8 hours ago, BruceVC said:

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/6-republicans-cross-party-lines-to-offer-a-rare-rebuke-of-trumps-tariffs-on-canada-194347189.html

@Malcador you must be happy

" Opponents of President Trump’s tariffs on Capitol Hill scored a significant victory and opened the door to what are expected to be multiple votes targeting the president’s signature economic policy.

First on Tuesday came a 217-214 vote to defeat a maneuver that would have kept tariff-related resolutions on hold until August.

Then on Wednesday, Canada was up first in a follow vote that saw an even wider margin of 219-211.

Six Republicans joined with nearly every Democrat to pass Joint Resolution 72, which seeks to terminate a national emergency that Trump declared last February imposing tariffs on Canada over the issue of illegal drugs."

Now you dont have to worry so much about securing your border from all those vast amounts of illegal drugs coming into the USA

Imposing harsh tariffs on our friends to the north is high up on my list of stupid decisions DJT has made. I'm glad there are members of Congress who view them in an equally bad light. Unfortunately, this bill is just another completely futile gesture by Congress, which has no chance of passing a veto. I suspect it's more about the upcoming mid-term elections. Hopefully, SCOTUS will take up the so-called "national emergency" issue soon, although I suspect they would prefer to ignore it.

5 hours ago, Lexx said:

Damn, it's sad.

Battling colorectal cancer for two years can't have been pleasant. He was only 48.

3 hours ago, PK htiw klaw eriF said:

I think I heard Ro Khanna, a US congressman who has been going into the archives to look at the unredacted files, claim that at least 90% of it remains unreleased or redacted. And if that's true and given how much dirt the edited 10% we got is....then man the rest of it is going to be insane.

I'm wondering how that guy (Epstein) managed to process millions of e-mails yet still leave an apparently "active" life. I think in my entire career in IT I had far fewer e-mails; maybe on the order of 1-200,000. The entire H. Clinton controversy was over 30,000 e-mails.

Amazon's delivery service is proving to be a hit.

19 hours ago, Gorgon said:

This surprised me. Exports to the US growing year on year despite the tariffs.

https://infogram.com/dansk-eksport-til-usa-1hnq41opvgd1k23

Note that companies stocked up in advance of the tariff application, so many of the costs weren't passed along to the consumers in 2025 and may not be reflected in the statistics. That will change this year since those stockpiles have become exhausted. I've noticed some significant changes in store prices of late, so the tariffs are starting to bite.

Can you or others just summarize what is the real issue around age verification?

For me at least, it's primarily a question of privacy. Age verification requires identity verification, which can aid criminal behavior and potentially allowing retaliation for some posted comment. This in turn limits freedom to speak one's mind and increases risk.

In the great primate Media posting wars...

If you had to pick just one, is DJT more like a baboon or an orangutan? Curious people want to know.

I mean, some baboons have that yellow hair, but orangutans are more orange.

Good grief. A see two posters who need their own rant thread.

(Seen on FARK.) Meanwhile, DJT is again wanting to turn the page on the whole Epstein affair. The problem is he's on that pages as well, and the next, and the next...

Avatar: Fire and Ash

As usual an amazing visual spectacular as well as a particularly long watch. Why does it feel like every Avatar movie has the same plot, with minor variations for flavoring? Is it the climactic battle scenes?

7 hours ago, Lexx said:

Also there have been a bunch of cases by now where ICE stole from those people. They really just do whatever they want.

If their goal is to maximize deportations of illegal immigrants, these constitution violations are the very tactics that will cost them significant political support from moderates. In the end, we'll either be a complete despotism, or Republicans will likely get trashed in the next election.

Dog will need a bath later...

I'm wondering where the ACLU is with all these ongoing 4th amendment violations by the administration? ICE is claiming they can issue their own warrants without a need for the court. What a joke. They are invading the homes of American citizens then arresting and detaining them. Talk about unreasonable search and seizure. This is completely abrogating their oath of office.

2nd Amendment advocates issue dire warning over Trump’s Pretti gun remarks

I'm finding it ironic that the gun rights crowd have justified the 2nd amendment as a defense against the very type of despotic government that DJT is creating. Somehow, other nations manage to maintain a democratic state without everybody being armed.

Some weirdness from the 80s

9 hours ago, BruceVC said:

I often encourage people to try to learn to filter the difference between what Trump is serious about and what is just driven by SM drama and outrage and how Trump loves to trigger the media and get them angry. Because this creates a distraction from other real political issues he is facing domestically like the Epstein files 

I long ago stopped trying to filter out the truth from DJTs constant lie streaming; it's too time consuming and isn't really helpful. At least with most politicians you CAN filter out the political garbage from the facts. But DJT wraps himself in a thick cloak of lies, so your advice isn't really that helpful. I can't trust him to do the right thing, even though very occasionally he does (when it serves his purposes).

10 hours ago, Hurlshort said:

I'm glad to hear impeachment calls are starting to come out for Kristi Noem. I mean she is just throwing around the domestic terrorist label at every protester in the country, so maybe she isn't fit to be the director of Homeland Security. I'd imagine messing up her coffee order can get you on a watchlist.

I get the sense that ICE has rapidly ramped up their personnel, bringing in people who are inadequately trained, inexperienced, and trigger happy. The (ICE) can't fix this problem in the short term, so more citizens are going to die and the administration will continue to emit evil lies in the face of clear evidence. 🫤 Impeaching Noem to force her resignation would be a start; bring in somebody who actually has experience in domestic security in urban areas, rather than a lying politician from rural South Dakota.

Whew, won by the skin of their teeth. It's always a battle against the Rams.

I'm a long time Seahawks fan, but I can't say I feel confident heading into tomorrow's game. The playoffs are all about matchups, and LA matches up particularly well against the Hawks. But I was sort of expecting it would come to this for the NFC championship game. I hope coach Macdonald has some sort of defensive masterclass up his sleeve.

Trump's Board of Peace requires nations pay $1 billion for permanent membership

Supposedly that payment goes directly into Trump's pocket, not the US government. Can you say emoluments? I knew you could.

3 hours ago, BruceVC said:

" The board of peace " ..what a joke

Have you seen the countries that are on the board 

I am prepared to make prediction, they will come up with ideas for Gaza peace that have already been discussed but not implemented and they will achieve nothing substantive in other conflicts

And once Trump is no longer president it will collapse into obscurity, like it never existed 

It includes DJT-flatterers Argentina, Hungary, and Qatar, but excludes Canada? Definitely a laughable "institution". Most European nations declined to join, which tells you something. Bored of Peace indeed.

I've been watching a series on HBO/Max called "The Head" about a murder mystery at a remote Antarctic outpost (at least for the first season). It's been pretty good thus far, although the pacing is pretty slow so probably not for Gen Z types.

Meanwhile:

Matt Damon: Netflix Wants the Plot Explained 3 or 4 Times in Movies for Viewers Watching While Scrolling on Their Phones

🙄

On 1/17/2026 at 12:30 AM, Lexx said:

You mean like what they do right now already?

Not quite; DJT presumably wants control of the mineral wealth, including that which will be uncovered as the ice cap melts thanks to the (apparently ficticious) non-existant climate change.

On 1/17/2026 at 5:11 AM, Gfted1 said:

Congress passes $24.4 billion NASA budget, rejecting Trump's deep cuts | Space

Note that's just 0.37% of the Federal budget.