Julie Bosman of the New York Times: “In a courtroom in downtown Chicago on Tuesday, a federal judge admonished Gregory Bovino, a senior Border Patrol official who has become a face of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, for his agency’s use of force and tear gas in Chicago in recent weeks. For more than an hour, the judge, Sara L. Ellis of Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, read Mr. Bovino restrictions she had previously set as part of a lawsuit over tactics that agents are using and cited examples of times his agents appeared to violate those restrictions. They used tear gas in a neighborhood where children were about to march in a Halloween parade, Judge Ellis said. They failed to warn residents before tossing tear gas canisters at them, she said, noting an incident in which an agent threw a canister out of a car as it drove away. The judge then ordered Mr. Bovino, who took the stand in his usual green fatigues and Border Patrol insignia, to appear at the federal courthouse at the end of every weekday to personally provide her with a report on the day’s arrests and incidents.” Politico's report is here.
Both Donald Trump & Jon Stewart are feeling very sorry for Donald Trump because we are so mean to Donald Trump: ~~~
Here are the AP's live updates on Hurricane Melissa, the strong storm to hit Jamaica since record-keeping began 174 years ago. The Weather Channel's live updates are here.
New York Times Editors finally seem to be allowing its reporters to warn Americans how crazy-dangerous Donald Trump is. For instance, this is a straight report: ~~~
Erica Green & Katie Rogers of the New York Times: Donald “Trump told American troops assembled in Japan on Tuesday that he was prepared to send 'more than the National Guard' into cities to enforce his crackdowns on crime and immigration, further escalating how he has talked about using the military at home and abroad. Speaking to thousands of military service members aboard an aircraft carrier at the Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan on Tuesday, Mr. Trump delivered a partisan speech that resembled the raucous rallies that made him an ascendant force in U.S. politics. But throughout his nearly hourlong speech, his usual ramblings about the physical appearances of audience members and steam-powered catapults were laced with dark warnings about how he might choose to deploy military forces.... Mr. Trump also indicated that the series of recent U.S. strikes in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific amounted to a war.”
Zachary Cohen of CNN: “The US military conducted strikes against four more boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Monday, killing 14 people on board the vessels, with one survivor, according to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. It marked the first time multiple strikes were conducted on the same day as part of the Trump administration’s accelerating campaign against boats allegedly involved in drug trafficking. According to Hegseth, Mexican authorities have assumed responsibility for coordinating the search and rescue of the one survivor.”
Marie: Wasting our tax dollars on this kind of crap irritates me: ~~~
Annie Karni of the New York Times: “The House Oversight Committee on Tuesday released its long-anticipated investigative report on former President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.’s cognitive condition, accusing his inner circle of concealing a mental decline and claiming, without evidence, that he was so impaired that he could not make his own decisions. The 100-page report, entitled 'The Biden Autopen Presidency: Decline, Delusion, and Deception in the White House,' concludes that many of the executive actions Mr. Biden took, including the pardon of his son, should be considered 'void' because there is no record that he made the decisions himself. It offers no proof that was the case, other than an account of his aides’ actions that treads over well-worn territory to conclude that they engaged in a coordinated cover-up' of the former president’s age and health issues. In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Representative James E. Comer, Republican of Kentucky and chairman of the Oversight Committee, requested an investigation into all executive actions taken during the Biden presidency, to see if they were 'duly authorized' by Mr. Biden. The letter suggested that the report was intended to be used as grounds for a future prosecution by the Justice Department.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: It is not accurate to call some typed pages an "investigative report" when the only "investigation" was copying some conspiracy theories off some right-wing sites, expressing an unsupported opinion & shooting off a referral. ~~~
~~~ The AP report, by Matt Brown & Joey Cappelletti, isn't much kindlier to Jim Comer & Co.
Jennifer McDermott of the AP: "Bill Gates thinks climate change is a serious problem but it won’t be the end of civilization. He thinks scientific innovation will curb it, and it’s instead time for a “strategic pivot” in the global climate fight: from focusing on limiting rising temperatures to fighting poverty and preventing disease."
Bluesky user Geoff Bowser "made an image of all the art posted by US [Department of Labor] on X since approximately Labor Day":
~~~ Maybe you'll sense a theme here. Want some help? RAS, who linked the post, writes, "The kind of workers this department of labor recognizes. So does ICE and Border Patrol." And Akhilleus notes, "Jesus, those Labor Dept. pictures resemble Stalin era Soviet Socialist Realist art.... Not to mention some Trumpist wet dream of when America was 'great' (ie, all white)." MB: Well, they're mostly all White men -- except when the family man -- the actual worker in the illustration -- is protecting his perfect, White family. (And if real men wore necklaces, these hunky Aryans would be wearing them some golden Jesus crosses.)
One thing about left-wing conspiracy theories: they're just theories, sure, but they often make a lot of sense -- unlike right-wing conspiracy theories about Jewish space lasers that start California wildfires, Democratic pedophile rings in the basement of a D.C. pizza place, and so forth. So here's a good one: ~~~
~~~ Let's Do the Math. Mary Geddry on Medium: “The White House ballroom is supposed to be about 90,000 square feet. At $350 million, that’s $3,888 per square foot, a figure that belongs more to a hardened military installation than an architectural vanity project... Even the most decadent hotel ballroom in Washington runs about $1,000 per square foot. But nuclear-hardened command centers? They start at $3,000.... [Now add in Mellon's $130MM donation 'to the military.'] The East Wing sat directly atop the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, the White House bunker. CBS quietly reported that the PEOC was being 'upgraded' as part of the demolition work, with the White House Military Office overseeing the renovation. Combine those facts, and suddenly, the 'ballroom' looks less like Versailles and more like camouflage for a subterranean rebuild. Trump himself fueled the theory when he said 'the military is very much involved in this [the ballroom].'” Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Geddry comes up with some fairly farfetched theories about why Trump is upgrading his bunker. But I do think that the "ballroom" could be an excuse for a Bigger, Better Bunker, and I also think that Trump's "real reason" for improving the bunker is most likely illegal and unconstitutional. And maybe more farfetched than Geddry's suggestions.
~~~~~~~~~~
Here's the New York Times liveblog of what Trump is doing today. ~~~
~~~ Everybody treats Trump as if he is the boss's horrible, spoiled-brat baby
~~~ Katie Rogers, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump heaped praise on Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s new prime minister, telling her that their countries were “allies at the strongest level” and vowing to come to Japan’s aide on 'any favors you need.' The leaders signed two vaguely worded agreements — one declaring a 'new golden age of the US-Japan alliance,' and another to cooperate on expanding the supply chain for rare earth metals — but there was little sign of any breakthrough in the details of the trade deal both countries signed onto in July. There was no public talk about a major point of contention between the two countries: the details of how Japan intends to spend a promised $550 billion investment into the United States. The promise came as part of the trade deal, and in return for the large investment, Japan was to receive a 15 percent tariff on its exports — a lower rate than Mr. Trump had initially threatened. Instead, both leaders focused more on what they had in common: A warm relationship with Shinzo Abe, the former Japanese prime minister who was assassinated in 2022. Ms. Takaichi is a protégé of his, and the Tuesday meeting was considered a major test of how well she had studied Mr. Abe’s approach to handling a mercurial American president.” ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE. Yan Zhuang & Kiuko Notoya of the New York Times: “The man accused of assassinating former prime minister Shinzo Abe of Japan in 2022 admitted to the killing on Tuesday, according to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK. Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, was speaking on the first day of his trial in a district court in the city of Nara, according to NHK. He is accused of killing Mr. Abe with a homemade gun during an election campaign speech. This is a developing story that will be updated.”
Katie Rogers of the New York Times: Donald “Trump said that he underwent magnetic resonance imaging earlier this month, telling reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday that the results had been 'perfect' but declining to say why his doctors had ordered the scan. Mr. Trump also reiterated that he was interested in serving a third term, saying that he 'would love to do it' because of his popularity with his supporters. Mr. Trump, who spoke to journalists for about 30 minutes on a flight to Tokyo from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, during his almost weeklong trip to Asia, seemed intent on presenting himself as fit to lead, if not run for the presidency again.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Laura Esposito of the Daily Beast, republished by Yahoo! News: “California Gov. Gavin Newsom took a fresh swipe at ... Donald Trump’s mental fitness on Monday, suggesting that the president’s doctors may have their own concerns. Newsom seized on Trump’s admission Sunday evening that he’d taken an aptitude test under a doctor’s direction. 'Most people don’t take that many cognitive tests unless a doctor is worried,' Newsom wrote on X. On Air Force One, the president, 79, challenged Democratic congresswomen Jasmine Crockett of Texas and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York to a cognitive exam. Then, he admitted he recently took one — and struggled.... 'Those [tests] are very hard — they’re really aptitude tests, I guess, in a certain way, but they’re cognitive tests. Let AOC go against Trump. Let Jasmine go against Trump.' The cognitive test Trump is referring to asks respondents to draw a clock, identify pictures of animals, and repeat a list of five words.... [and] is designed to detect mild cognitive impairment as early as possible — not to measure intelligence or IQ.... The average toddler can identify pictures of common animals, and most children learn to read an analog clock around age six or seven....” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Trump is so cognitively impaired that he doesn't know what the cognitive impairment test is for. Of course, what his comments really show is a lack of curiosity and/or an inability to discern -- not nuances so much as -- substantive differences. That is, he doesn't realize there's a difference between intelligence and memory. Apparently, the reporter also doesn't understand there's a difference between specific abilities and memory because she describes the exam as an "aptitude test." It is not. (It's a good thing there is not an aptitude test for presidenting, because Trump certainly would flunk it.) ~~~
~~~ Steve Benen of MSNBC: "As odd and offensive as [Trump's] rhetoric obviously was, it was made worse by [his] long struggle to understand the purpose of these exams. We’re talking about tests that are used to identify evidence of dementia, mental deterioration and neurodegenerative diseases. Those who take them may be asked, for example, to draw a clock or describe the similarities between oranges and bananas. Trump has somehow convinced himself, however, that they’re akin to Mensa exams and that the results are proof of his genius." MB: On the similarities between oranges and bananas. They both describe Donald Trump. Orange is the color of his face; bananas is the quality of his mind. Did I pass? Did I pass?
Tom Ambrose of the Guardian & Agency: “Donald Trump said on Monday morning that he would rule out running for the vice-presidency in the 2028 US election, an unorthodox approach that some of his supporters have floated to allow the Republican US president to serve a third term in the White House. 'I’d be allowed to do that,' Trump said, in an exchange with reporters aboard Air Force One.... But he added: 'I wouldn’t do that. I think it’s too cute. Yeah, I would rule that out because it’s too cute. I think the people wouldn’t like that … It’s not – it wouldn’t be right.'” MB: As I mentioned in Sunday's Comments, I don't think Trump “would be allowed to do that,” because the last sentence of the 12th Amendment precludes it. However, Patrick highlighted a workaround scheme that does look “Constitutional.”
Aaron Davis & Carol Leonnig in the Washington Post (based on their book Injustice): Jack “Smith’s decision to bring the documents case [against Donald Trump] in Florida, rooted in an extensive internal legal analysis, ran counter to what [some line prosecutors] believed was the surer path to a conviction: charging Trump in D.C. The ultimate collapse of the case in [Aileen] Cannon’s courtroom contributed to an unprecedented and tumultuous U.S. election. Trump succeeded at the polls in part by convincing voters that he was the victim of a 'weaponized' Justice Department that prosecuted him to try to hurt his chances of reelection. A year later, the fallout is still on display.” MB: It wasn't just Smith's idea; it was Merrick Garland's judgment, too, even though they knew there was about a one-in-three chance Judge Aileen the Trumpity Queen would get the case. They gambling with the nation's future. And they lost. The link is a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "And needless to say this all ultimately hangs on Biden — when he went with Garland over Doug Jones he knew what he was getting, and got it."
Steve Benen of MSNBC: “At a White House event a couple of weeks ago, Donald Trump told an odd tale about a 'very wealthy person' who called him and volunteered to help pay for military salaries during the government shutdown. Reflecting on the conversation, the president added, 'I said, “Look, we’re not going to need it.’” Nine days after sharing the anecdote, the story changed: The 'very wealthy person' didn’t just offer to pay, in the revised version, he actually did pay.... 'Today, he sent us a check for $130 million,' the president boasted on Thursday afternoon. 'It’s gonna go to the military.'... In the U.S., it falls to Americans to pay for our military. When those responsibilities shift to the president’s private pals, the result creates an untenable dynamic. It necessarily creates a power imbalance, in which the public matters less and wealthy interests close to the Oval Office matter more. But perhaps most important of all is the fact that such a dynamic might very well be illegal.”
Amy Wang of the Washington Post: “The nation’s largest union of federal workers is calling on lawmakers to pass a stopgap funding measure to end the government shutdown, calling it an 'avoidable crisis' as the impasse approaches the one-month mark. The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 800,000 federal and D.C. government workers, said in a statement Monday that the shutdown is punishing the very people who keep the country running.... The union’s statement is likely to put more pressure on Senate Democrats to support a House-passed continuing resolution. Five more Democratic senators would have to vote with Republicans to reach the 60 votes needed to advance the bill.” The NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Bear in mind that federal workers do not depend on regular commercial insurance markets to get their healthcare insurance. They get their insurance through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which the Office of Personnel Management calls "the widest selection of health plans in the country." The government -- that is, you and I -- pay a significant proportion (about 75%) of the federal employees' premiums. So they're a lot more interested in getting their paychecks on time than they are on seeing that other Americans get affordable health insurance, too.
Another Excuse to Punish Democrats & Immigrants. Kyle Cheney & Myah Ward of Politico: “Federal immigration authorities say they no longer have to provide on-demand access to detention facilities for members of Congress. The reason? The government shutdown. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, who have been fighting a lawsuit brought by Democratic lawmakers over prior denied visit attempts, have informed lawmakers that they simply don’t have the staff or funding to support those visits. Lawmakers have previously been legally allowed to demand them as part of their oversight duties, which includes monitoring conditions and communicating with detainees facing deportation.”
Meredith Hill of Politico: “Dozens of Democratic attorneys general and governors are planning to sue ... Donald Trump’s administration Tuesday over its decision to not tap emergency funds amid the government shutdown to keep food aid flowing to 42 million Americans next month.... [And] some GOP lawmakers whose constituents would be clobbered by a first-ever lapse of federal food benefits, are pushing for some kind of patch to prevent ... [a lapse in payments]. Senate Republicans are divided over whether to vote on a standalone bill to keep SNAP beneficiaries — many of whom live in rural and Hispanic-majority Republican districts — from losing assistance.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Probably an empty gesture anyway. In case senators didn't notice, there's nobody in across the hall; Bible Mike sent them all home. And who knows if Trump would sign the bill if Mikey & his Congress critters came back to work & passed the bill? The Triumvirate -- Trump, Miller, Vought -- really enjoy the thought of starving children. ~~~
~~~ Paul Krugman: "Here are four things you should know about the imminent hunger games. This is a political decision — specifically, a Republican decision[.] Despite the government shutdown, the SNAP program isn’t out of money. In fact, it has $5 billion in contingency funds, intended as a reserve to be tapped in emergencies. And if the imminent cutoff of crucial food aid for 40 million people isn’t an emergency, what is?... The pain from lost food aid will, if anything, hurt Republican voters worse than Democrats[.]... Despite what Republicans believe, SNAP recipients aren’t malingerers[.] The fact is, the great majority of SNAP recipients can’t work: 40 percent are children; 18 percent are elderly; 11 percent are disabled. Furthermore, a majority of recipients who are capable of working do work. They are the working poor: their jobs just don’t pay enough, or offer sufficiently stable employment, to make ends meet without aid.... Food stamps are an investment in the future[.]... We have overwhelming empirical, statistical evidence that SNAP, by improving the lives of young children, is an extraordinarily effective way of investing in the future."
Marie: At the risk of amending Krugman, here's a fifth thing you should know. It's something I to had sort of forgotten about, but thankfully akaWendy calls it to mind again: ~~~
~~~ Hannah Maio of CNBC [Nov. 2020]: “Walmart and McDonald’s are among the top employers of beneficiaries of federal aid programs like Medicaid and food stamps, according to a study by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office. The question of how much taxpayers contribute to maintaining basic living standards for employees at some of the nation’s largest low-wage companies has long been a flashpoint in the debate over minimum wage laws and the ongoing effort to unionize these sectors. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., commissioned the study.... Other notable companies with a large number of employees on federal aid include Amazon, Kroger, Dollar General, and other food service and retail giants. About 70% of the 21 million federal aid beneficiaries worked full time, the report found. 'U.S. taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize some of the largest and most profitable corporations in America,' Sanders said in a statement Wednesday evening. 'It is time for the owners of Walmart, McDonald’s and other large corporations to get off of welfare and pay their workers a living wage.'” (Also linked yesterday.)
ICE Ignores First Amendment. Again. Claire Moses of the New York Times: “Sami Hamdi, a British political commentator and critic of Israel, was detained by immigration enforcement officers in the United States and will be removed, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, announced on Sunday. 'This individual’s visa was revoked and he is in ICE custody pending removal,' Ms. McLaughlin wrote, referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Mr. Hamdi appeared to be the latest person to have an American visa revoked over political speech. Other cases have raised questions about First Amendment protections. Mr. Hamdi is the managing director of the International Interest, an organization that 'advises on geopolitical environments and risks across the globe,' according to its website. He has appeared as a commentator on the British television news channel Sky News and other outlets.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Well, that's fine, BUT ~~~
~~~ ICE Is Not Vicious Enough. Julia Ainsley & Laura Strickler of NBC News: “The Trump administration is planning to replace some regional leaders at Immigration and Customs Enforcement with Border Patrol officials in an attempt to intensify its mass deportations effort amid growing frustration with the pace of daily arrests, according to two Homeland Security Department officials, one former DHS official and one federal law enforcement official.... Donald Trump’s top aides have welcomed Border Patrol’s more aggressive tactics to secure arrests, such as rappeling into apartment buildings from Black Hawk helicopters and jumping out of rental trucks in Home Depot parking lots, as they’ve become disappointed with ICE, the officials said. 'The mentality is CBP does what they’re told, and the administration thinks ICE isn’t getting the job done, one of the DHS officials said. 'So CBP will do it.' The White House has signed off on a list of at least a dozen directors of ICE field officers who are set to be reassigned in coming days....”
Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: “The Trump administration is using a new metric for assessing people’s job performance at the Department of Health and Human Services: whether they 'clearly and demonstrably support implementation' of ... Donald Trump’s policy agenda. Tens of thousands of HHS employees have to fulfill four 'critical elements' for their annual performance reviews, which take place at the end of the fiscal year. One of those elements, 'Faithful Support of Administration of the Law and the President’s Policies,' lays out how workers now have to essentially prove their loyalty to Trump’s policies.”
Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: “The Trump administration is preparing to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia as soon as Friday, reversing an earlier commitment to bring him to trial on human smuggling charges federal prosecutors filed against him in June. Justice Department officials revealed the new plan Monday in a hearing convened by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who has blocked Abrego Garcia’s deportation while he attempts to stave it off for good.... “I don’t know precisely how that would affect the criminal case,” [Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew] Ensign [told Xinis]. Xinis replied that it would be impossible to have a criminal trial if the defendant were in another country, and she noted that the Tennessee-based judge handling the criminal case has set an important hearing for next week on whether it amounts to a selective or vindictive prosecution. The White House and Justice Department previously insisted Abrego Garcia would face trial before his deportation.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: As I recall, Ensign is extremely good at playing dumb. He seems to be pretending now that he doesn't know we don't try people in absentia. Whatever Abrego Garcia's shortcomings may be, nobody deserves to have the federal government jerk them around like this.
Judge Slams Blondie & Botox Barbie. Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: “A federal judge took Attorney General Pam Bondi and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to task Monday for their incendiary, out-of-court statements about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran native who was illegally deported from the U.S. to his home country before being brought back to face immigrant-smuggling charges. U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw ruled the Trump Cabinet members violated a local court rule limiting comments by government officials relating to an ongoing criminal case. Crenshaw stopped short of issuing a gag order against future comments about Abrego. However, the judge ordered prosecutors to notify every employee at DOJ and DHS about the existing rule restricting public statements about pending cases.”
Perry Stein of the Washington Post: “More than 100 former Justice Department officials urged a federal judge in Virginia on Monday to dismiss charges against former FBI director James B. Comey, arguing that the prosecution was fueled by political animus and not guided by legal standards. The filing — known as an amicus brief — reflects a growing concern among former Justice Department officials that the Trump administration has jettisoned long-standing practices governing how and when prosecutors bring charges against people. The brief to U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff, who is presiding over the Comey case, was signed by former senior Justice Department officials across multiple Republican and Democratic administrations, including former Obama administration attorney general Eric Holder, former Bush administration acting attorney general Peter Keisler and dozens of former U.S. attorneys across the country.” The Independent's story is here.
Marie: It isn't often you see a headline that begins, "Democrats Get Aggressive...." But Politico has just such a headline today: ~~~
~~~ Liz Crampton, et al., of Politico: “Democrats are launching a redistricting counteroffensive across the country as they try to keep pace with the GOP’s aggressive gerrymandering ahead of next year’s midterms. Recent developments in Virginia, New York and Illinois mark an escalation among Democrats after months of internal deliberations and inaction on how to combat President Donald Trump’s push to redraw congressional lines throughout the nation. He’s eyeing up to 19 new GOP seats as his party looks to retain its slim House majority, according to a Politico analysis. The nascent Democratic rebuttal in recent days is the minority party’s most aggressive set of moves yet outside of California, where voters will decide next week whether to create a new congressional map that would grant the state five blue seats.”
Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: “The anchor John Dickerson said on Monday that he would depart CBS News at the end of the year, the first sign of what is expected to be a major shake-up at the network under its new corporate owners. Mr. Dickerson, a veteran political correspondent who joined CBS 16 years ago, was most recently a co-anchor of the flagship 'CBS Evening News.'... The decision to leave CBS News was Mr. Dickerson’s alone, according to two people familiar with his thinking. But the people said he was cognizant that significant changes, including a revamp of the 'Evening News,' were on the way at the news division, which is now under the editorial control of the [MB: goofy, right-wing] opinion journalist Bari Weiss.” ~~~
~~~ Eric Berger & Jeremy Barr of the Guardian: “Bari Weiss, the new CBS News editor-in-chief, is expected to revamp the evening news and has been working to find a new anchor. She is interested in Bret Baier, an anchor on the rightwing Fox News, Status reported, although Baier is under contract at Fox for several more years.”
Greg Bensinger of Reuters, published in Yahoo! News: "Amazon is planning to cut as many as 30,000 corporate jobs beginning on Tuesday, as the company pares expenses and compensates for overhiring during the peak demand of the pandemic, according to three people familiar with the matter. The figure represents a small percentage of Amazon's 1.55 million total employees, but nearly 10% of its roughly 350,000 corporate employees. This would mark Amazon's largest job cut since late 2022, when it started to eliminate around 27,000 positions." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Excellent management decision, Jeff. Don't pay your distribution workers a living wage; then fire the ones you might have to pay enough that they can just get by.
Muskopedia. Will Oremus & Faiz Siddiqui of the Washington Post: “Elon Musk on Monday launched an early version of Grokipedia, an online encyclopedia written by AI that the billionaire has touted as a less biased alternative to the venerable online resource Wikipedia. The site resembles Wikipedia in style and format.... But it appears significantly smaller, more opaque in its workings — and more right-leaning in how it framed some articles. Grokipedia’s entry on gender, for instance, begins with the sentence: 'Gender refers to the binary classification of humans as male or female based on biological sex....' Wikipedia’s starts with: 'Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender.'” ~~~
~~~ We've got our own teevee and our own newspapers and our own social media and our own crooked government and our own Jesus and now we have our own encyclopedia and we live in our own crazy world and to hell with reality. Leave us alone!
Chico Harlan of the Washington Post: “Most of the nations that signed the Paris [climate] agreement a decade ago have failed to carry out one of the accord’s fundamental duties: submit new plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. So many have missed both the original and extended deadlines that a United Nations assessment released Tuesday could offer nothing more than a 'limited' picture without 'global-level conclusions' about the planet’s trajectory.”
~~~~~~~~~~
California. Watching the Watchers. Dustin Gardiner of Politico: “California will deploy its own observers to watch over federal election monitors the Trump administration is sending to the state ahead of the Nov. 4 election, state Attorney General Rob Bonta said. Bonta on Monday accused ... Donald Trump of preparing to use poll monitors to sow doubt and conspiracy theories about the fairness of California’s vote on a congressional redistricting measure pushed by Democrats.... Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who spearheaded the redistricting ballot measure [to be voted on Nov. 4], called the move an act of voter intimidation and suppression. 'This is a bridge too far,' Newsom, a likely presidential candidate in 2028, said on Friday.”
18 comments:
Here is a test - Montreal Cognitive Assessment. I don't think FH really wants to compete against the girls.
The kind of workers this department of labor recognizes. So does ICE and Border Patrol.
Real Charity
"AMERICA 2025:
Where an Only Fans model is providing 1.21 million meals for the homeless while the majority of evangelical Christians support the man cutting off food stamps to 40M Americans."
According to Ken Paxton there sure were a lot of Republican mothers who took Tylenol during pregnancy.
RAS,
Jesus, those Labor Dept. pictures resemble Stalin era Soviet Socialist Realist art.
Seriously.
Not to mention some Trumpist wet dream of when America was "great" (ie, all white).
The Bunker?
"Bunker Boy’s Ballroom
When the math doesn’t add up, look underground. Trump’s golden monument may be less about dancing and more about digging in.
Mary Geddry
At $350 million, that’s $3,888 per square foot, a figure that belongs more to a hardened military installation than an architectural vanity project.
The East Wing sat directly atop the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, the White House bunker. CBS quietly reported that the PEOC was being “upgraded” as part of the demolition work, with the White House Military Office overseeing the renovation. Combine those facts, and suddenly, the “ballroom” looks less like Versailles and more like camouflage for a subterranean rebuild."
@RAS: About those handsome young male workers: loved the comment by someone named Adam Isaacson: "Clearly, nostalgia for a time when there were no billionaires, a far more unionized workforce, a top marginal tax rate of 92%, and an electorate that wouldn’t even vote for a dogcatcher who was a twice-divorced open philanderer who used profanity in public."
As for the MoCa, there isn't a chance I could get the language part right if I had to repeat both sentences at once. If I could repeat each sentence separately, I'd be fine. If, as Fitzgerald said (in part!), "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time," I can't even hold two ideas -- opposing or not -- in mind at the same time.
And I know for a fact that the delayed recall tests are a challenge for me, though I usually get them all right. The rest, I'm okay with. This is only partly due to old age; I was never good at memorization, though I was better at it when I was eight & had to memorize Luke's version of Jesus's birth story for the school play (don't think I could do it now -- and yeah, back in the day, the nice public schools in (Miami) Dade County, Florida featured the Christmas story in an assembly; even the parents came).
And, my God, good for Sophie Rain. BTW, something else that had not occurred to me: several commentators on the Sophie Rain story explain why it's better to give cash donation instead of food to food banks -- established food banks buy food at heavily discounted prices. So it may feel good to give that almost-out-of-date can of peas to a food bank, but it's better to write a check.
Yeah, 'Socialist Realism was a thing in the 1930's and 40's, and while it did incorporate the prejudices of its time here in the United States, it also elevated the critical importance of workers, ala Marx (and reality), and was intimately tied to many of the advances made by labor and labor unions during that period.
There was a reason avowed Communists were often closely tied to the labor movement, the west coast longshoremen and the mine workers for two.
I mention this because I'm leery of Whig history, applying present standards wholesale to the past.
We already have a combination White House, Pentagon bunker and it's huge, really huge.
I can't say exactly where it is because I signed a Non Disclosure Agreement that lasts
the rest of my life. I was flown there when I was in the military stationed in California.
I was really disappointed because I was all set to leave for a tour of duty in Japan
when my assignment was changed at the last minute to go to this secret location
which I'm sure thousands of people know about. I even have relatives who live in
the area who said 'oh yeah, that place.'
J. Michael Luttig, who "was at the forefront of the conservative legal movement that began in 1981 with the inauguration of Ronald Reagan", warns of t**** subverting future elections in the December issue of The Atlantic President for Life
"For anyone who doubts that Trump is contemplating a monarchical reign, consider how very far down that road he already is. Since returning to office, he has sought absolute power, unchecked by the other branches of government, the 50 states, or the free press."
Then lists the myriad ways t**** has expressed "his utter contempt for the Constitution and America’s democracy."
In summary, Luttig writes:
"If America is to long endure, we must summon our courage, our fearlessness, our hope, our spirited sense of invulnerability to political enthrall, and, most important, our abiding faith in the divine providence of this nation. We have been given the high charge of our forebears to “keep” the republic they founded a quarter of a millennium ago. If we do not keep it now, we will surely lose it."
Keep it and heap it
"WH Moves To Keep Medical Debt On Credit Reports
The Trump administration is moving to undercut state-level efforts to wipe medical debt from Americans’ credit reports, just as millions across the country are facing massive healthcare premium increases stemming from congressional Republicans’ refusal to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies.
More than a dozen states—including California, Colorado, and New York—have moved to curb the reporting of medical debt, which accounts for a significant percentage of personal bankruptcies in the US."
Just because they are bigots doesn't mean they can't be impartial, say other bigots.
"Texas Supreme Court: State Judges Can Refuse To Officiate Same-Sex Weddings Over “Religious Belief”
Texas judges who decline to perform a wedding ceremony based on a “sincerely held religious belief” do not violate the state’s rules on judicial impartiality, according to a comment the Texas Supreme Court added to the state’s judicial conduct code Friday.
The high court’s comment on Oct. 24, effective immediately, could have statewide implications for gay marriage and potentially play a role in a federal lawsuit attempting to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage."
I guess this is a perfect time for Texas dog owners to have That talk with their canines.
There are also things 6 and 7 about food stamps (SNAP):
6. Agricultural producers rely upon it to maintain demand for food products, and all the labor and investment that goes into producing ag outputs need that demand
7. Grocery retailers need SNAP to meet their thin profit margins by supporting demand that otherwise would not exist, and for providing highly liquid and rapid reimbursement for their outlays and credit on shelfstock acquisition.
There are more direct benefits in employment and investment that come from a working SNAP program. But 6 and 7 provided the (1960's) Road to Damascus awakening of "conservative" support needed to boost the program from bulk supplies "for the poor" to a cash-like program for "the hungry."
Today's "conservatives" don't even remember what they like. I think the bile affects their memory and judgment.
https://www.al.com/politics/2025/10/alabama-officials-want-to-change-state-constitution-to-ban-naturalized-citizens-from-elected-office.html
Why not a generational requirement, too? Both parents, all grandparents, etc, born in the country at least back to the Civil War?
Would our brilliant tech bros fall for that?
"Female spies are waging ‘sex warfare’ to steal Silicon Valley secrets
China and Russia are sending attractive women to seduce tech workers — even marrying and having children with their targets. ‘It’s the Wild West out there,’ says insider
Sex warfare is just one way American tech workers are being played, according to five counterintelligence experts who spoke to The Times. China is also hosting competitions for startups on US soil to steal sensitive business plans, and even trying to sabotage American tech companies, sources said."
Wow..."Sex warfare in Silly-con Valley". Who'da thunk it? Considering a lot of these guys might be on the incel side, they might make great targets. Of course it's possible there's a teensy bit of misogyny at play here as well, the idea that nasty double X chromosome types are trying to get their hands on the money and secrets of Silly-con Valley Giants. It's also possible that foreign actors figure that some of these guys are not all around geniuses and would be susceptible to this sort of thing.
As to who might fall for something like this? Well, the South African Chainsaw Massacre Man has been married a bunch of times and has 134 children, only one of whom he knows, apparently, by 36 women.
Okay, exaggeration there...a bit. But Elmo is probably not the best target since he clearly hates women, and kids, for that matter. As a Forbes article suggests (firewalled), he makes a lot of people rich, just not his wives. But Chainsaw Elmo is pretty much sui generis in many regards: druggie, fantasist, weirdo, conspiracy nut, authoritarian hitler lover, and personal whack job.
If nothing else, an article outlining the targeting of these self-described Emperors of the Universe clearly demonstrates that the power they wield over so much of American life has been acquired, in large part, by....
Schmucks.
ABOUT TRUMP'S COGNITIVE TESTS: if you took a dementia test and thought it was an IQ test you failed both the dementia test and the IQ test. (Comedy writer Sal Gentile).
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