Hamburger Helper. Kevin Draper & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: Donald “Trump will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef to be imported into the United States with lower tariffs over the next 90 days, he said in a social media post Friday morning, a bid to lower the cost of a staple food for Americans pinched by higher prices. The beef will be imported with 'no out of quota tariff' and sold 25 percent below the current market price, which is $6.89 per pound, he said. The president provided almost no details about how his plan would work, but the news seemed to surprise and anger ranchers. He did not say which countries the beef would come from, where it would be sold or how it would be discounted 25 percent. A White House official said the president would sign an executive order to remove the tariffs within the next two weeks. In exchange for the tariff relief, the president had secured a deal with foreign beef exporters to provide a 25 percent discount, he said.” The link is a gift link. A CNBC report is here. ~~~
~~~ Lillie Boudreaux & Adam Hudacek of MS NOW: “... Donald Trump angered the American beef industry and Republican lawmakers from Western states on Friday when he announced a plan to lower the price of imported beef. 'I’m extremely disappointed by this decision from the White House,' Republican Sen. Debbie Fischer of Nebraska wrote in a post on X. 'We all want lower grocery prices, but as I’ve said for months, we cannot do it at the expense of American producers.' Fischer, who is a cattle rancher, said that 'flooding the market with foreign beef hurts our livestock industry.' She was among a handful of congressional Republicans who lashed out at Trump after he said he would be signing an executive order to allow up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef to be imported 'with no out-of-quota tariff' over the next 90 days.” ~~~
~~~ Grace Yarrow of Politico: “And it’s not clear the move will pay off at the meat counter.... Many ranchers and Republicans argue boosting imports from foreign countries won’t tangibly lower beef prices in the short term — raising the prospect that Trump’s still-pending order could alienate ranchers without delivering noticeable relief to voters.... The increased imports will last ... just through November’s midterm elections.... 'This is Donald Trump in purgatory,' said one ag industry representative.... 'He’s trading his long-term strategy for a short-term sugar fix, and it’s not going to do enough to alter the price of beef or any other higher elevated costs in the economy to help them in the election. It’s going to just piss off farmers and ranchers.'”
Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: “Marathon trade talks between the United States and Canada to stave off fresh tariffs by the Trump administration on Canadian goods collapsed late Friday, a top United States official said, leading to the introduction of 50 percent levies on more Canadian goods. United States trade representative Jamieson Greer told reporters that Canada had walked away from the negotiating table after days of talks had brought them close to an agreement. President Trump had this week repeatedly said that the two countries, locked into a trade war since last year, were very close to a 'good deal.'” At midnight, this was a developing story. The link is a gift link.~~~
~~~ Daniel Desrochers & Ari Hawkins of Politico: “The deal’s collapse means 50 percent tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods now go into effect, hitting products ranging from alcohol to hockey skates.... Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement..., 'Last-minute changes in the U.S. proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal,' Carney said.... He added that Canada will match the new U.S. tariffs 'dollar for dollar.'... The auto industry, in particular, could suffer.” ~~~
~~~ Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: “By walking away, [Prime Minister Mark] Carney chose a road that no major U.S. ally has taken: With his country’s economy on the line, he stood up to ... [Donald] Trump and refused to accept the administration’s offer of a new trade relationship with tariffs permanently baked in. Britain, the European Union and other major U.S. trading partners have agreed to smaller deals that have been volatile and often left them worse off. The collapse of the talks came after Mr. Trump declared on Tuesday that the deal was practically done.... In his statement, Mr. Carney acknowledged the cost of his choice for many Canadians by saying that his government would work to support industries and companies affected by the new tariffs. It will also be costly for U.S. residents, who have been paying for Mr. Trump’s tariff policies through higher prices that have also been driven by the war in Iran and spiraling oil costs.” The link is a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Here's Prime Minister Carney's full statement, via his office. MB: I'm sorry for the kids who entertain me playing ice hockey in the pond across the road from my house -- and whose parents will have to pay more for their equipment -- but I'm awfully glad Carney keeps standing up to Trump.
Nitwit-in-Chief Strikes Again. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: Donald “Trump has opened a new front in his campaign to intimidate political foes, threatening a prominent liberal think tank with a $5 billion defamation lawsuit over a report concluding that his deployment of the National Guard to cities across the country has had little effect on reducing violent crime. The threats against the think tank, the Center for American Progress, were Mr. Trump’s latest effort to use the legal system to punish critics for voicing unflattering facts and opinions generally protected by the First Amendment. And while it is unclear how far any suit the president might ultimately file will get in court, it could force the organization to spend money fighting it off and make it even more of a target of his allies and supporters. On Monday, one of Mr. Trump’s personal lawyers, Alejandro Brito, wrote a letter to the center warning that he would file the suit if the group did not fully retract the report, which was published on its website on July 13. The letter, viewed by The New York Times, was addressed to the group’s president and chief executive, Neera Tanden, a longtime Democratic official who served as a senior adviser to President Joseph R. Biden Jr., and to several of its board members. Mr. Brito claimed that the report about the National Guard was full of malicious and false statements. He gave Ms. Tanden and members of her board until 5 p.m. on Friday to retract it and apologize to Mr. Trump.” The link is a gift link. The Hill's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Torrie Herrington of NOTUS: “In a statement published on Friday, CAP President and CEO Neera Tanden said the organization stands by its report and will not be taking it down. 'This threatened lawsuit’s attack on facts and evidence is baseless,' Tanden said. 'A fundamental protection of the First Amendment is to allow for the publication of facts and analysis that are contrary to the arguments and claims of any administration. A lawsuit is a transparent attempt to silence us. We will neither cower nor bend in the face of it.'... CAP also responded to [Trump's lawyer Alejandro] Brito...: 'In your letter you claim that the conclusions of this Report defamed the President. This is utterly absurd: truth is not and cannot be defamation. The legal standards here are clear, well-established, and speech-protective,' Kevin H. Metz, general counsel for CAP, wrote.”
~~~ Marie: As Andrew Weissmann explained on MS NOW yesterday, the purpose of a stay is to maintain the status quo while a court deliberates about the case before it. However, what CJ Johnnie wrote was a stay of a stay, thus allowing Trump to continue his massive home improvement project & giving Trump the advantage over his opponents in the case. Weissmann further noted that Roberts' stay was one without end; it could go on for months, giving Trump even more oomph to his argument that it's too late to tear down the monstrosity. Weissmann also suggested that the "security" aspect of the project -- which has lately become the rationale for going forward -- is a joke. He said the DOJ submitted all the plans for the underground "secure facilities" to the court, making them part of the public record so that any bad actor who wanted to penetrate the "secure" facility has a map to the place. Shall we dance?
Stairs to Nowhere Are Back. Emily Badger & Junho Lee of the New York Times: “Plans for the White House ballroom that the Trump administration filed with the Supreme Court last week revealed previously unseen details. They include a golden seal over the building’s main entrance and miniature lion heads perched atop Corinthian columns on the porticos. But more curiously, the drawings appear to show that the administration has also reverted to earlier plans for the building’s design, restoring a grand staircase on the addition’s south side that was derided by architects as a frivolous adornment that led to no entryway. The plans filed with the court, part of the administration’s emergency bid to continue construction, differ from the ones approved by the National Capital Planning Commission on April 2 — and from what was last seen by the public.” The link is a gift link. ~~~
~~~ When One Humongous Ballroom Is Not Enough. Jacob Perry of the Bernardsville News: " ... Donald Trump's plan for a new ballroom at his golf club on Lamington Road [in Bedminster, New Jersey] is moving forward. A proposal to construct a two-story building with a first-floor ballroom next to the clubhouse mansion received site plan approval with variances and waivers from the Land Use Board in a 9-0 vote after a two-hour hearing on Thursday, Aug. 13.... The new building would total 28,060 square feet, including an 11,360-square-foot basement for storage, an 11,560-square-foot first floor for the ballroom, and a 5,330-square-foot upper floor for a covered terrace. Meanwhile, the rooftop area on the existing clubhouse would be enclosed to serve as an all-weather space. A variance was required to exceed the clubhouse complex limit of 30,000 square feet."
Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: “A luxury jet from Qatar. A pair of leopards from Saudi Arabia. And now, the latest foreign gifts to arrive in ... Washington are 'exquisitely crafted' gazebos, courtesy of the president of Uzbekistan. The Uzbek gazebos will be exhibited in West Potomac Park, the site of Mr. Trump’s planned National Garden of American Heroes.... In June, the United States and Uzbekistan accelerated negotiations toward a trade and investment deal.... The United States committed to providing 'favorable consideration' in tariff actions for Uzbek industrial goods and agricultural products. Last year, Mr. Trump and [President Shavkat] Mirziyoyev announced what they said was $32 billion in bilateral commercial deals. The United States also supports Uzbekistan in its World Trade Organization accession process.” The link is a gift link.
 |
| The enlargement is a detail of Harp, seen near bottom center in the large photo. |
~~~ From Human Printer to Human Sprinter. Brendan Rascius of the Independent: “Newly surfaced photographs appear to show Donald Trump aide Natalie Harp chasing after the president’s golf cart on a course in Scotland, according to a new report.... Published by The Mirror, the photographs were taken May 2, 2023, while Trump and his entourage golfed at Turnberry — less than a year after he announced his 2024 presidential bid.... In one photograph, Harp, dressed in athletic attire, appears to be sprinting uphill to catch up with Trump. Another image from that day seems to show her standing beside Trump and his son Eric Trump on a green overlooking the ocean. A letter Harp penned to Trump in 2023, apparently about the Turnberry trip, was published in full by The Daily Beast on Thursday night, seeming to shed further light on the photographs.... Harp’s estranged brother has similarly characterized her relationship with the president as 'very unhealthy.'” MB: The letter referenced here is one of the two I linked yesterday.
Pete Fires the Press. Scott Nover & Liam Scott of the Washington Post: “The Pentagon on Friday fired the publisher and the editor in chief of Stars and Stripes, the military newspaper funded by the Department of Defense that has long enjoyed editorial independence from the government, according to the publication’s outgoing editor in chief. The Defense Department sent a separation notice to publisher Max Lederer, who announced his retirement this week, telling staff in a parting note he had disagreed with decisions from Pentagon top brass.Under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the publication’s independence has come under threat during the second Trump administration as top Pentagon leaders have derided the newspaper as 'woke.' Erik Slavin, the editor in chief, said he and reporter Lara Korte also received separation notices Friday. Slavin said he and Korte were fired for participating in a CBS News interview, during which he said censorship of the military newspaper crossed a red line.” The AP's story, via NBC News, is here. ~~~
~~~ Sarah-Jane Collins of the Daily Beast: “'According to the notice, I am being fired for stating in a CBS interview that censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line. The Pentagon’s public affairs office has charged me with insubordination,' [editor in chief Erik] Slavin told CBS.... Although the newspaper operates within the Department of Defense, it is legally mandated by Congress to remain editorially independent.” The Best story is firewalled. MB: I clicked on it accidentally and was able to access is. So I assume they have at least one freebie/month. ~~~
~~~ The Stars & Stripes report is here. The paper also has a limited number of free articles per month. ~~~
~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "... it is inconceivable that anyone responsible for creating the deplorable conditions on the USS Lincoln will be fired, because the Trump/Hegseth position is that there was nothing wrong and these entitled brats need to stop whining. Revealing embarrassing facts, on the other hand, is the most fireable offense in Hegseth’s Department of Defense that a white person can commit." ~~~
~~~ Steve Benen of MS NOW: “The apparent tipping point for [publisher Max] Lederer was the Pentagon’s decision to impose William Urban, an active-duty Navy captain and public affairs officer, to serve as the publisher’s deputy — a decision that was made without Lederer’s approval or consultation, and despite the legendary paper’s tradition of civilian leadership.... Though it covers the military, Stars and Stripes has long enjoyed the same kind of freedom of civilian newspapers, even if that means publishing reports the Pentagon doesn’t always like. By design, it is not a propaganda outlet. At least, that is, it wasn’t a propaganda outlet. To ensure it publishes only news reports in line with the administration’s preferred messages, Trump appointees at the Defense Department announced in January that they would commandeer the newspaper. By gutting Stars and Stripes’ editorial independence, the Pentagon could 'refocus its content away from woke distractions,' as one of Hegseth’s top deputies put it at the time.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Pete can shoot himself up with testosterone, do manly pushups for the teevee, swagger around with a menacing scowl & turn the Pentagon into a White bros club. But he's still a sniveling coward who is afraid of a little criticism from a free press. He is not equipped to be an American.
Ebony Davis of MS NOW: "The Justice Department said Friday it plans to take a dispute over the authority of a top federal prosecutor in New York to the Supreme Court after an appeals court upheld his disqualification from investigations involving state Attorney General Letitia James. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled 2-1 that John A. Sarcone III was not lawfully serving as acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York when he obtained subpoenas targeting James’ office. The court upheld a lower court decision that quashed the subpoenas and disqualified Sarcone from the investigations. The subpoenas, issued in August 2025, sought records related to James’ office’s investigations into the National Rifle Association..., Donald Trump and his family business. James challenged the subpoenas, arguing in part that Sarcone lacked the legal authority to issue them.... The ruling represents another setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to install preferred federal prosecutors without Senate confirmation."
~~~ Ashley Ahn of Politico: “... Donald Trump announced Friday that Ed Martin, his controversial pardon attorney, is leaving the Justice Department to take on outside legal work for the upcoming midterm and presidential elections. 'Ed Martin has been with me from the very beginning, and done an incredible job...,' Trump said on Truth Social. The president added that he believes Martin will 'ensure Free, Fair, and Honest Elections, and strongly advance our Constitutional Rights.'... Martin, a conservative activist and lawyer from Missouri, represented Jan. 6 defendants before joining Trump’s administration. He has advocated conspiracy theories about the attack and the results of the 2020 presidential election.” MB: IOW, add Ed's new project, whatever it may be, to your voter suppression news.
Julia Boehning of the Hill: “Karoline Leavitt is set to work at ... [Donald Trump's] MAGA Inc. super PAC following her departure from the White House, the outgoing press secretary confirmed Friday.... Leavitt served as a spokesperson for the PAC before joining the president’s 2024 campaign.”
Warren Strobel of the Washington Post: “A historic wave of departures at the CIA and deep cutbacks at the Office of Personnel Management are swamping the spy agency’s retirement system, leaving former spies with months-long waits to get their first pension check, according to former intelligence officials and internal agency messages. While precise numbers are classified, current and former officials say the pace of retirements and resignations from the CIA outstrips anything in recent memory. They are being fueled in part by ... Donald Trump’s push to shrink the federal government, including deferred resignations offered to workers last year.”
Pranav Baskar, et al., of the New York Times: “At least five people who were deported by the United States to Liberia but resisted getting off the plane were flown to Equatorial Guinea on Thursday, according to a U.S. official and lawyers familiar with their cases. It is the first reported case in the administration’s so-called third-country deportation campaign of migrants refusing to get off a deportation flight in a country to which they had no ties and being flown to another such country. The rapid switch shows how widely the U.S. government has cultivated countries to serve as destinations for deportation through a secretive deal-making campaign. The deportees who resisted were part of a deal struck by the government of Liberia with the Trump administration to take up to 1,200 deportees from the United States in the next year.... Three of the deportees who resisted deplaning in Liberia identified themselves as Carlos Rodriguez Lopez, Darwin Hernandez and Emilio Destrade Correoso and said they were all from Cuba. They described a 'terrifying' ordeal in phone interviews with The New York Times.” Read on. The link is a gift link.
Judge Strikes Down Racist Trump Order. Mattathias Schwartz of the New York Times: “A federal judge on Friday struck down the Trump administration’s ban on issuing visas to immigrants from 75 countries, finding that the policy was “contrary to law” and beyond the legal authority of Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In a 61-page ruling, Judge Jeannette A. Vargas of the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York disputed the administration’s public rationale for the policy, billed as a 'pause,' that immigrants from the targeted countries were likely to draw public benefits and become 'a financial burden to Americans.' In fact, Judge Vargas found, U.S. officials were ordered to refuse visas to eligible immigrants who were likely to be self-sufficient, in violation of a statute that requires individualized assessments. An internal State Department cable made public as evidence in the case instructed consular officers to deny visas even when visa applicants provided 'additional evidence that demonstrates he or she overcomes the public charge refusal.' The majority of the 75 countries on the State Department’s list are non-European and have significant nonwhite populations.” The link is a gift link.
You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. -- Exodus 22:21 ~~~
~~~ Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: “Following the termination of a legal protection called Temporary Protected Status that allowed 330,000 Haitians to live and work in the United States, [the Trump] administration has launched an aggressive electronic monitoring campaign centered on the small city [of Springfield, Ohio]. Springfield, home to between 10,000 and 15,000 Haitians, has also seen a robust ICE presence and more than 20 arrests since last week. Fitting ankle monitors on noncitizens without a criminal history who remain in compliance with their immigration cases has little precedent. In Springfield’s Haitian communities, there is widespread fear that the monitors are a precursor to detention and forced return to Haiti, where the economy is in ruins and returnees are prime targets for extortion and kidnapping by armed gangs. For now, removal flights to Haiti have occurred only once a month this year.... On Thursday morning, a Haitian pastor was arrested at a gas station with two other people, according to local leaders.... More were detained on Friday.” The link is a gift link. ~~~
~~~ ICE Put the Minister in Jail. Gillian Stawiszynski of the Cincinnati Enquirer: "Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detained a 'beloved' Springfield pastor Thursday morning, according to a local faith-based organization. G92, which advocates for their immigrant neighbors, said in a news release that agents detained Gilbert Joubert Adrien at a South Limestone Street gas station Aug. 20.... Adrien, 41, is in ICE custody at the Butler County Jail, according to a Department of Homeland Security detainee locator website. The jail also lists him as an inmate."
Voter Suppression Writ Large. Adam Sella of the New York Times: “The Postal Service on Friday published regulations that would restrict mail voting, its latest effort to comply with ... [Donald] Trump’s call to restrict the popular practice just months before the midterm elections. In a 95-page final rule, the Postal Service clarified how it would carry out an executive order Mr. Trump signed in March, which sought to restrict mail ballots and create state-by-state lists of citizens to help determine voting eligibility. In the rule, the Postal Service said that it would deliver mail ballots only in states that shared voter data with the federal agency. Before the Postal Service accepts ballots into its system, the agency would review every envelope for compliance with the new standards, including by checking that the recipient was enrolled with the Postal Service to receive a mail ballot.... Mr. Trump’s executive order was largely blocked by federal courts this summer, and the Postal Service said in its rule published on Friday that it would 'not take actions to implement the rule specifically for the 2026 election unless and until the government obtains relief from those injunctions.' In a filing to the Supreme Court, the Justice Department said that the government would not enforce the final rule unless the Supreme Court ruled in its favor. The Supreme Court is reviewing the issue and could rule at any time.” The link is a gift link.
Suppress the Vote. See RAS's link yesterday on getting on that Chick-fil-A Christian voting calendar. Then see Patrick's response. His last line is a truism of near-Biblical gravitas.
Who better to solve the homelessness crisis than a billionaire friend of Donald Trump's? ~~~
~~~ Ellen Barry & Jason DeParle of the New York Times: “With homelessness near record levels, Republicans have embraced tough measures to clear the streets, and no group has led the way more than the Cicero Institute...., founded by Joe Lonsdale, a billionaire ally of ... [Donald] Trump’s.... Mr. Lonsdale formed the institute eight years ago with vague goals — to promote 'liberty, accountability, and transparency' — and no mention of homelessness. Now it has commandeered Republican homelessness policy, upending debate over an intractable problem with life-and-death stakes and showing how rich donors can shape the safety net. Twenty-one states have considered camping bans or other Cicero-backed homelessness laws in recent years, and 16 have passed them. But the group’s sway goes further: It is working with the Trump administration to transform federal homelessness aid away from housing subsidies and toward the forced treatment of substance abuse or mental disorders.... Opponents of Mr. Trump’s plan, which is blocked in court, say that forced treatment fails and housing aid gets people off the street.” The link is a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Elizabeth Dwoskin of the Washington Post has more background on Joe Lonsdale. The link is a gift link.
Perry Stein & Alexei Koseff of the Washington Post: “Federal law enforcement officials seized electronic devices belonging to former congressman Eric Swalwell (D-California) as part of an investigation of sexual assault allegations against him.... Swalwell has not been charged with any crimes. Publicly available court papers confirm the seizure of an iPhone and laptop from Swalwell, but do not detail why they were taken.” What? No press conference, Kash?
Jalen Beckford of Politico: “Former twice acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California Andrew Haden was found dead this week in the downtown San Diego federal building that houses the prosecutors’ office, officials confirmed Friday. Authorities said no foul play is suspected.”
Scott Dance of the New York Times: “Federal officials on Friday sharply cut how much water Arizona, California and Nevada can draw from the Colorado River over the next two years in an attempt to stabilize a system on the verge of collapse because of climate change and overuse. The existing rules governing use of the river and of the nation’s largest reservoirs, Lakes Powell and Mead, were set to expire this year, just as drought constricts the Colorado’s flow and both lakes shrink to record lows. Friday’s announcement by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation reduced the allocation for the three states by about a quarter, in total, reducing Arizona’s share by the most, about a third. The plan formalized voluntary cuts the states had already offered to accept and settles months of uncertainty over how the water supply will be managed in the coming years. But it does little to solve the underlying crisis: The river’s flow is diminishing and reservoirs are drying up, but communities and farms still use unsustainable amounts of water.” The link is a gift link.
Elizabeth Williamson of the New York Times: “A Texas appeals court on Friday sharply reduced the $49 million award that a jury ordered the broadcaster Alex Jones to pay the parents of a Sandy Hook shooting victim after he spread false conspiracy theories about the attack. The Third Court of Appeals in Austin, Texas, set the amount instead at about $6 million, leaving in place the compensatory damages but slashing the punitive damages in line with the state’s cap on such awards. The court said that the parents’ claims did not warrant lifting the cap, and that the trial judge improperly allowed lawyers for the parents to submit an amended petition supporting the larger judgment after the verdict.” The link is a gift link. The Guardian's story is here.
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New Jersey House Race. Congressman (or Somebody) Calls Cops on Times Reporter. Tracey Tully of the New York Times: Speaker Mike Johnson joined Rep. Thomas Kean (R-N.J.) for a fundraiser Friday at the Hawk Pointe Golf Club. “A reporter for The New York Times was blocked at the door by Mr. Kean’s spokesman, Harrison Neely, who said that the event was private and indicated that members of the media were not welcome. Hours later, however, he acknowledged that at least one reporter, Liz Elkind of Fox News, had been invited in. A Pennsylvania-based TV reporter was also there.... [During the event], the Times reporter waited in a car in the parking lot.... A sergeant from the local police department in Washington Township appeared on the scene. Someone apparently had called the police from inside the club to report that there was a trespasser — this reporter — on the premises. The officer, Sgt. Dallas Overko, amiably assessed the situation.... 'I didn’t know it was just a nice little reporter waiting for an interview,' Sergeant Overko said. He headed inside to figure out what was going on and then returned a few minutes later to say that it was OK to remain in the parking lot.” The link is a gift link.
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Turkey/Israel. Zane Irwin of the New York Times: “Turkey issued a request to law enforcement agencies around the world on Friday to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, amid a Turkish investigation into allegations that Israeli soldiers tortured activists on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May. The pursuit of an Interpol 'red notice,' a nonbinding request to authorities worldwide to locate and temporarily arrest a fugitive, came as tensions have escalated in recent days between the two regional rivals, Israel and Turkey.... There was no immediate comment on Turkey’s request from Interpol, the 196-member international criminal police organization based in Lyon, France, and it was unclear whether the request would be granted.” The link is a gift link.
U.K. Say, you can buy stuff from Meghan Markle a/k/a Duchess of Sussex. Mostly jams & candles "for daily rituals at home." Of course now that she's moving back to the U.K., she might have to change her inventory. Here are some suggestions from Edith Pritchett, published in the Washington Post: ~~~
21 comments:
From the vote suppression clip above: "... Before the Postal Service accepts ballots into its system, the agency would review every envelope for compliance ..."
So between the time the voter puts the envelope in the mail, and the cancellation timestamps (if any ... some USPS locations no longer use dates on stamp cancellation marks), the vote is shunted to a " hold for review" pile.If that review is not almost instantaneous the vote could be delayed beyond that state's deadline for mountable votes. The GOP believes that more such near-deadline voters are D than are R. Every little obstacle helps the GOP. This is just one. No court should delay acting quickly to squash this. Let's see what SCOTUS does.
Roberts and the Swine Court are once again aiding Fat Hitler in his criminality. Obeying the law is the first thing presidents and Supreme Court Justices swear to do. But this court and it's band of criminals sitting upon it's bench continue to abet it the clearly illegal actions of the Republicans in office, particularly the fat turd currently destroying the rule of law and the democratic foundations of this country.
Haven't nearly figured out this president and the courts thing.
If everything the president does is legal, which the Supremes pretty much said it was, why do lower courts keep saying the Pretender is acting illegally? And when those appeals get to the Supremes themselves what standards do the Supremes apply to sort things out, setting legal on one side and illegal on the other? It's all very Constitutional, I'm sure, but I've seldom seen the Constitution or even precedent cited in their frequent decision that allow the "illegality" to continue until they decide the issue at hand, often issuing their own rubber stamp confirming that "it" was legal because a president did it--or delay until more damage is done--or don't act at all which is the way they handled the emoluments issue for Pretender 1.0, sitting on it until his term was over and then declaring it moot.
I also don't know how the Supremes feel about all this, but I'd sure like to. Do they like having unloosed a viper in the White House? Do they like being manipulated by someone obviously far dumber than they are? Do they think they are still in charge? Do they like where the country is heading or what they are contributing to its future? .
And this mail in voting thing? I'm with Patrick.
"'This is Donald Trump in purgatory,' said one ag industry representative.... 'He’s trading his long-term strategy for a short-term sugar fix, and it’s not going to do enough to alter the price of beef or any other higher elevated costs in the economy to help them in the election. It’s going to just piss off farmers and ranchers.'”
It is so hard these days to tell who understands what they are saying about Trump is ridiculous and who actually believes what they are saying. The idea that today anyone would think that Trump has a long term strategy is laughable, but there are many people who are just as stupid as Trump and whose naivety and gullibility have helped propel the idiots and grifters into the positions of power and influence they have today.
Our military will deal with the bond market
Ken,
A lot of what Trump does is still guided by Republican policy principles, even if they are stupid and reckless. He is also a great distraction while the swines undermine the law and gather power for themselves. Nothing they are doing now they can't take away from the Democrats if they happen to be able to overcome all the gerrymandering and disadvantages being cooked into the system by the Republicans at every level and get in power again. The SC Republicans are playing the long game as they set up for the future Republican rule over us all. They are also incredibly arrogant and think that the unbridled authority they are enabling will never be turned on them personally. And the perks for destroying the the United States are pretty, pretty good.
"Trump DOJ appears to have hired lawyer convicted of hacking election sites to check ‘integrity’
A Florida lawyer who pleaded guilty after illegally accessing government election websites appears to have joined President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) — and taken part in a recent DOJ election monitoring operation in Minnesota.
The apparent hiring of David Michael Levin would be among the most troubling example yet of the department’s Civil Rights Division bringing on lawyers — including the acting chief of the voting section — who have taken extreme steps to undermine fair elections, as it rushes to put together a team to carry out Trump’s anti-voting agenda. And Levin’s involvement in election monitoring could offer a hint of the kind of personnel who will staff the operation this fall, when the DOJ has said it will send 1,000 monitors to the polls."
David Rothkopf
"The Only Truth About Trump’s America Is That Everything Is a Lie"
David Frum, for The Atlantic, on How to Lose a Trade War
"The Trump administration has one big idea about Canada: The U.S. is larger, stronger, and richer than Canada, so Canada must sooner or later surrender to Trump’s demands. That one big idea is wrong.
....
Although Canada’s economy is much smaller than the U.S.’s, Canada’s government has a more rational and intelligent leadership—and can therefore target its retaliation in ways that better serve national ends.
....More than 30 percent of Ohio’s exports go to Canada, and almost 40 percent of Michigan’s. Both states will this year elect a U.S. senator and fill open governor’s seats. Not only is Trump putting at risk his party’s position in purple Michigan, but suddenly the races in beet-red Ohio look in jeopardy too....As Trump has declared over and over again, his ultimate goal in this trade war is to add Canada as a 51st state. Why? To make the United States look bigger on the map."
Mark Carney';s comment (quoted above) "Last-minute changes in the U.S. proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal," indicate that Fatty's trade reps had no intention of putting his temper tantrum tariffs to bed. Moving the goalposts at the last minute is a well worn tactic meant to let the other side know "No deal, no matter what". Fatty WANTS his tariffs. But as Marie points out, good for Carney for smacking that fat asshole back in the face.
As for those kids playing hockey on the pond across from Marie's house up in the Granite State, yeah, prices will now go up. Families with kids playing competitive hockey heft a big bill for equipment, and most of the best stuff does come from Canada (even though the big Canadian manufacturers of hockey skates, sticks, gloves, and pads--CCM and Bauer--make a lot of their equipment overseas in places like Vietnam (imagine hockey sticks made in the jungle!).
But since I was a kid, the gold standard skates were CCM Super Tacks. Too expensive for me and my friends even when back then. A pair of Super Tacks now can cost over $500, over $1000 at the college level and above. Sticks, like we used to use, the wooden kind, cost around $35-$50 now but the composite sticks can be well over $200. All those prices will be hugely increased now.
When we were kids, we'd hang on to broken sticks because for a few bucks, you could purchase plastic Super Blades and attach them to the end of the busted stick. The best thing about these Super Blades was that you could turn on the burner on your kitchen stove and heat them up, then put a wicked curve into the blade to give you a crazy slap shot (this was mostly a street hockey thing). But those blades are made by Cooper, another Canadian company, so even kids who aren't rich enough for composite sticks will have to pay more for a good slap shot. I can think of a certain orange dome I'd like to use for slap shot practice. Thanks, Donnie, you stooped oaf. Luckily Mark Carney routinely scores through the five hole on Fat Donald.
CNN
"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a transphobic slur while speaking at the Iowa State Fair Monday, where he appeared in support of Republican Rep. Zach Nunn, who is running for a third term in Congress."
Bret Devereax
"The focus here is, quite reasonably, on the slur, but I am also struck by how bankrupt his argument ("color-blind, merit-based, we want the best") is, given that he's in the process of losing a war in the Middle East really quite badly.
The actual *performance* of the DoD is visibly reduced!
And so you end up with what we have here: a SecDef whose focus is on pantomiming the things he imagines brings victory, like an ancient priest praying for rain, rather than carefully assessing the requirements for victory and producing them[.]"
It's not just ice skates
"School supplies really do cost more this year. Here's how much, from lunchboxes to pencils
According to one analysis of the 21 most common school supply items by the Groundwork Collaborative and The Century Foundation, two progressive think tanks, prices are up about 7.7 percent with parents paying an average of $173.45 for their school supply haul. That's an even bigger jump than last year. Add to that an 11 percent hike in prices for school lunch essentials — from the literal tons of blueberries needed to feed young children to apple juice — and costs balloon to nearly $4,000 a year to cover supplies and meals."
My sincerest hope is that Democrats are gearing up for all the election interference and rigging being put in place by Fat Hitler and his horde of election deniers and other nefarious scumbags with a history of election skullduggery (see RAS's comment, above). We have such an ingrained history of knives-to-gunfights that I am severely tempering my optimism, even though such as Mark Elias have been sounding the alarm and devising appropriate responses to MAGA election theft schemes. I'm guessing Democrats will still be battering each other about socialist candidates and whether we should be nice to the traitors if we win the midterms, or maybe try for some retribution.
Of course, the standard play is for Democrats to let bygones be bygones. That shit will not cut it this time. We tried it before. Many times. And it always blows up in our faces. Letting the crooks and liars get away with everything allows them to say "See! Everything we did was fair and on the up and up, otherwise, we'd be in jail now." They should be in jail. I. don't see that happening, but whatever can be done to shore up the battlements of democracy must be put into place, otherwise, we're just waiting for the next traitorous fucks to continue the job of killing the American Experiment being taken to extremes by the Fat Fascist and his Nazi assholes.
The Mainstream press, as is their wont, and as is the desire of the media's version of the Dephpic Oracles, the three See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil monkeys, are loaded up to rehabilitate the Hillbilly Allergy just as the 2028 presidential election is coming into view.
"A few months from now, J.D. Vance will announce that he's running for president, despite the fact that he carries an albatross around his neck named Donald Trump. What will the media do when Vance announces? If this New York Times story is any indication, the media will carefully removed [sic] the albatross:
Drawing on His Rust Belt Roots, Vance Campaigns for Republicans
Vice President JD Vance traveled to his hometown, Middletown, Ohio, and spoke at a steel factory where his grandfather once worked.
This headline is written as if the second Trump presidency isn't happening, as if the Times is prepared to turn the clock back to the days when Vance was seen as a thoughtful memoirist with many important things to tell coastal liberals about Heartland America."
The rest of the corporate media looks to be no better. So...this oleaginous, shape-shifting, amoral lying douche nozzle will be cleaned up and presented to the public as just a nice guy with a strange interest in furniture.
"As for that improvement in Ohio's quality of life, Vance is quoted telling his audience that it's already happening:
'I’m not saying it’s going to be easy or it’s all going to happen overnight,' the vice president said. 'But in just 18 months, we have seen an explosion of rebuilding in the American heartland.'
We're given this quote, which is utter nonsense, and the story ends. This wild assertion is never fact-checked.
Of course it isn't. Republicans care about the Rust Belt and are generally excellent stewards of the economy has been an unchallenged notion in our political culture since long before Trump entered politics.
Vance is being portrayed here as a man with a fascinating life history, and as an heir to other Republicans who were depicted by the media as normal and rooted in the soil -- Ronald Reagan, even the Bushes. Vance should be struggling to shake off Trump's stink, but here, he's portrayed as if he's fresh as a daisy."
I have at least some faith in American voters' ability to see this smirking, self-serving deathshead for what he is, an opportunistic liar of the first order. But they won't get much help from the media.
Comme d'habitude. Merde.
"Kansas city sues residents for petitioning to ban data centers branding it 'void and invalid'
The City of Edgerton in Kansas has gone to court to try to stop a citizen-backed effort that would let residents vote on banning data centers in the small southern Johnson County city.
In a lawsuit filed Aug. 4 in Johnson County District Court, the city sued Kimberly Twente, Carrie Schmidt, and Public Trust Collective Inc., a nonprofit that Twente recently incorporated, as well as other unnamed defendants. The city claims the petition campaign targeting data centers is “legally and factually deficient” and should be thrown out before it can reach voters.
Twente and Schmidt helped lead the citizen petition drive to secure a ballot initiative that would classify data centers as industrial nuisances."
Because they don't take anything seriously, RFK Jr interrupted by his Quack ringtone. Only way a person could cause the harm and suffering that these monsters do is because those lives of other people Do Not Matter. And so it becomes a joke that the quack health secretary puts his ringtone as a quacking duck. Fuck these pathetic wastes of space, all of them.
This image might create a few more vegetarians - Trump Beef
Read this on a Fox site and I'm not gonna link it because fuck them.
"President Donald Trump’s effort to bring down grocery prices by increasing foreign beef imports is sparking resistance from Republicans in ranching states, who warn American producers could pay the price."
Oh, the ranchers who voted overwhelmingly for this fat lying, back-stabbing piece of shit are unhappy because he's screwing them in order to help himself? Seriously?
Fuck------------them.
You hang out with pigs, you get the shit.
And now these MAGA ranchers are say ing that the objects are no longs to eat sake
NEVER! They voted for this clown, they're stuck in the circus tent with him. As for the rest of us, will anyone be rushing out to buy Trump Beef? Why won't he say where it's from? If he's not yapping and bragging, it's because there's something very wrong with this meat, otherwise, he'd be saying. Maybe it's from China. Who knows? But I am 10000000% sure that no FDA inspector has looked at these animals, which means we're back where we were when Polio Bob's poisoned Cancer Lettuce started making Americans puke on the sidewalk.
Why bother trying to understand any lies this fat fascist fuck spits out? I don;t, for second however, believe that MAGA ranchers by this would refuse to vote for Fat Hitler, Should poll numbers drop into the teens, there are still plenty of Democrat, democracy, DEI, Constitution, a real Supreme Court, and fairer tax laws hating Fatty voters who would vote for this fat fucker while being dipped in grease and fried in hell for voting three times for him already.
Fuck 'em.
Wow....don't know how that crazy line got into the last comment. I'm pretty sure I meant that ranchers are saying they're pissed that he's screwing them and now they might not vote for him or his policies again? Or something like that. You get what I mean.
I hope.
I'm sure it is just a coincidence that a day ago there were reports that Fat Hitler is selling wild stallions for $25 a piece to then be slaughtered and now he has a mysterious cheap protein source that he can't tell anyone where it is from.
Oh geez....a Mr. Ed burger. "Oh Wilbur...."
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