
This has all driven Republicans insane(r), as you can see from all these clips Aaron Rupar posted of them on Friday yammering like it’s 1991 in Moscow […] [social media post and video]
Antifa, pro-Hamas, and Marxists. Did Johnson miss any right-wing bogeymen in his disjointed little rant there? Are there no radical college students, Hollywood celebrities, deep staters, anarchists, communists, leftist judges, and everyone planning the Super Bowl halftime show in there? [social media post and video]
These are the talking points that seem to have gone out. [Yep. They are all repeating exactly the same talking points.] Next Saturday is some sort of violent soiree driven by the “terrorist wing” of the Democratic Party and will consist of a bunch of [people] screaming about how much they hate America.
Anyway, we don’t think the people protesting against the nation being ruled by a monarch are the ones who hate America […] [social media post and video]
That reminds us, everyone make sure to track your hours and email your timecards in immediately upon completion of the rally if you want Mr. Soros to pay you in a timely manner. [/sarcasm]
Good Lord. Terrorist wing, pro-Hamas, a rally for degenerates who hate America … are they trying to goad Trump into calling in airstrikes on the protests?
All of this has more than a whiff of desperation; it is more of a sonic boom of desperation. If next Saturday’s rallies are anything like the No Kings protests in June, they will be both very well-attended and very peaceful. This contradicts the images Republicans are trying to push of anyone currently protesting the Trump regime as being part of a violent mob intent on burning down America. […]
For their part, the organizers of the No Kings rallies laughed their asses off before responding. No, really: [Screengrab]
There are by our count a metric fuckton of these rallies on October 18 […] That is a lot of protests, which means a lot of protesters, which means Mr. Soros will be signing checks for weeks. You can find the nearest protest here.
“In an unusual acknowledgement, the Labor Department said that tougher immigration enforcement is hurting farmers and the food supply.”
The Trump administration said that its immigration crackdown is hurting farmers and risking higher food prices for Americans by cutting off agriculture’s labor supply.
The Labor Department warned in an obscure document filed with the Federal Register last week that “the near total cessation of the inflow of illegal aliens” is threatening “the stability of domestic food production and prices for U.S. consumers.” [As predicted.]
“Unless the Department acts immediately to provide a source of stable and lawful labor, this threat will grow,” with increased funding for immigration enforcement from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Labor Department said in the Federal Register, which is the place where all proposed rules are recorded for the public to view and comment.
Also, contradicting comments made by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins that the U.S. farm workforce will become “100 percent American” as an effect of mass deportations, the Labor Department noted that Americans are not willing to step into farm work and lack the skills to fill agricultural jobs that undocumented immigrants are abandoning.
“The Department concludes that qualified and eligible U.S. workers will not make themselves available in sufficient numbers,” the agency said.
[…] The Labor Department’s comments appear to be the first time that the Trump administration has publicly acknowledged that its hallmark immigration policy — sealing the border and deporting undocumented immigrants — threatens labor shortages and higher food prices. However, economists have been sounding the alarm since Trump campaigned on the issue during last year’s presidential election.
[…] At the same time, the agricultural industry is getting squeezed by Trump’s tariff policy. China, which has traditionally purchased agricultural crops like soybeans, corn and wheat, has stopped buying soybeans and some other crops, hurting U.S. farmers. The New York Times reported recently that the White House is considering a bailout for farmers.
[…] The combination of Trump’s economic policies, including higher tariffs and fewer immigrant workers, is starting to weigh on prices overall, including food. The consumer price index was up 2.9 percent in August, the most recent month for which there is data.
[…] Teresa Romero, president of the United Farm Workers union, called the policy a “catastrophe for American workers in agriculture who growers intend to replace with cheap and exploitable foreign guest workers.”
“The Trump administration previously said there are all these U.S. workers who are going to take these [agriculture] jobs,” said Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. “Now they’re saying it’s such a crisis because we’re deporting everybody and there’s not going to be any U.S. workers available, so we’re going to lower wages drastically and make it harder to recruit U.S. workers.”
the Labor Department described “a persistent and systemic lack of sufficient numbers of qualified, eligible and interested American workers to perform the kinds of work that agricultural employers demand,” and called the work “among the most physically demanding and hazardous occupations in the U.S. labor market.”
More than 40 percent of all agricultural workers were undocumented between 2020 and 2022, according to the Agriculture Department, and roughly one-third were U.S.-born.
“Affected agencies include the departments of Homeland Security, Education, Energy and Health and Human Services, among others, according to a Justice Department filing.”
[…] Reduction-in-force notices are being sent to federal workers across seven departments, with the Treasury Department and Department of Health and Human Services being the hardest hit and accounting for more than half of the total layoffs, according to a new Justice Department filing.
The court filing is in response to a lawsuit over the shutdown layoffs from the American Federation of Government Employees and the AFL-CIO.
Other affected agencies include the departments of Homeland Security, Education, Energy, Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency.
“The RIFs have begun,” White House budget director Russ Vought said on X earlier Friday, referring to “reductions in force” for workers.
While he didn’t provide details, a spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget confirmed to NBC News that the layoffs had begun and said they will be “substantial.”
On Friday night, a senior administration official told NBC News “those RIFs are a snapshot in time and represent only where things were at the time of the court filing,” suggesting the situation remains fluid.
[…] Democrats are pushing back on the layoffs, saying that a shutdown does not require President Donald Trump to fire workers or give him new powers to do so, arguing the White House is being vindictive.
A DHS spokesperson said that the layoffs at the department were occurring within the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which has been a major target of Trump’s since its then-director affirmed that he lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden. […]
Prominent labor groups responded Friday by questioning the legality of the White House’s move and threatening legal action, including the AFL-CIO, which tweeted, “America’s unions will see you in court.”
AFSCME President Lee Saunders said the “mass firings are illegal” and will hurt families, vowing to “pursue every available legal avenue to stop” the administration’s action.
Federal employee unions had already sued the Trump administration over OMB’s threat to trigger mass firings of federal workers before the shutdown even began on Oct. 1. Plaintiffs in that ongoing lawsuit filed a supplementary motion on Friday asking for an immediate temporary restraining order preventing the OMB from ordering agencies to conduct reductions in force.
[…] Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said, “Let’s be blunt: nobody’s forcing Trump and Vought to do this. … They’re callously choosing to hurt people — the workers who protect our country, inspect our food, respond when disasters strike. This is deliberate chaos.” […]
“Fuel, medical supplies and other critical materials have started flowing into Gaza, U.N. officials say.”
What we know
– CEASEFIRE DEAL: A ceasefire remains in effect in Gaza after the Israeli government approved the first phase of a deal to bring the war to an end.
– HOSTAGE RELEASE: Forty-eight Israeli hostages, 20 of whom Israel says it believes are still alive, are expected to be released by a deadline on Monday in an exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Israel published a list of 250 prisoners set to be released.
– AID FOR GAZA: Aid has begun flowing into Gaza, where scenes of devastation and hunger, as well as a famine declaration, prompted outrage around the world and left Israel isolated diplomatically.
– ON THE MOVE: Thousands of displaced Palestinians are making the journey back to their homes in northern Gaza and Khan Younis after a partial withdrawal by Israeli forces.
– TRUMP VISIT: Israel is stepping up security ahead of an expected visit by President Donald Trump on Monday, who has been invited to address members of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset.
[…] The World Food Program said today it has begun scaling up its operations in Gaza as the ceasefire paves the way for international aid groups to resume operations in the Strip.
“With full access, WFP intends to restore its regular food distribution system,” it said on X , adding that “humanitarian needs in Gaza have never been greater.”
WFP said in a statement that “over 170,000 metric tons of food” was ready for dispatch or on route, ” via Ashdod, Egypt, Jordan, and the West Bank corridors.”
“That’s enough staple food to feed the entire Gaza population of more than two million people for up to three months,” it said, while calling for “unhindered humanitarian access.” […]
As many as 10,000 people were feared to still be buried under the rubble in Gaza, with rescue crews focusing on trying to recover the bodies, he said. More than 200 bodies had been recovered following the withdrawal of Israeli forces, he said, but search efforts were difficult due to a lack of heavy equipment to help shift the rubble. […]
As temperatures began to rise in Phoenix this spring, Dr. Jeffrey Johnston braced for the many hundreds of deaths that have become a grim summer trend.
Johnston, the chief medical examiner for Maricopa County, Arizona, has seen extreme heat kill more and more people over the last decade: Heat-related fatalities there jumped from several dozen in 2014 to 645 in 2023.
“The surges were so intense and long, so we really did approach it like a mass casualty event,” he said of recent summers.
But Maricopa County — the most populous county in the desert Southwest — has invested heavily in heat preparedness planning and mitigation. Multiple cooling centers in Phoenix now stay open 24/7. The county boosted public messaging about heat safety and hired a full-time heat relief coordinator.
As a result, it recorded fewer heat deaths last year than the year before, despite record-breaking heat — its first such dip in a decade. Now that summer is over, officials are evaluating this year’s progress, and preliminary data indicates the downward trend will continue: Maricopa County has confirmed 185 heat deaths so far, significantly less than the 284 at the same time last year.
A different story has played out in Clark County, Nevada, the region’s second-most populous, where Las Vegas is located. Deaths from heat here more than tripled in just three years, with a record 513 people killed in 2024. This year’s death toll is still preliminary, but heat fatalities will likely number in the hundreds.
Ariel Choinard, a scientist at the Desert Research Institute in Las Vegas, said last summer’s brutal temperatures were a major wake-up call.
“There was something about seeing 120 degrees in Las Vegas that made people be like, ‘Oh, my gosh, wait, this is really serious,’” she said.
Choinard is at the forefront of local efforts to turn Clark County’s heat deaths around and has been following the progress made in Maricopa County. She knows there’s catching up to do.
“They started the work around heat earlier than we have in this region, so in many ways they’re ahead of us,” she said. [map at the link]
Heat kills more people in the U.S. each year than any other type of weather event, including hurricanes, floods and tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service. As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of heat waves, these two counties in one of the fastest-warming parts of the U.S. offer a cautionary tale about what it takes to save lives in the face of this growing threat — and the severe human toll of inaction.
[…] Heat tends to kill unequally. People who lack access to air conditioning are particularly vulnerable — those experiencing homelessness, as well as residents of low-income neighborhoods and mobile homes. Workers who labor outdoors, people with pre-existing medical conditions and the elderly are also at higher risk.
[…] efforts to save people from dying in extreme temperatures must focus on those vulnerable populations.
Maricopa County tried to do that in 2023 by expanding its network of cooling centers and hydration stations, but then came a record 31 straight days at or above 110 degrees. Heat deaths spiked. […]<
funding across the board is “under attack” as the Trump administration rolls back federal spending, particularly for climate initiatives. […]
No one can honestly call it hyperbole anymore: https://digbysblog.net/2025/10/11/officially-in-the-hide-your-neighbors-stage/
The Tennessee Holler @TheTNHoller
CHICAGO — WGN News editor/producer Debbie Brockman grabbed by Trump’s ICE goons.. who then intentionally ram a bystander’s car as they peel away.
AND https://digbysblog.net/2025/10/10/we-are-all-terrorists-now/
A top Republican in Congress just called millions of Americans terrorists. The last No Kings protests saw 4-6 million people turn out. They were peaceful. They were joyful. There were American flags everywhere.
Glasgow, Kentucky—just outside Mammoth Cave National Park—is proud Trump country. Its home county of Barren gave 76% of its vote to President Donald Trump last year.
This rural town of about 15,000 is 78% white, with a per capita income of around $29,000. It’s the kind of place that has long benefited from subsidies generously funded by Democrats, blue states, and urban areas. Between 1995 and 2024, Barren County received more than $67 million in farm subsidies, according to the nonprofit Environmental Working Group.
But rather than support the party supporting them, Barren went for Trump. And now, thanks to their Dear Leader’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill, the town of Glasgow is losing its all-inclusive elder care facility.
“As of Friday, we [were] told that this is closing down on November third due to Medicaid not letting people in fast enough,” one patient told a local news outlet. “Don’t let it close. We need our family. We need our group. Please don’t let this Horizon close. There’s too many of us that want to stay here.”
When Republicans run the country like a business and brag about cutting “waste, fraud, and abuse,” it turns out that rural health services are what get labeled wasteful—an “abuse” of resources provided by the more economically productive parts of America.
Democrats don’t believe in running the country as a business. We believe everyone deserves dignity and equal treatment. But we were outvoted—by the very people who’ve benefited most from that generosity. [Map of voting patterns in Kentucky.]
This is just a preview of what’s coming for Kentucky’s rural population.
One hospital executive warned that the Big Beautiful Bill—supported by the entire Kentucky Republican congressional delegation—will cost the state’s hospital system $15.1 billion in lost revenue.
And a KFF study from June found Kentucky would be hit harder than any other state, losing over $10 billion in funding over the next decade. Worse for them, that estimate came from an early draft of the bill. The final version slashed Medicaid even deeper.
Had Kentucky gone for Democrat Kamala Harris last year, Glasgow’s elder care facility wouldn’t be in danger.
But that’s not the reality we live in. Glasgow is getting what it voted for.
Farmers have been begging Trump for a bailout with tears in their eyes because his tariffs have wrecked agricultural markets, but no bailout yet! The government is shut down, and civil servants and the military aren’t getting paid because Senate Republicans are insisting that the government can afford nothing less than having a 60-year-old couple making $85k a year paying $22,000 more a year for health insurance.
So why is the administration bailing out Argentina for $20 BILLION dollars in a currency swap? Wasn’t Trump ‘sposed to put America First? LOL!
And why does Argentina even need help, hasn’t President Javier Milei been going all over the world touting Argentina as a “global example of fiscal responsibility”? Didn’t he already save his country by taking a pimped-out chainsaw to [Elon Musk]? And didn’t China just buy their farmers’ soybeans instead of ours?
Guess all of that didn’t work out. Just like Trump, Milei claimed he was going to do shock therapy chainsawing the government budget to the bone, and promised that after some temporary pain the economy would be better than ever. But the first thing happened, and the second thing did not, and growing unemployment, slowing economic activity, and a weak peso put Argentina on the brink of defaulting on its debt. […]
Here is one clue to perhaps why Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is so eager to bail Argentina out: He’s got rich cronies who are set to gain bigly! Including two of his besties Stanley Druckenmiller and Robert Citrone […]
Druckenmiller’s investment firm, called the Duquesne Family Office, is the second largest investor in Argentina’s principal exchange-traded fund.
And Robert Citrone is[…] co-founder of Discovery Capital. Citrone invested a large part of his business in Argentine company stocks and sovereign bonds, betting that Milei could make chicken salad out of Argentina’s chickenshit economy. And he bet wrong. But not any more, now the US Treasury will be propping up his and his friends’ investments […]
And Milei is coming to the White House Tuesday to thank Trump personally. It’s a well-timed bailout, too, right before Argentina’s legislative elections on October 26. Argentina sure has been getting a lot of attention: RFK Jr. and Kristi Noem recently paid calls down there also. More positive attention than the US has given any of our actual allies!
And Sam Altman’s OpenAI is building some kind of data center [in Argentina] as well, maybe another clue as to why Argentina is being made Great Again instead of the country Trump is president of. It is rich in those rare earth minerals, the ones Trump fucked American companies out of with his ridiculous tariff temper meltdown at China. And whoops, even though Scott Bessent has been touting the concepts of a framework of a deal for months and months, the US and China STILL don’t have one.
Friday Trump ranted on his shitty web site in an epic screed (click at your own risk) that the Chinese are still “withholding” minerals from the US, so he’s going to tariff them even more now, because it worked so well the first dozen times. And American companies need those minerals to make all kinds of high-tech parts, including for AI chips, airplanes, and cars. At least one Ford plant has been closed since June for want of them. […]
That’s our Trump! For his friends of the moment, everything! Everybody else, meh.
Here, enjoy Milei’s musical stylings. For the front row it’s like a Gallagher show, but with dandruff instead of fruit. [video]
“C.D.C. Layoffs Included 2 Top Measles Experts Amid Rising Cases”
“Scientists who focused on other infectious diseases, like an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, also were let go.”
The mass layoffs of federal workers on Friday night swept up the top two leaders of the federal measles response team, even as the nation grapples with the most cases recorded since 2000, when measles was declared eliminated in the United States.
The layoffs also included dozens of other agency scientists with expertise in infectious diseases that have pandemic potential.
Trump administration officials have said that previous layoffs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were needed to reduce bloat and keep its focus on infectious diseases. And those reductions in force, or R.I.F.s, did spare most infectious disease teams.
But on Friday night, the administration fired hundreds of scientists, including those working to halt measles and an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Also cut was a team that supports surveillance of infectious diseases, as well as leaders of the C.D.C. center that oversees immunization and respiratory diseases.
The administration also fired members of the Epidemic Intelligence Service, the elite corps of “disease detectives” who are typically deployed to the sites of outbreaks. Officials also dismissed the team that puts together the C.D.C.’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a prestigious publication that communicates the agency’s work on recommendations and outbreaks.
And at the agency’s center that forecasts and helps to manage public health emergencies, the administration dissolved the division of technology and innovation.
“This is going to be devastating to Americans and to the global community,” said Dr. Debra Houry, who served as the agency’s chief medical officer before she resigned in August in protest against the administration’s policies.
“They are dismantling public health,” she added. “When you’re taking out the ability to respond to outbreaks like this, people’s lives are in jeopardy.” […]
More at the link.
Rob Grigjanissays
Lynna @408:
Glasgow is getting what it voted for.
The tragic/obscene/laughable thing is that they’ll probably vote Republican again because they’ll somehow be convinced (by Fox news, etc) that this is the Democrats’ fault.
If only they’d followed beholder’s advice and voted for Jill Stein. Yeah, that’s a joke.
birgerjohanssonsays
NB
DNA repair mechanisms help explain why naked mole-rats live a long life
Rob Grigjanis @411, true. Fox News does the entire nation a disservice.
In other news:
The Fifth Circuit will keep hearing Ten Commandment cases until they get the desired result
In another horrible development, the Fifth Circuit has ordered a full court review of the three-judge panel decision in Roake v. Brumley—and it’s not an exaggeration to say that we should all be worried.
Both the Louisiana lower court and the three-judge panel ruled that the law requiring public schools to permanently display the Ten Commandments was unconstitutional, because it so obviously is.
The fact that they agreed to a review and requested new briefs and oral arguments is a sign that there’s an appetite to reverse it. This would mean getting a decision on the books holding that the government can force the display of the Ten Commandments—but only the Protestant version chosen by the state.
Next stop will be the Supreme Court because, much like they did with abortion, states are going to keep passing objectively unconstitutional laws, shoving them up to the Supreme Court to bless them. […]
Diane Keaton, a Star of ‘Annie Hall’ and ‘First Wives Club,’ Dies at 79
She brought an unconventional personality to scores of roles on television and in movies ranging from zany comedies like “Sleeper” to piercing dramas like “The Godfather.”
Diane Keaton, the vibrant, sometimes unconventional, always charmingly self-deprecating actress who won an Oscar for Woody Allen’s comedy “Annie Hall” and appeared in some 100 movie and television roles, an almost equal balance of them in comedies like “Sleeper” and “The First Wives Club” and dramas like “The Godfather” and “Marvin’s Room,” has died. She was 79.
Her death was confirmed by Dori Rath, who produced a number of Ms. Keaton’s most recent films. She did not say where or when Ms. Keaton died or cite a cause.
Ms. Keaton was 31 and a veteran of eight films, most of them comedies, when she starred as the title character in “Annie Hall” (1977), a single woman in New York City with ambitions, insecurities and definite style. Annie is known for cheerful psychiatric breakthroughs, fashions that look like men’s wear, questionable driving skills and lingering hints of an all-too-wholesome Midwestern upbringing.
[…] “Annie Hall,” which won three other Oscars including best picture, brought Ms. Keaton a shower of additional honors, including acting awards from the National Board of Review, National Society of Film Critics, New York Film Critics Circle and the British Academy of Film and Television Artists.
[…] Ms. Keaton received three other Oscar nominations. One was for the sweeping Oscar-winning drama “Reds” (1981), in which she played Louise Bryant, an intense 1910s writer hanging out with Greenwich Village socialists and Bolshevik revolutionaries, notably the activist journalist Jack Reed (Warren Beatty, who directed).
Another was for “Marvin’s Room” (1993), in which she played the selfless daughter who is taking care of her slowly dying father and her scatterbrained aunt when she receives a diagnosis of leukemia and needs a bone-marrow transplant. Her co-stars included Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio and Hume Cronyn.
The third was for “Something’s Gotta Give” (2003), a comedy about a successful playwright who turns an extremely tearful breakup into a new hit comedy. She attracts the attentions of a handsome, much younger doctor (Keanu Reeves) and inspires a sexist man in his 60s (Jack Nicholson) to fall in love with a woman his own age.
Ms. Keaton was also a director. Her first film was “Heaven” (1987), a documentary on beliefs about the afterlife. In her last, she directed herself, Meg Ryan and Lisa Kudrow in the comic drama “Hanging Up” (2000), based on a novel by Delia Ephron.
“Unstrung Heroes” (1995), her first foray into fictional filmmaking, starred Andie MacDowell, John Turturro and Michael Richards. The story of a teenage boy’s idiosyncratic uncles was selected for Un Certain Regard, the prestigious sidebar at the Cannes Film Festival. The Rolling Stone review said, “The movie works like a charm.” The Washington Post called it “sweet madness,” a “sensitive coming-of-age story. […]
“The Entry/Exit System was designed to strengthen security, but it could lead to long wait times.”
Passengers arriving in the EU from third countries on Sunday should brace for long waits as the bloc’s new automated registration Entry/Exit System procedure goes live.
“Airlines feeding into the big hubs run on tight schedules, so even a few minutes delay at border control can throw off connections,” said Montserrat Barriga, director general of the European Regions Airline Association lobby.
The system will be rolled out gradually over six months, meaning not all crossing points will use it immediately.
Non-EU nationals will need to stop for a longer time before a passport control officer or use self-service kiosks at airports, ports and international rail terminals to provide fingerprints and have their photo taken. On subsequent internal Schengen border crossings, travellers will not need to repeat the registration, as their data on file will be used to record their entries and exits digitally.
Biometric data is retained in the EES system for three years, which is extended to five if no exit has been recorded.
The system is being introduced in all Schengen zone countries — EU countries as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland — EU members Ireland and Cyprus aren’t included.
EES will replace the current system of manually stamping passports, which doesn’t allow for automatic detection of people who have exceeded their authorized stay of 90 days within 180 days.
[…] In the first six months, the two systems will coexist, meaning travelers may have to go through both passport and EES procedures. It becomes fully operational on April 10, when it will replace manual passport stamps.
[…] Paris is bracing for more problems than other EU countries because France is the world’s leading tourist destination, with over 100 million visitors in 2024.
“If tomorrow we had to pass all the passengers of a long-haul flight from China through EES, you’d triple the waiting time at the border,” said a French interior ministry official, speaking on the condition of being granted anonymity. […]
birgerjohanssonsays
The British Empire starved way more Indians to death than previously believed
Attorney General Pam Bondi was caught off guard Thursday when President Donald Trump’s handpicked US attorney, Lindsey Halligan, secured New York Attorney General Letitia James’ indictment from a grand jury, two sources familiar with what happened told CNN.
Halligan, who has been running the Eastern District of Virginia for just over two weeks, did not coordinate with Bondi or other leaders at the Justice Department headquarters in Washington, DC, or inform them about timing before presenting the case to a grand jury.
Halligan had no choice if she wanted to bring this case, the statute of limitation was only a couple of days. Halligan knew what she had been hired to do and went ahead, even if she had to go against a lot of advice and do it herself. The only thing I’m curious about is if it was coordinated with somebody at the White House or not. I doubt Trump could do it without blabbing but Stephen Miller would have no problem going around the official power structure to keep Trump happy.
beholdersays
@411 Rob
I see you and Lynna are content to point and laugh at people in misfortune. Surely that will win hearts and minds to your cause in the next election.
If only they’d followed beholder’s advice and voted for Jill Stein.
If only Kamala Harris had tried to win! I know that keeping Israel happy was more important than winning an election, but seriously, you don’t get to turn around after the election and blame voters for your own shitty candidate’s strategic blunders.
JMsays
TLDR: Why Argentina’s Economic Crisis is Still Getting Worse
Mostly a run down of why the Argentine Peso is still in trouble and why the credit swap with the US has not stabilized the situation much.
It overlooks two other parts of of the crisis in Argentina. Milei has stabilized the national debt with harsh austerity but doing that is hard on the economy. Austerity almost always turns out to be a double edge sword, solving debt problems but doing so much damage to the economy that the country doesn’t really come out ahead. Second, Milei has lost his strong political support. His party has been hit by several corruption scandals, is doing worse in polling and did badly in recent regional elections. This has upset investors who are afraid that Milei losing power will result in economic chaos.
StevoRsays
The first in what is apparently intended to be a potentially excellent series from someone who seems to know what they are talking about – Kyplanet here – The Cosmic Shoreline and the Atmospheres of Red Dwarf Planets in essence on the existence or otherwise of atmospheres on worlds around red dwarf stars. 17 mins long.
This past week, Republicans dialed up the anti-abortion pressure campaign on the Trump Food and Drug Administration when virtually every Republican senator signed a letter to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asking the FDA to impose new restrictions on mifepristone, a drug currently used in the majority of abortions nationwide.
The letter (which only Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins declined to sign) was inspired by GOP outrage over the FDA’s approval of a second generic version of mifepristone last week.
The senators ask the FDA to suspend further generic approvals, prohibit telehealth access to mifepristone, and immediately stop mifepristone distribution altogether by declaring the drug to be an “imminent hazard” under federal law. [not a good idea]
[…] [I snipped a lot of history related to abortion access in the USA.]
Enter the current era, where most abortion access is defined by telehealth. Data from the Guttmacher Institute found a modest increase in the number of abortions performed thus far in 2025, combined with a more marked decrease in abortion-related travel. More of the procedures, the data suggested, involved pills sent by mail. The FDA removed an in-person dispensing requirement, a change made permanent in 2023. And after the Supreme Court overturned Roe, progressive states began passing shield laws to protect their residents from civil or criminal consequences under state bans. A network of so-called shield doctors has grown up around these laws to mail pills to patients in ban states.
[…] But the new telehealth model has grown up in the shadow of tremendous legal uncertainty. Shield state leaders know that it is only a matter of time before clashes about their laws land before the Supreme Court. The Trump administration has undertaken a study of mifepristone, which abortion opponents believe will lead to the restoration of pre-2016 restrictions that disallowed telehealth.
[…] A major suit to limit access to mifepristone launched by the Republican attorneys general of Missouri, Idaho and Kansas is ongoing before the Eastern District of Missouri. Louisiana’s Republican attorney general has filed her own lawsuit against the FDA. Louisiana and Texas have also taken aim at shield laws in separate suits arguing that such statutes violate constitutional provisions requiring comity between the states. Individuals are also suing. All of them hope the Supreme Court will declare that conservative states can target those in places where abortion is protected, or that the FDA had no authority to approve mifepristone or permit telehealth access to it.
Suits also seek to establish that the Comstock Act, a 19th-century obscenity law, operates as a de facto abortion ban. […]
What will happen if the Republicans succeed? Will doctors continue to make abortion medication available off-label, or will patients simply turn to other drugs that can terminate a pregnancy? Will more Americans go back to traveling to brick-and-mortar clinics, or will a lack of resources — or the pressure created by the “big, beautiful bill” and its state equivalents — mean that it’s no longer an option for many?
It’s too early to say, but one thing is clear: Depending on which way the conservative federal courts lean, a new era in abortion services may be over before it ever really began.
[…] To justify his actions [sending troops to American cities], Trump has falsely claimed that crime is surging and that protests are out of control, lambasting Democratic leaders for purportedly ignoring the problem. This isn’t true in Chicago, and fact-checkers have noted Trump’s rhetoric runs counter to a general trend downward in crime.
Trump, who is known for his prolific lying, has often made serious policy decisions like this based not on facts but on his TV-viewing habits.
Trump is addicted to TV
[…] America is suffering as he lashes out based on the right-wing propaganda network’s fictional version of reality.
For instance, on Sept. 27, Trump directed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to use resources to “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.”
That missive seems to have been made in response to Fox News airing footage dated as far back as 2020. And even that footage, taken largely from the racial justice protests that year, highlights isolated incidents of violence and property damage, ignoring the largely peaceful pleas for equality and nonviolence.
By contrast, Portland residents have been uploading videos that show the city in the throes of normalcy, with the city’s eclectic mix of citizens relaxing and enjoying themselves—far from living in a “War ravaged” city.
On Fox News, Portland, Chicago, and other cities with Democratic leadership are constantly on fire and in chaos. [!!] [Dishonesty]
[…] Fox News habitually lies about American cities
In 2011, Fox repeatedly showed a single image [!] of a migrant climbing over a border wall as part of the network’s crusade to claim the border was wide open under then-President Barack Obama (a strategy that continued under former President Joe Biden).
It was around this time that Trump was providing commentary to Fox, promoting racist conspiracies about Obama’s birthplace. He later became fixated on the notion that migrants were using a porous border wall as their method to enter the United States, and the idea of building a complete wall between the U.S. and Mexico became central to his 2016 presidential campaign.
[…] Trump watched the network religiously and built his presidency around its obsessions.
When Fox told Trump he needed to pardon or provide clemency for criminals, he largely did as told. And despite having all of America’s intelligence infrastructure at his fingertips, Trump based his North Korea policy—including the threat of nuclear strikes—seemingly based on what he watched on Fox, often live-tweeting his hot takes.
Fox decided that migrant caravans were heading north to the U.S. border, so Trump focused the full force of his presidency on the issue as well […]
Addiction turns to action
In his second term, Trump has not weaned himself off of Fox.
In June, Trump launched military strikes against Iran shortly after “Fox & Friends” aired segments urging conflict with Iran. Earlier that month, Fox News weekend host Mark Levin even led a delegation to the White House to push for military intervention in the region. [!]
Occasionally, Trump and his family have had public disagreements with Fox, and this has mistakenly been interpreted by some as a serious rift. For instance, Donald Trump Jr. recently moaned that the network doesn’t worship Trump enough, and Trump is currently suing Fox owner Rupert Murdoch over the Wall Street Journal’s reporting on his connections to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
But to the contrary, Fox and Trump largely continue to act as one. […]
In response, Fox expresses near-constant support for Trump, interpreting his many failures as successes. For instance, when Trump flopped and lied in front of the United Nations in September, the network hailed him for supposedly dropping “raw truth” on world leaders.
Trump is the most influential Fox News viewer in the world. When American citizens see the National Guard marching down their streets with assault rifles, they can thank a president whose brain has apparently fused with his television.
I really dislike it when politicians use religion to justify ICE tactics:
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said on Sunday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are “doing the Lord’s work” as the agency faces criticism over its tactics.
“I think the ICE agents are doing the Lord’s work. They’re doing what the president promised the American people he was going to do when he ran for the job and was elected in a big way,” Jordan told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.” […]
On the occasion of the actual 50th anniversary of the first broadcast of “Saturday Night Live,” the show turned back the clock this week with an opening sketch that featured its former cast members Amy Poehler and Tina Fey.
Poehler, who was hosting this week’s show, played Attorney General Pam Bondi in a sketch lampooning her testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, while Fey made a surprise appearance as the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem.
Kicking off her remarks, Poehler declared to the committee, “What’s up, nerds? Furious to be here.” Asked if she would affirm that her testimony was the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, Poehler gave a derisive laugh and said, “No.”
She explained that she spelled “Bondi” “with an ‘I’ ’ cause I ain’t gonna answer any questions” and said that the Justice Department had many ongoing operations “moving like Kash Patel’s eyeballs, very quickly in multiple directions at once.”
Poehler went on to roast various members of the Senate including Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut (played by Mikey Day). “Even people in Connecticut go ‘damn, that guy’s white as hell,’” she said.
Asked why U.S. troops were needed to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, Poehler deferred to Noem, played by Fey, who burst into the hearing at the mention of her name, armed with a large automatic weapon. “Hold my gun,” she said, tossing it off-camera.
Fey said that she spelled the name “Kristi” “with an “I” ’ cause that’s how I thought it was spelled.” She added that she was “the rarest type of person in Washington, D.C., — a brunette that Donald Trump listens to.” [video]
Told by Day that Democrats were more eager than Republicans to end the government shutdown, Fey said, “Ha, that makes me laugh more than the end of ‘Old Yeller.’”
“When the dog gets shot?” Day asked, horrified.
She replied, “Dogs don’t just get shot. Heroes shoot them.”
After Fey gave an impromptu recruitment ad for I.C.E. — (“Do you like to use zip ties because people in your life don’t trust you with keys?”) — Poehler said to the committee, “Does that answer your question?”
Jeremy Culhane, playing Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, replied, “No. Not even a little bit.”
“Then our work here is done,” Poehler said. [video] […]
YouTube link to the Weekend Update Joke Off. “former Weekend Update anchors Amy Poehler, Tina Fey and Seth Meyers reunite and take on Colin Jost and Michael Che in a joke off about a Tennessee woman who gave birth to a 13 pound baby.”
School homecoming celebrations in Mississippi ended in gunfire, with separate shootings on opposite sides of the state Friday and Saturday night that left at least nine people dead and many more injured, authorities said.
Six were killed in downtown Leland after a high school football homecoming game in the Mississippi Delta region on the state’s western edge, according to the county coroner. South of Leland, one person died in a shooting at Alcorn State University, state authorities said. On the east side of the state, a pregnant woman was among the dead, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said.
In Leland, four people were killed and two died later at a hospital, according to a statement from Washington County Coroner La’Quesha Watkins.
Some 20 people were injured in the gunfire after people gathered in the downtown area following the game, state Sen. Derrick Simmons said. Of those, four were in critical condition and were flown from a hospital in nearby Greenville to a larger medical center in the state capital […]
[…] 1 dead in shooting at Alcorn State University
One person died after shots rang out at Alcorn State University, state investigators said.
The gunfire happened around 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the area of the school’s industrial technology building, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said in a statement. Officers found three people who’d been shot, one of whom died.
The shooting happened during homecoming week for the small school of around 3,000 students. The historically Black university is located in Claiborne County, to the state’s southwest. […]
A separate shooting in eastern Mississippi killed 2
Meanwhile, police in the small Mississippi town of Heidelberg in the eastern part of the state are investigating a shooting during that community’s homecoming weekend that left two people dead. […]
The shooting in Heidelberg happened on the school campus where the Heidelberg Oilers were playing their homecoming football game Friday night. The town of about 640 residents is about 85 miles southeast of the state capital of Jackson. […]
In Sharkey County, Mississippi, also in the Mississippi Delta region, the local sheriff was investigating yet another shooting after a high school football game in the area, authorities said.
Two people have been arrested in that shooting, which happened at a local school after its game Friday night, Sharkey County Sheriff Herbert Ceaser Sr. said in a statement. […]
birgerjohanssonsays
This Document Is Controlling The Entire US Military”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=eEeoLa2qmGo
Selling off the commisaries to the lowest bidder seems very Trump
I just found out that I can laugh and cry at the same time.
Will the magat farmers ever learn to not point the gun at their own foot? https://mockpaperscissors.com/2025/10/11/the-miracle-of-the-orange-%f0%9f%a4%a1-economy-16/
The article has MANY more twists than this introduction:
The Trump administration said that its immigration crackdown is hurting farmers and risking higher food prices for Americans by cutting off agriculture’s labor supply.
Here’s an update on Russ Vought’s “mass layoffs,” following through on the threats he and Trump made in advance of the shutdown.
From what I can tell, this seems to be a version of what we described yesterday: a comparatively small number of layoffs aimed mainly at allowing the White House to say it followed through on its threat […] and tightly focused on a few agencies or departments President Trump is personally aggrieved at.
The most concrete number I’ve seen refers to 4,200 employees across seven departments and agencies. That’s a big deal for the people losing their jobs. It’s also a very small number compared to what we saw in the spring. The New York Post suggests (famous last words, I know) that as many as a third of those layoffs may come from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which has been a focus of Trump’s anger since 2021 when its then-director Chris Krebs disputed Trump’s claims of cyber-election hacking in the 2020 election.
I’ve gotten more concrete reports that at least a quarter of these firings are at the CDC alone, focused on core public health work. STAT News reports that almost the entire staff of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report have been fired. (That is essentially the publication that the CDC uses to communicate the latest information on disease circulation in the country.) Other targeted offices seem tied to clean energy projects and other bêtes noir.
As one source put it, these are not ‘reductions in force’. They are ideological firings targeting specific offices and parts of the government Trump has long been mad at.
Meanwhile, the “RIF” notices that are going out suggest that OMB (which actually is statutorily barred from doing RIFs) is reserving the right to change these numbers before they kick in in early December. I’ve seen some people saying that essentially post-dating these layoffs two months into the future shows the White House playing for time. They may be counting on that. But I think 60 days is actually legally required under these RIFs.
My overall read remains that the driver of this announcement and these numbers (which are still vague and only indirectly confirmed) was the need to check the box of “we did so follow through.”
This week’s Congressional Cowards is a little different, as congressional Republicans are taking cowardly actions not to defend President Donald Trump, but to try to shirk blame for their own abhorrent behavior.
As public polls show that Americans blame Republicans for the government shutdown, Republican lawmakers are now spreading a dangerous lie that Democrats are waiting until an Oct. 18 No Kings rally in Washington, D.C., to give them the votes they need to fund the government.
Not only is it an obvious lie, but the rhetoric Republicans are using as they spread said lie is inflammatory and dangerous.
“This is about one thing and one thing alone: To score political points with the terrorist wing of their party, which is set to hold a hate America rally in D.C. next week,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said Friday at a news conference on Capitol Hill. [video]
House Speaker Mike Johnson made almost identical comments at the same news conference, as well as during a Fox News interview.
“This hate America rally that they have coming up for October 18? The antifa crowd, the pro-Hamas crowd, and the Marxists, they’re all gonna gather on the Mall. It is an outrageous gathering for outrageous purposes,” Johnson said in the news conference, referring to the peaceful No Kings rally in which average Americans plan to show up to voice their opposition to Trump’s shredding of the Constitution. [video]
“I mean, I’m a very patient guy, but I have had it with these people,” Johnson then told Fox News. “They’re playing games with real people’s lives. The theory we have right now—they have a hate America rally that’s scheduled for October 18 on the National Mall. It’s all the pro-Hamas wing and antifa people, they’re all coming out. Some of the House Democrats, they’re selling T-shirts for the event. And it’s being told to us that they won’t be able to reopen the government until after that rally because they can’t face their rabid base. I mean this is serious business.” [video]
These horrendous lies with incendiary rhetoric come as Republicans have blamed the “left” for political violence in the country, falsely saying that Democrats who call out the authoritarian actions of Trump and his GOP defenders were responsible for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s murder.
Yet in the same breath they are accusing Democrats of holding a “hate America” rally and calling the protesters who will attend “antifa,” “Marxists,” and “terrorists”—ratcheted-up lies that could get people killed.
“The very people who were loudest in lecturing us on political rhetoric now label millions of Americans peacefully exercising their constitutional right to free speech ‘terrorist’ because they don’t hold conservative views,” Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia wrote in a post on X. “Disgraceful and unacceptable.”
Ultimately, the reason the government remains closed is because Republicans are refusing to negotiate with Democrats—who want to ensure that subsidies that help millions afford their health insurance will be extended to prevent people from seeing double-digit increases in their premiums.
What’s more, even as GOP leaders say that Democrats should vote for their spending bill because it funds the government at the same rate as the previous year, they are then privately telling their own members that it doesn’t matter anyway, as they will use a simple majority vote to cut funds from whatever spending bill ultimately gets passed.
How Republicans expect Democrats to negotiate with them when they are already planning to break their agreements is beyond comprehension.
But more to the point, the Oct. 18 No Kings rally is a peaceful protest of concerned Americans who are tired of Trump and Republicans’ lawless behavior. That’s not a “hate America” rally at all. In fact it’s the opposite, with protesters wanting to protect the democratic society we live in rather than see it descend into an authoritarian hellscape.
The organizers of the No Kings rally had this to say:
“Speaker Johnson is running out of excuses for keeping the government shut down. Instead of reopening the government, preserving affordable healthcare, or lowering costs for working families, he’s attacking millions of Americans who are peacefully coming together to say that America belongs to its people, not to kings,” the rally organizers wrote in a statement. “We’ll see everyone on October 18.”
birgerjohanssonsays
DNA repair mechanisms help explain why naked mole-rats live a long life
The global collection of hundreds of millions of publicly accessible websites crammed with information, which many of us take for granted, is undergoing its most significant change in 20 years.
Enormous and robust, the “open web” ecosystem is also vulnerable. Its sites generally rely on a single search engine, Google, for users to find them.
The system works on the idea of reciprocity: Websites publish content optimised to ensure a top ranking on Google, which sends traffic, which generates advertising revenue, which funds more content. And so on.
SpaceX plans to launch Flight 11 of its Starship megarocket on Monday evening (Oct. 13), and you can watch the action live.
Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, is scheduled to lift off for the 11th time on Monday (Oct. 13), during a 75-minute window that opens at 7:15 p.m. EDT (2315 GMT).
The launch will take place from SpaceX’s Starbase site in South Texas. You can watch it live here at Space.com courtesy of the company; coverage will begin about 30 minutes before liftoff.
Youtube link there suggests that’s happening tomorroow (14th Oct) Aussie time.
StevoRsays
@419. The disingenuous Trump supporting troll : “f only Kamala Harris had tried to win!”
What an utterly absurd baseless unsupported false claim.
Zero extraordinary evidence to support that extraordnary claim.
Is that how you justify your voting and arguing for Trump is it troll?
beholdersays
@437 StevoR
Is Lynna tolerant of your knock-down, drag-out, psychotic meltdowns here in the Infinite Thread? I was under the impression that this part of Pharyngula had different rules, but I suppose we shall see.
Harris losing the election was her fault. Get over it. Pick a better candidate next time.
Rob Grigjanissays
beholder @438: Harris got 48.3% of the vote. Stein got 0.56%. Pick a better candidate next time.
Silentbobsays
@ 437 StevoR
Is that how you justify your voting and arguing for Trump
Stevo, you keep making this claim, but at other times you’ll claim the person you’re bullying “de facto” voted for Trump. In plain English, didn’t, but you want to bully them anyway.
If you have any honour whatsoever, your options are to
a) provide some proof the person you keep bulling voted for Trump (a simple link to a quote of them saying so would suffice)
b) humbly and with all due contrition publicly apologise for repeatedly publicly lying in a way intended to demonise a completely innocent person.
What’s it to be?
We get that you’re fundamentally a fascist. You don’t believe in free and fair elections. You believe in bullying and stand-over tactics. You believe people have no right to vote their conscience. You believe it’s “your way or the highway”.
Your love of fascism is one thing – repeatedly blatantly publicly lying is another.
You should humbly apologise.
Silentbobsays
@ 439 Grigjanis
You realise your ideology of, “vote without hesitation for the lesser of two evils”, in practice, means there is no incentive for politicians to not be evil. They’re guaranteed votes as long as there’s someone a bit more evil.
Imagine a world where politicians had to not be evil as an incentive for people to vote for them. Obviously something you and Stevo have difficulty imagining, but as Lennon said, “it’s easy if you try”.
Rob Grigjanissays
Silentbob @441: Voting the lesser of two evils is not an ‘ideology’, dumbass. It’s a strategy, and it’s done one or two days every few years if necessary. But if all you’re doing is voting (or if you think that’s all that matters), you are, as Ian Anderson said, “Thick as a Brick”.
Thanks for sharing your deep philosophical insights, arsewipe.
whheydtsays
Re: Silentbob @ #441, Rob Grigjanis @ #442…
I usually look for reasons to vote FOR specific candidates in primaries, though even then it’s often a case of weeding out the ones I don’t want and then picking amongst the candidates left..if there are any. Once you get to the general election, it’s a sure bet that someone from one of the major parties is going to win, so at that point, it often comes down to the “lesser of two evils”. On rare occasions (such as when Kamala Harris ran for Senator), there are two good candidates on the general election ballot and I get to pick which one I prefer without being concerned about the other candidate winning. (In that particular election, it came down to which of two Democrats would become Senator, Harris or Loretta Sanchez. I would have been content with either, though I preferred Harris.)
StevoRsays
Aussie ABC newés live coverage of Trump addressingthe Knesset and the hostage releases that are to end the war &genocide in Gaza :
@440. Silentbob : Oh ye non-existant gawds folks; the sheer flippin’ level of projection from Silentbob there.. Wow.
StevoRsays
@440. (Not so) Silentbob :
If you have any honour whatsoever, your options are to
a) provide some proof the person you keep bulling voted for Trump (a simple link to a quote of them saying so would suffice)
Now what are your options and what ”honour” have you shown Silentbob, Oh refuser of answering questions and supporter of the dishonest troll who has spread disinformation here and spent years arguing against the non-Fascist party thereby helping the fascist one?
StevoRsays
Notably on the dishonest troll and fascism enabler beholder spreading disinfo see my :
I have corrected this bit of disinfo in previous days without seeing any admission or apology or acceptance of statistical reality from that dishonest troll here btw.
I’ll also note that the same dishonest troll who actually helped Trump win the continually attacks the USoA’s non-Fascist party – of their TWO options – and even as seen in the thread there attacks blue states in a sneaky way of defending red ones e.g. on education policies.
I’ll also note that the dishonest troll beholder has yet to offer any evidence to back up their absurd claim that Kamala didn’t try to win that they stated at #419 initiating this argument here on this thread :
@437 StevoR – Is Lynna tolerant of your knock-down, drag-out, psychotic meltdowns here in the Infinite Thread? I was under the impression that this part of Pharyngula had different rules, but I suppose we shall see.
Oh I think people can see for themselves what’s happening here and what you are beholder, Lynna especially. I think she knows you and Silentbob well enough and I think we can tell who is having “psychotic meltdowns” and who is engaging in rational, fact-based, honest, fair discussion here. Hint – that ain’t you or Silentbob.
Trump got heckled at the Knesset 0- by Arab-Israeli MK’s :
We told you that chanting was heard during the address, as well as a loud bang. It appears that the commotion was made by a political member from within the Israeli Knesset, who appeared to be holding up a sign that read “Recognise Palestine”. We’re hearing that Knesset member was Ayman Odeh, an Arab Israeli. A second far-left Knesset member, Ofer Cassif, was also ordered to be thrown out of the hall. Odeh is the leader of the Hadash alliance — Cassif is a member of the same party.
Ricky Wilson [of the B-52’s] died October 12th, 1985, 40 years ago.
StevoRsays
What if we had a society ruled by ethicists?
Where every single law passed and court verdict delivered had to be examined and certified as the ethically best choice possible – the fairest and kindest decision that could be reached given allthe evience and context and reality known?
A specific version of the Philosopher Kings I gues sbut ethcially better and more specific than that?
Anyone done any SF story of that?
Thought much about that? Dunno. Feel free to use.. & think upon.
StevoRsays
Anyone else think there aren’t enough people imagining possible models of Utopias these days and thus picturing systems that might do better by more of us and be happier, more successful*, fairer, kinder, more reasonable? Just me?
Thinking ’bout what the opposites of what we currently seem headed towards might be?
If we don’t think about and work towards Utoipias, sure seems a lot less likely we’ll ever get closer to them even if there’s no such actual thing as any perfect Utopia at all.
.* By various metrics feel fre to insert your own, so to speak..
StevoRsays
Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt have won the 2025 Nobel economics prize for their work on how innovation and the forces of “creative destruction” can drive economic growth and lift living standards across the globe.
Their research explains how technology gives rise to new products and production methods which replace old ones, resulting in a better standard of living, health and quality of life.
“Over the last two centuries, for the first time in history, the world has seen sustained economic growth. This has lifted vast numbers of people out of poverty and laid the foundation of our prosperity,”…
I mean, yeah, kinda, among a lot of other farless ideal and more prblematicand destructivein VERY bad ways things..
whheydtsays
Re: StevoR @ #451…
The problem is, who gets to decide what is ethical? Example… If you have a situation where you can save the life of a pregnant woman or you can save the life of her baby, but not both. If you follow Catholic doctrine, you save the baby at the expense of the woman. Many people would disagree.
beholder and Silentbob, you are currently the posters who are most out of line. Please tone it down. Thank you.
General notes to everyone: it is perfectly fine to argue or to make your points. Do not call other people who post here names that are personal insults. No need to call anyone a “dumbass,” for example. Also, there’s no need to call anyone “fundamentally a fascist.” And, the discussion is not improved by demanding apologies from other people who are posting on this thread.
Hyperbole like “psychotic meltdown” is not required nor justified in this case. Nor does the discussion up-thread support the idea that some posters might be lacking honor or “honour.”
We do not even need to classify posters as “dishonest trolls” in order to further reasonable argument. Make your points without personal insults. Thank you.
As the ongoing government shutdown nears the two-week mark, the basic elements of the partisan dispute haven’t changed at all. Democrats are still fighting to protect the existing Affordable Care Act subsidies that are poised to expire, and Republicans are still responding that they’ll consider health care talks after the government reopens.
But at the heart of the assurances from GOP leaders is that the party is serious about exploring possible solutions related to the ACA before the year’s end. Democrats don’t believe them — and the latest comments from a key member of the House Republican leadership team made clear that Democratic skepticism is warranted.
In relation to the ACA and the Covid-era subsidies that made coverage even more affordable for millions of American families, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters on Capitol Hill on Friday afternoon:
It’s not worked for families. You don’t answer that by propping it up with hundreds of billions of dollars of insurance company subsidies. Why would you keep pouring billions more tax dollars into a sinkhole when you can find a better way? We actually are working on better alternatives right now to lower premiums for families. That’s where the focus should be, not propping up a failed product called Obamacare.
The Louisiana Republican added that, from his perspective, 90% of the House Republican conference sees the Affordable Care Act and its enhanced insurance subsidies as a failure.
To the extent that governing realities matter, Scalise has the substance backwards: The reason that the ACA has reached all-time highs in popularity and efficacy is that the Covid-era subsidies approved by Democrats made a good thing better, lowering consumer costs significantly. That’s not a “sinkhole”; it’s the opposite.
As for Scalise’s assurances that he and his party are “working on better alternatives right now,” I’d remind the political world that congressional Republicans have been working on an alternative to the ACA for roughly 16 years. To date, they’ve produced nothing. [!]
But let’s not miss the forest for the trees. House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News over the weekend, “The Republicans have already said we were going to have thoughtful conversations, deliberation and debate about continuing the Covid-era Obamacare subsidies.” But Scalise, his fellow GOP leader, gave away the game two days earlier, explaining on the record that, as far as 90% of House Republicans are concerned, those “thoughtful conversations” will lead nowhere — because the party still opposes the Affordable Care Act. [True!]
If Democratic officials were solely interested in politics and electoral tactics, they’d likely just go along with what Republicans intend to do. The parties could reopen the government; the GOP majority would let the ACA tax credits expire; consumers would see their insurance costs soar; the public would rightly blame the Republicans who were responsible; and Democrats would reap the political rewards of a public backlash.
But Democrats aren’t solely interested in politics and electoral tactics. They’re actually trying to help families afford health care coverage. [True]
With this in mind, it’s the majority party that finds itself under pressure. The Washington Post reported over the weekend that the Trump White House and a growing number of congressional Republicans “are worried that Democrats’ demand to boost Obamacare as part of any bill to reopen the government is proving salient with voters — including their own. Republican voters will be disproportionately hurt by a spike in health insurance premiums if the measure is not included. And many of them are well aware of what’s at risk.”
Those looking for a way out of this mess, however, will have to look for a while longer: The House speaker’s office announced Friday that Johnson decided to give members yet another week off, even as the House Democratic minority made plans to return to Capitol Hill, eager to work on a solution. […].
@454. whheydt : Aye there’s the rub as Hamlet noted in the Danish play.
Experts in ethics who have spent many years debating and finding the best possible ethical arguments and explicitly ruling out appeal to the supernatural I’d say.
FWIW I am NOT an ethicist.
But when it comes to what the “right” choice is I think the ethical rightness is better than the letter of law rightness if that makes sense?
The Trump administration plans to lay off more than 4,100 federal workers from seven departments in response to the partial government shutdown, according to a court filing submitted Friday. The administration filing, on behalf of the Office of Management and Budget, came in response to a court order stemming from a lawsuit filed Sept. 30 by the American Federation of Government Employees and other unions challenging the administration’s authority to conduct mass firings during a shutdown.
The Department of Health and Human Services was hit especially hard, with sweeping cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including the ouster of the top CDC officials leading the federal measles response team and those working to contain Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The New York Times reported a day later, “The Trump administration on Saturday raced to rescind layoffs of hundreds of scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who were mistakenly fired on Friday night in what appeared to be a substantial procedural lapse.”
Yes, White House officials accidentally gutted what’s left of the CDC, before realizing that they didn’t mean to do that. (Vice President JD Vance said the chaos within the Trump administration was Democrats’ fault, which obviously didn’t make any sense.) [True]
Among the key elements of these developments, aside from rampant White House incompetence, is the fact that these firings — without precedent in a country that has had plenty of government shutdowns in recent decades — might very well be illegal.
Indeed, The Washington Post reported earlier this month that senior federal officials had “quietly counseled several agencies against firing employees while the government is shut down,” precisely because such a move would likely “violate appropriations law.”
Trump and OMB Director Russ Vought proceeded with their plans anyway, though one can expect a robust court fight.
But as that process unfolds, I find myself stuck on Trump’s vision of “Democrat-oriented” layoffs. [“A lot,” Trump said, “It will be Democrat-oriented. … They should be Democrat-oriented.”]
Hundreds of Education Department employees, for example, were fired, presumably because Democrats care about schools. Hundreds of employees at the Department of Housing and Urban Development were ousted, presumably because Democrats care about affordable homes. Hundreds of HHS workers received pink slips, presumably because Democrats care about health care. [!]
But whether the White House appreciates this or not, many of the Americans who benefit these departments and the work these federal employees do live in Republican states — and even cast Republican ballots. [!]
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in response to the reduction-in-force notices, “Let’s be blunt: nobody’s forcing Trump and Vought to do this. … They’re callously choosing to hurt people — the workers who protect our country, inspect our food, respond when disasters strike. This is deliberate chaos.” […]
The shutdown has now reached Day 13, and there’s no reason to be optimistic that the standoff will end anytime soon.
Former President Barack Obama took President Donald Trump to task for deploying National Guard troops in Chicago, Obama’s hometown, under false pretenses and for violating the law in doing so.
Obama’s comments occurred during an interview on the final episode of comedian Marc Maron’s podcast “WTF with Marc Maron,” released on Monday.
“There is no doubt that a lot of the norms, civic habits, expectations, institutional guardrails that we had—that we took for granted—for our democracy have been weakened deliberately,” Obama said.
He added, “When you have military that can direct force against their own people, that is inherently corrupting.” [video]
Trump has repeatedly made the false claim that military force is needed to deal with supposedly surging crime in cities led by Democratic politicians, over the objections of those leaders in multiple states, including Illinois, California, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C.
Obama said the deployment of those forces appears like “a deliberate end run” of the Posse Comitatus law, which prevents the use of the military as a domestic police force.
The former president also mocked conservatives for going along with Trump’s power grab.
“If I had sent in the National Guard into Texas and just said, ‘You know what, lot of problems in Dallas, lot of crime there, and I don’t care what Gov. [Greg] Abbott says, I’m gonna kind of take over law enforcement because I think things are out of control.’ It is mind-boggling to me how Fox News would have responded,” Obama said. […]
The Trump administration’s layoffs of federal employees completely decimated an office within the Department of Education that helps support children with disabilities, NPR reported on Monday, adding to the list of people Trump has needlessly hurt with his cruelty.
According to NPR, every employee in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, including the Office of Special Education Programs and the Rehabilitative Services Administration—was axed by the Reduction in Force Trump began implementing. These offices help not only distribute $15 billion that helps educate roughly 7.5 million children with disabilities across the country, but also to conduct oversight to ensure that states are complying with federal law that protects those students. […]
“If this RIF notice is carried out, the Department of Education can no longer administer IDEA,” an Education Department source told ABC News, referring to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act grants that help schools afford special education needs. “I have no staff to put the money out and to monitor the states.”
[The Trump] administration blamed the government shutdown for the mass firings—even though a shutdown did not necessitate any layoffs.
[…] In fact, Trump has been trying to shut down the Department of Education for years, and announced he was doing so when he took office.
Trump already fired more than a thousand of the department’s employees, and is now using the shutdown as cover to avoid blowback for the additional layoffs he is choosing to carry out—no matter how much they’ll harm students.
[…] Trump is hurting kids with disabilities. Already, Trump cut funding for grants that help students with hearing and visual impairments. […]
DW news is having some good interviews and coverage of things on the telly. Unfortunately I canot link to my telly.. (Channel 35 SBS Worldwatch in Sth Oz, FWIW..)
Re: StevoR @ #458…
I strongly agree with the point about not invoking supernatural entities in ethical arguments. Indeed, one ought not appeal to supernatural entities unless one can demonstrate the existence of said entities, or–at the very least–provide evidence that makes their existence highly probable.
Where this causes problems is that a great many people do appeal to such entities in their decisions, and even insist that those entities are necessary to support a code of ethics. This leaves a situation where the ethics of any given situation comes down to dueling entities. Under this circumstance, I think the only recourse is to fall back on the law and discount what anyone claims about ethics.
StevoRsays
@ ^ whheydt : Or only listen to ethicists who do NOT refer to supernatuiral entitities and beliuef sysems intheir assessments?
StevoRsays
We do know the law often goes against what is ethical. So many examples of laws that fail the test of what most would consider ethical or kind or just in the sense of ethcially ather than legally just.
[…] Israeli media had shown the public extensive images of destruction and rubble resulting from Israel’s retaliation for the October 7 terrorist attack, but had all but ignored the resulting humanitarian catastrophe.
On TV, and in mainstream newspapers, it was (and is) rare to see a dead child or a starving mother. While feeds in the United States, Europe, and Israel’s neighbors have been filled with ghastly images of death and harrowing casualty statistics, most of this information has not reached the audience that arguably needs to see it most: the Israeli public.
[…] the mainstream press has steered far clear of questioning the high civilian death tolls and level of destruction in Gaza. Palestinian voices have been silenced, the report noted, and the Israelis who called for an end to the war were often canceled. On hard-right Israeli news, like Channel 14, when an image is shown of a dead Gazan, it is not to show the costs of the campaign. Instead, it is almost always to celebrate the effectiveness of the Israel Defense Forces or to illustrate the supposed ease of Hamas’ propaganda campaign in fooling a gullible Western press.
There have been “only a bare scattering of reports on the huge scale of the humanitarian crisis” on television, Anat Saragusti of the Union of Journalists in Israel, a labor organization, wrote in the liberal daily newspaper Haaretz. And there are only a “handful of reports on primetime mainstream media telling the story of Palestinian civilians.” […]
“While global news showed a humanitarian disaster, most outlets in Israel remained silent.”
The quality and extent of news coverage matters.
whheydtsays
Re: StevoR @ #467…
That would probably suit thee and me, but there are a great many theists around who would flatly reject any such restriction. (And, one could argue that–at least in the US–it would violate the Establishment Clause of the 1ST Amendment if it were enacted into law.)
“Chinese goods getting 130 percent tariffs, just in time for the war on Christmas.”
Well, well, well, sounds like the greatest dealmaker who ever lived still can’t make one with China and dig himself out of the tariff mess he singlehandedly made. Rare earth mineral exports DENIED! And now Donald Trump says starting November 1, he’s going to tax Chinese goods at 130 percent. If he doesn’t chicken out again, of course.
You’ll recall Trump started with his tariffing insanity barely more than a week after taking office, slapping tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, and then by April practically the whole wide world, because of something something fentanyl, or something about being mad that American consumers are buying more from other countries than vice versa, or maybe something about intellectual property? Or to inspire investors to build robot factories out of found materials? The precise nature of China and other countries’ sins/the motivations for the tariffs seems to shift with the wind.
But whatever the real reason for Trump starting a trade war with China — maybe just to grab the power of the purse and play with it for fun!— since he started […], he has royally decreed tariffs on China to be up, down and all over town, from 10 percent to 145 percent, then 80 percent, then back to 30 percent, where they were until he announced that extra 100 percent on Friday, bringing them up to 130 percent. Scroll down to 2025 at this link if you want to see the full seesaw!
Thirty percent was already insane, if you haven’t noticed while browsing your local Spirit Halloween.
And so the stock market crashed and burned Friday, again, with the S&P having its worst day since the first “Liberation Day” tariffs in April. A nice little dip for Trump’s buddies to buy in! And some VERY LUCKY Bitcoin wallet made $27 million shorting positions right before the announcement. Wonder who?
Anyway, what brought on this latest Trump tantrum? Seems that sometime after Trump imposed the 145 percent tariffs, and also revoked the visas of Chinese students, he and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent realized that OOPS, China controls most of the 15 rare earth mineral elements in the world, ones needed to make car parts, planes, LED screens, AI chips, solar panels, phones, and all sorts of goodies that companies need if they want to take over the moon and Mars, and build an AI Taylor Swift to tell MAGA incels she loves them.
After a meeting in Geneva in May, Bessent crowed that China was considering a deal to let US companies buy the minerals again, and in June Trump said that the deal was DONE. [Just one of Trump’s many lies.]
But in spite of Bessent claiming concepts of frameworks of deals with China about once a week since then, it was not a done deal. […] now not only is the US not getting any samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium, China is also putting new export controls on holmium, erbium, thulium, europium and ytterbium. […] China ALSO placed restrictions on the export of specialist technological equipment used to refine some of the minerals, citing national security.
Yep, Trump has screwed us all again. And the US doesn’t just need China for dolls and metals, either, we rely on China for as much as 80 percent of active pharmaceutical ingredients and 90 percent of generic antibiotics. And more than 90 percent of the medical gear worn by American healthcare workers. [!!]
[…] Trump is so pissed that he pounded out some truly epic screeds on his shitty platform on Friday.
It has just been learned that China has taken an extraordinarily aggressive position on Trade in sending an extremely hostile letter to the World, stating that they were going to, effective November 1st, 2025, impose large scale Export Controls on virtually every product they make, and some not even made by them. This affects ALL Countries, without exception, and was obviously a plan devised by them years ago. It is absolutely unheard of in International Trade, and a moral disgrace in dealing with other Nations. [Pot calling kettle black.]
Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position, and speaking only for the U.S.A., and not other Nations who were similarly threatened, starting November 1st, 2025 (or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China), the United States of America will impose a Tariff of 100% on China, over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying. Also on November 1st, we will impose Export Controls on any and all critical software.
It is impossible to believe that China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is History. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
DONALD J. TRUMP
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A MORAL DISGRACE! How dare China not give daddy’s most special boy what he’s demanding RIGHT NOW in the fight he started, unprovoked! [That sarcasm is well-stated.]
And there was more.
Some very strange things are happening in China! They are becoming very hostile, and sending letters to Countries throughout the World, that they want to impose Export Controls on each and every element of production having to do with Rare Earths, and virtually anything else they can think of, even if it’s not manufactured in China. Nobody has ever seen anything like this but, essentially, it would “clog” the Markets, and make life difficult for virtually every Country in the World, especially for China. We have been contacted by other Countries who are extremely angry at this great Trade hostility, which came out of nowhere. Our relationship with China over the past six months has been a very good one, thereby making this move on Trade an even more surprising one. I have always felt that they’ve been lying in wait, and now, as usual, I have been proven right! There is no way that China should be allowed to hold the World “captive,” but that seems to have been their plan for quite some time, starting with the “Magnets” and, other Elements that they have quietly amassed into somewhat of a Monopoly position, a rather sinister and hostile move, to say the least. But the U.S. has Monopoly positions also, much stronger and more far reaching than China’s. I have just not chosen to use them, there was never a reason for me to do so — UNTIL NOW! The letter they sent is many pages long, and details, with great specificity, each and every Element that they want to withhold from other Nations. Things that were routine are no longer routine at all. I have not spoken to President Xi because there was no reason to do so. This was a real surprise, not only to me, but to all the Leaders of the Free World. I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so. The Chinese letters were especially inappropriate in that this was the Day that, after three thousand years of bedlam and fighting, there is PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. I wonder if that timing was coincidental? Dependent on what China says about the hostile “order” that they have just put out, I will be forced, as President of the United States of America, to financially counter their move. For every Element that they have been able to monopolize, we have two. I never thought it would come to this but perhaps, as with all things, the time has come. Ultimately, though potentially painful, it will be a very good thing, in the end, for the U.S.A. One of the Policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America. There are many other countermeasures that are, likewise, under serious consideration. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Hostility out of NOWHERE! No reason at all! Double elements! If you don’t laugh you’ll cry!
Then Sunday,
Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine! Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment. He doesn’t want Depression for his country, and neither do I. The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!! President DJT
[WTF?]
Oh, so we’re gonna get a depression now? Why did Donald John Trump start shit in the first place? Maybe it’s just his thing. Long before his president days, he’s loved making deals to stiff other people. After all, he could have stuck all of the money he got from father Fred — the equivalent of $532 million today — in investment accounts and kicked back living a comfortable life off of the interest as a nepo scion. Instead he started company after company, seven of which filed for bankruptcy, leaving unpaid contractors, lawsuits and accusations of fraud in the wake. […] Trump likes to see how much he can get away with screwing over the other party in a deal, and evading consequences. It’s entertaining for him, in spite of how he’s lost in court 93 percent of the time. [!]
The Secretary of WAR Pete Hegseth caused a mighty kerfuffle this weekend, announcing on Friday that the US was building a Qatari air force facility at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. [video]
This is not necessarily a dirty deal on the face of it. The US hosts foreign pilots for training on the F-15 fighter jets planes that the US sells all the time. Germany, the Netherlands, Britain and Singapore have had pilots training here for years, and the German air force maintains a tactical training command at the Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas. Britain also has a joint squadron manned by British and Qatari pilots. It’s not that weird.
But words matter, MAGA hit the fucking roof, and Hegseth and JD Vance were forced to spend the weekend scrambling to clarify and calm down the histrionics of MAGA Islamophobes. [video]
The United Arab Emirates doesn’t appear to be involved at all. Choose words more better, PETE. [social media post: “[…] However, to be clear, Qatar will not have their own base in the United States. […]”]
But the clarity didn’t help much, Laura Loomer was still mad that the US plans to be “training jihadis,” and posted this mashup of clips to try to convince Trump to get back to his Muslim-hating roots. [video]
[…] Trump has sure had a curious relationship with Qatar over the years. Now everything he does with them smells […] And not just that billion-dollar bribe plane.
Let us refresh! In his first term, in 2017, Jared Kushner’s father Charles, the Trump-pardoned felon who is now ambassador to France, approached the Qataris with an offer they shouldn’t have refused: to bail out his son Jared’s purchase of the distressed devil building at 666 Fifth Avenue.
But refuse they did! And even though Qatar was hosting CENTCOM and 40,000 American troops at the US’s largest base in the Middle East, Trump decided that now they were “historically” state sponsors of terrorism “at a very high level.” And in May 2017, Trump enthusiastically endorsed the blockade of Qatar by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Two countries that would never sponsor terrorism! Hey, where did that bonesaw come from? [!!] [video]
And then Qatar apparently got the message and changed its tune. In November 2017 Kushner’s family got $184 million from Qatari-backed Apollo Capital, and the Qataris decided not to give the Robert Mueller team any allegedly incriminating info on Jared’s ties to the UAE. And the US posture toward Qatar swung back to normal. By March 2018, Trump was threatening to cancel a planned Camp David summit with the Gulf Cooperation Council if they wouldn’t stop being so mean to the US’s BFF Qatar.
And where was Trump’s son-in-law on January 6, 2021? Why, on his way back from a sleepover in Saudi Arabia! And almost the very second Trump was officially out of the Oval office, Kushner got a hot cash injection of $2 billion from the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, and also millions from Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund and the Qatar Investment Authority, too.
In Trump’s second term, the close friendship got closer, with Qatar giving him that plane after Trump dropped some heavy hints, and also a $5.5 billion real estate deal for a golf course resort in Doha. Trump plans to sell Qatar and the United Arab Emirates $3.5 billion worth of helicopters and weapons too.
Then last month, a real pickle. Israel bombed a Qatari government residential complex in Doha, and Trump seemed to finally grok that shit was out of control. He forced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call and apologize to Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani for the bombing from the Oval Office, like a bully busted mid-noogie. Trump released a royal decree that hereafter the US would defend Qatar against any future attacks (Ukraine who?).
Then Trump got serious about making peace! He even brought back scholarly Middle East expert Jared Kushner. [LOL] The nepo scion came out of his government retirement […] to help Qatar broker a peace agreement between Hamas and Israel […]
If billions to Jared Kushner, a pilot training facility and a $400 million bribe jet is what it takes to make lasting peace in the Middle East, that’s well worth it, honestly. (If. History remains to be written!) […] Though it sounds like Qatar brokered a very loose framework of a deal to get the hostages released as quickly as possible before any of the parties changed their minds […]
And Israel may have already restarted hostilities, including bombing Gaza. See comment 473.
“THE BIDEN FBI PLACED 274 AGENTS INTO THE CROWD ON JANUARY 6. If this is so, which it is, a lot of very good people will be owed big apologies. What a SCAM – DO SOMETHING!!! President DJT”
“Hundreds of prisoners and detained Palestinians are also expected to be released as part of the first phase of the historic peace plan aimed at ending the war in Gaza.”
Trump and the leaders of Qatar, Egypt and Turkey, the countries that were acting as key mediators, held an official signing ceremony for the Gaza peace plan.
Notably missing from the signing ceremony were the two parties expected to abide by the peace plan: Israel and Hamas. [!]
[…] Trump took turns heaping praise on the leaders of the three countries before signing the documents, which were passed to the leaders flanking him.
“This took 3,000 years to get to this point, can you believe it?” Trump said. “And it’s going to hold up, too. It’s going to hold up.” […]
A bus carrying freed Palestinians who were imprisoned by Israel arrived in southern Gaza today to crowds of people awaiting them. [video]In one scene, a child was lifted above crowds and handed to one freed prisoner. The man embraced the toddler before handing him back.
Images show released Israeli hostages arriving in Israel. [Images] Top: Avinatan Or and Evyatar David arrive at Beilinson Hospital in the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva. Bottom: Ziv Berman lands at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan and Alon Ohel arrives at Beilinson hospital. […]
“The National Weather Service’s Prediction Center said that the storm is carrying strong onshore winds, high surf and high astronomical tides.”
Related video at the link.
A powerful nor’easter moving along the Northeast coastline on Monday is triggering major coastal flooding and scattered power outages.
The storm caused flooding on Sunday in low-lying areas along the coast of New Jersey. […]
The nor’easter is expected to move eastward out over the Atlantic Ocean by Tuesday, leading to much calmer weather.
While the East Coast was battered by heavy winds and rain, the remnants of a typhoon slammed into Alaska. More than 30 people had to be rescued on Sunday, the Alaska Department of Public Safety said in a Facebook post. Three people remain unaccounted for in Kwigillingok, the agency said.
“One can believe the vice president’s denials about weaponization of the Justice Department, or one can believe their eyes and ears about ongoing events.”
Related video at the link.
For those concerned about the integrity of the rule of law and the increasingly brazen politicization of the Justice Department, last week was devastating. Just two weeks after Donald Trump orchestrated a criminal indictment against one of his favorite political foes, the president and his team did it again, securing highly dubious charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, as part of an obviously retaliatory move.
Both cases are brazenly and transparently corrupt, for the sake of brazen and transparent corruption. They simultaneously brought into focus the severity of the authoritarian crisis: We now live in a country where the president’s political opponents are prosecuted at his command. Or as the editorial board of The New York Times summarized, “Mr. Trump is criminalizing Americans’ ability to challenge their leaders.”
Three days after James was indicted at the president’s insistence, JD Vance appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and host Kristen Welker asked the vice president: “Is the Department of Justice acting on orders from the president to prosecute his political opponents?” [social media post and video]
Vance denied anything untoward, while asserting that former FBI Director James Comey and the New York attorney general are “obviously” guilty. But it was the other part of his answer that stood out for me.
“You know who we haven’t prosecuted?” the vice president asked. “Joe Biden or Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton … unlike the Biden Department of Justice, Kristen, which actually went after Donald Trump.”
So, a few things.
First, when there’s evidence of a White House weaponizing federal law enforcement, it’s not great for a national officeholder to effectively respond, “But what about the political opponents we haven’t prosecuted yet?”
Second, Vance could’ve picked better examples in defense of his own administration. It’s true that Trump’s DOJ didn’t charge Clinton, but the president practically begged federal prosecutors, in public, to bring criminal charges against the former secretary of state. Similarly, it was just four months ago when Trump directed the Justice Department to investigate Biden, and a month later, the president accused Obama of being “guilty” of “treason.”
Third, while it’s true that Trump faced multiple federal criminal counts during the Biden era, it wasn’t at the behest of the then-president. On the contrary, the cases were led by an independent special counsel, whose team collected a mountain of evidence implicating Trump.
Fourth, on the same morning in which Vance denied that the administration is targeting its political enemies, the vice president also appeared on ABC’s “This Week” and told host George Stephanopoulos that Trump was right to call for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s incarceration. “I certainly think that he has violated his fundamental oath of office,” Vance said of Pritzker. “That seems pretty criminal to me.”
Finally, the vice president’s protestations notwithstanding, the crisis is likely to intensify. Not only is former White House national security adviser John Bolton, another member of Trump’s enemies’ list, expected to be indicted this week, but right around the time Vance made the rounds on the Sunday shows, the president published an item on his social media platform urging “the necessary authorities” to investigate Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California.
All of which is to say, one can believe Vance’s denials about ongoing Republican efforts to weaponize the Justice Department, or one can believe their eyes and ears about ongoing events unfolding in public.
To hear his administration tell it, the United States is in a golden age of prosperity thanks to […] Trump’s tariffs, the Department of Government Efficiency’s spending cuts, and the exodus of federal employees. With all of that dead weight gone and tariff money pouring in, the American people should be positively rolling in dough, right?
Yeah, no. The truth of the matter is that it’s impossible to determine what the government is doing with our money.
Over the weekend, The New York Times reported that neither outside budget experts nor congressional appropriators can determine how much money DOGE saved us all. The $1 trillion in savings that so-called mastermind Elon Musk promised was always illusory, and it’s far more likely DOGE’s antics cost us money rather than saving us any.
Even DOGE’s own inflated, opaque figure—a paltry $214 billion, or less than one-quarter of what Musk initially promised—is just a nonsense number […] DOGE got to some of these “savings” via methods like canceling contracts that did not exist. Musk’s demonic little DOGE minions would simply assign an arbitrary, inflated value that the government might have spent on something, and then “cancel” that and claim big savings.
The one thing that is clear, though, is that the administration has refused to spend billions of dollars in already-appropriated funds, far more than those Trump openly withheld via an illegal pocket rescission at the end of the fiscal year. So, where’s that coin?
Additionally, there should be huge savings from all the federal government employees who were fired or voluntarily resigned. However, we don’t really know what that number is either, thanks to the churn of firing and rehiring that keeps happening. But we have no idea how many people have actually left the federal government, voluntarily or otherwise.
[…] Democrats have calculated that Trump blocked over $410 billion of appropriated funds, but the American people certainly aren’t $410 billion richer. Indeed, it seems like the only people seeing a slice of all this coin are the ghouls who decide to go work for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and score huge hiring bonuses.
Oh hey, remember tariffs? They were going to make us so prosperous! Never mind that we the consumers are actually paying these tariffs, so the additional revenue Trump is bragging about is nothing but increased taxation. A couple of months ago, Trump even floated the idea of tariff rebate checks, where the government would give you back some of the money it took away under Trump’s ever-shifting tariff scheme.
Needless to say, those rebate checks have not materialized, but Trump does appear poised to single-handedly shift some of that tariff revenue towards farmers who are struggling under the weight of his policies. Gotta make sure to keep them voting Republican.
Now, with the ongoing government shutdown, things are even more opaque. The administration has decided it will just divert funds from other military appropriations to pay the troops during the shutdown.
This is wildly illegal at any time, but particularly during a government shutdown. The notion that one set of government employees can be paid during the shutdown because Trump feels like it, while everyone else suffers, is ridiculous. Stopping this, however, would require either Congress or the Supreme Court to check the administration’s actions […]
Taken together, this all highlights how far we are down the path to Trump as king. He’s overseen mass firings and undertaken a mass withholding of appropriated funding, ostensibly on behalf of the people and fiscal sanity, but that money just vanished. There’s no accountability, or traceability. And deciding to pay favored groups—farmers here, troops there—is peak personalist regime king shit. Trump is using your tax dollars however he sees fit: doling them out when he feels like it, hoarding them when he doesn’t. […]
Two major law firms accused the National Shooting Sports Foundation of violating the privacy rights of millions of gun owners by running a decades-long program that sent their information to political operatives without consent.
The allegations in a lawsuit filed on Sept. 22 in federal court by Keller Rohrback of Seattle and Motley Rice of Connecticut closely mirror the findings of a ProPublica investigation that detailed the secret program operated by the gun industry’s largest trade group.
The 24-page complaint asks the court for approval of class-action status and requests financial damages against the NSSF, claiming the gun industry lobbyist enriched itself by exploiting valuable gun buyer information for political gain. It features the accounts of two gun owners, Daniel Cocanour and Dale Rimkus, both of whom assert they purchased rifles, pistols and handguns from the 1990s through the mid-2010s.
ProPublica identified at least 10 gun industry businesses, including Glock, Smith & Wesson and Remington, that handed over hundreds of thousands of names and addresses, along with other private data, to the NSSF. The lobbying group then entered the details into what would become a massive database, which was used to rally gun owners’ electoral support for the industry’s preferred candidates running for the White House and Congress. […]
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—As the government shutdown drags on into its thirteenth day, Americans have become baffled as to why a totally nonessential federal employee still has his job.
Unlike thousands of workers at agencies like EPA and HUD who have been furloughed, the still-employed man serves no identifiable function, Americans noted.
In fact, a review of activities performed by him in 2025 yields only three: sending co-workers home on an extended vacation, refusing to swear in a new co-worker, and praying for the Rapture.
But in a testy exchange with reporters on Monday, the nonessential employee vehemently rejected the widespread claims of his abject uselessness, declaring, “I have been working around the clock protecting pedophiles.”
About a month after Election Day 2024, as Donald Trump prepared to return to the White House, [he] appeared on “Meet the Press” and explained his victory to NBC News’ Kristen Welker.
“I won on groceries,” he said, adding: “I won an election based on that.” Looking ahead, Trump concluded, in reference to food prices for consumers: “We’re going to bring those prices way down.”
After returning to power, Trump began boasting about his successes on the issue, assuring Americans that he had lowered the cost of groceries — despite the administration’s own data, which shows grocery costs have gone up this year, not down.
Complicating matters, Trump’s own team fears that the problem will soon get worse, as a direct result of the Republican White House’s own agenda. The Washington Post reported:
The Trump administration said that its immigration crackdown is hurting farmers and risking higher food prices for Americans by cutting off agriculture’s labor supply. The Labor Department warned in a document filed with the Federal Register last week that ‘the near total cessation of the inflow of illegal aliens’ is threatening ‘the stability of domestic food production and prices for U.S. consumers.’
According to the Labor Department’s assessment, which was first reported by The American Prospect, the administration needs to act “immediately” to prevent the problem from getting worse.
The Post’s report noted that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has predicted that, in the aftermath of Trump’s mass deportation agenda, the U.S. farm workforce will become “100% American.” Trump’s Labor Department doesn’t see that as realistic, since Americans lack the will and skills to replace migrant farmworkers.
“The Department concludes that qualified and eligible U.S. workers will not make themselves available in sufficient numbers,” the agency said.
In other words, the president who claimed that he won a second term based on food prices, and who vowed to bring consumer costs at grocery stores “way down,” is already lying about his recent record. But making matters even worse is the fact that his own administration expects the problem to get worse, as food production slows as a result of the White House’s campaign against immigrants, which is likely to reduce supply, pushing prices up.
At that point, Trump will have to choose between competing campaign promises: Will he let immigrants stay and help stabilize food costs, or will he deport these workers and risk the fury of consumers who’ll see prices at their local grocery store climb?
Prediction: Trump will lie some more, and then he will blame Democrats.
In an administration that’s clearly preoccupied with camera-ready tactics and performative politics, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stands out. Highlighting the South Dakota Republican’s over-the-top photo ops, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes noted a few months ago that “every day is Halloween” for the DHS secretary.
This coincided with a report from The New York Times that described Noem’s agency as the administration’s “Department of Homeland Publicity.”
With this in mind, few were surprised when the DHS started airing taxpayer-financed ads earlier this year, starring Noem, and thanking Donald Trump for his administration’s anti-immigration crackdown. (There’s little to suggest that the $200 million campaign was an effective use of resources.)
Several months later, the video appears to have a sequel. The Hill reported:
A new video featuring Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem will reportedly play at airports across the U.S. as the Trump administration seeks to cast blame for the lapse in government funding on Democrats. The short video, first reported by Fox News, shows Noem warning viewers about possible changes to airport operations due to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers not receiving pay since the shutdown entered its second week.
A spokesperson for the Cabinet agency confirmed that the video was poised to begin airing in American airports. [social media post and awful video]
In theory, one might imagine a hypothetical video in which a DHS secretary offers the public worthwhile information about how the shutdown might affect air travelers.
In practice, however, Noem used the opportunity to push an overtly partisan message, blaming congressional Democrats for “refusing to fund the federal government.” She concluded: “Our hope is that Democrats will soon recognize the importance of opening the government.”
Or put another way, after releasing one Noem ad that looked an awful lot like taxpayer-financed propaganda, the homeland security secretary did it again — with the latter including even more brazen partisanship.
It’s not yet clear exactly how much money went into this latest ad, or which airports will show Noem’s video. Watch this space.
Airports in more than a half-dozen U.S. markets have declined to display a video in which Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem blames congressional Democrats for the government shutdown and any related travel delays, citing the political nature of its content, according to local authorities.
Officials that oversee airports in Buffalo, Charlotte, Cleveland, Portland, Phoenix and Seattle said the video could violate internal policies that bar political messaging or contravene state or federal laws that prohibit the use of public resources for political activity.
“We believe the Hatch Act clearly prohibits use of public assets for political purposes and messaging,” said Molly Prescott, a spokesperson for the Port of Portland, which operates Portland International Airport. Enacted in 1939, the Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from engaging in politics while on the job and is meant to ensure that federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan fashion.
Oregon law also precludes public employees from promoting or opposing political parties during working hours, Prescott said.
[…] Westchester, a community just north of New York City, also declined to show the video; County Executive Ken Jenkins called it “inconsistent with the values we expect from our nation’s top public officials” and “unnecessarily alarmist” in a statement on Friday.
Some airports have not been asked to air the videos, as they don’t have screens available to play them with sound, according to local officials.
[…] Though airports routinely display video greetings from the homeland security chief at TSA checkpoints, the messages typically center on safety or procedures to be aware of, said Henry Harteveldt, an airline industry analyst with Atmosphere Research Group. For example, the agency used the screens to broadcast the need to have a Real ID — the standard for state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards that took effect in May — to board a domestic flight.
[…] some airports might feel the need to “play along” to avoid angering the federal government as airports receive significant funding from the Federal Aviation Administration for runways and other infrastructure […]
New York Times: “An organization that fought abortion rights in the United States is now an unlikely conduit between MAGA Republicans and Britain’s ascendant Reform U.K. party.”
For nearly three hours, Nigel Farage, the leader of Britain’s once-fringe populist Reform U.K. Party, commanded an audience in Congress on Sept. 3 as he testified against his own country’s free-speech rules.
The presence of Mr. Farage, a longtime Trump ally, as the Republicans’ star witness in Washington was not merely a symbol of his growing political clout or the power of conservative populism.
Rather, it was the result of a discreet, monthslong campaign by one of America’s most influential conservative Christian groups, famous for being an architect of the effort that helped overturn Roe v. Wade and end the constitutional right to an abortion.
The group, Alliance Defending Freedom, has taken its playbook to Britain and has rapidly established itself as a power broker between the country’s rising populist movement and President Trump’s Washington. They are catalyzing Reform U.K., Britain’s fastest growing political party that is seeking to upend the Conservative Party with an agenda centered on anti-establishment and anti-immigration sentiments. The A.D.F. is guiding its leadership even further to the right, on a conservative Christian agenda similar to the one that is sweeping through the United States.
The A.D.F.’s British arm orchestrated Mr. Farage’s appearance in Congress, reaching out to ask if he would like to give evidence on censorship and passing on his interest to the House Judiciary Committee, which formally invited him, according to both a Reform U.K. and a Republican official. An A.D.F. lawyer testified alongside Mr. Farage in the hearing, together building a case against what they saw as growing government censorship in Europe. A.D.F. officials have also quietly arranged briefings in Britain with visiting congressional leaders. They brokered a secret meeting between Mr. Farage and top State Department officials in London. And in private briefings, they have supplied the Trump administration with attack lines that cast the British government as hostile to free speech.
[…] the A.D.F. believes that British politicians, and the public, can be swayed and wants abortion rights to be rolled back, its lawyers said in an interview. More broadly, the group wants to empower conservative Christianity in Europe, and it sees Britain as a key bridgehead.
The A.D.F. has begun its effort with a topic it believes will resonate with British voters: free speech. The group is spearheading an alliance of organizations that argues that Britain’s center-left government is too restrictive on political and religious speech. […]
The Post’s report noted that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has predicted that, in the aftermath of Trump’s mass deportation agenda, the U.S. farm workforce will become “100% American.” Trump’s Labor Department doesn’t see that as realistic, since Americans lack the will and skills to replace migrant farmworkers.
“The Department concludes that qualified and eligible U.S. workers will not make themselves available in sufficient numbers,” the agency said.
That comes with the usual unspoken bit, Americans won’t do that work for the pay offered. The farmers are used to getting legal and illegal aliens to do the picking for less then minimum wage. Getting an American to take up jobs that pay less and have worse working conditions then fast food is not easy.
Business Basics: Putin gets PUBLICLY SHAMED as China Rejects Russia’s Deal
China is slowly untangling from Russia. Nothing being announced and in many ways the most visible sign is that Russia and China are not saying anything except empty strategic friendship stuff. China is removing the various little things they did to help Russia, such as favorable state back loans on deals with Russian companies. They are not stopping trade with Russia but they removing the various advantages they gave Russian trade.
China is still buying Russian oil on a large scale, that isn’t ending because China would take a huge hit if they had to switch to only middle eastern oil. Everything else they are making sure they are not dependent on Russia.
This is partially economic, selling Chinese goods into Russia is worth less as the Russian economy declines. It’s also partially strategic, China doesn’t want to be as too tangle with Russia if Russia does lose and doesn’t want to end up with current deals blocked because they are dealing with Russia.
birgerjohanssonsays
Thank you Lynna et al for watching the horror of the news and linking to news items.
My contribution is mostly brain candy that may give you a brief rest from the foulness.
The Trump era is like the Smog Monster in that 1970s Godzilla film.
.
Ladytron: outtakes of Helen and Mira.
(they are back, releasing new stuff)
.http://youtube.com/post/UgkxaRJYVN4F_gEQ3UV6zd7W422Dk1L0UMYC
A surprisingly symbolically significant scene I found in anime.
In honor of Jean Carroll and Giesele Pelicot who brought their tormentors to court, here is the scene from Goblin Slayer where Sword Maiden (the lady with the blindfold, and one of the most powerful mages) gets her revenge. She finally overcomes her trauma and can fight and destroy her tormentors (I will not go into the backstory here).
Sword Maiden Kills All Goblins | Goblin Slayer Season 2 Episode 12 Final Fight
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=91hsCXU3gIo
You will notice the studio was running out of time and had to do some shortcuts to be on sheldue, but overall the image quality was good.
Anton Petrov
“Exciting Discoveries About Rogue Planets and Their Origins”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=YHq9pYVYcEk
There is no good name for these objects, they are not really planets nor brown dwarfs.
Is that No Man’s Sky? I really tried hard to like that game.
Yes, it is. When did you try? They keep coming up with new updates, I hardly recognize it from 3 months ago.
I tried it out when it was new and crap way back in the day. Tried it again a few months ago – I can see what people get out of it but the whole world(s) just seem repetitive and soul-less to me. I played it for a few weeks off and on, but just found that the time it took and the fun I was having didn’t match up well.
Each new planet explored just seemed like box-ticking to meet some achievement and there wasn’t any sense of discovery for me.
I prefer Satisfactory :)
https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/furious-kim-jong-un-claims-trump-727
For the convenience of readers, here are a few links back to the previous set of comments on The Infinite Thread.
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/07/02/infinite-thread-xxxvi/comment-page-8/#comment-2279141
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show
Saudis greenlight ‘Trump Plaza’ project while awaiting approval of massive media deal with Jared Video is 5:00 minutes, and discusses a $50 Billion [!] deal.
Feds freak out over Trump-Epstein statue: ‘Pushback drives them crazy’ Video is 2:45 minutes. There was more to this story than I thought.
Candidate rips into Trump admin over release of private data to Republican opponent Video is 9:44 minutes.
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/07/02/infinite-thread-xxxvi/comment-page-8/#comment-2279122
“[…] nobody told Trump that. None of them clapped after Trump asked them to either. I suspect this event hammered home to the military that the secretary of defense and president are nuts.”
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/07/02/infinite-thread-xxxvi/comment-page-8/#comment-2279140
Republican governor asks the Pentagon to deploy National Guard troops to Louisiana
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/07/02/infinite-thread-xxxvi/comment-page-8/#comment-2279107
Trump Dementia Speech to Generals-Admirals
Government Shutdown
Months later, whatever happened to RFK Jr.’s self-imposed deadline on autism?
“Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promised to deliver groundbreaking news on autism research in September. It’s October. He failed.”
So, tRUMP is willing to let putin invade NATO airspace and threaten NATO countries, but his tiny, selfish nasty mind demands we protect Qatar! WTF!
https://digbysblog.net/2025/10/01/he-wuvs-his-big-new-plane/
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/01/trump-promises-to-defend-qatar-in-wake-of-israeli-missile-strikes-00589638
Qatar gave Trump a big beautiful airplane. Now he’s thanking them:
The White House published an executive order on Wednesday vowing to defend Qatar in the event of an attack from another country, a remarkable security guarantee for a single country akin to NATO’s Article V.
The order, which President Donald Trump signed Monday, states that the White House will now consider “any armed attack” on Qatar “as a threat to the peace and security of the United States.”
The ugly motivation behind the White House’s war against inspectors general
“IGs exist as instruments of accountability by identifying wrongdoing. It’s precisely why Trump and his team see them as obstacles and enemies.”
https://digbysblog.net/2025/09/30/and-yet-his-approval-rating-remains-stable/
@Acyn
Trump: You know, our inner cities, which we’ll be talking about because it’s a big part of war now, a big part of war.
6:43 AM · Sep 30, 2025
@Acyn
Trump: San Francisco and Chicago, New York, Los Angeles… We’ll straighten them out one-by-one. It will be a major part for some of the people in this room. It’s a war too. It’s a war from within
7:10 AM · Sep 30, 2025
AND, this stupidity, what an addled 19th Century mind – – –
@Acyn
Trump: I think we should start thinking about battleships… It is something we’re considering, the concept of battleship. Six inch side solid steel. Not aluminum that melts if it looks at a missile coming at it. Starts melting. Bullets are a lot less expensive than missiles.
6:55 AM · Sep 30, 2025
‘We could come up with a new system’: On the ACA, Trump has an unintentionally funny line
“We could come up with a new system that would be much better” than Obamacare, the president said, seemingly unaware of his own record.
E.J. Antoni’s failed nomination makes the White House look even more incompetent
It’s not often that Senate Republicans muster the courage to tell Donald Trump and his team, “Whoa, hold on, we can’t go that far.”
Followup to comment 6.
Link
Josh Marshall:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/dont-believe-the-hype-russ-vought-degeneracy-edition
Cartoon: Beardos and fatsos
Re: Lynna, OM @ #5…
My daughter came across a claim that the generals at the big meeting are now referring to Hegseth and Trump as “little Boy” and “Fat Man” because their speeches totally bombed. (For those unaware, those were names applied to the two nuclear bombs dropped on Japan in August 1945.)
And, as regards Trump’s comments about battleships… The belt armor on the Iowa class ships was 12 inches, not 6 inches.
UK closes in on critical minerals deal with Greenland
“The self-ruling Danish territory, coveted by Donald Trump, has vast caches of rare earth elements.”
Link
https://www.wonkette.com/p/here-are-your-clips-of-late-night
“Here Are Your Clips Of Late Night Audiences Laughing At Loser Pete Hegseth”
More commentary, and more video snippets, available at the link.
whheydt @16, funny, and appropriate. Especially considering that Hegseth dissed “fat generals and admirals” in his speech.
More related commentary:
Social media posts and video at the link.
Newsweek link
A wholesome little distraction from the news
“Louis the Cat’s River Journey and a beaver surprise”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=GHqQu3lN0pk
Politico: Judge says Nevada US attorney’s involvement in criminal cases ‘would be unlawful’
Not exactly the same steps as they used for Habba but the same effect. When it became clear she couldn’t pass Congress the Trump administration took steps to bypass the legal process. Chattah was seen as so toxic that Trump never formally nominated her but still wanted her to be US Attorney, an absurdity itself.
National Review: Was Lindsey Halligan Validly Appointed as United States Attorney?
It appears there are issues with Halligan’s appointment also. And since she was the only attorney involved in the bringing the charges if she gets kicked the whole case goes up in smoke. In the other situations multiple lawyers were involved so the judge just kicked the illegal attorney general and said they can’t be involved in this case or any future cases, not that the case is rejected. Comey’s lawyers are sure to bring this up, probably fairly soon.
This is Ed Whelen, who holds the Antonin Scalia Chair in Constitutional Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a heavily Heritage Foundation influenced group. Not exactly a left wing kind of guy. If he is saying the appointment is invalid there are huge gaping issues. Essentially it boils down to Erik Siebert was still an interim appointment when he left/was fired. This means that the district court gets the next pick, the president doesn’t get to appoint a string of interim attorney generals.
MSNBC: Nicolle Wallace calls conduct in video of New Jersey mayor’s arrest a ‘stain on this country’
MSNBC noticed a really bad bit of video. In another case the DOJ released some body cam video from the arrest of the mayor of Newark. This was probably a mistake, if they had been aware the senior figures would have tried to keep this under wraps. The video appears to show that order for the arrest came from Todd Blanche, current Deputy Attorney General and previous personal lawyer for Trump. Somebody also gave orders for body cams to be turned off, hiding evidence of the arrest.
@21, 23
The US was a country created with Norms for the conduct of government instead of actual rules, and for centuries it has been maintained this way. Why that is is something I don’t fully understand: likely the consequence of a bunch of wealthy gentlemen running the show and trusting that none of their peers would rock the apple cart too much by being overly blatant with their corruption and criminality.
Over the last few decades, people on the right have been testing and retesting those norms and discovering that there simply aren’t any rules at all. The only limits on what they could do with their governmental power were their own consciences. Having ruthlessly purged their party of anyone of conscience, they are now free to exercise unchecked power.
Unfortunately the Democrats seem to believe that if they just try hard enough, they can make it 1990 again, that the Republicans will voluntarily submit themselves to rules and morality. That they will cease their endless public lying and distortion and come back to consensus reality. They believe this so strongly, that they have resisted any call to impose rules and order on their opponents – after all, it can’t be a gentleman’s agreement if it has teeth, can it?
In the event that the Centre of the political spectrum in the States ever happens to take power again, hopefully there is enough spine there to push the creation of actual rules – and to punish the lackeys of the Trump administration severely enough for the rules and laws that they did break that the next wannabe dictator can’t find people to do his bidding. I don’t have much faith in this though. If the Democrats manage to squeak out enough midterm victories to take power in the House and/or Senate, I fully expect them to waste time ‘reaching across the aisle’ and ‘building consensus’ with the party that would happily decapitate the whole lot of them the next chance it gets.
In summary biullionaires rule and Palestinians sidelined :
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-02/leaked-document-reveals-details-of-trump-peace-plan/105839640
Source :
Source :
.. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-02/hottest-year-on-record-in-oceans-around-australia/105698530
“ExoMars parachutes ready for martian deployment”
The high-altitude test was made in Lapland, northern Sweden
.https://phys.org/news/2025-07-exomars-parachutes-ready-martian-deployment.html
@ ^
I never even heard about this. The “Rosalind Franklin” rover. Love it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalind_Franklin_(rover)
Hey, Stevo, you’re supposed to be our space correspondent, are you onto this?
;-)
Yet another problem with billionaries
.https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FqrDuFDvq/
Also, none of them have an airship where they can meet their evil co-conspirators (and throw down those who chicken out).
Anti-Gay Republicans Can’t Stop Getting Caught Up in the Gayest Scandals.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=xCnRJvD6kIw.
Not extinct: “Finding Dozens Of American Chestnut Trees”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=QNPxaLmrkU4
https://www.msnbc.com/all
Botched documents, confused courtroom, shaky indictment: Comey case hangs by a thread
Video is 6:27 minutes
‘Pretty tough sell!’: Hayes skewers GOP attempt to blame shutdown on Dems
Video is 8:20 minutes
‘We don’t want you here’: Pritzker rips Trump’s Chicago troop plan
Video is 7:10 minutes
Lawsuit targets White House’s use of public resources to push shutdown propaganda
“During his first term, the president treated ethics laws as punchlines. During his second term, the problem is vastly worse.”
Trump White House adds Jane Fonda to its growing list of celebrity targets
“Whether Trump realizes this or not, the more he and his team try to fight celebrities, the smaller and more pitiful the White House appears.”
Team Trump isn’t just targeting individual foes; it’s also using the government shutdown to seek revenge against programs and entire states.
Link
It’s simple: Republicans have the votes to end their shutdown
AOC didn’t let Trump’s shutdown ruin kids’ Capitol visit
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3m26243zvof2g
Video at the link.
Commentary:
https://www.wonkette.com/p/sexual-matador-goebbels-is-more-hardcore
Stephen Miller’s wife called him a “sexual matador.” Yahoo news link
Trump’s going to use the shutdown to go on a cutting/firing spree. Of course I believe he’d just do this anyway.
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-vows-to-use-shutdown-to-clear-out-dead-wood-10815476
Here is another article that points out how criminal this whole magat admin is:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/10/02/stephen-miller-confesses-he-intended-for-trumps-nutjobs-to-kill-democrats/
I keep hearing my mind shout ‘make it stop’! But, there doesn’t seem to be any means strong enough to stop the murderous madness that rules this country.
He tortures and slowly kills animals in the bedroom for sport? I can believe that.
Rich Woods @44, LOL.
In other news that is equally bizarre:
Link
Not “refreshing,” and not “honest.” “Clearly bonkers,” would have been an appropriate description. I do note that Leavitt confirmed that it was Trump himself who posted that video.
European leaders caught mocking Trump after a false claim about ending a war
“As a video catches foreign leaders laughing at one of the American president’s mistakes, this was not an isolated incident.”
Activists say Israeli navy has begun intercepting a Gaza-bound aid flotilla
https://www.wonkette.com/p/illegal-chicago-raid-makes-ice-the
“DEMS Launch INVESTIGATION into $ 17 Trillion Trump Theft ?!!!”
The Republicans keep saying they have brought in 17 trillion. So where is the alleged money?
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=2qqd98OjYnk
Washington Post link
“EXCLUSIVE: Senior government officials privately warn against firings during shutdown”
“The Trump administration has telegraphed that mass firings are coming, but officials have cautioned that such moves could violate appropriations law.”
90 degrees in October: Dozens of heat records could be broken in the Midwest
“Temperatures across the region are expected to be up to 30 degrees higher than normal on Friday and Saturday.”
re Lynna @50:
A communications director that doesn’t know the difference between “accepted” and “excepted” in a written statement should be fired.
” Frieren- After Journey’s End’
“Stark lost everything to gambling”
#shorts
(the group needs a spellcaster, a hero and a priest- priests can tap directly into the power of their gods instead of being limited to their own power)
.https://youtube.com/shorts/xvrPen5zz2o
In Range.
Karl Kasarda is a quite interesting podcaster.
.
The “Battle” of Wounded Knee
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=cJ33FByTtSU
I wish I could just open a ‘stargate’ for you and bring you over to this side of the Atlantic until the idiot has imploded.
.
Of course, the academics have already started the move on their own. Fortunately the exchange rate between the $ and the € is not too bad. Yet.
Phil Moorhouse: Out-of control police in Britain
“Why Won’t The Met Police Admit The Truth?”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=5hvyLNeCKEk
@24 snarkhuntr:
There are a lot of problems with the US government, the lack of written laws for certain things is only one of them.
3. Congressional lockup. Congress is barely capable of doing anything. Too much of the right would rather see the government fail then work with the left. The actual moderates have no power. The entire process is frozen with almost nothing getting done. Just the basics of passing a budget require complex procedural maneuvers.
One of the primary limitations on the power of the president is congress but currently they won’t do anything. Nixon resigned when it became clear that the Republicans would investigate and impeach him. Trump has done things that border on treason and the Republicans are just lying to back him up.
2. Government by emergency. Since Congress began to freeze up a couple of decades ago things have been kept going by declaring emergencies that let the president and other officials go around the normal rules. These emergency rules exist for good reasons but are not designed for operating in a state of continuous emergency. They are designed to suspend normal checks and safeguards when a situation requires immediate action and Trump is abusing that to the limits.
3. Legal assumption of good faith. The court system assumes the executive branch is acting in good faith and gives it a fair bit of leeway. If the DOJ asks for a delay they almost always get it, if they ask to refile they almost always get permission and so on. This has never been entirely the case but the DOJ is usually careful to not abuse the system and not bring cases they don’t think they have a good chance of winning. They don’t throw charges at people and see what sticks the way local prosecutors sometimes do. They don’t bring cases and appeal cases just to delay things, they don’t intentionally delay paperwork just to slow down the legal process. They are not intentionally obscure to the judges, the DOJ doesn’t intentionally leave out information. They don’t bring cases at the whim of the president just for revenge.
The court has slowly begun to pick up on this at the district level but the appeal courts have not really and the Supreme Court is working on the side of the president too often.
As for actually fixing the system, fixing Congress somehow is the real issue. If Congress functioned reasonably well the rest of the issues would work themselves out. Pinning down some of the traditional things around the president with actual laws would be a significant improvement. Trump has shown though that an effective enforcement method is as important as something just being illegal.
On the other points there should be tweaking of the emergency laws so that emergencies must be approved by Congress to stick for more then a week or so and require regular confirmation after that. The court also needs to give a bit less leeway to the DOJ. In particular it needs to be recognized that the DOJ is a national organization and bad acts in one district/one case should have some consideration in other ones.
Imperial War Museums
The Genius Idea That Won The Battle Of Britain
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=0yHHKADmgsM
Mossy Earth:
We’re reclaiming Iceland’s Deserts – here’s how
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=w-pT56a5ZUc
johnson catman @52: True.
In other news, as reported by NBC:
NBC News:
NBC News:
Washington Post:
Washington Post:
NPR:
Reuters:
Whoops! Copy/paste error on my part.
Text in comment 66, from Reuters, should read:
To justify deadly military strikes, Trump sends radical rationale to Congress
“Following military strikes on civilian boats in international waters, the White House has come up with a legal rationale that’s hard to take seriously.”
Related video at the link.
Elon Musk calls for elimination of civil rights group
Press secretary goes full mobster over GOP shutdown
Team Trump lowers itself to new and ridiculous levels in order to blame Joe Biden:
Tim Walz [comments on] ‘dangerous’ GOP lies about their government shutdown
Elizabeth Warren spoke in the Senate:
Link
@75 Lynna, OM posted an article about the muskrat’s wealth that stated ‘the shares would be worth about $1 trillion.’
I reply: I detest the abusive destructive values system of the elongated muskrat. But, ANYONE who has that much wealth is obscene and wasteful in my opinion. They cannot possibly need that much wealth. Consider how many millions in this country have lost their jobs, are living hand-to-mouth, or, are working for an absurdly tiny fraction of what their CEO’s make. Anyone that considers that those billionaires have really earned, or are worth that much, must to be morally bankrupt themselves.
Palate cleanser brief 30 secs long clip here –
Silvery gibbon w its baby
Well worth reading. The judge explains in detail how Trump’s executive orders clash with the constitution.
Meidas Touch:
“FURIOUS [Reagan-appointed] Judge SENDS CHILLING Message to Trump FROM AMERICA”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=yAZOE3JTYpA
StevoR @ 77
Thank you. I needed that.
The language of the Irish sagas: A language unsullied by 19th-century Bowdlerisation.
“The Irish language is a joy not a burden: in what other tongue is a penis a wild carrot? ”
.https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/03/the-irish-language-is-a-joy-not-a-burden-in-what-other-tongue-is-a-penis-a-wild-carrot
“Farage, Trump, Musk: Your boy Javier Milei just took one hell of a beating. Why so quiet?”
.https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/02/javier-milei-argentina-nigel-farage-donald-trump-elon-musk
“Milei’s true value lies in his demonstration of how the attention economy can propel the hard right into power”
US Supreme Court decides against Trump in shadow docket ruling
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=imiJOL02uFc
The SCOTUS is like “one step forward, five steps back”
‘Fat Little Asian Man’ posts
“Southeast Asian Racism and Balkan Racism are Almost Identical”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=okk3Y_0RryY
Good grief. How did we get here?
.https://www.facebook.com/share/1GitwGsRMA/
https://www.msnbc.com/all
ICE agents drag children out of bed, ransack Chicago building
Video is 6:07 minutes
‘Illegal, outrageous, unconstitutional,’: Bernie slams Trump shutdown cuts
Video is 7:56 minutes
Botched documents, confused courtroom, shaky indictment: Comey case hangs by a thread
Video is 6:27 minutes
Trump’s Justice Department fires the wrong prosecutor for the wrong reason (again)
“A top federal prosecutor on national security matters is unemployed because of a dubious allegation that appears to be unfounded.”
RFK Jr. adds to Team Trump’s pattern of punishing whistleblowers
“In the current administration, whistleblowers keep losing their jobs after speaking up. Take the NIH’s Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, for example.”
More weirdness and tune-changing from Trump:
Link
Followup to comment 71.
“This is extortion, plain and simple.”–Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at UC Berkeley, on President Trump’s proposed “compact” with universities
Link
GOP’s shutdown blame game hits federal websites—and workers’ inboxes
Cartoon: Readjusting their plan …
Link
Followup to comment 93.
https://www.wonkette.com/p/what-the-gop-is-talking-about-when
What The GOP Is Talking About When They Talk About ‘Healthcare For Illegals’
Source : https://phys.org/news/2025-10-deaths-spain-year-health-ministry.html
Source : https://phys.org/news/2025-10-gulf-maine-pose-threat-american.html
Source : https://phys.org/news/2025-10-millions-sea-analysis.html
Well, its alreay Friday here – actually early Saturday morn FWIW but still :
Source : https://phys.org/news/2025-10-interstellar-comet-mars-fleet-spacecraft.html
A rad
Source : https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/a-great-wave-is-rippling-through-our-galaxy-pushing-thousands-of-stars-out-of-place
^ Not a Radcliffe wave – that’s a different one. Specifically one discussed here :
Source : https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/a-giant-extraterrestrial-wave-hit-earth-14-million-years-ago-and-may-have-dramatically-altered-our-planets-climate
Middle Miocene prehistorical era~wise FWIW.
Via DW news – thought there was amention of a poll saying 80% of Italians oppsoe Isreal’s action in gaza or something like that butcannot find it now..
Source : https://www.dw.com/en/could-israel-try-to-strike-hamas-targets-in-turkey/video-74230508
Trump pushes a new label for Democrats: ‘The Party Of Hate, Evil, And Satan’
“Republicans apparently want Democrats to stop using the kind of incendiary political rhetoric that the president uses all the time.”
Thanks for all the astronomical news up-thread StevoR. Fascinating stuff.
In other news here on Earth, DHS Includes White Supremacist Meme in Video Promoting Deportation Blitz.
New York Times: U.S. Military Attacked Boat Off Venezuela, Killing Four Men, Hegseth Says
“It was the fourth strike in the Trump administration’s legally disputed campaign targeting suspected drug runners in the Caribbean Sea.”
Followup to comments 93 and 94.
Link
Describing DJT – the Brits have a way with words!
.http://youtube.com/post/UgkxV4JLBbAZ0WNyYGU_w3FL5uFRkWIf-uFR
Link
Mike Johnson fails Fox News’ softball question about health care
Link
Hamas accepts parts of Trump peace deal to end Gaza war, including release of hostages
Renato Casaro, the renowned Italian film poster artist has died.
@110. Lynna, OM : AJ has live updates on this. Phew! Phew? Peace at last?
Source : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/10/4/live-trumps-tells-israel-stop-bombing-gaza-after-hamas-ceasefire-reply
At least hope that things can get better from here now and atleats the killing stops (?) for now..
Don’t trust Trump or Netanyahu one bit tho’
Analysis piece by Laura Tingle and yeah, it does actually seem to have been updated I think? :
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-04/gaza-israel-conflict-geopolitics-trump/105830544
Here’s hoping?
Source : https://www.space.com/stargazing/auroras/auroras-may-get-stronger-within-the-next-2-years-as-the-sun-enters-a-turbulent-decline-with-a-last-gasp-finale
..As long as we don’t get a Carrington Event like in 1859 ..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event
CNN: Kilmar Abrego Garcia may have been charged because of Trump administration’s vindictiveness, judge finds
Vindictive prosecution is normally a dead issue, defendants complain about it a lot but normally making a case is very hard. Prosecutors have a lot of leeway in selecting which cases they bring. The Trump administration is violating the rules all over the place in ways that make the vindictive prosecution claim a lot more likely to stick.
In a well run government senior officials avoid talking about active cases except in the most broad terms and avoid saying the defendant is guilty. Trump and officials under him have straight up said they are targeting their political enemies and those that irritate Trump.
It will be interesting to see what the questioning and investigation turns up. Who ordered the prosecution and what grounds did they give? Did they leave any records? How will the judge react when it turns out they didn’t keep records they are legally required to keep?
I have a distinct impression that if a Carrington Event-style natural disaster were to occur today (and it would do serious damage to power grids and communications networks, with real, live casualties — and more than a few real dead casualties), the USA in particular would immediately jump to the conclusion that it had to be terrorism and launch an attack on some randomly-selected “enemy”, who was also just trying to pick themself up from the rubble.
Susan Sarandon 79 today.
Same age as POTUS, but she looks and talks a hell of a lot better.
October 4, 1936
The Day Britain Fought Back Against Fascism
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=CG_pd2jQXAk
It was the poor people in London’s East End who fought back, not the well-educated well-of people advocating appeasement.
For those using Facebook; here are several takes of Susan Sarandon.
.https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DRyDJoGrH/
South Park
The Vice President tries to help Satan
.https://youtube.com/shorts/xmTdu16HCCw
StevoR @112 and 113, thanks for the updates.
I agree with your comment: “Don’t trust Trump or Netanyahu one bit tho’”
NBC News:
Link
NBC News:
Washington Post:
MSNBC:
NBC News:
Link
Video and photo at the link.
Link
Images available at the link.
Followup to comments 110, 112, 113 and 122.
Israel strikes Gaza after Trump calls for stop to bombing
“The attacks came after Hamas said it has agreed to release all Israeli hostages and expressed willingness to negotiate through mediators on President Donald Trump’s peace plan.”
Link
Will rfkJr’s health advice help tRUMP qualify to be on a coin? Just askin’ for a friend
The Federal Code says; 31 U.S. Code § 5114 “Only the portrait of a deceased individual may appear on United States currency and securities.”
https://www.wonkette.com/p/guess-were-at-war-with-venezuela
Link
Mediaite – Leaked texts reveal Trump officials floated airborne troops to ‘war-ravaged’ US city
Gratituous violence in a children’s game? The target demographic might be Texas.
“Pokemon Vs. Goblin Slayer?!”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=yL76_PPWOEQ
Several analysts are sounding alarms about the artificial intelligence industry being a major financial bubble that could potentially tip the global economy into a severe recession.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/artificial-intelligence-bubble
@132 Lynna, OM posted about: https://www.wonkette.com/p/guess-were-at-war-with-venezuela
Sure sounds like a NEW WAR!
I reply: I can’t keep track of all the wars tRUMP and his chicken-hawks have started:
war on science
war on education
war on trans
war on antifa
war on poor people
and on and on ad nauseam!
I keep hearing my mind shout ‘make it stop’! But, there doesn’t seem to be any means strong enough to stop the murderous madness that rules this country.
MSN: Centrist Republicans warn against Trump’s partisan shutdown strategy
Trump and the hard right isn’t acting in good faith? You don’t say. Why is it suddenly a concern now? Why didn’t you speak up back when the administration started acting in bad faith? Oh, wait, your retiring aren’t you so there isn’t much that Trump can do against you is there?
Thune and Johnson are not really trying to persuade the Democrats, they are trying to bully the Democrats. They have refused to negotiate and are still repeating lies about the Democratic position. Trump is just making fun of Democrats.
It’s funny that the moderates think they have any power when Trump is pushing as far to the right as the courts will let him get away with.
Disturbing yt video here – by TYT but still – Pro-Israeli Government Bots Are Coming To Censor ALL of us -under 15 mins long.
Plus there’s this one by Breaking points – Pro Israel CRACKDOWN On Social Media also under 15 mins length.
Oh and here’s a palate cleanser one here on a rock that looks like its been painted but is the resultiof natural processes – This Rock Is Found Nowhere Else on Earth by OzGeology & 9 mins long.
Democrats shouldn’t bail out Trump as the government shutdown drags on
“The best time for the opposition to take a stand, rather than settle for untrustworthy promises, is right now.”
Related video at the link.
Followup to Sky Captain @134. And regarding Sky Captain’s post: The 82nd Airborne! Really? JFC.
Trump-Appointed Judge In Portland Case: Admin ‘Risks Blurring The Line Between Civil and Military Federal Power’
Link
https://www.wonkette.com/p/whats-new-in-government-shutdown
“What’s New In Government Shutdown? […]”
Washington Post link
“EXCLUSIVE: Trump plan would limit disability benefits for older Americans”
“Trump administration officials are considering eliminating age as a factor in deciding whether someone is capable of working”
WHOA! Trump panics as press conference resurfaces shedding light on his DARK PAST (if Howard Lutnik realised Epstein was a creep within a few minutes, why did DJT hang out with E for two decades?)
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=NnHDye56WbQ
I just realised Howard Lutnik – who looks ancient- is a couple of weeks younger than me. I need to start planning for my funeral.
Hello.
I keep seeing news from the lawless seas. The regular US war/security show against drugs and terrorism now features lethal military attacks on alleged drug boats in international waters, with no pretense of concern about legality. The Israeli Navy is gung-ho detaining people and destroying property in international waters, even though they could apparently get some legal cover by waiting until the Sumud flotilla enters Gaza territorial waters.
Meanwhile here in Finland, a local court in Helsinki gave its verdict on the Eagle S sabotage tanker case, and it’s a real WTFwhopper.
Three members of the 20-strong crew stood accused of sabotage, and had to stay in Finland for many months for the court proceedings while the ship was allowed to sail. They argued that they’d just accidentally ended up dragging the anchor on sea floor for many miles. This happened in international waters just outside Finnish, Estonian and Russian waters. They argued that they’d been tricked into entering Finnish territorial waters, while not planning to allow the ship be legally seized.
In the end, all that was irrelevant. The court decided, bizarrely, that it has no jurisdiction in this case. While conceding that the alleged sabotage affected Finland and effectively took place here, some international sea administration treaty decrees that crimes committed by sailors in international waters can only be adjudicated by their home country (in this case India, Georgia) or the ship’s flag country (Cook Islands). No word on whether anything is going to happen on that front – I guess not.
Estonians, probably, now have the impression that the Finnish justice system is in Russia’s pocket. I’m wondering about that, too.
Free money for the wealthy, the rest of us get screwed:
https://featureassets.gocomics.com/assets/e2ab53b070d2013eb2b3005056a9545d?optimizer=image&width=992&quality=85
on a related serious note:
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/musk-xai-public-interest-suit
and
https://scheerpost.com/2025/10/05/data-centers-pillage-electricity-for-ai-video-slop/ (a video)
WTF? The Trump administration is sending the California National Guard to Oregon?? The report is from The New York Times.
California National Guard Sent to Oregon, Newsom Says
Saturday Night Live presented sketches that addressed current controversies, including Pete Hegseth’s speech to military officers at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Northern Virginia.
Videos at the links.
New York Times link
You Tube link
The LIES and PROPAGANDA are getting VERY DANGEROUS:
https://digbysblog.net/2025/10/04/what-theyre-seeing-2/
The scary thing about them is that sooo many knuckle-dragging magat imbeciles are slurping this up and are willing to use violence.
The Portland Oregonian Met the Moment
See also:The Oregonian
Babiš triumphs in Czechia, sending ripples through the EU
“The right-wing populist vows to slash support for Ukraine, challenge increased military spending and confront Brussels over the Green Deal.”
Bob Geldof. Born October 5th, 74 years ago.
Explosion and fire at home of South Carolina Judge who ruled against an attempt by the DOJ to harvest voter Information
The judge was out walking her dog at the time, but her husband (a former State Senator and son were injured.
I just heard a pro-Trump man killed two women over Charlie Kirk but I know no further details.
It was a 17-year old who mowed down two girls on an e-bike using a jeep travelling at 70 miles per hour.
One of the girls had mocked Charlie Kirk. There is also the issue of whether she had rejected his advances. His social media presence indicates he is unstable.
The story starts 3 minutes in.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=ncyQRFOR6Dc
Jane Goodall about Ark B
.https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1LjBTjE82k/
I learned something today. Thanks to South Park, I found out about the Hohenzollern eagle that also appears in “numerous” other contexts, but not so much the last 80 years.
“Have you noticed Trump’s hidden golden eagle ?”
.https://youtube.com/shorts/mkjnqg_q6XA
@ 156 birgerjohansson
Can you not do that?! I thought he’d fuckin’s died! X-D
Try, “Happy Birthday, Bob Geldof”!
I mean, I’m sorry but your comment literally sounds like an inscription on a fucking tomestone. Maybe throw in a “many happy returns” next time dude. Just sayin.”
OK, I did not mean to freak you out
Remember, I must internally translate Swedish into English. Sometimes it gets ass-backwards.
.
Paleolithic birthday cake.
.https://www.facebook.com/share/r/16SMP7WbhD/
No translation needed.
Robert Reich
“What a Vietnam War Hard Hat Riot Says about Today’s Culture Wars”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=AF-G9Iov28M
I remember those days! Even Swedish newspapers covered it.
BTW, please read the comments at Youtube.
(The ïn short summary there.)
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-06/scientists-win-nobel-prize-medicine-for-immune-system-work/105859742
The reichwing malaise is being spread by the Christianist White Supremacist bigots of the USA here – right into South Oz :
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-06/turning-point-australia-sa-move/105857144
Those last named all being local far reichwing politicians albiet Speirs was a former SA LNP Opposition leader I’ve encountered personally.
StevoR @ 167
Thank you for covering that! I take a short break for lunch and naturally stuff happens.
.
“20 Forgotten British Names You Rarely Hear Today”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=SZH3WAo4PGc
This dude needs a Hugo Boss outfit, complete with Hohenzollern eagles and “sun symbols”.
.https://www.facebook.com/share/1AA5vXeCtx/
@ 168 StevoR
That’s horrific. Imagine what a different world we would be living in if there had been even a remotely viable opposition to Trump.
But no. It was too hard. Literally no one in the US could come up with anything more palatable to voters than Trump. Fucking useless.
… and bear in mind, they weren’t asked to come with an alternative to some genius. Just an alternative to a racist, misogynist, pathologically lying, venal, immoral, real estate grifter. But they couldn’t do it. Pathetic.
… and convicted felon. The Democrats were so shit they couldn’t beat a convicted felon. What the actual fuck?
Related.
I don’t like Mondays either, Bob.
.https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Cq8yJir8u/
As the shutdown continues, Republicans think they hold the upper hand (but they don’t)
“At least for now, if GOP lawmakers believe the government shutdown is going well for them, they’re looking at a landscape that doesn’t appear to exist.”
See comment 39.
On counterterrorism funds, President Bystander is forced to quickly reverse course
“Too often, Donald Trump sounds like someone who just wandered into the Oval Office, unaware of events unfolding around him.”
Related video at the link, with informed experts commenting.
Pete Hegseth fires yet another military leader as the Pentagon purge intensifies
“A scandal-plagued former Fox News host is destabilizing the U.S. military.”
Followup to comment 151.
The New York Times reported:
Commentary:
Link
Followup to comment 178.
Link
A little bit of good news from the SCROTUS
The Supreme Court refused Monday to revive a controversial Missouri gun law that bans police from enforcing some federal firearm laws.
Same link as in comment 179.
Same link as in comment 179.
Miltant Agnostic @180, thanks for the good news.
Same link as in comment 179.
In that statement, Ben’Ary revealed the plain truth.
Further followup to Sky Captain @134
Same link as in comment 179.
See also The Minnesota Star Tribune. (Subscribers only)
Cartoon: Shutting down
A followup of sorts to comment 176.
Cartoon: Lies and the lying liars who tell them
Link
Washington Post link
You rightly blame one major contributor to the disaster that is USA 2025. But I blame the other as well: the very considerable proportion of the American electorate who are attracted to “a racist, misogynist, pathologically lying, venal, immoral, real estate grifter.” After all, no-one had any excuse for not knowing that that is what Trump is.
Paramount Buys The Free Press, Ushering in a New Era at CBS News
“Bari Weiss, a founder of The Free Press, will become editor in chief of CBS News.”
We may have to wait-and-see, but overall I think this is bad news.
CDC signs off on fall Covid shots. It may not be easy to get one, depending on where you live.
“The federal guidance comes after many states have already announced their own Covid vaccine recommendations, creating ‘unprecedented’ levels of confusion, one expert said.”
Related video at the link.
Despite campaign promises, White House eyes new changes to Social Security and Medicare
“ ‘I will never do anything that will jeopardize or hurt Social Security or Medicare,’ Trump vowed in 2024. I have bad news for voters who believed him.”
@166 birgerjohansson: PBS covered that last week. (This link to the documentary is probably geolocked to the US.)
PBS American Experience – Hard Hat Riot (1:21:16)
Re: Lynna, OM @ #191…
I’m planning to get a COVID booster this week. If I need to talk to a pharmacist, it’ll be a short conversation. I live in California, I’m 76, and I have several comorbidities…
About AOC. Trigger warning.
.https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BNcLpdn1v/
From Lynna @176
That might be the silver lining in that dark cloud.
Scathing Atheist 657 Conjured Edition
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=3EdozyaYvts
God Awful Movies
GAM 526 Mindreader
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=-ouEjueFgs4
Skepticrat257 – Eyes Wide Shutdown Edition
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=dHA-poxOK8I
Top prosecutor is rejecting Trump pressure to charge New York AG
“A key federal prosecutor in Virginia is resisting bringing charges against Letitia James.”
Mike Johnson is even more clueless about health care than you thought
“Stop Trying to Understand SOLARIS (1972)”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=Zcg4ztiBGo4
Paul Fellows
“Once Around SIMP 0136” (A rogue planet 20 light years away)
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=B6CLI63DTgQ
birger @202: The most pretentious crap about films I’ve seen and loved (or seen and hated, for that matter) are the supposed ‘analyses’ of them. See also Rashomon.
New Yorker link
“Donald Trump’s Big Pharma Showdown Ends with a Whimper,” by John Cassidy
“Wall Street is celebrating the White House’s deal with Pfizer on drug prices. Patients shouldn’t be.”
New York Times:
Reuters:
Link
Another flunky takes on double-duty in Trump’s chaotic Cabinet
Whoops! Dr. Oz admits how bad health care costs are under Trump
Even Republicans admit Johnson is doing everything to hide Epstein files
Vice: QAnon Shaman Says He’s the ‘True’ President, Sues Trump for $40 Trillion
Nut job probably self written legal complaint trying to sue Trump as part of an extensive list of people who are keeping Chansley from taking his rightful place as president. It’s amusing on it’s own but I want to see Trump replay, he doesn’t like it when people he does favors for don’t blindly support him.
Given his history it wouldn’t surprise me if somebody is keeping an eye on him. The rest of his claims are rambling street guy crazy level stuff.
Re: JM @ #211…
I want to read about the deposition when Chansley grills Trump. (In reality, I expect it won’t get very far, as the first judge to see it will probably laugh it out of court.)
Kyiv Independent: Russia to import gasoline from Asia as nearly 40% of refining capacity shuts down, media reports
Russia is planning on large scale importing of fuel subsidized by the Russian government to try and stabilize the oil situation. In all probability this will be mostly China simply because they have the pipeline connections and the industrial processing capacity to do it. China will be buying crude oil from Russia, processing it into usable gasoline and selling to back to Russia. You can be sure there will be a hefty markup on doing that. Notice also that Singapore is far too small to matter except that they can act as a third party for Russia to buy gasoline under somebody else’s name.
They are also looking at getting gasoline from Belarus. Belarus has the processing capacity to sell gasoline to Russia and because of sanctions, cut off from other places to sell it. This could become a significant business but Belarus has to be very careful not to get involved in the war.
This is a sign of desperation and a reflection of the necessity of keeping the transportation network running.
HuffPo
Jimmy Kimmel:
“Trump is Less Popular Than Jimmy Kimmel, Rants About Osama bin Laden & Wants His Face On Money”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=DmyWJAs29RU
Vale Juno mission it seems – a working spacecraft round our solar systems largets world which we might have lost thansk to the shutdown and Trump. Leftcircling Jove forwhat ican gather but info is scarce onthis.
Source : https://www.space.com/space-exploration/missions/nasas-juno-probe-orbiting-jupiter-may-have-come-to-an-end-but-no-one-can-confirm
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-07/scientists-physics-nobel-prize-quantum-mechanics-discovery/105863766
Source : https://www.space.com/space-exploration/bill-nye-the-protest-guy-and-the-planetary-society-hold-save-nasa-science-day-of-action-on-capitol-hill
Single vote saves Italian MEP Ilaria Salis from Hungarian prison. Salis herself has welcomed the vote as a victory for democracy and antifascism, but obviously, it’s a perilously narrow one. I guess many of those who voted to lift her immunity did so out of malice towards her as a representative of the left rather than for love of Orbán, but that the leader of the EPP (the “respectable” right in the European Parliament) is ready to ally with fascists against the protections from political persecution (“lawfare”) MEPs need, in order to pursue a political vendeta, is itself shameful and alarming.
StevoR@218,
It’s a common belief (or half-belief or belief pretended for satirical purposes) on the left that Trump is actually a bought and paid for agent of Russia. But his attacks on NASA suggest that he must actually be in the pay of China, since China is the only state capable of rivalling the USA in space. I discount Russia – I doubt the regime’s ability to do more than maintain some Soviet-era capacity; the EU is not a state, and is increasingly paralyzed by political division and economic crisis; Japan, India, the UAE… are bit-players for the forseeable future.
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show
ICE violence caught on camera featured among evidence in new lawsuit
Video is 4:16 minutes
Judge spanks Trump lawyer for trying to skate past block on National Guard to Oregon
Video is 4:38 minutes
Pritzker digs in against Trump abuse of National Guard; warns of 2026 Trump scheme
Video is 10:49 minutes
@220. Kg : “It’s a common belief (or half-belief or belief pretended for satirical purposes) on the left that Trump is actually a bought and paid for agent of Russia.”
Thing is that’s scarily plausible and I’m not That sure that its wrong..
Trump-appointed CIA leader makes himself the agency’s top legal official
“A Trump loyalist is helping lead the CIA. The same Trump loyalist is also apparently in control the CIA’s legal judgments. What could possibly go wrong?”
Trump and his team add the NFL to its growing list of culture war targets
“Given football’s popularity, common sense might suggest the president would be eager to align himself with the league, but he can’t seem to help himself.”
Embedded links to sources are available at the main link.
As the shutdown reaches the one-week mark, Trump points to ‘negotiations’ that don’t exist
“The president isn’t just boasting about imaginary negotiations, he’s also moving further away from the Democratic position on health care.”
Related video at the link.
Cartoon: Masked menaces
Trump acts suspicious as hell when asked about Ghislaine Maxwell
@103. Lynna, OM : “Thanks for all the astronomical news up-thread StevoR. Fascinating stuff.”
No worries, my pleasure – and thankyou.
@171, 172, 173, Silentbob : (anti-Democratic anti-Kamala out of place rubbish : To quote Luke Skywalker – “Amazing, every word of what you just said was wrong” literally 5 seconds long which is literally 5 seconds more than that deserves.
Say what now?
White House memo argues furloughed workers not guaranteed back pay
Washington Post link
“EXCLUSIVE: ICE kept most offices open in shutdown — but not the one inspecting detention centers”
“Agency’s entire Office of Detention Oversight has been placed on furlough, despite surging numbers of detainees and the administration’s promise that its deportation push remains unchanged.”
Independent UK: ICE is struggling to detain more people despite a huge influx of money. And officials are blaming one man
Political meddling is keeping ICE from spending the money they are getting. The leaders want to approve every deal and are cutting deals to house the illegal immigrants instead of quickly building prisons. Cutting deals to house immigrants in Republican states so the money flows to Republican coffers is taking time. Without any place to put them ICE is running into limits of how many they can arrest.
There is a dark humor with the Trump administration where their fundamental incompetence and corruption get in the way of their malice and desire to hurt people.
I’m all for implementing the last comment in this comic:
https://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyimages/3202.png
@232 JM wrote; There is a dark humor with the Trump administration where their fundamental incompetence and corruption get in the way of their malice and desire to hurt people.
I reply: That is very true. When I read that my earlier comments came to mind:
‘They are clowns. But, they are clowns with flamethrowers’. I guess it’s just that they are having trouble authorizing the refueling of the flamethrowers.
Just heard on mainslime news that air traffic controllers have reached the breaking point and are staging a ‘sick out’.
Regarding the increasing number of crashes of all kinds of aircraft, I don’t ever want to fly again.
Re: shermanj @ #235…
In the late 1950s to the mid 1960s, my father worked as a contracted field service engineer with the US Air Force. He refused to fly because he knew about too many ways an airplane could fail.
https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/trump-explodes-with-rage-after-gavin
The Borowitz Report is satire.
Republicans pick a losing fight over which is the party ‘concerned about health care’
“GOP leaders apparently want a public debate over which party is focused on health care. Given the party’s record, that’s not a fight Republicans can win.”
Six former surgeons general warn that RFK Jr. is ‘endangering the health of the nation’
“This is the first time six former surgeons general have linked arms and urged the public to recognize the nation’s health secretary as dangerous.”
re Lynna @238:
It is more like “republicans are the ones concerned that US citizens are getting health care over our objections”.
johnson catman @240, yes, that’s accurate.
In other news: When it comes to Trump’s war on cities, he doesn’t have the courts or the people on his side, by Rachel Maddow
“It appears that Trump sending troops into U.S. cities hasn’t made people any less interested in protesting against him.”
Lynna@221
The video linked in Lynna’s post @221 shows an actual example of Christian Persecution.
Funny how the people who want to have mandatory prayer in schools are just fine with with shooting someone in the face with a pepper ball for praying. If you are a Christian (odds are the shooter was) what does it say about you that you find a Presbyterian minister praying at you while you are on a rooftop so threatening that you have to respond with violence.
Why Stephen Miller’s weird vision of a vast left-wing conspiracy matters
“The deputy chief of staff’s conspiratorial vision is ridiculous, but given his position in the White House, it’d be a mistake to ignore it.”
Militant Agnostic @242, Interesting point.
In other news, AOC hits Stephen Miller right where it hurts, and he can’t take it
If you haven’t seen it yet, peruse PZ’s post: Portland is burning?
PZ points out that Republicans are using an image that combines a old (2008) photo of Ecuadorian police; a fiery protest photo from Brazil (2017); and caption text that praises Trump in order to justify Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Portland.
Sheesh.
Ethnolinguistic map of Europe in 600 AD. At this time, the west slavic people had pushed west to Elbe. The later German expansion east would not begin until the twelwth century.
The Circassians were genocided by the Russians as late as the 19th century.
.https://www.facebook.com/share/1CfWkZ31uT/
Friction-based landing gear enables drones to safely land on fast-moving vehicles
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-10-friction-based-gear-enables-drones.html
Jimmy Kimmel Uncovers Trump’s Portland Mix-Up — You Can’t Make This Up! 🤣
.https://youtube.com/shorts/0R1WDYKeSY0
Britain/Phil Moorhouse :
“HMRC Investigate Nigel Farage’s Close Adviser”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=qrfkfEBgivQ
The logic of this headline from Seth Meyers would get a real AI to explode.
-Trump Lashes Out at “Politically Correct” Fox News
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=qRRAyFO3Edw
Bearded vultures are an archaeologists’ best friend.
“Scientists Discover a 650 Year Old Preserved Shoe in a Vulture’s Nest”
.https://youtube.com/shorts/ty0g06aCt_k
This is old news, but a nice summary of what we know today.
“DNA of The ONLY Clovis Ever Found Changes Everything We Know About The First Americans.”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=WHXXnV1Ltbk
@ 251 birgerjohansson
Fricken vultures! I’ve been looking everywhere for that shoe! :-(
Silentbob @ 253
Are you an elf, a dwarf or possibly one of those long-lived Numenorans?
Let’s talk elections:
“Democrats on Edge of a MAJOR Victory in California”
The Democratic politicians are coming around from “bipartisanship at all costs” to “let’s implement new liberal policies”.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=emgmJsYpIJg
Scientists Reveal the DNA Ancestry of China’s First Emperor [rather, the DNA of the workers who slaved on the tomb construction]
-I recommend you skip to the 9-minute mark.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=-mmy9s_qHCY
Professor David Nutt.
“Neuroscientist Ranks Every Drug By How Hard They Are to Quit! Tier List”
A one-hour video.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=G-OZ_UBGvvo
Fyodor Dostoevsky talks about the Trump government
.https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17VQMAKVZX/
Countries raided or settled by vikings based on modern borders.
Ironically, Putin’s crowd insist the rise of Russian principalities had no cultural input from vikings or khazars.
.https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17PrN7RJv7/
Very predictable revelation about prude Republican bigot.
.https://www.facebook.com/share/1Bpih4nF1B/
Trump is getting an infusion of something every month
“Brief: Once-Monthly Lecanemab (Leqembi) for Alzheimer’s Disease”
.https://secure.medicalletter.org/TML-article-1726f
https://www.msnbc.com/all
‘Seeing the light’: Crockett on MTG’s surprising GOP break over healthcare
Video is 5:25 minutes
‘Trump’s lawyer, not America’s’: Hayes blasts Bondi as worst AG in modern history
Video is 10:45 minutes
re Lynna @262:
I think that headline could be expanded to say that every one of The Orange Turd’s appointees are the worst in not just modern but all of history.
The latest Republican conspiracy theory about the FBI and Jan. 6 starts to unravel
“Republicans are claiming that the FBI was caught “spying” on congressional Republicans and “tapping” their phones. That’s really not what happened.”
“I just talked with the president of Puerto Rico”
Donald Trump
johnson catman @263, “[…] every one of The Orange Turd’s appointees are the worst in not just modern but all of history.”
And even worse than that, the appointees work in concert to ignore the law.
In other news, (and as sort of a followup to comments 262 and 263), White House announces radical new plan to allocate tariff revenue without Congress
“The Constitution gives Congress what’s known as the ‘power of the purse.’ When Trump tries to claim he has his own purse, there’s a problem.”
Related video at the link.
Key Witness Undercuts Trump DOJ’s Witch Hunt Against Jim Comey
Same link as in comment 267.
Followup to comment 268.
Bloomberg Law link
Trump’s off-script comments cause shutdown headaches for GOP
I feel I must point out that although correct in this case, Chait is a pompous ass*. After spending years regarding “political correctness” as the main threat to freedom, in February 2016, according to Wikipedia:
*”Ass” in the British sense: a donkey or figuratively, a fool; and “pompous ass” particularly someone much less clever than they very obviously think they are.
The Hill: Johnson eyes legislation to pay military, FAA controllers during shutdown
There are always a bunch of little proposals for funding various essential bits of the government during shut downs. Most are rejected but occasionally they do go through. That the Republicans are talking about it so fast is a sign of weakening position.
I suspect they also want to get funding to the air traffic controllers. They controllers already went on a couple of hour strike to remind people they are working for no pay. The air traffic controllers may also have been motivated by evidence that has surfaced that the Trump administration plans to not back pay people after the shut down.
The Hill: Jeffries rejects one-year extension of ObamaCare subsidies: ‘A laughable proposition’
The proposal has some Democratic support but I don’t believe anybody has publicly lined up to vote for it. Jeffries has the right idea, accepting a temporary extension in exchange for a permanent concession is the sort of mistake the Democrats have made too often.
The official Republican position is still even harder. Give us these permanent tax concessions and we might talk about your position later. That is a non-starter even for the Democrats but shouldn’t necessarily be taken to seriously. Johnson is notorious for taking one position publicly while negotiating from an entirely different position in private. What he says in public often has more to do with what Trump wants to hear then the Republican negotiating position.
Not that serious negotiations appear to be under way. As far as anybody can tell despite Trump talking about negotiations nothing has happened yet.
Jimmy Kimmel
Trump Has NOTHING to Do with Epstein Bday Letter, Pam Bondi Grilled & Federal Workers Go Without Pay
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=iy5o38VRjtE
Nobel prize in chemistry awarded to scientists for work on ‘Hermione’s handbag’
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/oct/08/nobel-prize-in-chemistry-awarded-to-scientists-for-work-on-porous-materials
New type of diabetes discovered in babies
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-diabetes-babies.html
Federal Data the Trump Administration Has Tampered With or Destroyed
More details are available at the link, including Trump’s tampering with data related to:
Pregnancy and Family-related Data
HIV/Aids Data
COVID Vaccine Guidance Manipulated
SNAP benefits
Census Bureau public information
Climate change
Safe drinking water
National climate assessments
Environmental Protection Agency research
Weather prediction tools
Race and gender tracking for Federal workers
Workplace injuries and deaths
Right-Wing violence
National Parks and museums
Congressional funding
Proof of cluelessness, a Republican specialty.
Link
Trump’s demands get more unhinged amid his war on Democrats
Washington Post link
“A quarter of FBI agents are assigned to immigration enforcement, per FBI data”
“The large number of reassignments reflect a vast reshaping of the agency and could put other priorities at risk”
EXCLUSIVE: NATIONAL SECURITY (From NBC News)
Trump administration officials seriously discussing invoking Insurrection Act, sources say
“A decision is not expected to be imminent, one source said, but debate within the administration has shifted recently to more deeply exploring how and when the act might be invoked.”
Followup to comment 264.
Kash Patel fires yet another group of FBI agents without cause, shutters corruption group
NBC News:
The New York Times Wins Right to Obtain Info Musk Wanted Kept Private
“Elon Musk has suffered a major blow in a lawsuit over his government clearances.”
New York Times:
Associated Press:
Link
Much more at the link.
Lynna @ 286
These deaths are squarely on Trump, Stephen Miller and the Muskrat. With further input from the DOGE vermin.
Sinking balls of krill food could be good news for the planet
But microplastic particles are bad news for krill.
.https://phys.org/news/2025-10-balls-krill-food-good-news.html
HuffingtonPost ICE agent shoots protesting minister in the head with pepper ball. “We could hear them laughing”.
Andy Murray reacts when media excludes women from the conversation. .https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1D71fJ24Rd/
Hey Bible-bangers. Remember Bill Clinton?
.https://youtube.com/shorts/2zYZKWAe7Is
I’m sure you’re right – he wants the parts of the country he deems hostile effectively under military rule before the mid-terms. Anyone know if it’s clear legally whether if the President declares an insurrection when there isn’t one, orders given under the powers of the Act are themselves legal?
I should add to #292 – he wants rule by his miltary. Does he yet have them under enough control to be confident they would follow orders clearly aimed at establishing a dictatorship? Their near-silent reception of his incoherent bafflegab when they were summoned to hear him and Hesgeth might suggest not. Whatever their politics, they must surely dislike the president and secretary a pair of arrogant, ignorant jackasses.
New CBS owner and his pro-Israeli aktivism.
.http://youtube.com/post/Ugkx0eNUN1aG2JwS5huX_onkEzIUg9N5DnGC
We still don’t seem to have confirmation that a halt to the ongoing genocide will happen. Agreement has been reached between negotiators for Israel and Hamas, but Netanyahu has said the agreement needs cabinet approval – I’m not sure whether Hamas has said anything parallel. Let’s hope the bombing does indeed stop, and the starvation blockade is lifted – and the exclusion of journalists from outside. But the mere fact that this first-stage agreement was reached so quickly shows that Trump -and probably Biden before him – could have halted the genocide at any time they chose, just by telling Netanyahu he must agree a ceasefire. And even if Israel does not find some excuse to resume the genocide once the hostages are freed, the terms of “peace” will be undisguised neo-colonialism, with the Palestinians having no say in who rules them. (Yes, Hamas has denied them that since 2006, but that does not justify treating them as colonial subjects.)
Mediaite: Trump Brags ‘We Took the Freedom of Speech Away’ With Plan to Imprison Flag Burners — Supreme Court Rejected in 1989
And quoting Trump:
What Trump has done is try to make it illegal by ordering federal prosecutors to fish for anything they can charge people with. They can’t directly make flag burning illegal but it’s the sort of thing that probably technically violates some law if read at the broadest. They are calling for charges like starting a fire at a public event, littering, that sort of thing. If a charge is ever brought it’s likely to be killed by the Supreme Court eventually.
That isn’t the point. The point is Trump claiming he is making law, he is deciding what is to be allowed and what is not. He is controlling what can be done through fear.
Joyce Vance: The Slow Death Facing The Comey Prosecution
The DOJ wants to slow walk this case, the judge isn’t having though. Which is good. The DOJ officials likely want to run this slow for a combination of reasons. They likely expect to lose eventually and the longer they take the longer they avoid Trump’s wrath. If they really drag out the prosecution and appeals they might run in past Trump’s term in office. More practically the longer the case takes the longer it’s in the news and having this case run past the mid terms is in the Republicans advantage.
New prosecutors have taken over for Lindsey Halligan. I’m curious just how far the DOJ had to dig for somebody to actually handle the court appearances for this case. The judge is setting a fast schedule but if the DOJ really wants to slow walk this they can dither over a bunch of things. Particularly handling of classified information.
https://www.msnbc.com/all
‘No backsies’: The real reason Mike Johnson won’t swear in new Dem rep
Video is 3:34 minutes
New reporting confirms Trump accidentally posted DM to Bondi ordering prosecutions
Video is 7:46 minutes
Shocking video shows ICE shoot Chicago pastor in head with pepper ball
Video is 8:45 minutes, Chris Hayes covers aspects of ICE-associated issues.
Why the White House’s ‘antifa roundtable’ took an exceedingly weird turn
“Trump administration officials made bizarre claims related to antifa that were rooted in the idea that it’s an actual organization. It really isn’t.”
Link
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3m2pxkr4pdj2d
Video at the link
New York Times: Rutgers Expert on Antifa Tries to Flee to Spain After Death Threats
“Mark Bray was teaching courses on antifascism. Turning Point USA accused him of belonging to antifa, which he denies. His flight to Spain was canceled abruptly on Wednesday night.”
ICE Is Sending People to a Prison in Africa’s Only Absolute Monarchy
“Inside the ‘legal black hole’ in Eswatini, where Trump is sending detainees.”
@ 291
Yes, and the right would say that if Bill Clinton could get away with perjury then Trump should be free to do what he wants.
Also, the line “We didn’t elect a chior boy” was used by Dems to defend Slick Willie when the Jennifer Flowers scandal came to light. The right is merely throwing it back at the Dems.
Cartoon: Trump coin
Owen Jones latest Is Gaza Genocide FINALLY over? – A Masterclass From Palestinian Analyst Muhammad Shehada 45 – 50 mins long & confession taht haven’t yet seen / heard all this myself but both those dudes are worth hearing usually.
@ Akira MacKenzie : Bill Clinton the ex-POTUS. Ah. The good ole days. If only even he were POTUS now.. Back when when it was Yeltsin and him – the drunk and the lecher in charge of the two global superpowers & they seemed such bad jokes before we saw what “bad” really could be.. Sigh.
@ Akira MacKenzie : “Also, the line “We didn’t elect a chior boy” was used by Dems to defend Slick Willie when the Jennifer Flowers scandal came to light. The right is merely throwing it back at the Dems.”
Whatever dubious suff the Dems might do the reichwing then says “Hold my beer.” and exponentially x exponentially x infinity goes and outdoes them..
Bill Clinton vs Trump I mean. Fuck. Where do we even start..
The dif between a mid POTUS and the absolute sociopathic traitor who has just ended the USoA as we know it..
Lynna, OM@299,
I’d have preferred the adjectives “sinister” and “threatening” to “weird”.
KG @310, I agree.
In other news: Republicans reject effort to curb Trump’s military strikes in international waters
“GOP senators balked at the chance to limit the deadly military strikes the president has approved against civilian boats in the Caribbean.”
Related video at the link.
re Lynna @300:
Is that to protect him from the staring eyes of the photos or just in case Stephen Miller flies in through the window? Either way, it is a miracle (hah!) that the water doesn’t boil off.
On Portland, Trump’s claims are at odds with his own administration’s assessments
“In Oregon’s largest city, federal officials have compiled evidence that discredits the president’s hysterical claims about local conditions.”
re Lynna @311: John Fetterman, the new Joe Manchin.
Trump’s line on possibly suspending habeas corpus goes from bad to worse
“[Trump] said he’d leave the future of habeas corpus up to Kristi Noem, who recently made clear that she didn’t know what habeas corpus was.”
johnson catman @314, yes, that seems true. I didn’t see that coming from Fetterman.
In other, and breaking news, as reported by Reuters: Israel and Hamas sign Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal
More reaction statements are available at the link.
Well, this is trippy! Pre-Incan empire building boozy trippy :
Source : https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/psychedelic-beer-may-have-helped-pre-inca-empire-in-peru-schmooze-elite-outsiders-and-consolidate-power
(Just click a few times and works despite some subscriber-y wall- y initial annoyance.)
@ johnson catman : “re Lynna @311: John Fetterman, the new Joe Manchin.””
What was wrong with the old .. Oh wait, never mind. No we do NOT need a new one.
Also thought that was Kirsten Sinema .. who? Oh yeah, never mind she seemd like a good idea / person once too.. Sigh.
Oh well, that’s okay then.*.
Source : https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/pollution/scientists-are-finally-learning-whats-inside-mysterious-halo-barrels-submerged-off-los-angeles
(Note. May come up with annoying blocky-from reading further thingy box there – but just click close / multiplication button & will work after that – did for me anyhow..)
Its okay, I’m sure Trumnp will soon shut down the EPA thatwarns us of things like this if they haven’;t already and then obvs it won;’t be a probkem ever yeah?*
Echoes of sub-plot / fragments of John Brunner’s Sheep Look Up SF novel here..
.* Does this really need a sarc tag?
9th Circuit Trump Judges Enthusiastically Support His Ability To Deploy Military Anywhere At Any Time
Sheesh.
Link
https://www.wsj.com/health/pharma/trumprx-drug-companies-blinkrx-2b6e1761?st=T3miEj&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
“Trump Wants to Overhaul Drug Sales. A Company Tied to His Son Stands to Benefit.”
“Family members of President Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick are poised to benefit from efforts to remake the industry”
Trump Gonna Sell Student Debt To Wall Street. Remember How Great That Worked With Mortgages?
“This shit again? We could subprimal scream.”
https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/indicting-people-who-lied-to-congress
@322
“meet in early December at the Four Seasons hotel in Georgetown”
2020 flashback lmao
is giuliani gonna be there?
ICE Agents Fire Pellets On Chicago Minister
.https://youtube.com/shorts/vdQg7DjQUoI
Trevor Noah:
Who Owns America? Bernie Sanders Says the Quiet Part Out Loud
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=cucLZcC0MqQ
BeyondTheBuild: China’s World-First Thorium Reactor That Never Shuts Down
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=a5PFnGxHsUE
coffeepott @325, LOL
In other news, as reported by NBC:
Related video at the link.
Link
More at the link.
Steve Benen summarized a report from NBC News:
Speaking of health news, NBC News reports:
Steve Benen summarized an Associated Press report:
Associated Press:
Cartoon: Half-naked squirrels
Link
U.S. buys Argentine pesos, finalizes $20 billion currency swap
“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, under fire from U.S. farmers and Democratic lawmakers, has insisted that the credit swap is not a bailout.”
U.S. said to be prepping to send 200 troops to Israel for Gaza support
“The troops will stay in Israel, where they will support logistics, transportation, engineering and planning, two U.S. officials said.”
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-10/magnitude-7-4-earthquake-strikes-philippines-tsunami-warning/105877252
Well this sounds ominous – in interview with Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter on PBS Newshour :
Source : https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/hamas-cannot-remain-in-gaza-for-this-plan-to-work-israeli-ambassador-to-u-s-says
Hopefully Hamas will disarm and follow the rest of that agreement but yeah.
From The New Arab online news :
Plus :
In addition to :
Source : https://www.newarab.com/analysis/after-genocide-what-future-holds-palestine
@ ^ Dunno about that last line in the quoted text tho’ – maybe ex-Hamas members with Hamas gone but those formerly in it adopting new roles as part of a more moderate legitimate leadership?
New Palestinian elections with new parties and changes in leaders? With a new & more moderate set of leaders in Israel who realise they have to win back the world and give up expansonism and oppression and learn toliove with Palestinians too? Mutual reflection at the horror of what has happened leading to actual changes in views, a cultural shift to more reasonable and kinder approaches and new better leadership from both peoples? Too optimistic?
“Mutual reflection at the horror of what has happened leading to actual changes in views, a cultural shift to more reasonable and kinder approaches and new better leadership from both peoples? Too optimistic?”
Depends on your stance.
Trump says childhood vaccines are “twice the size of a jar”
Next he will say they are “tight as dish”*
*Book of Mormon reference
California clamps down on criticism of Israel in schools and academia.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/10/10/cmcz-o10.html
Ancient DNA reveals prehistoric connections and a patrilineal society in early China
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-ancient-dna-reveals-prehistoric-patrilineal.html#
Schizophrenia is linked to iron and myelin deficits in the brain, neuroimaging study finds
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-schizophrenia-linked-iron-myelin-deficits.html
@ 341 Morales
Yes, humanism is astrology. Same thing. Cool spot, bro.
“White House In Trump Medical Chaos After Suspicious Announcement” [and Trump carefully hides his right hand to conceal the traces of infusion].
His “annual” health checks are now six months apart.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=kaU5cpez_FU
Elucidated protein structures in the malaria parasite offer opportunities for new vaccines
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-elucidated-protein-malaria-parasite-opportunities.html
Black woman says she’s a substitute teacher and the only kids that are disruptive are …
.https://youtube.com/shorts/t8_xhTYMvo8
I don’t necessarily think this is because of single-parent households. I think part of it is because girls become mothers too early to have all the maturity needed. Ideally a father would contribute to the upbringing but what if they also lack the necessary life experience?
.
In countries with functioning sex ed (and abortions) this may be less of an issue. I know plenty of single mothers and their kids are fine.
Midge Ure (Ultravix, Visage et al) just turned 72. I remember him from my youth.
The £1m man: why did Boris Johnson take his donor to Ukraine? | this guy helped bankroll yhe Brexit campaign.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/oct/10/the-1m-man-why-did-boris-johnson-take-his-donor-to-ukraine
https://www.msnbc.com/all
Jeffries warns Trump’s ‘corrupt sycophants’: You don’t have immunity
Video is 12:02 minutes
‘Heart of tyranny’: Hayes says Trump’s order to indict Tish James is impeachable
Video is 5:05 minutes
GOP’s Jim Jordan on judges: ‘I don’t think you should rule out impeachment’
“Most Americans don’t want to see judges impeached over anti-Trump rulings. A key House Republican said it’s “on the table” anyway.”
MIT refuses Trump’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”
https://orgchart.mit.edu/letters/regarding-compact
Embedded links to additional sources are available at the main link.
Washington Post link
“María Corina Machado, Venezuelan opposition leader, wins Nobel Peace Prize”
The prize honored Machado, who is in hiding, for keeping “the flame of democracy burning,” but the White House accused the Nobel jury of “placing politics over peace.”
Republicans gleefully celebrating the indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James:
Link
Say what now?
Hegseth says US will host Qatari air force facility in Idaho
Something different from DJT -related issues.
.
Joey is half japanese, and his language skills allow him to get in touch with parts of Japan that is normally unknown. Anime, manga, voice actors, restaurants, ‘no pans’ diners, even sex workers in the weird Japanese system.
‘I Spent a Day with a Real Japanese “deriheru” .
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=oyn-qEYUn68
Lynnna, OM @ 355
Their revolting glee is preserved for posterity forever on digital media. Let them implicate themselves.
Right now it may seem that rules and laws do not matter. Nor do media owners give a damn (a billionaire Israeli ally just installed a super-pro-Israeli nationalist at CBS).
But the pendulum always swings back. Dubya looked like he would bring an era of GOP hegemony.
Trump and his collaborators are increasingly unhinged and arrogant. It looks like they are all powerful now, but it will change again.
Joey/The Anime Man:
“I Spent a Day with a Japanese 𝔸𝕥ø𝕞𝕚𝕔 𝔹ø𝕞𝕓 Survivor”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=r1O9XD55Z8w
Joey/The Anime Man:
“I Spent a Day with a Real Japanese CULT SURVIVOR”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=JqdBMF4NSNs
The leader of this particular big cult is dead, but there are up to 2000 cults in Japan.
Game Developer: Ubisoft canceled Assassin’s Creed ‘Project Scarlet’ for fear of political backlash
Apparently this project had been in the works for a while before Ubisoft realized just how controversial it would be. Ubisoft is not an American company and the executives apparently didn’t understand just how explosive something like that would be. The company had just gotten caught up in a controversy over a black samurai in Assasin’s Creed Shadows. This had been an issue to both American and Japanese racists. Apparently they didn’t want to wade into that again. In their position I would be iffy about the idea also.
Assasin’s Creed treats history as some props to setup around the story for name and location recognition, not something to be taken seriously. So I’m not sure I want them wading into those waters anyways.
Handmaids tales … again, only worse in Texas: Turns Out Texas Cops Were Not Surveilling Suspected Abortion-Haver For Her Own Safety After All
“Court documents show they had originally hoped to charge her with abortion.”
Excerpts from a news roundup posted by Wonkette:
https://www.wonkette.com/p/girlfriend-in-antifa-i-know-i-know
Same link as in comment 363.
Embedded links to additional sources are available at the main link.
https://www.wonkette.com/p/girlfriend-in-antifa-i-know-i-know
Washington Post link
Washington Post link
“EXCLUSIVE: Inside billionaire Peter Thiel’s private lectures: Warnings of ‘the Antichrist’ and U.S. destruction”
“The Washington Post reviewed leaked audio from four off-the-record lectures the tech investor delivered in San Francisco over the past month that fused beliefs about religion and technology.”
More at the link.
Lynna, OM @ #354 — I was about to post “Guess who didn’t get the Nobel Peace Prize.” Poor Donny must be having a hissy fit.
birgerjohansson @ #147 — Perhaps blackmail is another one of those little secrets DJT and E shared.
Link
robro @367, we do get a nice injection of schadenfreude whenever Trump is thwarted in his bonkers ambitions.
In other news: Democrats are winning the shutdown fight
robro @367, yes, that is a nice moment of schadenfreude. Trump was thwarted … again.
https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/trump-rallies-angry-supporters-outside
The Borowitz report is satire.
re Lynna @371: Satire used to be easily distinguished from reality but with enough seriousness that people had to think about it for a second (think A Modest Proposal by Swift). Satire has now become nearly impossible because of The Orange Turd and his republican flunkies. It is almost as if they see a piece of satire and say “Hold my beer”.
“26 Senate Democrats Help Pass Military NDAA Containing Trans Sports, Surgery Ban, No Protection For US Troop Deployments”
https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/26-senate-democrats-help-pass-military
Brony @ 373
Every Dem senator that helped the Republicans to pass this should be primaried next year.
Mainslimenews doesn’t mention this much, but it is becoming a serious problem and many ways:
Elon Musk’s Starlink fleet is burning up in orbit, scientists say
https://interestingengineering.com/space/spacex-starlink-satellites-deorbit-earth
That runaway debris generation scenario is called the Kessler syndrome from 1978
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome
Update to my 149: The Finnish state prosecutor has appealed the Eagle S case.
Followup to comment 356.
Link
OH, you mean to tell me that funding a genocide, blowing up and murdering unidentified people in international waters, creating the department of war, pushing the name ‘war fighters’, teargassing, beating-up peacefully protesting people, etc. etc. didn’t win the magat-in-chief the PEACE prize?
Wheee! being pushed down the Death Spiral by the magat cult members. Are we enjoying the ride yet?
Followup to comments 356 and 377.
Posted by readers of the news report:
tRUMP thinks emoluments are something you smear on your skin to soften it.
cDawgVA: “I Tried Working At Japan’s Cat Bar Ft. Shibuya Kaho”
Cat bars! This is so cute!
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=Z3gc5Jm01o8
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/5550146-no-kings-day-oct-18/
More non-Trump eye candy.
cDawgVA: “I Tried Japan’s Weirdest Place Ft. Shibuya Kaho”
Snake center, drag racing cafe’ and museum of Schlongs!
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=v5PRHTbKHi8
Maybe Trump could get a prize for whining, begging and lying. Democrats could present the award in order to soothe Trump’s feelings over not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
https://www.wonkette.com/p/maga-world-cant-believe-sturgeon
Units of measure!?
https://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/1760073065-20251010.png
Americans, give them an inch, they’ll take a furlong!
@380 tRUMP thinks emoluments are something you smear on your skin to soften it.
Now, if we look at the results, we find tRUMP smearing that on his skin has only softened his BRAIN!
Washington Post link
“Trump announces new 100 percent tariffs on China”
“Trump also said he may cancel meeting with Xi in retaliation for China’s “hostile” move to limit access to rare minerals used in manufacturing.”
More at the link.
Men who are unafraid of strong women!
“I Got Beat Up At Japan’s Muscle Girl Bar”
Ft. @ludwig @AbroadinJapan & Shibuya Kaho .https://youtube.com/watch?v=OE2iMMMVL9E
Re: shermanj @ #385…
I used to have a button that gave the speed of light in furlongs/fortnight. Conveniently enough, the Linux “units” command with do that particular conversion:
pi@ddc5A:~ $ units
Currency exchange rates from FloatRates (USD base) on 2022-09-05
3753 units, 113 prefixes, 120 nonlinear units
You have: c
You want: furlongs/fortnight
* 1.8026175e+12
/ 5.5474886e-13
You have:
The British edition is back!
“Have I Got News for You S70E2” | Steph McGovern Hosts with Stephen Mangan & Selma Shah
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=rF6eF3sEAck
Source : https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/10/10/when-the-bombs-in-gaza-stop-the-true-pain-starts
Source : https://www.space.com/astronomy/black-holes/astronomers-capture-first-ever-image-of-two-black-holes-orbiting-each-other
Saturn’s “death star” moon Mimas might well be on the ever growing list of icy worlds in our solar system with internal sub-surface oceans :
Source : https://www.space.com/astronomy/saturn/saturns-moon-mimas-may-have-an-ocean-and-a-future-spacecraft-could-find-it
Near the distinctive zodiacal constellation of Leo if that also helps with map in link here :
Source : https://www.space.com/stargazing/how-to-find-comet-lemmon-in-the-night-sky-as-it-brightens-this-october-2025
https://www.msnbc.com/all
Huh? Trump gets second ‘yearly’ physical in six months
Video is 3:03 minutes
Dangerous new MAGA lie: Republicans smear peaceful protesters as ‘terrorists’
Video is 9:03 minutes
StevoR @392 thank for posting the new info on two black holes orbiting each other.
I see that the report includes memorable facts, like: “That long-awaited confirmation [of two black holes orbiting each other] has now come from radio observations combining Earth-based telescopes with the RadioAstron (Spektr-R) satellite, a Russian radio telescope that operated from 2011 to 2019. Its orbit extended halfway to the moon, giving astronomers a view roughly 100,000 times sharper [!] than typical optical images.”
The video at the link is also good.
Link
Congressional Republicans are casting a coming “No Kings” protest as a “hate America rally.”
See the video highlighted in comment 395: “Dangerous new MAGA lie: Republicans smear peaceful protesters as ‘terrorists’”
Commentary:
Same link as in comment 397.
Olympic gold medalist Caster Semenya:
Caster Semenya and the Illusion of Common Sense
More at the link.
Cartoon: Heard ya loud and clear
Soon everyone in the government will work for ICE
Followup to comment 398.
https://www.wonkette.com/p/pissbaby-republicans-freaking-out
“Republicans Freaking Out Over Upcoming No Kings Rallies”
“Soros! Paid protesters! And other cliches.”
Washington Post link
“In an unusual acknowledgement, the Labor Department said that tougher immigration enforcement is hurting farmers and the food supply.”
Trump administration begins laying off more than 4,000 federal workers amid government shutdown, court filing shows
“Affected agencies include the departments of Homeland Security, Education, Energy and Health and Human Services, among others, according to a Justice Department filing.”
Aid flows into Gaza as families wait for hostage release
“Fuel, medical supplies and other critical materials have started flowing into Gaza, U.N. officials say.”
Heat-related deaths:
More at the link.
No one can honestly call it hyperbole anymore:
https://digbysblog.net/2025/10/11/officially-in-the-hide-your-neighbors-stage/
The Tennessee Holler @TheTNHoller
CHICAGO — WGN News editor/producer Debbie Brockman grabbed by Trump’s ICE goons.. who then intentionally ram a bystander’s car as they peel away.
AND
https://digbysblog.net/2025/10/10/we-are-all-terrorists-now/
A top Republican in Congress just called millions of Americans terrorists. The last No Kings protests saw 4-6 million people turn out. They were peaceful. They were joyful. There were American flags everywhere.
Kentucky town loses senior care center because of Trump
Don’t Worry, Farmers, Trump’s Got A Bailout … For Argentina!
New York Times link
“C.D.C. Layoffs Included 2 Top Measles Experts Amid Rising Cases”
“Scientists who focused on other infectious diseases, like an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, also were let go.”
More at the link.
Lynna @408:
The tragic/obscene/laughable thing is that they’ll probably vote Republican again because they’ll somehow be convinced (by Fox news, etc) that this is the Democrats’ fault.
If only they’d followed beholder’s advice and voted for Jill Stein. Yeah, that’s a joke.
NB
DNA repair mechanisms help explain why naked mole-rats live a long life
Hey! I want mole rat cGAS! Right away!!
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-dna-mechanisms-naked-mole-rats.html
Rob Grigjanis @411, true. Fox News does the entire nation a disservice.
In other news:
Link
New York Times:
Chaos looms over EU entry points as new border checks take effect
“The Entry/Exit System was designed to strengthen security, but it could lead to long wait times.”
The British Empire starved way more Indians to death than previously believed
.http://youtube.com/post/Ugkx4220sz11xYnLEeCP2aOxT5gTqTPe5Qdj
The butrcher of gaza ain’t popular even at home :
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-12/netanyahu-booed-steve-witkoff-gaza-israel-ceasefire/105881584
Oh and Netanyahu will have to face an election soon too.
Meanwhile Palestinians are retruning to the rubble.
CNN: Lindsey Halligan didn’t coordinate NY AG Letitia James indictment with Pam Bondi’s DOJ
Halligan had no choice if she wanted to bring this case, the statute of limitation was only a couple of days. Halligan knew what she had been hired to do and went ahead, even if she had to go against a lot of advice and do it herself. The only thing I’m curious about is if it was coordinated with somebody at the White House or not. I doubt Trump could do it without blabbing but Stephen Miller would have no problem going around the official power structure to keep Trump happy.
@411 Rob
I see you and Lynna are content to point and laugh at people in misfortune. Surely that will win hearts and minds to your cause in the next election.
If only Kamala Harris had tried to win! I know that keeping Israel happy was more important than winning an election, but seriously, you don’t get to turn around after the election and blame voters for your own shitty candidate’s strategic blunders.
TLDR: Why Argentina’s Economic Crisis is Still Getting Worse
Mostly a run down of why the Argentine Peso is still in trouble and why the credit swap with the US has not stabilized the situation much.
It overlooks two other parts of of the crisis in Argentina. Milei has stabilized the national debt with harsh austerity but doing that is hard on the economy. Austerity almost always turns out to be a double edge sword, solving debt problems but doing so much damage to the economy that the country doesn’t really come out ahead. Second, Milei has lost his strong political support. His party has been hit by several corruption scandals, is doing worse in polling and did badly in recent regional elections. This has upset investors who are afraid that Milei losing power will result in economic chaos.
The first in what is apparently intended to be a potentially excellent series from someone who seems to know what they are talking about – Kyplanet here – The Cosmic Shoreline and the Atmospheres of Red Dwarf Planets in essence on the existence or otherwise of atmospheres on worlds around red dwarf stars. 17 mins long.
Link
Why Trump keeps turning Fox News garbage into official policy
I really dislike it when politicians use religion to justify ICE tactics:
Link
New York Times link
More at the link, including two Weekend Update videos.
YouTube link to the Weekend Update Joke Off. “former Weekend Update anchors Amy Poehler, Tina Fey and Seth Meyers reunite and take on Colin Jost and Michael Che in a joke off about a Tennessee woman who gave birth to a 13 pound baby.”
9 killed in separate shootings as Mississippi schools celebrate homecoming
This Document Is Controlling The Entire US Military”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=eEeoLa2qmGo
Selling off the commisaries to the lowest bidder seems very Trump
Three months ago: “These Hyper-Rich Soldiers Just Speedran Every Rank”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=9dyWDyQyiMU
Another DJT rant, from the 11th this month. He is unaware that he was president during J6 – Biden did not become president until later.
.https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17U8LjHg1h/
I just found out that I can laugh and cry at the same time.
Will the magat farmers ever learn to not point the gun at their own foot?
https://mockpaperscissors.com/2025/10/11/the-miracle-of-the-orange-%f0%9f%a4%a1-economy-16/
The article has MANY more twists than this introduction:
The Trump administration said that its immigration crackdown is hurting farmers and risking higher food prices for Americans by cutting off agriculture’s labor supply.
Josh Marshall:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/mass-layoffs-update
Rabbits vs Crap Media
https://featureassets.gocomics.com/assets/25904eb07f9d013eb587005056a9545d
Followup to comments 382, 398, 402 and 407.
GOP spreads increasingly desperate and dangerous lies to shirk blame for their shutdown
DNA repair mechanisms help explain why naked mole-rats live a long life
(cGAS protein)
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-dna-mechanisms-naked-mole-rats.html
.
GLP-1s show promise in treating alcohol and drug addiction
(GLP-1 receptor agonists in early clinical tests)
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-glp-1s-alcohol-drug-addiction.html
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-10-08/how-googles-ai-overviews-are-affecting-australian-news-websites/105839588
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-10-08/rapid-pollination-decline-in-australian-orchids-since-1970s/105835594
Source : https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/space-starship-flight-11-launch-webcast
Youtube link there suggests that’s happening tomorroow (14th Oct) Aussie time.
@419. The disingenuous Trump supporting troll : “f only Kamala Harris had tried to win!”
What an utterly absurd baseless unsupported false claim.
Zero extraordinary evidence to support that extraordnary claim.
Is that how you justify your voting and arguing for Trump is it troll?
@437 StevoR
Is Lynna tolerant of your knock-down, drag-out, psychotic meltdowns here in the Infinite Thread? I was under the impression that this part of Pharyngula had different rules, but I suppose we shall see.
Harris losing the election was her fault. Get over it. Pick a better candidate next time.
beholder @438: Harris got 48.3% of the vote. Stein got 0.56%. Pick a better candidate next time.
@ 437 StevoR
Stevo, you keep making this claim, but at other times you’ll claim the person you’re bullying “de facto” voted for Trump. In plain English, didn’t, but you want to bully them anyway.
If you have any honour whatsoever, your options are to
a) provide some proof the person you keep bulling voted for Trump (a simple link to a quote of them saying so would suffice)
b) humbly and with all due contrition publicly apologise for repeatedly publicly lying in a way intended to demonise a completely innocent person.
What’s it to be?
We get that you’re fundamentally a fascist. You don’t believe in free and fair elections. You believe in bullying and stand-over tactics. You believe people have no right to vote their conscience. You believe it’s “your way or the highway”.
Your love of fascism is one thing – repeatedly blatantly publicly lying is another.
You should humbly apologise.
@ 439 Grigjanis
You realise your ideology of, “vote without hesitation for the lesser of two evils”, in practice, means there is no incentive for politicians to not be evil. They’re guaranteed votes as long as there’s someone a bit more evil.
Imagine a world where politicians had to not be evil as an incentive for people to vote for them. Obviously something you and Stevo have difficulty imagining, but as Lennon said, “it’s easy if you try”.
Silentbob @441: Voting the lesser of two evils is not an ‘ideology’, dumbass. It’s a strategy, and it’s done one or two days every few years if necessary. But if all you’re doing is voting (or if you think that’s all that matters), you are, as Ian Anderson said, “Thick as a Brick”.
Thanks for sharing your deep philosophical insights, arsewipe.
Re: Silentbob @ #441, Rob Grigjanis @ #442…
I usually look for reasons to vote FOR specific candidates in primaries, though even then it’s often a case of weeding out the ones I don’t want and then picking amongst the candidates left..if there are any. Once you get to the general election, it’s a sure bet that someone from one of the major parties is going to win, so at that point, it often comes down to the “lesser of two evils”. On rare occasions (such as when Kamala Harris ran for Senator), there are two good candidates on the general election ballot and I get to pick which one I prefer without being concerned about the other candidate winning. (In that particular election, it came down to which of two Democrats would become Senator, Harris or Loretta Sanchez. I would have been content with either, though I preferred Harris.)
Aussie ABC newés live coverage of Trump addressingthe Knesset and the hostage releases that are to end the war &genocide in Gaza :
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-13/israel-gaza-hamas-ceasefire-live-updates/105882948
@440. Silentbob : Oh ye non-existant gawds folks; the sheer flippin’ level of projection from Silentbob there.. Wow.
@440. (Not so) Silentbob :
Sure! Here the bad faith trolls #39. :
Source : https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/09/30/why-are-they-on-the-front-lines/comment-page-1/#comment-2279206
Fixed it for them for clarity.
Now what are your options and what ”honour” have you shown Silentbob, Oh refuser of answering questions and supporter of the dishonest troll who has spread disinformation here and spent years arguing against the non-Fascist party thereby helping the fascist one?
Notably on the dishonest troll and fascism enabler beholder spreading disinfo see my :
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/10/06/the-future-looks-bleak/comment-page-1/#comment-2280113
I have corrected this bit of disinfo in previous days without seeing any admission or apology or acceptance of statistical reality from that dishonest troll here btw.
I’ll also note that the same dishonest troll who actually helped Trump win the continually attacks the USoA’s non-Fascist party – of their TWO options – and even as seen in the thread there attacks blue states in a sneaky way of defending red ones e.g. on education policies.
I’ll also note that the dishonest troll beholder has yet to offer any evidence to back up their absurd claim that Kamala didn’t try to win that they stated at #419 initiating this argument here on this thread :
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/10/01/infinite-thread-xxxvii/comment-page-1/#comment-2280443
@ 438. the disinformer tankie troll :
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/10/01/infinite-thread-xxxvii/comment-page-1/#comment-2280445
Oh I think people can see for themselves what’s happening here and what you are beholder, Lynna especially. I think she knows you and Silentbob well enough and I think we can tell who is having “psychotic meltdowns” and who is engaging in rational, fact-based, honest, fair discussion here. Hint – that ain’t you or Silentbob.
@ ^ Make that second link in this one :
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/10/01/infinite-thread-xxxvii/comment-page-1/#comment-2280387
Trump got heckled at the Knesset 0- by Arab-Israeli MK’s :
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-13/israel-gaza-hamas-ceasefire-live-updates/105882948
Ricky Wilson [of the B-52’s] died October 12th, 1985, 40 years ago.
What if we had a society ruled by ethicists?
Where every single law passed and court verdict delivered had to be examined and certified as the ethically best choice possible – the fairest and kindest decision that could be reached given allthe evience and context and reality known?
A specific version of the Philosopher Kings I gues sbut ethcially better and more specific than that?
Anyone done any SF story of that?
Thought much about that? Dunno. Feel free to use.. & think upon.
Anyone else think there aren’t enough people imagining possible models of Utopias these days and thus picturing systems that might do better by more of us and be happier, more successful*, fairer, kinder, more reasonable? Just me?
Thinking ’bout what the opposites of what we currently seem headed towards might be?
If we don’t think about and work towards Utoipias, sure seems a lot less likely we’ll ever get closer to them even if there’s no such actual thing as any perfect Utopia at all.
.* By various metrics feel fre to insert your own, so to speak..
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-14/trio-win-nobel-economics-prize-for-work-on-innovation-growth-and/105886992
I mean, yeah, kinda, among a lot of other farless ideal and more prblematicand destructivein VERY bad ways things..
Re: StevoR @ #451…
The problem is, who gets to decide what is ethical? Example… If you have a situation where you can save the life of a pregnant woman or you can save the life of her baby, but not both. If you follow Catholic doctrine, you save the baby at the expense of the woman. Many people would disagree.
beholder and Silentbob, you are currently the posters who are most out of line. Please tone it down. Thank you.
General notes to everyone: it is perfectly fine to argue or to make your points. Do not call other people who post here names that are personal insults. No need to call anyone a “dumbass,” for example. Also, there’s no need to call anyone “fundamentally a fascist.” And, the discussion is not improved by demanding apologies from other people who are posting on this thread.
Hyperbole like “psychotic meltdown” is not required nor justified in this case. Nor does the discussion up-thread support the idea that some posters might be lacking honor or “honour.”
We do not even need to classify posters as “dishonest trolls” in order to further reasonable argument. Make your points without personal insults. Thank you.
Link
@ ^ Lynna, OM : Fair enough. Thanks & sorry.
@454. whheydt : Aye there’s the rub as Hamlet noted in the Danish play.
Experts in ethics who have spent many years debating and finding the best possible ethical arguments and explicitly ruling out appeal to the supernatural I’d say.
FWIW I am NOT an ethicist.
But when it comes to what the “right” choice is I think the ethical rightness is better than the letter of law rightness if that makes sense?
StevoR @457: I appreciate your apology. Carry on.
In other news:
Link
DW News : “US President Trump has arrived in Egypt for a summit on Gaza, after Hamas freed all remaining living hostages. DW has the latest.”
Source : https://www.dw.com/en/middle-east-updates-trump-arrives-in-egypt-for-gaza-summit/live-74326286
Link
Lynna @455: Message received.
Cruelty:
Link
DW news is having some good interviews and coverage of things on the telly. Unfortunately I canot link to my telly.. (Channel 35 SBS Worldwatch in Sth Oz, FWIW..)
^ Gaza / Israel / War/ genocide / Trumnp / SWAsia regional future~wise..
Re: StevoR @ #458…
I strongly agree with the point about not invoking supernatural entities in ethical arguments. Indeed, one ought not appeal to supernatural entities unless one can demonstrate the existence of said entities, or–at the very least–provide evidence that makes their existence highly probable.
Where this causes problems is that a great many people do appeal to such entities in their decisions, and even insist that those entities are necessary to support a code of ethics. This leaves a situation where the ethics of any given situation comes down to dueling entities. Under this circumstance, I think the only recourse is to fall back on the law and discount what anyone claims about ethics.
@ ^ whheydt : Or only listen to ethicists who do NOT refer to supernatuiral entitities and beliuef sysems intheir assessments?
We do know the law often goes against what is ethical. So many examples of laws that fail the test of what most would consider ethical or kind or just in the sense of ethcially ather than legally just.
From salt tax to segregration..
Rather.
Oh My for the 69.. here If it still is when this posts.. Would be apt if so..
Thinking Takei .. Guess most already know, still watch here – Oh My! How George Takei fought the bigots — and won – by Matt Baume and under half an hour long.
Rob @462, thank you.
In other news:
Israeli Media’s Distorted View of the War in Gaza
“While global news showed a humanitarian disaster, most outlets in Israel remained silent.”
The quality and extent of news coverage matters.
Re: StevoR @ #467…
That would probably suit thee and me, but there are a great many theists around who would flatly reject any such restriction. (And, one could argue that–at least in the US–it would violate the Establishment Clause of the 1ST Amendment if it were enacted into law.)
Well, that didn’t take long.. FFS.
Owen Jones latest Israel VIOLATES Ceasefire – And Threatens More Genocide – just over15 minutes.
Donny Two Dolls Strikes Again!
“Chinese goods getting 130 percent tariffs, just in time for the war on Christmas.”
https://www.wonkette.com/p/the-curious-case-of-the-qatar-air
And Israel may have already restarted hostilities, including bombing Gaza. See comment 473.
Live updates: All living Israeli hostages released from Gaza; Trump, world leaders sign peace deal in Egypt
“Hundreds of prisoners and detained Palestinians are also expected to be released as part of the first phase of the historic peace plan aimed at ending the war in Gaza.”
More flooding expected along East Coast as powerful nor’easter batters area
“The National Weather Service’s Prediction Center said that the storm is carrying strong onshore winds, high surf and high astronomical tides.”
Related video at the link.
After denying prosecutorial abuses, JD Vance backs case against Illinois’ JB Pritzker
“One can believe the vice president’s denials about weaponization of the Justice Department, or one can believe their eyes and ears about ongoing events.”
Related video at the link.
No one has any idea how much the Trump regime is spending
New lawsuit alleges the gun industry exploited firearm owners’ data for political gain, by ProPublica.
More at the link.
https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/americans-mystified-why-nonessential
An Image of House Speaker Mike Johnson tops the Borowitz Report.
The president is already lying about his record on grocery prices. But his administration expects his anti-immigrant agenda to make matters worse.
Prediction: Trump will lie some more, and then he will blame Democrats.
Propaganda alert:
Link
Followup to comment 484.
Washington Post:
New York Times: “An organization that fought abortion rights in the United States is now an unlikely conduit between MAGA Republicans and Britain’s ascendant Reform U.K. party.”
New York Times link
Much more at the link.
@483 Lynna, OM:
That comes with the usual unspoken bit, Americans won’t do that work for the pay offered. The farmers are used to getting legal and illegal aliens to do the picking for less then minimum wage. Getting an American to take up jobs that pay less and have worse working conditions then fast food is not easy.
A controversial parody video is available for only 1 hour at this link. It is ~1min in length:
http://theartsinarizona.org/Caught_in_a_Fascist_Death_Spiral_in_2025.mp4
Business Basics: Putin gets PUBLICLY SHAMED as China Rejects Russia’s Deal
China is slowly untangling from Russia. Nothing being announced and in many ways the most visible sign is that Russia and China are not saying anything except empty strategic friendship stuff. China is removing the various little things they did to help Russia, such as favorable state back loans on deals with Russian companies. They are not stopping trade with Russia but they removing the various advantages they gave Russian trade.
China is still buying Russian oil on a large scale, that isn’t ending because China would take a huge hit if they had to switch to only middle eastern oil. Everything else they are making sure they are not dependent on Russia.
This is partially economic, selling Chinese goods into Russia is worth less as the Russian economy declines. It’s also partially strategic, China doesn’t want to be as too tangle with Russia if Russia does lose and doesn’t want to end up with current deals blocked because they are dealing with Russia.
Thank you Lynna et al for watching the horror of the news and linking to news items.
My contribution is mostly brain candy that may give you a brief rest from the foulness.
The Trump era is like the Smog Monster in that 1970s Godzilla film.
.
Ladytron: outtakes of Helen and Mira.
(they are back, releasing new stuff)
.http://youtube.com/post/UgkxaRJYVN4F_gEQ3UV6zd7W422Dk1L0UMYC
Cheap robot’s first day on the job… and it already saves 2 lives!
.https://youtube.com/shorts/ZOo-qX6Dcaw
A surprisingly symbolically significant scene I found in anime.
In honor of Jean Carroll and Giesele Pelicot who brought their tormentors to court, here is the scene from Goblin Slayer where Sword Maiden (the lady with the blindfold, and one of the most powerful mages) gets her revenge. She finally overcomes her trauma and can fight and destroy her tormentors (I will not go into the backstory here).
Sword Maiden Kills All Goblins | Goblin Slayer Season 2 Episode 12 Final Fight
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=91hsCXU3gIo
You will notice the studio was running out of time and had to do some shortcuts to be on sheldue, but overall the image quality was good.
30% More Goblin Slaying!? Welcome To The Team!| Goblin Slayer Abridged Ep.2 #shorts
.https://youtube.com/shorts/EswSRl1uLFg
Goblin Eating Croc | Goblin Slayer Abridged #shorts
.https://youtube.com/shorts/TbmztirVhP8
More Grimmjack-abridged stories.
Frieren Meets Fern #shorts
.https://youtube.com/shorts/AuZE_6JJAl8
Grimmjack: Fern Realizes How Old Frieren Is | #shorts
.https://youtube.com/shorts/9YG3S6UF5G8
God Awful Movies
GAM522 The Buttercream Gang
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=0q3UBo83auo
.
People hate Frieren…for “objective” reasons. | Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
.https://youtube.com/shorts/Isv9lww880o
Yeah, she merely killed the demon lord BUT she is flat-chested.
George Monbiot :
Here’s what you need to know about [British prime minister] Starmer’s illiberal protest curbs: they would have killed the Labour party at birth
.https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/13/keir-starmer-protest-labour-rights-uk
Anton Petrov
“Exciting Discoveries About Rogue Planets and Their Origins”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=YHq9pYVYcEk
There is no good name for these objects, they are not really planets nor brown dwarfs.
Harley Quinn VS Katana Full Fight
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=qxcIQgd8C4U