rjshae

Actually no, it makes a ton of sense for nations to protect their agricultural capabilities. You never know when a foreign embargo is going to lead to mass starvation. E.g. blockade of Germany during World War I.

Happy horror days?

Who names a government building after themselves? Well apparently the POTUS does now. Hahahahaha... Trump-appointed board renames Kennedy Center to 'Trump Kennedy Center'

Merry holidays and happy Christmas, everybody!

Sure, use the unwinnable drug "war" to justify an eternal state of emergency. Just what the POTUS wants.

I watched my alma mater, the UW, win their first men's soccer national championship today. Woo-hoo! It was a fun match. https://www.ncaa.com/live-updates/soccer-men/d1/washington-holds-win-ot-thriller-3-2-against-nc-state-college-cup-final

Since investigation and inquiry is one of the functions of Congress, one wonders whether the DoJ should have been placed under the legislative branch (but allow the President to select the leader)?

The invisible chemical in the air that could be raising Parkinson’s risk For a long time they tried to link Parkinson's to genetics, but now it's looking like a commonly used chemical agent (TCE) may be the culprit. My Mum had Parkinson's, so perhaps she was exposed at some point? It's in some paint thinners, cleaning, and has been employed as an anaesthetic. Just living in areas with higher TCE in the environment increases your risk.

The DoJ has long been politicized by the Republicans. The main difference is it is the Dems who are being blamed this time; the Pubs don't like it when the shoe is on the other foot.

I don't think that will happen unless he offloads his fantasy revenge agenda on a more rational actor. Trump's not a disciplined thinker, relying instead on hunches, whims, biases, cosmic rays, flattery, and brain farts.

We're getting just crazy amounts of rain in western Washington. They're talking about ten inches (25 cm) over the last few days; rivers are flooding left and right. It's breaking all kinds of records. Thanks Hawaii for the pineapple express.

Blackbeard, err... Trump says the US has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela Avast, me mateys. There be oil in them thar tankers. Arr, time to waylay the skurvy dogs. No news on whether the crew were forced to walk the plank. Maybe they were tossed into lifeboats so the navy can target them from afar?

USA gets to play Australia in Seattle. Should be fun!

At first I wondered why there's a draw for the first round, since the remainder are all random anyway. But now it makes sense: the first round draw determines the possible opponents after leaving the group stage. I don't see an obvious group of death this time; maybe the closest is group L, with picks in the top three of pots 2-4.

Our President won his first participation trophy. He must be very proud.

The less militant alternative to these types of ship attacks would be to force the ship to halt, then board, search for drugs, and question the crew for more information. That way there's at least physical evidence, although it's unclear whether that action is legal either. But at least it isn't murderous. Imagine the uproar if North Korea was engaged on these types of ship attacks on the open ocean. What would happen if every country with a navy started following the Trump doctrine? This has to stop.

This could have just as easily be filed under Funny Stuff... Mike Lindell files paperwork to run for Minnesota governor I guess we'll see how well his weirdness fares against that 'seriously retarded' Tim Walz.

Trump pardons Honduran ex-president who was convicted of drug crimes Just the irony and hypocracy of this pardon speaks volumes. We're murdering people who are alledgedly trafficking in drugs in the US, then freeing a jailed foreign politician who was convicted of trafficking in drugs with the US. Not a good look.

Lyrics NSFW

Not just that, he drove across the US to do it. Plus he has a wife and children. The only (bizarre) conspiracy that occurs to me is he's a Taliban sleeper agent who was activated to get Trump to react the way he did, forcing Afgan refugees to return home and face revenge. But that's too MAGA/Q-anon-think. Maybe he has family members in Afghanistan who weren't extracted, and faced retaliation for his actions? Or perhaps he's just triggered by military deployments into cities. *shrug*

That type of logic almost comes straight out of Mein Kampf. But Trump is a master of massive overreaction, using the best available pretext to justify his policies. I'm not even clear this is terrorism, since the National Guard is normally armed. I.e. not civilians. He is the President who deployed the military to the streets of Washington D.C., turning them into easy targets of opportunity for foreign actors.