Mohamad El Chamaa & Sammy Westfall of the Washington Post: “The U.S. military said Saturday it hit three Iranian oil tankers, including one near Kharg Island, the country’s main oil terminal, after Iran launched missiles toward two U.S. Navy warships. U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the region, said in a statement that the U.S. strikes disabled an oil carrier off the coast of Kharg Island and another off Jask, and it destroyed a third one in the Gulf of Oman. 'Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost — taking out three of yours,' said Adm. Brad Cooper, Centcom commander, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.” A NOTUS report is here.
Marie: I had to "join" Instagram AND Threads to get this video, but it was worth the hassle I'm sure is in the offing because, thanks to RAS, I found out how very nice "Canada nice" really is. And now you can, too: ~~~
View on Threads
Fat Hitler Indeed. From hitler-pics.com: "Arguably Adolf Hitler’s greatest passion and pastime outside of his quest for world domination was his obsession with architecture and urban design. So much so that he not only had grandiose plans for a total revision of Berlin but also had extensive plans for the redesign of just about every major city in Germany. Below are a large series of photographs of him intently developing and revising his plans for Munich, Nuremberg, Bayreuth, and Weimar as well as his hometown of Linz in Austria. He wanted his new buildings and monuments to demonstrate the determination, strength and power of his rapidly expanding Reich." Thanks to RAS for the link. MB: This is eerie. The difference between Trump & Hitler here is that Trump hasn't gotten around to redesigning, say, Cleveland.
I like that this design appears to show the birth date of liberty as 1776, and its death as 2026 https://t.co/sXinZjEP9m
— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) September 2, 2026
~~~ Thanks to RAS for the link. Via digby.
~~~~~~~~~~
The Comments started working again at 1:45 ET this morning! So at least for now (at 1:48 am ET) you all are back in business. Thank you for your patience.
Jeff Cox of CNBC: "The U.S. economy added jobs at a brisk pace in August, reversing a summer slowdown in hiring, while the unemployment rate held steady. Nonfarm payrolls rose a seasonally adjusted 162,000 for the month while the unemployment rate, as expected, held steady at 4.1%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a payrolls increase of 53,000. August’s total was the strongest monthly gain since March." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mad Man Demands Fed Cut Interest Rates. Or Else. Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: “... Donald Trump on Friday demanded that the Federal Reserve slash interest rates or else he will cut off trade with countries with which the U.S. maintains trade deficits. Trump issued the sweeping ultimatum in a Truth Social post reacting to a much-stronger-than-expected monthly jobs report by urging the central bank and its chairman, Kevin Warsh, to 'get smart' and cut rates.... Taken at face value, the threat to end trade with deficit-harboring countries is extreme: The U.S. has large trade deficits with dozens of countries, including its top trading partners.” Thanks to Ken W., who sent this link to me via email marieburns2022@gmail.com (Also linked yesterday.)
If it ain't nailed down, Donald Trump and his band of thieves will steal it: ~~~
~~~ Chris Cameron of the New York Times: “The Tetris Company, the company that owns the rights to the classic video game, denounced a clone of the game produced by the Trump administration that has the player block space aliens and zombies from crossing the U.S.-Mexican border. It was the latest incident in which an owner of a creative work objected to the Trump administration’s use of it. Build the Wall, the White House version of Tetris, urges the player to 'protect the border from the incoming horde,' which is rhetoric that ... [Donald] Trump and members of his administration often use about immigrants.... The game was created by Alexey Pajitnov, a Soviet software engineer, in 1984. The Tetris Company continues to license many variants of the game, some of which are marketed to children with Nintendo cartoon characters like Mario, Kirby and Donkey Kong. Build the Wall has those blocks take the form of the southern border wall, physically blocking aliens and zombies that explode when they collide with the wall. In its statement, the Tetris Company added, 'P.P.S. We take copyright infringement very seriously.'” The link is a gift link.
Arc de Trump News, Ctd. Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: “Three Vietnam War veterans on Friday asked a federal judge to prevent work from starting on ... Donald Trump’s planned arch, warning that the administration is seeking to outrace federal courts on the project. U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan should issue a temporary restraining order to block newly announced work, the veterans’ lawyers wrote in an emergency filing, noting that Trump’s planned 250-foot-tall arch has not been authorized by Congress and is still undergoing federal reviews. They also said the Trump administration is seeking to render the project 'a fait accompli,' citing the administration’s legal arguments regarding Trump’s proposed White House ballroom that courts could not stop the project because too much work had already been done.... Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Thursday said that the administration will start excavation work on the arch within the next two weeks, kicking off an aggressive timeline to build the arch within the next two to three years.” An NPR story is here. ~~~
~~~ Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: “There are so many pathetic scenes of the Supreme Court and Republicans in Congress caving in to Trump.... Now Trump is breaking ground for his solipsistic, Napoleonic Triumphal Arch — never mind that it lacks federal approval and that the gold angel on top might endanger planes flying in and out of Reagan National Airport.... [Chief Justice John] Roberts issued the ruling in 2024 giving Trump near-total criminal immunity, and that makes him complicit in Trump’s egregious behavior.” The link is a gift link.
Judge Is Reflecting on Reflecting Pool Case. Dan Mangan of CNBC: "A Washington judge on Friday said he will rule quickly on whether to dismiss a now-discredited indictment charging former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn with vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with prejudice, which would bar prosecutors from refiling charges against Hearn for the same alleged conduct in a case that has drawn intense focus from ... Donald Trump. Prosecutors, who admit there are no current grounds to sustain a criminal case against Hearn, urged Judge Todd Edelman at a hearing to dismiss the indictment in D.C. Superior Court without prejudice. That would let prosecutors ask a grand jury to charge Hearn again if new evidence were discovered implicating him in vandalizing the pool.”
Zach Montague of the New York Times: “A federal judge in Boston ruled for the third time on Friday that the Trump administration’s plans to restrict mail-in voting are likely illegal and it should be prevented from implementing them ahead of the midterm election. Judge Indira Talwani had already temporarily blocked the U.S. Postal Service from moving forward, in a ruling that was set to expire Sept. 10. The new order extends that block indefinitely. What the ruling did not do was move the issue much closer to a resolution, even with time rapidly running out for state election officials to start distributing mail-in ballots to voters. The Trump administration had already appealed her temporary block to the Supreme Court, and the justices are likely to have the final word on ... [Donald] Trump’s plans ahead of the election. The ruling came just a day after Judge Talwani held a two-hour hearing in Boston, with lawyers representing large coalitions of Democratic-led states and voting rights groups squared off with lawyers representing the Postal Service and a smaller group of Republican-led states that support the rule.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) The Guardian's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Alexandra Hutzler of Democracy Docket: “The Department of Justice filed an appeal to the First Circuit Friday as it tries to put ... Donald Trump’s anti-mail voting executive order into effect before Election Day. The appeal came shortly after U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a preliminary injunction blocking the U.S. Postal Service from implementing a new rule that would impose restrictions on a voting method used by one-third of Americans in the 2024 election.... At stake is a voting practice used by 47 million Americans in 2024. Trump himself even voted by mail just last month in Florida’s Republican primary.” ~~~
~~~ Jacob Knutson of Democracy Docket: “U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) inspector general has opened an investigation into new whistleblower claims that the agency’s haphazard implementation of ... Donald Trump’s anti-mail voting executive order could unleash chaos and disenfranchise millions of voters this November, Democratic lawmakers said Friday. The new probe comes just days after Democrats asked USPS Inspector General Tammy Hull in a letter to 'immediately' open a probe into the whistleblower’s allegations and ensure that voting by mail is protected for the upcoming midterms.... In a report earlier this week, the anonymous whistleblower alleged that the Postal Service’s new verification process could result in tens of thousands of mail ballots never being delivered to voters who are eligible to vote by mail. For many voters, especially those with disabilities, not receiving mail ballots means being disenfranchised.” ~~~
~~~ Nick Corasaniti & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “The Justice Department has subpoenaed the Nevada secretary of state for voter information, according to a person familiar with the operation, at a time when the government is rapidly escalating efforts to prove ... [Donald] Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud. The office of Cisco Aguilar, Nevada’s secretary of state and its chief election officer, confirmed receiving seven 'voter-related' subpoenas from F.B.I. agents over the last three months, but declined to offer details. It is unclear whether other states have received similar subpoenas. The U.S. attorney in Nevada, Sigal Chatta, whose office would have overseen the request, is a pro-Trump prosecutor who has repeatedly sought to cast doubt on the integrity of federal elections.... The Trump administration has deployed hundreds of investigators to hunt for voter fraud, despite decades of evidence that it is exceptionally rare in the United States. The administration is also aggressively trying to shape how the midterm elections are run, demanding private voter information across the country and seeking to change election rules.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Alan Feuer, et al., of the New York Times: “Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary, has asked the Justice Department to examine whether a commonly used voting machine can be trusted to create a verifiable record, in what appeared to be the Trump administration’s latest effort to cast doubt on digital voting systems. In a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday, Mr. Mullin asked the Justice Department to determine whether devices that tally votes through bar codes or QR codes provided what he described as a 'reliable record for a manual audit.' The letter, which asked Mr. Blanche for his department’s help in ensuring that machines known as ballot-marking devices comply with federal law, raises questions about whether the request sought to lay the ground for claiming that some electronically cast or counted votes are invalid.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: I have a feeling that no matter what stunts the Trumplodytes pull on or around Election Day, it will be months before half the members of Congress can be seated. I'm not sure the House will be able to muster a quorum. We are living in dangerous times.
Because of Course They Did. Abbie Van Sickle of the New York Times: “In a victory for Republicans in the run-up to the midterms, the Supreme Court on Friday found that political parties are entitled to the same low-cost TV ad rates as candidates. The ruling focused on an obscure but crucial part of political campaign funding that has given Democrats an advantage in recent years. The court’s majority found that Republican Party committees were likely to suffer 'irreparable harm' unless the justices cleared the way for them to receive the low-cost ad rates, saying that requiring party committees to pay more for advertising would hamper 'their efforts to reach the electorate in the critical weeks leading up to the midterms.' The majority added that such an injury 'implicates their First Amendment rights to speak and coordinate their political activities freely.' As is typical in such emergency applications, the order did not include a vote count. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, one of the court’s liberals, dissented.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)
Salvador Rizzo of the Washington Post: “A federal magistrate judge ruled Friday that the Trump administration must identify the people who came up with the idea for a now-defunct $1.8 billion fund to compensate those who claim they were unfairly investigated by the Justice Department. The ruling came as part of an ongoing lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. A former federal prosecutor who was fired by the Trump administration and other plaintiffs challenged the 'Anti-Weaponization Fund' as an unconstitutional giveaway of taxpayer dollars designed to benefit ... Donald Trump’s political supporters. Acting attorney general Todd Blanche issued orders establishing the fund in May and scrapping it last month, after the proposed payouts spurred a bipartisan backlash in Congress. But several lawsuits over the plan remain pending in the federal courts. The case playing out in Virginia is the only one to have reached the legal discovery phase, in which the parties exchange evidence to prepare for trial.” (Also linked yesterday.)
~~~ Marie: In a big-dick contest, the U.S. shows how small it is. It's almost uncanny: there is no scientific observation, no measurable fact, no common verity which even obliquely challenges racist assumptions that the Trump administration won't deny: ~~~
~~~ Victoria Craw of the Washington Post: “The United Nations voted Friday to endorse a world map that more accurately reflects the true size of continents, following an African-led campaign. The U.N. General Assembly voted 164 votes to 1 to adopt a resolution to encourage members to use the “Equal Earth” projection rather than the commonly used Mercator map, which dates back to the 16th century. The U.S. cast the sole vote against the initiative, while six countries abstained: Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine. The vote followed a 'Correct the Map' campaign backed by the African Union and led by Togo. The campaign argued that the Mercator map, developed by Flemish mapmaker Gerardus Mercator in 1569, misrepresents the size of continents, particularly Africa, and carries unfair connotations of power and privilege.... The U.N. vote does not ban the Mercator projection or designate a replacement, but encourages governments, schools, international organizations and technology companies to use the Equal Earth map or other projections that more accurately reflect the true relative sizes of countries.”
Evan Semones of Al Jazeera: “As the United States and Israel’s war on Iran enters its seventh month with no clear end in sight..., Donald Trump has become the latest US official to downplay the conflict. On Friday, Trump said the conflict, which has resulted in the deaths of 18 US service members and a spike in global energy prices, is 'small potatoes'. 'It’s not a big thing,' Trump said, comparing strikes on Iran with other US military campaigns, including the January 3 operation to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. 'We did Venezuela, and we did this. In Venezuela, we lost nobody. In this, we lost 18 people.' His remarks came at an Oval Office signing event, where reporters asked him to weigh in on remarks from Vice President JD Vance.... 'I wouldn’t call it a war. Right now, there is no active shooting,' Vance said [a day earlier], arguing that major combat operations only lasted six weeks.”
Say, Let's Humiliate the Joint Chiefs! Jonathan Swan, et al., of the New York Times: “U.S. government investigators have taken the extraordinary step of subjecting roughly 50 members of the U.S. military’s Joint Staff to polygraph tests over leaks to journalists, including about how the Iran war has created a shortage of crucial munitions, according to officials briefed on the move. The investigators asked military officers and civilian employees on the Joint Staff if they disclosed classified information to members of the press, and about whether they provided information about diminished U.S. munitions stocks. The polygraph tests were conducted in August after a flurry of news reports detailed diminished stocks of crucial munitions, including of long-range missiles and Patriot interceptors. The show of force appeared aimed at not just ferreting out anyone who may have shared information, but intimidating others who might do so in the future, according to people with knowledge of the effort.... The scope of the investigation is without parallel. Mass polygraph tests have never been administered to the top ranks of the U.S. military in modern history.” The link is a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Marcy Wheeler: "Once again, Donald Trump’s rants on Truth Social ... [are] debunked by the scale of the witch hunt he or his Crusader Secretary of War ordered up.... In Trump’s latest attempt to lie, he seems intent on claiming there’s a secret stash of missiles that sustained reporting says the US doesn’t have."
AP, published in Politico: “A federal judge refused Friday to block the Pentagon from firing three Stars and Stripes staff members who claim they were illegally disciplined for speaking out about the military news outlet’s need to maintain its editorial independence. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, who was nominated to the bench by ... Donald Trump[,] ruled that the journalists are unlikely to successfully prove that the Pentagon violated their First Amendment free speech rights. He said Stars and Stripes’ editorial independence 'is not at stake here.”
Ivan Nechepurenko of the New York Times: Donald “Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow on Saturday, Russian state news agencies reported, ahead of a planned trip to Kyiv, Ukraine, as they hope to reignite diplomatic efforts to end the war there. Mr. Witkoff, the president’s special envoy, and Mr. Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, are making their first trip to Russia since January. A month after that visit, U.S.-backed peace negotiations went into a deep freeze when the United States and Israel attacked Iran. Since Mr. Trump took office in January 2025, Mr. Witkoff has met regularly with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. At the end of that year, Mr. Kushner began joining Mr. Witkoff for meetings with the Russian leader. But the planned trip to Kyiv would be the first by either American envoy. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said on Friday that Ukrainian forces would not conduct airstrikes on Russia while the envoys were there, and he called on Mr. Putin to reciprocate by temporarily halting strikes on Ukraine.” The link is a gift link.
What This Country Needs Is Higher Sperm Counts, More Testosterone and Better Erectile Function. Paige Cunningham & Eric Katz of NOTUS: “The Health Department’s office to improve the health of minorities has abruptly terminated more than half its existing grants, saying they didn’t focus on the Trump administration’s new priorities of addressing infertility and encouraging exercise. Some grantees provided cancer screenings or postpartum home visits. Others worked to reduce first-responder suicide or decrease obesity among Native American youth. All of the funds came from the Office of Minority Health, which the administration tried to shutter last year. Administration officials wrote to grantees that going forward, awards should directly advance 'reducing overmedicalization in health care by addressing the root causes of infertility' including hormonal imbalances, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, low sperm count, low testosterone levels and erectile dysfunction as root causes. Grants should also support programs that promote 'regular physical activity and exercise,' according to the Aug. 25 letters obtained by NOTUS.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Okay, they did also say they would be addressing endometriosis & uterine fibroids, but is that really what Congress meant when it authorized expenditures to improve minority health? I don't think so. This is just more overt racism, IMO.
Getting Back at Fetterman. Annie Karni of the New York Times: “Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, has for years detested the day-to-day duties of his job, dismissing such tasks as going to hearings and casting votes as a 'performative' waste of time. Now, a group of his disillusioned former staff members — of which there are many — is threatening to reveal more about his private disdain for what is expected of him as an elected representative of 13 million constituents. On Friday afternoon, a new account, @FettermanStaff, sprang up on X, threatening to publicize unflattering material about the first-term senator, including screen shots of his internal communications. It came after The Wall Street Journal published fresh revelations highlighting Mr. Fetterman’s deep antipathy to the daily work of being a senator, including meeting with groups from his state and attending a funeral for fallen police officers.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Gregory Svirnovskiy of Politico: “A swath of Democrats denounced Sen. John Fetterman in the aftermath of a Wall Street Journal report that showed the Pennsylvania Democrat routinely ducking meetings with constituents, skirting committee hearings and contemplating skipping a police funeral in his home state. 'John Fetterman is a disgrace,' Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) wrote Thursday night on X. 'Our state deserves better than a lazy trust fund baby who is too lazy to do the job.' 'There is a lot I could say about this report of John Fetterman’s pathetic behavior as a Senator,' Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) wrote on the platform Friday morning. 'But between the laziness, disrespect, and willingness to carry water for a foreign government, it shows us something we already know: this man has no sense of duty. He is not up for the high office he was elected to — and we in Pennsylvania will do something about it in 2028.'” (Also linked yesterday.)
Ruth Igeelnik & Caroline Soler of the New York Times: “The share of Americans who associate themselves with the Democratic Party has grown significantly over the past year, according to data from Gallup. The shift, which signals the party’s largest advantage since 2008, is the latest sign of backlash against Republicans and the president ahead of the midterm elections. The latest data shows Democrats with a 10-percentage-point advantage over Republicans when voters are asked which party they identify with and when independent voters are asked which party they lean toward. The findings come as President Trump’s approval rating has been below 40 percent for months, and as polls have found that Democrats are competitive across key Senate races in states that went heavily for Mr. Trump in past years. But shifts in party identification do not necessarily translate directly into votes, because independents, including those who lean toward a party, tend to be less politically engaged and less likely to vote.” The link is a gift link. MB: They're not “Independent”; they're “Feckless.”
David Gilmour of Mediaite writes that Dylan Byers has a slightly different story about Maria Bartiromo's abrupt departure from Fox “News.” “Trump also quickly rallied to Bartiromo’s defense on Truth Social, calling her 'a total professional, and a true warrior' while warning Fox that her 'many' fans 'will not be happy.'” Here's the New York Times' tale; this is a gift link.
The Atlantic publishes an adapted excerpt of Gloria Steinem's An Unexpected Life. The excerpt is mostly autobiographical and so worth the read. Many thanks to akaWendy for this gift link. ~~~
~~~ Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: “One of the lasting accomplishments of Gloria Steinem, the feminist leader who died this week, was her role in replacing the honorifics Miss and Mrs. with Ms. She encountered much resistance. But her most formidable opponent may well have been The New York Times, which had long been seen as an arbiter of standards and language usage, and its executive editor, A.M. Rosenthal. The disagreements between Ms. Steinem and Mr. Rosenthal are hashed out in letters going back half a century, stored today at the New York Public Library.” The article includes facsimiles of some of Steinem's and Rosenthal's letters. The link is a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Marie: In her memoir (excerpt linked above), Gloria Steinem writes, "My role as an older person is to remind people how far we have come." Miriam Waldvogel, writing in the Washington Post, provides an example in her obituary for Mary Tsingou Menzel : Mary wrote the code in the 1050s; Enrico Fermi (and two other men) got the credit. The link is a gift link.
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Missouri Elections. Rudi Keller of the Missouri Independent: "Missouri Republican officials filed a last-chance appeal late Friday night to get the U.S. Supreme Court to allow this year’s congressional elections to be held in districts gerrymandered in 2025.The application to Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who oversees the Eighth Judicial Circuit, was filed just before midnight Friday. No immediate action was taken. The application asks Kavanaugh to stay the effect of the Missouri Supreme Court’s Thursday ruling that a referendum will take place on the map pushed through by Republicans in an effort to flip the 5th District from the Democratic Party." ~~~
~~~ Nick Sloan of KMBC News (Kansas City, Mo.): "In a post on Truth Social Thursday night, Trump called the unanimous decision [by the Missouri supreme court] 'horrible, ridiculous, and unconstitutional' and argued Missouri should be allowed to use the same congressional districts it used during the August primary."
17 comments:
So I had this ready to go about 24 hours ago but then we had that blogger-fogger thingy so it sat around. Figgered I’d send it now since it’s all ready…it’s in regard to the Times piece on the Lake Ontario stupidity, lumping it in with legitimate geographic naming disputes. You dissented from referring to this as more Times sanewashing…anyhoo…
Marie,
Yeah, the Times writer did mention something about Fatty's "rage-baiting" (in the fifth paragraph) but never characterized it as "infantile", which, of course, it is. My complaint is why even bother with this comparison at all? The naming disputes mentioned in the body of the piece are all mostly legitimate and longstanding. Trump's bullshit renaming of Lake Ontario in no way comes close to any of these. And providing this sort of context for his latest whiny baby embarrassment does seem to give it some legitimacy, if not a certain amount of cover. I may be overly sensitive to the Times and other major legacy media outlets constantly riding to the rescue to help the Orange Monster, so my suggestion is, if they're gonna pull this shit, I wish they'd do it like Jerry Colonna used to.
And thanks for working to get things back up again. Google hops to fast enough to do the bidding of the obese infant, reg’lar people gotta wait in line I guess.
In The Atlantic, an adaptation from Gloria Steinem's,forthcoming memoir An Unexpected Life - Everything We Do Matters
"My mother was addicted to a tranquilizer called sodium pentothal. Without the tranquilizer, she might stay awake for days, full of fantasy and fear. I often had to stay home from school to help her if her hands were too shaky. She once imagined that soldiers were fighting a war in the street outside our house and, in an effort to escape, cut herself while smashing her hand through a window. Though I hated to see her addicted, her source of relief was also a relief to me. We subsisted on the money that came from illegally renting out the rooms on the first floor to a young married couple who worked in a local factory and spent their nights in loud domestic battles.
....
Those early years of looking after my mother gave me an appreciation for human needs and family diversity. I learned that there is no one right way to nurture and be nurtured. Perhaps most important, I learned that I could survive almost anything, including a sad mother who was called the Crazy Lady of the neighborhood."
Mike Nellis, described as a political strategist, writes on his blog Endless Urgency, that They're Lying About the Jobs Numbers
"The miraculous news arrived this morning: the latest jobs report came much stronger than what anyone expected. A gift from heaven for the Trump administration, right on schedule.
....
Yesterday's ADP report told a completely different story. Almost no job growth. Manufacturing jobs lost. Wage growth so slow against inflation that it functions as a pay cut. That report got a shrug. Today's number got the full treatment. All day long the MAGA media machine has been running its victory lap — the Golden Age of America is here."
Rebecca Solnit, for her site Meditations in an Emergency reflects on how Gloria Steinem Helped Transform the World for Everyone
" It can be imagined as a laboratory (or many laboratories) of possibilities in which various theses, formulas, and solutions were tried, refined, rejected, improved, replaced and so on, which is to say it is ahistorical, among other things, to complain that, say, the feminists of 1972 were not the feminists of 2026. They were not but they opened doors for the feminists of 2026 and made the lives of countless women more safe, free, dignified, and possible."
The Dutch moved much of their gold from NY Fed and Ottawa to London. Norway sold off a large portion of its US Treasuries.
https://www.newsweek.com/list-of-countries-that-have-pulled-gold-from-us-federal-reserve-12398243
Reasons amount to "risk management."
Unstated risk: the US is no longer a reliable custodian. It has seized or impounded other countries' assets for specious or no justification. It is breaking faith with EU and NATO members. Prudence requires removing assets from unreliable unaccountable custodians.
DiJiT is a loose cannon, but Bessent, Rubio and Blanche are derelict in their fiduciary and constitutional duties to meet US obligations.
My comm
My comment on the Dowd piece (now that I'm no longer anonymous..)
Have litte kind to say of the Court Conservatives' cynical manipulation of the law to kowtow to the Chief Crook, but don't begin to understand how any of them could be surprised at what they're loosed on the world.
The venality and stupidity of their present Unitary Executive was always apparent, so much so that no amount of willful blindness could obscure it.
I think it comes down to this: They are simply afraid of democracy, and because of the way they repeatedly side with capitalist rapine and white privilege, they have every right to be.
.
About Fat Hitler's fake money.
Catherine RampellI like that this design appears to show the birth date of liberty as 1776, and its death as 2026
Cartoonist Mike Luckovich
Stealing money for the not a war effort
"The Pentagon is attempting to divert billions of dollars from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to bolster the agency’s budget, according to the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) in a statement Thursday said Trump administration officials only recently disclosed to Congress that the Defense Department signed an interagency agreement that could give the Pentagon access to billions of dollars meant for biomedical research."
"Weary US Sailors Lay Bare War’s Strain During Thailand Shore Leave
The hardest stretch of the deployment, the 20-something-year-old recalled, wasn’t the high-stress military operations, but the monotonous aftermath as sailors wondered for weeks when they’d be going home. Even now, they aren’t sure.
While he personally had enough supplies, Mitchell described an underground economy that emerged as stocks ran low. Energy drinks that cost $3 at the ship store were being resold by sailors for $5 to $10. Then there was the 40-day stretch the Wi-Fi went out, severing all ties to families back home. Morale sunk so low at times that people threatened to jump off the ship, either to get some attention or a chance to go home."
"Ken Paxton omits rental income and mortgages from financial disclosures, obscuring his wealth
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appears to have violated federal ethics law in significant ways when filing recent disclosures of his assets and liabilities, creating confusion about his net worth and holdings, a review by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found.
Among them: Paxton, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, reported owning seven homes but said he earned no income from any. Yet all but one was listed for rent during the reporting periods, and some current residents and neighbors at those addresses confirmed that the properties were rented, the news organizations found. Receiving income and not reporting it is a violation of federal disclosure law, three ethics experts said. "
Republicans outsourcing good paying jobs again.
"Inside a Conservative Operation to Hijack Your Social-Media Feed
A service run from Latvia offers payment for short, social-media-friendly clips designed to look like grassroots GOP support.
By Ali Breland
If you’re short on cash, there is someone in Riga, Latvia, who can help. “You can literally make 100k a month with this campaign,” a young man with blond curls and a thick accent says into a camera."
Marjorie And Tommy Canadian Hospitality
Both Fat and Real
"Arguably Adolf Hitler’s greatest passion and pastime outside of his quest for world domination was his obsession with architecture and urban design. So much so that he not only had grandiose plans for a total revision of Berlin but also had extensive plans for the redesign of just about every major city in Germany."
RAS: Well, he got his wish. The 8th Air Force and Bomber Command, and the Red Army Artillery, pretty much redesigned everywhere they went in Germany. He got one of those "Monkey's Paw" wishes come true.
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