[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

The news is a barrage of horrors (and idiocy)...

Quote

Trump Stops Distribution of Life-Saving HIV Drugs [for developing nations]

Google Maps Bows to Trump With 'Gulf of America' Name Change

CNN Anchor Rages 'Don't Give Into the Lies' in Fiery Signoff

Trump's most hated reporter said his decision to "move on" from the network came after it offered him an "alternative" time slot.

Quote

[Progressive economist Paul Krugman on why he resigned from the New York Times:] "I've always been very, very lightly edited on the column," he said. "And that stopped being the case. The editing became extremely intrusive. It was very much toning down of my voice, toning down of the feel, and a lot of pressure for what I considered false equivalence." And, increasingly, attempts "to dictate the subject." [...] "I approached Mondays and Thursdays with dread," Krugman continued, "and often spent the afternoon in a rage. Patrick often—not always—rewrote crucial passages [...] the back-and-forth[...] made my life hell" [And t]he paper [AKA his bosses] wanted to take away his newsletter or make him write less frequently
https://www.cjr.org/...-newsletter.php

And the one glimmer of hope is from an evil shit:

Quote

Rupert Murdoch Joins the Resistance as Papers Torch RFK Jr.

"the only straitjacket suitable for RFK Jr. is a real one." [Can you fit Trump in there too?...]

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 28 January 2025 - 05:50 PM

[QuickTidal]

Azath Vitr (D, on 28 January 2025 - 05:50 PM, said:

[/b]Google Maps Bows to Trump With 'Gulf of America' Name Change

This one makes me laugh as the small print is that they will rename it for U.S. residents only. It's Freedom Fries all over again. Only some American's will ever call it that, and most will refuse. It will eventually revert for them, and it will make a quaint story.

Take it from someone who still calls the Skydome the Skydome even though it's been the Rogers Center for 20 years now.

[Cause]

For a man who wants to save money he seems to be spending it like water:

7 months pay to federal workers who agree to resign by February 6th. I would take it. 2 months vacation, 5 months to find a job and not a penny of income lost. I also suspect it will shatter effectiveness of goverment agencies

Soldiers who were discahrged for refusing to get the covid vaccine will be reinstated with back pay. Thats years of salary, not to mention is a solider who has been off duty really going to just slot back into his regiment?

[amphibian]

Cause, on 29 January 2025 - 12:09 AM, said:

For a man who wants to save money he seems to be spending it like water:

7 months pay to federal workers who agree to resign by February 6th. I would take it. 2 months vacation, 5 months to find a job and not a penny of income lost. I also suspect it will shatter effectiveness of goverment agencies

Soldiers who were discahrged for refusing to get the covid vaccine will be reinstated with back pay. Thats years of salary, not to mention is a solider who has been off duty really going to just slot back into his regiment?

There is no money appropriated for this deal. There is no deal on the horizon for this money. It is a mirage. It is a threat wrapped in a deal backed by a man famous for not paying people.

Taking the deal is foolish.

All of this is so dumbly illegal and cruel. This should result in an impeachment and removal, but I fear we will not see that with this Congress.

[Tsundoku]

Now Alphabet asks all the other techpreneurs to make a bit of room between Trumps arse cheeks for them to have a turn fitting their noses and tongues in.

Google caves to controversial Trump move
Google was under no obligation but its decided to fall in line with a contentious Donald Trump call all the same.

https://www.news.com...3402711ef3b295f

For me, the "Gulf of America" is the yawning gap between how smart MAGAts think they are and how smart they actually are.
Later it will also come to represent the vast distance between Trump's promises and reality (except for the desire to be an autocrat - that will be right on the money).
How much damage is done in the meantime is anyone's guess.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 29 January 2025 - 11:59 AM

[Macros]

Now I know the answer will be "hrrrrrr drrrrrr maga idiots don't need dem logic"
Buuuuutt

Considering the majority of the reps both moderate and extreme are of the climate change is a myth, big oil is good, get me a ford F50 to guzzle that gas quick types.
How does that reconcile with Musk being the ceo of the most recognisable EV brand on the planet?

[worry]

Passenger jet and blackhawk helicopter collide over a D.C. river, no survivors expected, roughly one week after DJT fires the heads of the Coast Guard and the TSA, as well as firing every member of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee. I'm not saying one thing directly caused the other, but I would say it's pretty on the nose emblematic of the disintegration of our civic infrastructure, and there's plenty worse to come.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Macros, on 30 January 2025 - 01:31 PM, said:

Now I know the answer will be "hrrrrrr drrrrrr maga idiots don't need dem logic"
Buuuuutt

Considering the majority of the reps both moderate and extreme are of the climate change is a myth, big oil is good, get me a ford F50 to guzzle that gas quick types.
How does that reconcile with Musk being the ceo of the most recognisable EV brand on the planet?

Money good
Trump Go*-King
Trump like money so some EV okay
Trump crush Musk's competitors

From about 5 months ago:

Quote

Trump says he has 'no choice' but to back EVs after Musk endorsement

[...] Trump [...] for months denigrated electric vehicles, arguing their supporters should "rot in hell" and that assisting the nascent industry is "lunacy". He [...] appears to have somewhat shifted his view [...]

"I'm for electric cars, I have to be because Elon endorsed me very strongly," [...]

The transactional nature of this relationship with Musk was made clear by the former president and convicted business fraudster, however. "So I have no choice," said Trump, who then went on to say that electric vehicles were suitable for a "small slice" of the population and that "you want every type of car imaginable" to be available.

https://www.theguard...icles-elon-musk

Of course there are four questions---what does Musk get out of it, what do the Republicans get out of it, and how does each justify it?

Musk's incentive to get on their good side for this issue is obvious. His control of Twitter makes him an even more appealing potential ally to Republicans than his raw money would alone. He correctly thinks that he can bribe Trump, and the Republicans will fall in line. Musk also wasn't getting some of the EV subsidies anyway because he'd been producing them longer than competitors, plus some of his competitors (not counting Chinese EVs that aren't allowed in the US) would need those subsidies to be profitable or in some cases to survive.

How do MAGA justify it? Well, they can get off on doing away with subsidies and drilling for oil to their heart's content. Part of Musk's push for jagged edged electric trucks, rapid acceleration to dangerous speeds, and embrace of MMA is an attempt to appeal to the "macho" image that most MAGA cling to.

worry, on 30 January 2025 - 02:48 PM, said:

Passenger jet and blackhawk helicopter collide over a D.C. river, no survivors expected, roughly one week after DJT fires the heads of the Coast Guard and the TSA, as well as firing every member of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee. I'm not saying one thing directly caused the other, but I would say it's pretty on the nose emblematic of the disintegration of our civic infrastructure, and there's plenty worse to come.

Yeah, so much of what he's done is so bad I feel like I have brain damage from reading about it, which may be why I failed to include it in my post---what was it, a millenia ago?... Pausing almost all foreign aid (except to Israel and Egypt), pausing all federal grants resulting in the Medicaid website going down (blocked by judge and rescinded for those who haven't been following)... did a black hole just start swelling in my brain? The lines from that one Radiohead song---"I'm not here, this isn't happening"---keep playing in my head.



... our new national anthem! Ready for Kanye West to sing it at the Super Bow (with the Village People)...

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 30 January 2025 - 03:46 PM

[Maark Abbott]

worry, on 30 January 2025 - 02:48 PM, said:

Passenger jet and blackhawk helicopter collide over a D.C. river, no survivors expected, roughly one week after DJT fires the heads of the Coast Guard and the TSA, as well as firing every member of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee. I'm not saying one thing directly caused the other, but I would say it's pretty on the nose emblematic of the disintegration of our civic infrastructure, and there's plenty worse to come.

I understand that the orange goblin has blamed this crash on 'diversity' somehow.

[HoosierDaddy]

I used to be a news junkie, now I can't stand to watch it and avoid it as much as possible. I'll see breaking news stories on Reddit and that's about as far as I'll take it.

I'd probably care more if I didn't expect this shit to happen and feel some sort of sick way about people getting what they paid for.... even if it affects me as well.

And it's only been like 2 weeks lol.

This post has been edited by HoosierDaddy: 31 January 2025 - 01:47 PM

[Abyss]

Maark Abbott, on 31 January 2025 - 07:01 AM, said:

worry, on 30 January 2025 - 02:48 PM, said:

Passenger jet and blackhawk helicopter collide over a D.C. river, no survivors expected, roughly one week after DJT fires the heads of the Coast Guard and the TSA, as well as firing every member of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee. I'm not saying one thing directly caused the other, but I would say it's pretty on the nose emblematic of the disintegration of our civic infrastructure, and there's plenty worse to come.

I understand that the orange goblin has blamed this crash on 'diversity' somehow.

he heard 'Blackhawk', 'black box', and thought he saw an opportunity.

...i'm using the word 'thought' very loosely....

[worry]

In this case he is blaming disabled people, if you're doing eugenics bingo.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

worry, on 31 January 2025 - 03:56 PM, said:

In this case he is blaming disabled people, if you're doing eugenics bingo.

Quote

Trump said the hiring guidance for the FAA's diversity and inclusion programme included preference for those with disabilities involving "hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism".

An archived version of a website for the FAA's diversity and inclusion hiring programme that appears to have been taken down in December included a similar list. The agency was seeking people with "targeted disabilities" that the federal government was prioritising for recruitment at the time.

But it's unclear how that drive to make recruitment more diverse may have impacted the ranks of air traffic controllers, who President Trump said needed to all be "naturally talented geniuses". The FAA has more than 35,000 employees, only a fraction of which perform that role.

https://www.bbc.com/...es/cpvmdm1m7m9o

Quote

People with intellectual disabilities do lots of jobs [President, etc.]–but they don't direct air traffic

[...] Despite what Pres. Donald Trump said at a press conference Thursday – "They can be air traffic controllers" – that's not how disability hiring works, says [...] a disability lawyer and former commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Disability employment law, she says, requires "that the person with a disability must be able to perform the essential functions of the job." [...]

And that's how it worked in the Biden Administration, says [...] the disability policy advisor to former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Any hiring of people with disabilities at the FAA[...] "would only be qualified people with disabilities, with the emphasis on qualified."

https://www.npr.org/...llers-faa-trump

Because it couldn't possibly be because...

Quote

One Controller Was Doing Two Jobs On Night of D.C. Plane Crash

A preliminary FAA report says staffing levels were lower than they should have been given the time of day and amount of traffic.
[...] Investigators concluded a single person was doing a job meant for two—juggling the duty of monitoring helicopters in the airport's vicinity as well as guiding planes that were landing and departing from its runways.

https://www.thedaily...reagan-airport/

Quote

Don't Blame DEI for Crash at Reagan National Airport. Blame Ronald Reagan

Experts say the system is still suffering from the mass sacking of 11,000 air traffic controllers back in 1981.

https://www.thedaily...lane-collision/

So what's the way to fix it, and make sure this never happens again?

Obviously... to fire even more federal employees, including all of the air traffic controllers.

In all seriousness, eventually that will sort of be the answer---though some human supervision might still be necessary.

But we're still a ways away from that.

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 31 January 2025 - 04:33 PM

[HoosierDaddy]

There have been many near misses on takeoffs/landings lately. The Daily did a podcast episode on it last year. The person who had been reporting on it basically said "it's a matter of time before one of these happens." Shockingly they new there was an issue and DEI had nothing to do with it.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Azath Vitr (D, on 31 January 2025 - 04:30 PM, said:

So what's the way to fix it, and make sure this never happens again?

Obviously... to fire even more federal employees, including all of the air traffic controllers.

Trump didn't let me down:

Quote

Air traffic controllers were emailed by the Trump administration urging them to quit their jobs and take mass "buyouts" just 24 hours after the D.C. plane crash.

[...] It suggested that by taking the buyout, workers could immediately get second jobs or vacation at their "dream destination" while still on the government payroll. That advice is contradictory to years-old regulations that have prohibited federal employees from picking up second sources of income.

[...] union workers are "concerned" about the consequences of losing "experienced aviation safety personnel during a universally recognized air traffic controller staffing shortage."

https://www.thedaily...quit-your-jobs/

Meanwhile, his DEI culture war raving and possibly very short-lived tariffs (IDK about them being short-lived though---one market analyst said the tariffs won't last long because they're "not nitwits" but I might beg to differ) may be partly intended to distract from his purging of the FBI and other nascent horrors:

Trump's FBI Pick Isn't Confirmed, and the Purges Have Already Begun

[Cause]

Saturday will be very telling. If he seriously puts 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and his advisors can’t stop him the next four years will be an absolute shit show.

Man I wanted to maybe buy a car this year.

[Lady Bliss]

I plan to go buy a Mexican beer tomorrow.

[amphibian]

There's an actual coup happening right now. Musk is trying to get his engineers into the US Treasury banking system to mess with the money the entire country relies on.

https://www.reuters....say-2025-01-31/

Wow. I did not expect to see this happen two weeks into the administration. We're in deep shit.

[Garak]

What the hell is the Senate or Congress or whatever doing? Are they all with their head in the sand? Or are they all insane?

[Tsundoku]

Just watch as Musk sells the data and/or misuses it.
Maybe even manipulates or corrupts it.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 01 February 2025 - 10:06 AM