Well this will impact red states more than blue ones, considering where hurricane and tornadoes tend to occur. But the idea that FEMA isn’t necessary is insane. On the heels of yesterdays revelation about “amateur hour” at the Defense department comes this great news…
Trump’s only condition for employment is loyalty to Trump. Knowing your job is not important.
Trump said it himself back in 2016, “I could “shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters”. We’ve all see it. Once they embrace the Donald, suddenly everything he does in excusable. It’s really weird. No horrible thing he says or does seem to bother his adoring fans. He’s like Taylor Swift like that. Case in point…
saaay what? That’s weird. Unless you consider this…
Earlier this week he demands and then gets, a health care bill killed in the Senate because he didn’t understand it. Now this…
I mean we all knew it was a lie when Elon and Trump said it, but was all because he didn’t know there is a region of Mozambique in Africa called “Gaza”. The money was not for condoms, but was for the treatment of AIDS victims. A program designed early in the George W. Bush administration. Without the aid the health system in one of the poorest countries on Earth will collapse and thousands will die.
Great people. Remember when he fired all folks on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and then had to hire them back. As Bugs would say “What a Maroon”.
Oh and by the way, 50% of all Teslas are made in China.
This guy’s a piece of work.
Trump’s commerce secretary: Don’t complain if we don’t send your Social Security check
His mother-in-law has a very rich son-in-law. He is totally blind to the fact that millions of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. And millions of those are on Social Security. This is government by the billionaires FOR the billionaires.
I saw him on David Letterman many, many years ago. He was funny and self depreciating. But as he talked all I could think about was, “How many times did Ali get hit in the face with that fist?” Jeeze. His fist was the size of my head! He became a heavyweight champion a second time at 46, the oldest ever, then retired at 48. Through a fluke endorsement deal, he became rich and famous again for selling indoor grills. He named all his kids George (for the girls, some female variation). What a life.
Unbelievable. Today Host most excellent personage Elon was granted a Defense Department briefing, and now he’s using his money again.
Musk PAC offering $100 for Wisconsin petition signatures opposing ‘activist judges’
Could you imagine if the anti-trump forces did this? Trumpers would be outraged.
With great accuracy. God, I loved that show.
It is becoming more and more apparent that Elon Musk has no idea what he is doing. But he’s sure he’s doing the right thing. However, no one who understands audits, or working at the Federal level, seems to agree with him on that. Elon is used to being the smartest guy in the room. That’s fine as long as you don’t start thinking you’re ALWAYS the smartest guy in the room. Which is where I think old Elon is right now. A poster child for the Dunning-Kruger effect.
‘It’s a Heist’: Real Federal Auditors Are Horrified by DOGE
For a better look at Musk as a person, how about the perspective of his first wife…
“I Was a Starter Wife”: Inside America’s Messiest Divorce
In just Two words, Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott killed a bipartisan health care bill that took months of work to create. All because Elon didn’t understand it apparently. We will see If Sen. Scott allows us to know why he objected. I’ll bet he says nothing.
Wyden, Sanders blocked from attempt to pass stand-alone health package
From the Plain Dealer…
Ohioans and their elected representatives have killed enough solar development to roughly power the state’s three largest cities in the three years since state lawmakers passed one of the nation’s most stringent restrictions on new solar development.
Those political efforts to block or preempt 2,000 megawatts of new energy coming online are the product of 2021 legislation that gave new power to project neighbors and local elected officials to stop development.
Many of these projects were killed by local Republican officials doing the bidding of the oil and gas industry. Just last week, developers behind a proposed 500-megawatt solar farm in Logan County withdrew their permit application, ending a $500 million development. Regulatory staff recommended the Ohio Power Siting Board reject the application, given opposition from local activists and Republican political power at the state and local level.
Enough power to power all three of Ohio’s biggest cities, with no carbon emissions. The Republican party is not a forward looking party. It is a party that holds Ohio (and the country) back. As they force America off the world stage they leave greater and greater openings for China to be a world leader.
Plain Dealer Stories (behind a paywall)
Solar development plunged in Ohio after new, restrictive state law
How NIMBYism and Republican politics killed a $500M solar farm in Ohio
make no mistake as to the intent…
EXCLUSIVE: Memo details Trump plan to sabotage the Social Security Administration
UPDATE: More lies. Social Security is a separate tax, not part of income tax. However the funds raised are treated like general funds. The U.S. congress has misappropriated Social Security funds for years. It does NOT add to the deficit. This is a narrative they are trying to sell.
Even more…
Musk uses immigration and claims of voter fraud to sell Social Security Administration cuts
More Cheaply? Doesn’t sound right. Anyway, This new technology relies on a 3D printing method to make membranes for reverse osmosis desalinization plants. As long as it doesn’t create another problem with the used membranes (unlikely) any help in lowering desalinization cost would be very helpful.
Experts develop 3D-printed device that could reshape our drinking water: ‘This … is what makes our technology special’
What a world!
None of this is a secret, the problem has been known for years.
So why are they looking in the wrong place? I wonder.
Social security is the most successful poverty ending program in history. So much so that is has been copied by many countries. Elon wants rid of it. No one voted for that, no one wants that. I’m lucky enough to have a few pensions. My teaching job has given me a “Defined Benefit” pension and a “Defined Contribution” pension. The first is a traditional pension where the company you work for agrees to pay you a certain amount each month when you retire. The kind of pension our fathers and grandfathers may have enjoyed. The second is a more modern pension where you put money into an investment account and draw off it when you retire. Despite record growth in the stock market guess which one pays me more? As traditional retirement plans have disappeared, have average Americans become more secure in their retirement or less?
Privatizing Social Security will create massive poverty amongst our elderly. How do I know? We have already been there and done that. That’s why the program was created in the first place. Same with Medicare. If it were privatized costs would soar. How do I know that? Compare the efficiency of Medicare with a private health care plan. Many people have and Medicare always wins.
The Trump/Musk administration represents the greatest danger to the security and stability of our country since the Civil War. These are bad people and their plans for our country are a disaster. But I do know of one guy who’s cheering them on, but he lives in Russia.
Back in 2002, our Physics teacher introduced me to a student who wanted to build an ionic thruster. I had never heard of one, but I was able to tell the young man where to obtain a high voltage power supply (and give him a long lecture about safety). A few days later he popped by to show me a device constructed of balsa wood, aluminum foil and stainless steel wire that would levitate (it was anchored by its power supply wires) when connected to about 15,000 volts. I was kind of blown away to say the least. That young man is an engineer now and ionic thrusters have continued to be developed by NASA. Here is a further demonstration…
Great series.
I love “Letters of Note” this is a good one…
Professor Galloway is a really smart guy. He’s someone who, to me at least, seems to speak common sense. He isn’t partisan. This whole video is interesting.
The actor Wil Wheaton has said that’s his personal motto and advice to anybody. It’s good advice. This story got me thinking about that advice…
Sarah McBride targeted in heated exchange about her gender in congressional hearing
Okay, there are a lot of different opinions about how transgender people should be treated and what guidelines should be established in society to account for them. I get that. But what Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe did, was just being a dick. Just a rude asshole.
Update: GOP lawmaker explains why he called trans Dem ‘Mr. McBride’: ‘I don’t have to participate in his fantasy’
Yep. He’s a dick
Y’know when I was teaching there was a guy who lived on the street next to the school. He had a fenced in yard and gated drive with a “no trespassing” sign. A just below his American flag on his flagpole was a flag that read “Fuck Biden”. Every Middle school and High School bus in that town drove past his place twice a day. What a lovely message for the kids to see. I lost count of how many T-Shirts I saw with Trump giving the middle finger, or with the slogan “Trump 2024, Fuck your Feelings” or flags, banners and stickers that said “Let’s Go Brandon” (which at least is better). And then there was the story of a guy who had a vinyl wrap made for his pick-up truck tailgate that showed Biden hog-tied in the bed of the truck, charming. A couple days ago good ‘ol Elon called Sen. Mark Kelly a “traitor” for visiting Ukraine (an ally of the U.S.!). Chances are if you know someone who might qualify as a dick, they probably voted for Trump. This does not mean I think everyone who voted for Trump is a dick, nor do I think that everyone who deserves that moniker voted for Trump. Just that my observations indicate he won that minority group by a landslide.
How do I know? Strangely, I haven seen any “Fuck Trump” signs, flags, stickers, or shirts. I’m sure they exist, but I’ve never seen any. All this reminds me of a comedy sketch…
Oh, and one more thing. it reminds me of some advice my old boss Hassan told me, “Boy, you lay down with dogs, you wake up with fleas.”
It also reminds me of a Mr. Boch quote, “No one was every harmed by acting like a lady or a gentleman.” Be a gentleman.
Not that it was a surprise that Trump/Musk and their crew would do this, it just stinks.
Jeeze. We have an unqualified celebrity, conspiracy theory lawyer running our public health system. Not a doctor or public health official, no qualifications whatsoever. Fantastic. Oh boy I’ll bet those right wingers who were worried about free speech will angry about this, right? Lol, nope. Their defense of free speech is highly specific.
UPDATE: – Even more stupidity…
and…
Trump considers easing safety screenings for chemicals
Assuming the United States still exists then, only three years, 10 months and 9 days more to go.
Maybe it happens to everyone who has too much power, too much money and too much praise. But Elon is not a stable person. Nor is he trustworthy.
Musk calls Sen. Kelly a ‘traitor’ over trip to Ukraine, Kelly hits back
Senator Kelly is a former Navy pilot, a former astronaut, and an elected representative of his state. Musk is a rich, unelected crybaby who has been allowed to have way too much say. He has no right to call anyone “traitor” let alone someone like Kelly. Now he wants to destroy Social Security, a program that millions of U.S. citizens rely on.
Musk eyes Social Security and benefit programs for cuts while claiming widespread fraud
Yes, it’s slow to get started (you could really skip the first 5 minutes), but Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) spells out just SOME of the corruption that has sprung up within the Trump/Musk administration so far. It is totally worth the 28 min. watch. This is why hundreds of prominent Republicans who held positions in previous Republican administrations begged voters NOT to vote for Trump.
I say again…