Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Donuel
Date: 23 Apr 25 - 05:23 AM

In response to Musk's comment about backing off DOGE, his Tesla shares went up 5%.

We all have witnessed the underground cesspool containing the internet of hate. It is fueled by those who have little or no compassion in their psyche. The step-by-step march toward the dehumanization of an individual, group, or genre is pushed forward by those without compassion. This lack of decency can be found on the playground, but in adults, it is immensely more destructive. Some people can not experience compassion, but 75% of people can. Identifying the megalomaniac, narcissist, or social psychopath early is the best defense against their unbridled hate. Concentrating those without compassion in government, law enforcement or volunteers to carry out illegal orders is how the holocaust became normalized to those who thought of themselves as superhuman.

For decades I have reminded those who listen that a descent into absolute hate happens step by step yet surprisingly quickly and is long lasting. It is spread by shouting but grows in silence.
Resist wherever you can..

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Apr 25 - 01:35 AM

Musk's Tesla stock is way down, they had a 71% decrease in sales this year. Poor baby. It's what most of his wealth is based upon.

Elon Musk Vows to Spend Less Time in Washington as Tesla’s Profit Drops 71%
The carmaker reported the sharp decline in quarterly earnings after its brand suffered because of its chief executive’s role in the Trump administration.

Mr. Musk told Wall Street analysts in a conference call that he would continue to spend “a day or two per week” on Washington matters, probably for the duration of Mr. Trump’s presidency. The billionaire executive is one of Mr. Trump’s closest confidants and has played a leading role in the president’s efforts to slash government spending and cut tens of thousands of federal government jobs.

He spoke less than two hours after Tesla said it had earned $409 million, down from $1.4 billion in the first quarter of 2024. The company previously reported net profit of $1.1 billion last year, but revised the figure to reflect changes in the way cryptocurrency assets are valued.

Tesla sales have been slumping because of intense competition from Chinese carmakers like BYD, a lack of new models and Mr. Musk’s support of far-right causes, which has turned off some liberals and centrists from buying Tesla vehicles.

Mr. Musk said recent protests at Tesla showrooms around the world had been conducted by people who stood to lose government handouts because of his work with the Trump administration. “The real reason is that those who are receiving the waste and fraud wish it to continue,” he said.

Tesla remains the most valuable automaker in the world as measured by its stock price, and it sells far more electric vehicles in the United States than any other company.

The man is an idiot.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Helen
Date: 22 Apr 25 - 10:36 PM

SRS, I especially liked the sign on that Flickr page from the protests which says:

Eggs are so expensive because all the chickens are in Congress. Congress/Courts do your job. Remove Trump.

(It's second from the top, on the right of the page.)

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Helen
Date: 22 Apr 25 - 01:14 PM

The boot is on the other foot for Noem, now that she has been DOGE'd by a sneaky but brazen thief. Her driver's licence and DHS security tag stolen, money stolen and I assume her credit cards too, keys to her home stolen allowing access to her private life.

Trump is still claiming publicly to be supporting Hegseth but his usual tactic is to do that and then throw the person under the bus without warning.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Apr 25 - 01:03 PM

Petty-acts-are-us is the motto of the Trump administration. I suspect all former presidents are looking into private security.

Pete Hegseth is in the swirling around in the toilet bowl mode right now; any moment he'll disappear from view entirely. From an interview with Elizabeth Warren today:

. . . “it is so clear that he is not ready for prime time. Look, we all knew this at the time he was originally nominated, that he was nominated principally because he was very, very, very, very loyal to Donald Trump, and he looked good on television and gave a kind of rah-rah talk around defense. But the truth was, he didn’t have the experience. He didn’t have the background. He made it clear that he didn’t think that a lot of us were serving in the military, particularly women, belong there, and had a contribution to make. And so it was, it was never a good idea to put this guy in.”

“And then he comes in and literally puts our entire national defense at risk, not once, but twice that we know of, and no one is sure,” Warren continued, adding, “this is something for which anyone who actually worked in the Department of Defense for Pete Hegseth would have been summarily fired.”

The whole conversation with Katie Couric is here.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Donuel
Date: 22 Apr 25 - 12:14 PM

Noem has the law on her side as the director of Homeland Security to remove the security team from the Obama family. I wonder if she will.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Apr 25 - 12:12 PM

Helen, You'd think the New York Times would be right out in front of some of these stories, but they lagged a day behind your abc.net.au story about the disarray in Hegseth's Pentagon. Covered much the same thing, with a few interesting links to side stories. The Times and the Washington Post have become downright timid, following, not leading in reporting this administration. He has them cowed also.

I reported yesterday about the interview with Jennifer Pahlka, and have for now downloaded her book from my public library, though I did order a copy on paper as well. I think this is one where I will want to write in the margins and use post-it notes to find good quotes to share, so having a paper copy helps. This will be the book that helps me not just say "Musk doesn't know what he's doing" but to point out why it isn't working and what needs to be done. I'm still calling or writing several times a week to my representatives offices, and I don't want to just be "me, too!" in the complaining crowd. Elizabeth Warren is another one who is behind making the legislation work, not just pile on more rules to old rules. That said, you'd think they would want to keep the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), except oops, that group was going to limit what Musk could do on X regarding banking stuff.

We are at the #AmericanRevolution2.0 right now in time.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Donuel
Date: 22 Apr 25 - 04:22 AM

What is Hegseth's actual job?
He is the deputy President of WAR, a very serious position for a character who is jokey at best. He surrounds himself with his wife, who was his producer at FOX News, even at high-level secret meetings.

Tariffs are not a remedy that Trump thinks they are. The market is 'tariff-fied'. The economy is not 'tariff-ic'. The risk is a 'STAGFLATION' similar to what happened to Japan when their recession could not be remedied for over ten years.

Waiting for this shoe to fall is an anvil that could kill.


Nobody expected the Spanish Inquisition, or Project 2025, unless they read it before the election. But Americans rarely read and prefer to wait for the movie version.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 22 Apr 25 - 03:32 AM

I see he is now "looking forward" to attending the Pope's funeral. I hope he is not invited!

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Apr 25 - 10:17 PM

The ACLU got another batch of deportees from El Paso on a bus headed to the airport and a flight El Salvador turned around and returned to the detention center. Rachel Maddow talked about it on her show tonight, then interviewed the attorney. He has a skill that has never before been required in the US, to keep people from being deported without due process. It looks like my $25 a month is going to a good cause.

Lawrence O'Donnell is starting his show with "Make America 1932 Again." Trump's assault on the marketplace continues, now going after the Federal Reserve head, but that doesn't affect the interest rates, a board sets the rates. Going after Powell will just continue to tank the stock market.

It looks like cars and car parts are going to go way up soon because of the tariffs; I need to schedule a brake job around the time of my next oil change (about 5000 miles), but the local newspaper opinion page says do the repairs or the work before the tariffs hit that will increase the price of the new brake pads and parts by 60%. How many "normal" purchases are now being bumped up or deferred because of this market?

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Donuel
Date: 21 Apr 25 - 07:03 PM

Since MAGA hats are made in China, a new one costs $32.50.

Perhaps a dog stole Noem's purse.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Helen
Date: 21 Apr 25 - 04:47 PM

Couldn't happen to a more deserving bimbo! And poetic justice indeed - having her ID, keys, passport and DHS access card stolen.

Literally LOL!

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Apr 25 - 04:07 PM

Oh - and Noem the idiot doesn't know how to watch out for her handbag in a restaurant. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s bag, including $3,000 in cash, is stolen from DC restaurant

The thief got away with Noem’s driver’s license, medication, apartment keys, passport, DHS access badge, makeup bag, blank checks, and about $3,000 in cash, the law enforcement source said.

The Secret Service has launched an investigation to trace any use of Noem’s financial instruments, the person said.

Well, those $3000 financial instruments can go on their merry way. Who carries around that kind of cash? And blank checks? Who carries a checkbook these days?

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Helen
Date: 21 Apr 25 - 04:06 PM

This is the link to a long news article, worth reading in full, but I'm not going to try to cut and paste from it. A ray of hope, maybe or just more scary Trump-induced chaos?

'Chaos' and 'dysfunction' reign inside Pete Hegseth's Pentagon following Signal scandals

"There are now numerous reports the US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was sharing sensitive military plans in a second Signal chat — a development that has been slammed as the latest in a "month from hell" for the Pentagon.

"The reports have prompted calls for Mr Hegseth to be fired and come as the former top Pentagon spokesperson alleges the past month has seen 'chaos' and 'dysfunction' reign under his leadership."

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Apr 25 - 03:47 PM

I had other stuff to do today, but spent the morning listening to a couple of the podcasts of the Freakonomics radio show. I've wanted to know about the agency that was in existence that Musk supposedly took over (and I think all of the original staff resigned shortly thereafter because of what he was doing to break things.)

Yesterday I heard enough of the program to make a couple of notes so I could find the whole thing today. Stephen Dubner interviewed several people in a two-episode program about "Sludge," the term used now to describe administrative red tape.

Sludge, part 1 is interesting, and worth a listen.

Sludge, part 2 is where he interviews Jennifer Pahlka.

It’s probably not surprising that many of the personal sludge stories we received had to do with government sludge. And when you think about government sludge at this moment in time, you may well think of Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man and one of its most unusual. He has been deputized by Donald Trump to drain the D.C. swamp, to take a chainsaw to bureaucracy — pick your metaphor, there are plenty to go around. Musk runs a new entity called DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, which took over and renamed an existing entity called the U.S.D.S., or U.S. Digital Service. So we thought it’d be good to speak with one of the people who founded the U.S.D.S., a little over 10 years ago, under President Obama.

PAHLKA: I’m Jennifer Pahlka. I wrote a book called Recoding America: Why Government is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better.

Pahlka no longer works in government, but she’s usually adjacent.

PAHLKA: I work with governments — state, federal, and local — to increase their capacity, to achieve their policy goals. I founded a nonprofit that helps state and local governments do all that stuff.

That nonprofit is called Code for America. Pahlka does some other things as well.

PAHLKA: I served on the Defense Innovation Board, trying to help the Defense Department be better. I do stuff like that. I write a lot. I write a Substack called Eating Policy.

It was in 2014 that Pahlka co-founded the U.S. Digital Service. It was imagined as a kind of anti-sludge strike force, going from agency to agency to help them update their digital infrastructure. And how did Jennifer Pahlka become this kind of a fixer? I asked her; specifically, I asked what sort of superpower this requires.

I'll leave it to everyone to go listen to the program (or read the transcript - the part you see here is cut and paste from there). This program was recorded many weeks ago, before Musk had done as much damage as now. At about 42:10 into the program he asks her how she would have have approached what Musk has been tasked with now. The difference between how she might do it and Musk is doing it is that she knows what she's doing but wouldn't do it this way.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Helen
Date: 21 Apr 25 - 03:24 PM

MaJoC, I also tried to read a similar article on the website of The Atlantic about Elon Musk's harem after it was recommended on the PBS Washington Week with the Atlantic TV show this week. Scary!

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Donuel
Date: 21 Apr 25 - 01:08 PM

For those who sell out for money know they are guilty of racketeering but if the boss owns law enforcement or a new law like Citizens United that allows dark big money to pay their players to cheat they feel fairly secure in racketeering. It is a lucrative sickness that is hard to cure.

The biggest lobby in DC is the pharmaceutical lobby. That means they probably bribe the most Congressmen. None of this makes for efficiency in government but pay to play has deep roots that Trump can advance with Billionaires united.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 21 Apr 25 - 11:32 AM

More info: What's three orders of magnitude between friends?

Downward DOGE: Elon Musk keeps revising cost-trimming goals in a familiar pattern

On top of that, Trump's increased federal spending almost completely negates $150B in cuts

Elon Musk's Trump-blessed DOGE unit has made a lot of noise and a lot of headlines for its heavy-handed hatchet tactics within supposedly bloated governmental organizations.

But its actual results are so far falling far short of the Tesla tycoon's original promises.

[ ... ]

Over-promising, under-delivering, dodgy receipts .... read on, esp for the punchlines (there's a bonus one which looks fascinating, but I can't follow the link to the WSJ).

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Donuel
Date: 21 Apr 25 - 08:23 AM

Surprisingly, relatively very little money has actually been stolen by DOGE.
Half of the money they claim that has been reaped by a reduction in force is a bald faced lie. The true aim is the destruction of agencies by hollowing them out and removing the individuals who have complete knowledge of how the benefits of their agency are achieved.

Somehow, DOGE claims the Pentagon has virtually no waste or inefficiency. The rest of the plan is to reappoint ignorant political hacks to crucial agencies to discipline employees to all be loyal to Trump or else.

What Trumpers think are crucial agencies is based on stupidity, Trump's gut, and conspiracy theory.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 20 Apr 25 - 06:33 PM

thanks for the link, Maggie, I've shared it with my friends - I'm glad to see our penguins got a mention, & old ladies as well!

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Apr 25 - 05:43 PM

He will have many deaths on his hands, probably does already, with the wrenching of basic services provided by USAID, plus all of the domestic programs that are funded now but Congress from past budgets but from which he and Musk are impounding the dollars.

What are they doing with all of the money they stole from the programs it belongs to?

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Donuel
Date: 20 Apr 25 - 03:19 PM

Psychopaths are surprisingly common; however, very few of them are deadly predators. They all share the inability to take responsibility and therefore, blame others. Empathy is generally unavailable to psychopaths but they often try to mimic empathy to play up to an audience as in game playing. That kind of manipulation is obvious to most people. People who ignore empathy in favor of a desired goal, like money, can turn psychopathy on and off as they need. That group is not composed of hard-core psychopaths, but is a subcategory like narcissists.
It would not be surprising if Trump had a murder buried in his past, but not necessarily by his own hand. He has bragged about getting away with murder on 5th Avenue.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Helen
Date: 20 Apr 25 - 02:02 PM

Well done, SRS and all other participants!!

I read an (Oz) ABC article about the number of marches throughout the US and the large numbers of people marching and it does appear to send a strong message to the politicians to take a stand as well.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Apr 25 - 11:56 AM

The march in Fort Worth was huge, larger than what many of us expected (the permit estimated 200 participants). The group walked from the park around a route planned out through downtown, then back to the park where speakers addressed issues important to the group. During the march part the Fort Worth police, on motorcycles and bicycles, were professional and there were a few discreet waves when we waved at them; their job was to stop traffic at intersections as the crowd walked through. Police estimate of the group was 3,000. The weather cooperated (heavy rain forecast ended up to the north just enough) but it was quite muggy.

A Flickr album from someone at the march was shared on the AltNPS page this morning, a nice overview.

Marches draw attention to issues but they also help energize participants to keep up the activist work. As of this morning I think there are at least a dozen GOP house members who have said they won't vote for the budget package that would obliterate Medicaid (and because those dollars don't operate independent of all other health care, many local hospitals and services.) That's enough to stall the budget.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Apr 25 - 04:36 PM

There is evidence of human bioengineering with Covid, but it is not incontrovertible evidence.

Trump paid someone to take his SATs for college entrance. Revenge against Universities has been a thing since Nixon, since upper-crust kids are more likely to be Republicans. Whodathunk Trump would make a Mao-style cultural revolution? Obama said Donald made no ideological comments on handover day at the White House.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Rain Dog
Date: 19 Apr 25 - 01:55 PM

So who do believe Helen?
The USA or China?
How do you choose? Tossing a coin?

China has its own agenda just like the USA. Personally I am not keen on either of them at the moment. Just look at the havoc China is causing with regards to steel production in the west.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Helen
Date: 19 Apr 25 - 01:24 PM

Good idea, SRS. I've refreshed this thread:

Terry Pratchett thread - it is one of many

Also I keep thinking it would be poetic justice if Trump caught COVID, given that he is an anti-vaxxer and remembering the huge number of Americans who died because of his anti-vax stance. Last time he was given the vaccination but he might refuse it this time because of his anti-vax buddy, RFK Jr.

He has been dabbling in the dark arts again re COVID:

Trump administration redirects COVID-19 sites to webpage supporting lab leak theory, criticises Joe Biden

"In short: The Trump administration has relaunched COVID-19 health websites, blaming the origins of the coronavirus on a lab leak in China and criticising former president Joe Biden.

"Websites such as Covid.gov and Covidtests.gov were formerly government-run websites where Americans could receive information on long COVID, vaccine options and testing resources.

"What's next? Beijing has said there was no credibility to claims that a laboratory leak likely caused the pandemic."

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Apr 25 - 12:35 PM

98% humidity and rain expected in the next hour or so, then it will dry out.

I'm going to remove some of the off-topic stuff, and let's try to keep on topic. (Seems a good time for one of you to start a Pterry thread. I can move some of the deleted stuff over to it.)

The Supreme Court overnight (minus Thomas and Alito) stopped the next deportation without due process. No idea for how long or if it means all of these flights - it's a moving target and I've been busy making signs this morning.

I settled on a cartoon caricature of Trump with a crown (found on the internet and photoshopped) and my sign says "Donald Wants to Trump the Constitution." #NoKings #250Years #AmericanRevolution

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 19 Apr 25 - 10:25 AM

Helen: iirc the P-prefix thing was originally a side reference to Pyramids*, where the handmaiden Traci becomes "Ptraci" when she's outside the hero's kingdom (she speaks Ephebian with just a ptrace of an accent). But *agree* about the theraputic effect of laughter --- it oils the synapses summat wonderful. I do wonder what Sir Pterry would have made of He Who Must Not Be Tolerated.

* Corrections invited.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: The Sandman
Date: 19 Apr 25 - 02:35 AM

is it true that Vance was a member of the KKK

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Helen
Date: 18 Apr 25 - 10:43 PM

What about a sign saying "Make America a Democracy Again"?

".. lawsuits, mass rallies, strikes, work slowdowns, boycotts and other forms of noncooperation and resistance" all sound fairly normal in Oz, mainly because of the strong Union movements operating here for decades, defending the rights of the ordinary working people.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Apr 25 - 10:28 PM

David Brooks has for years been considered a Conservative voice and has debated liberal commentators on the PBS News Hour. But it is more and more clear that what was once "conservative" no longer exists. Or no longer has that name. Like Liz Cheney, the party moved around her and her position is now way left of before.

What’s Happening Is Not Normal. America Needs an Uprising That Is Not Normal.

Here's a bit of it:

It’s time for a comprehensive national civic uprising. It’s time for Americans in universities, law, business, nonprofits and the scientific community, and civil servants and beyond to form one coordinated mass movement. Trump is about power. The only way he’s going to be stopped is if he’s confronted by some movement that possesses rival power.

Peoples throughout history have done exactly this when confronted by an authoritarian assault. In their book, “Why Civil Resistance Works,” Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan looked at hundreds of nonviolent uprisings. These movements used many different tools at their disposal — lawsuits, mass rallies, strikes, work slowdowns, boycotts and other forms of noncooperation and resistance.

This is a gift article, so if you mouse over and copy the entire URL you can share out beyond here.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Apr 25 - 08:47 PM

I haven't read any Pratchett other than Good Omens. Those four horsemen would fit very well with the Project 2025 plan and their steering of current events. And setting aside her fraught current life, I think Rawlings' Voldemort most accurately fits the Trump staying power and influence on bad people around him.

This is another big weekend for protests. Indivisible - events. Locally it is a couple of organizing groups working together. There is also a commercial boycott underway (April 18-20) during which time people are asked to not buy from big retailers (with the understanding that where no other choices are available or emergencies happen, do what you must and don't beat up on yourself). Will all of this work? I don't know. But the more it happens the more people who weren't otherwise engaged will notice and realize their retirement and health care (at the very least) is on the line also. And these big turnouts catch the attention of elected representatives.

Three friends are coming over here and will ride downtown with me. We'll travel light, using fanny packs under our clothes for ID, phones, bail money (joking). Raingear and signs. After Trump was elected I bought a small digital camera to use during this kind of event so my phone isn't exposed to whatever is going on during the event. Two weeks ago I was able to hold up the camera and grab shots of the crowd in a town where you wouldn't expect a protest to ever happen. Of maybe 30 photos I used four, and of the small videos I used one, but they speak volumes. It's not a great camera but I can crop and correct images before posting.

I'm making my signs tonight. Months ago I bought a case of large pieces of foam core that can have a message on both sides. One of them is going to say "Mad king Donald wants to trump the Constitution" (with a red circle and diagonal line over the top of "king"). The other will be something that conveys that even MAGA folks are going to lose their social security and Medicaid because of Trump.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Helen
Date: 18 Apr 25 - 05:33 PM

Doug, Terry Pratchett was also known as "Pterry" so when he became Sir Terry Pratchett he obviously would then also be known as "Sir Pterry".

There would not be one *single* reference to monarchy. There would be references scattered throughout many of his books to monarchy or aristocracy, people in power etc.

It's kind of an in-joke to reference Pratchett in relation to any farcical, nonsensical situations relating to life generally or people in power doing doing eye-wateringly bewildering things which throw the lives of rest of the people into chaos. Hence the connection in the minds of Pratchett's fans to the Trump situation as it unfolds.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 18 Apr 25 - 04:53 PM

If DtG had said "Sir Pterry", Doug, would that have been any clearer?

Not really. I guessed that 'Sir Terry' referred to Terry Pratchet but 'Sir Pterry' makes no sense at all.

I looked up a Terry Pratchet reference to monarchy (which, unfortunately, I don't seem to ge able to make a link to). While I found it amusing, it was difficult to see how it fits into this thread other than a passing mention of Trump acting like a king.

DF

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Helen
Date: 18 Apr 25 - 01:47 PM

BWM, Sir Pterry's books are the cleverest, quirkiest, funniest books I have ever read. We have almost every fiction book he has written in our bookcase and as a former librarian I managed to convince a lot of people to read his books. The Discworld series would be a good place to start.

What would he have made of tRump, indeed?!

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 18 Apr 25 - 01:32 PM

”The reference is to the late, great Terry Pratchett, BWM.”

Aaahh! Thanks Dave. I know SFA about him, other than that, for reasons I fail to understand, he seems to be held in great reverence by many people. Probably says more about me than them! ;-)

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 18 Apr 25 - 01:16 PM

--- Found it: I *knew* I'd seen this sort of centre-of-the-world syndrome before somewhere, and I've just seen this entry in Brewer's Britain and Ireland:

The clever men at Oxford
Know all there is to be knowed
But they none of them know one half as much
As intelligent Mr Toad!

       -- Kenneth Grahame; The Wind in The Willows (1908)

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 18 Apr 25 - 11:25 AM

Chris Krebs has the right approach: after he, and the company he's joined since being fired, get targeted for him having said that the 2020 election was "the most secure in American history" ....

Krebs throws himself on the grenade, resigns from SentinelOne after Trump revokes clearances

[ ... ]

"This is my fight, not the company's," Krebs says he told his boss.

"So with that, let's go," Krebs wrote on LinkedIn and signed off: "Illegitimi non carborundum."

Neat punchline, but it may be a career-limiting move. Once it's explained to him, the Pretender will be doubly pissed off.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Apr 25 - 10:58 AM

Michigan sent their governor a couple of weeks ago and they ambushed her. She was at the White House on business and some of his aids hurried her into the Oval Office - she assumed it was a one-on-one visit but instead he was ready with his obnoxious Sharpie and signed a couple of more Executive Orders, to do with topical stuff (to him). She was humiliated and at one point hid her face behind a binder she was holding. Was this to make her less good in Democratic eyes (that was a side effect) or to use her presence in the room as a marketing ploy when talking to MAGA - "see, even Democratic governors are here for this stuff."

Don't send women thinking they'll be more effective, to Trump his only tool is a hammer and everyone who arrives looks like a nail.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Aethelric
Date: 18 Apr 25 - 10:20 AM

Italy has found the secret to dealing with the orange muppet - send an attractive female. Maybe Zelensky should have sent his wife.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 18 Apr 25 - 10:16 AM

Meanwhile, back at the pretender:

Europe's cloud customers eyeing exit from US hyperscalers

'It's amazing how fast the change has been'

[ ... ]

"There are three factors," he [Nextcloud CEO Frank Karlitschek] told The Register. "The first is really the unreliability, because we see what Trump is doing and the danger is that things will be just switched off from one day to another for negotiation purposes. Then we see the whole question around pricing with the tariffs.

"And then the other thing is really the espionage factor. This is relatively new and surprising to me ... but now you see what Musk is doing, that you can access really confidential databases ... I think this is a realistic fear nowadays."

[ ... ]

.... not that the oik-in-chief would care, as long as he's got piles of top-secret bog paper next to his golden throne, and there's a continuous supply of sharpies.*

* I've only this last couple of weeks seen "sharpies": a display box of felt-tip pens in WH Smith's window. First thought: There's only twenty there. That wouldn't last the little offender five minutes.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 18 Apr 25 - 05:51 AM

I showed that to Herself, Sandra: Much laughter, and a wry "If only ...." The difference between GoldenThrone and Charlie Boy is that the latter knows it, while the former* is reenacting the last days of his own father.

Meanwhile, California sues President Tariff (as if the courts weren't his campaigning theatre of choice), and ....

Whistleblower describes DOGE IT dept rampage at America's labor watchdog

Ignored infosec rules, exfiltrated data … then the mysterious login attempts from a Russian IP address began – claim

Democratic lawmakers are calling for an investigation after a tech staffer at the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) blew the whistle on the cost-trimming DOGE's activities at the employment watchdog – which the staffer claims included being granted superuser status in contravention of standard operating procedures, exfiltrating data, and seemingly leaking credentials to someone with a Russian IP address.

* The former .... if only ....

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 18 Apr 25 - 05:13 AM

Trump acting like a king ?

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Helen
Date: 18 Apr 25 - 04:35 AM

Thanks BWM. :-)

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 18 Apr 25 - 03:38 AM

Helen , I’m normally very careful about fact checking, I slipped up this time - Mea Culpa, and ten ’Hail Mary’s’.

I’m always happy to admit my errors. If only others were so honest!

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 18 Apr 25 - 03:17 AM

Not just Trump - his supporters too! Another view from Facebook. This one by "Feminist News"

The question was posed, "Why do people continue supporting Trump no matter what he does?" A lady named Bev answered it this way:
“You all don't get it. I live in Trump country, in the Ozarks in southern Missouri, one of the last places where the KKK still has a relatively strong established presence.
They don't give a shit what he does. He's just something to rally around and hate liberals, that's it, period.
He absolutely realizes that and plays it up. They love it. He knows they love it.
The fact that people act like it's anything other than that proves to them that liberals are idiots, all the more reason for high fives all around.
If you keep getting caught up in "why do they not realize this problem" and "how can they still back Trump after this scandal," then you do not understand what the underlying motivating factor of his support is. It's fuck liberals, that's pretty much it.
Have you noticed he can do pretty much anything imaginable, and they'll explain some way that rationalizes it that makes zero logical sense?
Because they're not even keeping track of any coherent narrative, it's irrelevant. Fuck liberals is the only relevant thing.
Trust me; I know firsthand what I'm talking about.
That's why they just laugh at it all because you all don't even realize they truly don't give a fuck about whatever the conversation is about.
It's just a side mission story that doesn't matter anyway.
That's all just trivial details - the economy, health care, whatever.
Fuck liberals.
Look at the issue with not wearing the masks.
I can tell you what that's about. It's about exposing fear. They're playing chicken with nature, and whoever flinches just moved down their internal pecking order, one step closer to being a liberal.
You've got to understand the one core value that they hold above all others is hatred for what they consider weakness because that's what they believe strength is, hatred of weakness.
And I mean passionate, sadistic hatred.
And I'm not exaggerating. Believe me.
Sadistic, passionate hatred, and that's what proves they're strong, their passionate hatred for weakness.
Sometimes they will lump vulnerability in with weakness.
They do that because people tend to start humbling themselves when they're in some compromising or overwhelming circumstance, and to them, that's an obvious sign of weakness.
Kindness = weakness. Honesty = weakness.
Compromise = weakness.
They consider their very existence to be superior in every way to anyone who doesn't hate weakness as much as they do.
They consider liberals to be weak people that are inferior, almost a different species, and the fact that liberals are so weak is why they have to unite in large numbers, which they find disgusting, but it's that disgust that is a true expression of their natural superiority.
Go ahead and try to have a logical, rational conversation with them. Just keep in mind what I said here and be forewarned.”

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Apr 25 - 10:44 PM

Trump is now trying to bash universities that won't take out DEI programs or courses. Take away their grants and federal funding (all of this is illegal impoundment of funds already granted by past administrations and funded by congress.) He's trying to shut out law firms that worked for people who he doesn't like, or who worked against him (and the foolish ones buckle - but this is one of the easiest cases for law firms to win against Trump).

Many amendments of the Constitution have been trampled by these executive orders. He's acting like a goddammed king, and too many people are letting him get away with it (we hear about corporate CEOs paying $1 million for meals at Maralago to meet with Trump to keep doing business or lift tariff effects). Congress is letting him get away with it, even though they are the ones constitutionally assigned the task of negotiating and setting tariffs.

It seems that the only thing that gives Trump pleasure and a feeling of power is making people miserable.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Helen
Date: 17 Apr 25 - 08:00 PM

Liz Cheney is a hero in my estimation because she stands up for what she believes in, so her name should not be taken in vain IMHO.

Also IMHO Farcebook "facts" should be taken with a grain of salt. Fact checking social media posts should be second nature.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Apr 25 - 05:14 PM

Trump has given attorney general Barbie Doll the names of two people he wants investigated, from his first administration. Not people who he thinks committed crimes; they simply didn't support his stolen election story in 2020 and now he wants the Justice Department to find something on them.

And in the Homegoods section of the administration, the My Pillow Guy has asked if Trump's IRS will stop an audit of his company. A Treasury Dept. official wrote to the IRS about "a high-profile friend of the President recently received an audit letter" and in the New York Times they spell out that "the message alarmed [IRS] agency staff that President Trump hoped to use the tax collector to protect his friends and allies from normal scrutiny. . ."

You think?