rjshae
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Posts posted by rjshae
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My Sis has been dealing with chronic pain (CRPS) for a while now. Recently she had a spinal cord stimulator surgically implanted, and the results have been exceptional. As long as she keeps it charged up, she is nearly free of pain. It's had a most wonderful effect. Science rocks.
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4 hours ago, BruceVC said:
My view on him hasnt really changed, he has had hits and misses but his misses are clearly undermining any good he has done. Of course it also doesnt matter what I think because Americans will decide his future and legacy when they vote. But he really needs to reverse things like tariffs which have negatively impacted the economy and inflation and the strict migration laws are also impacting domestic productivity in several states
The tariffs are a major gamble because it is all but impossible to determine what the long-term impacts will be. The economy is too complex to predict that accurately. But it's clearly not a robust approach to improving the economy; that comes from factors like better education and sound investments, not from trying to wreck every other nation's economy. A better approach would have been to be selective in tariff application, only applying them for nascent industries that need time to mature. But now that they are in place, they are much more difficult to remove because other nations have applied counter-tariffs. I fear that, in the future, the tariffs will prove to be a major handicap for American competitiveness.
Extracting illegal immigration from the economy is always going to be difficult, and is bound to have a negative impact on the economy. He would have been better served to focus on border security; letting current immigrants become assimilated and grow economically. Overall, his policies are inflationary and damaging to the economy. Any possible benefits of tariffs will take years to express themselves, and removing immigrants will continue to have a negative effect (except perhaps for government costs). In the meantime, the country is in for more pain over the next few years.
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5 hours ago, Malcador said:
Double post.
https://www.npr.org/2025/11/25/nx-s1-5615164/pentagon-scouting-hegseth-cut-ties
The US really isn't run by serious people.
Long term that makes no sense, at least for military recruitment. This administration is strangely obsessed by DEI. Idiots run in packs, I suppose.
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I see the Comey/James indictments got tossed for the stupidest possible reason. Par for the course, I suppose. Reputable prosecutors probably want nothing to do with Trump's revenge dish, for all kinds of good reasons.
'Send a message to the rest': Board recommends disbarment for Trump attorney Jeffrey Clark
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1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:
Marjorie Taylor Greene announced her resignation come January. Years of trolling and fighting the left, but only lasted about a week against the MAGA death cult threatening her for her "betrayal"...what a pity.
The "rational mode" she's been assuming of late made me wonder if she was planning to run for a different office. Perhaps the Senate or governor? But the first seems unlikely since the current office holders are in place until 2027, and Kemp seems pretty safe for the moment. She does seem like an ambitious woman, so I wouldn't be surprised to see her in D.C. again at some point. Meanwhile she can run point on the Jewish space laser conspiracies.
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Today in stupid:
Without evidence, CDC changes messaging on vaccines and autism
QuoteOn Wednesday, the CDC reversed its long-held position that there's no link between vaccines and autism. "This is the day CDC died," a former agency official said.
Hmm, it seems like they need a rebrand to go along with their turn to superstition. Committee for Delusional Communication? Center for Demented Cruft?
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4 hours ago, Hurlshort said:
I think I've done this before, but Amazon did make The Boys, Bosch, Jack Ryan, Good Omens, Invincible, The Expanse, etc.
The only thing they've messed up that I can see is The Wheel of Time. I know you dislike Rings of Power, but even with that, they aren't doing too bad with that track record.
Plus Fallout.
Funny thing about The Wheel of Time is that the reviews/ratings improved every season, but that wasn't enough to keep it going. I thought from the start that the concept was hopelessly ambitious. Word has it that Jordan planned this as a trilogy, then dragged it out for 14 volumes. It was badly in need of significant trimming.
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23 hours ago, rjshae said:
Note that the released documents will be redacted over the privacy concerns of the victims... supposedly. Even if DJT signs the bill, the documents will then (conveniently) need to be reviewed (slowly?) by the DOJ. Who knows how long that will take? We may never get the full truth, at least not for a few decades.
Turns out a subset of documents will be released within a month, but not anything related to an ongoing investigation, documents/images that reveal victims, and certain other particularly gross materials. The first, of course, is what many people actually want to see. So... maybe we'll see a few interesting details, but nothing too incriminating. Will any of this stuff actually make it to trial during this administration? I remain skeptical. But whatever.
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8 hours ago, BruceVC said:
Here is a really interesting summary of how Massie was able to get the vote around releasing the Epstein files to the House
You can see the efforts how Trump tried to block it and how he failed
Its been a fascinating and reassuring period for me this public pressure to release the full files and how Trump eventually acquiesced
Its a win for Democracy and how citizen activism can get government to change course when initially they clearly didn't want to
This would never have happened in autocracies like Russia or China where the states decisions are final and citizens have no way to influence or change that decisionNote that the released documents will be redacted over the privacy concerns of the victims... supposedly. Even if DJT signs the bill, the documents will then (conveniently) need to be reviewed (slowly?) by the DOJ. Who knows how long that will take? We may never get the full truth, at least not for a few decades.
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UC Berkeley scientists hail breakthrough in decoding whale communication
The intelligence of marine mammals continues to surprise.
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Edited by rjshae
We went to watch Bugonia, but weren't quite satisfied with the story. I suppose you could call it an unusual character study. There were a couple of unexpected plot twists, but in the end I wasn't sure what message it was trying to communicate (other than maybe humans don't deserve to survive). I suppose if you liked Poor Things then you may enjoy this. But I preferred Emma Stone in Cruella.
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After getting off the plane in Sydney, the man waits to go through Australian customs.
"Do you have anything to declare?" asks the Australian customs officer.
"No" replies the British man.
"Do you have a criminal record?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't know that was still a requirement."
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9 hours ago, BruceVC said:
I think what Trump really wants to avoid is that he knew that sex with minors was ongoing at some of the parties. Epstein has stated more or less that Trump didnt participate and he said no to " massages " which was code word for sex
But he knew they were happening and Trump will get heavily criticized for not doing anything about it
So for Trump its about the perception, political fallout and ultimately loss of votes
Yes, the public already knows he's a sleezy philanderer, yet they elected him anyway. The only possible additional harm is an association with the underage sex activity. He already gets heavily criticized, so I'm not sure that's the concern. I do think he's worried this might cost him his base (and thus his Congressional power).
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11 hours ago, BruceVC said:
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/13/politics/epstein-files-house-vote-johnson
I have mentioned many times I dont waste much time on conspiracy theories and that includes Trump conspiracy theories that either he peddles or are about him
But I do wonder why the WH is so opposed to the full Epstein files being released. The House will vote on this and hopefully they get 2/3 veto-proof majority
I am now interested in what is so bad about the full release of these files
My initial thought was that a full release might hamper any cases brought to trial. But with DJT in charge, any such trials will likely be for purely political purposes; only producing evidence that harms his opposition. A full release at this point may be the only fair outcome. Let the (creepy) chips fall where they may.
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I'm reminded of a quote from The Longest Day: "There it is, he's at it again! Have you ever heard such a racket in all your life?"
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7 hours ago, Elerond said:
Should all speeches in Congress also be translated to Spanish (because of Puerto Rico) and all 177 indigenous languages spoken in US or at least for those that are official languages of US territories?
Spanish, perhaps so. The others? Maybe if they are comparable to ASL communicators: ~1 million? Then that would include Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Arabic, French, Korean, and Russian. Some day maybe AI can be tasked with that.
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2 hours ago, Hurlshort said:
Because one is the President addressing the entire nation, and the other is a representative addressing a few hundred?
Also it sounds like she was mixing English and Spanish. I'd love to see Trump mix in some sign language in his addresses.
Ever heard of CPAN? Speeches to Congress can go out to the nation. She was clearly speaking in both languages intentionally, and wasn't translating for the benefit of either audience.
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Here's a contrast in requirements:
QuoteThe National Association of the Deaf sued President Donald Trump, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in May, arguing that the administration’s failure to provide ASL interpreters at press briefings violates the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The federal law prohibits discrimination conducted by an “executive agency.”
Arizona's first Chicana representative has been sworn in. She's going to code-switch.
Quote'Les aseguro que aunque sea la primera, no será la última,' she said in Spanish to a smattering of applause, again withholding a translation to the packed chamber.
Okay, apart from the legal specifics, why is the White House required to provide ASL interpreters but a Chicana representative speaking to Congress in spanish is not required to provide a translator? This seems inconsistent, if not rude.
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9 hours ago, Gorth said:
Forget drop bears. Australia presents… drop crocs 🐊
(Yes ambush predator crocs jumping down from trees 😂)
Coming to a sci-fi monster movie soon...
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On 11/10/2025 at 7:03 AM, PK htiw klaw eriF said:
The democrats' ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory is truly amazing. What the hell was the point of extending the shutdown if you were just going to cave anyways?
Even if there is, they just threw out what leverage they had so it's doubtful it would pass. I swear, these clowns would lose a game of chess to a dog.
What I saw was a democratic party engaged in negotiating tactics over health care funding by talking up an extreme position. But what they're facing is a CEO-mentality of DJT being willing to sacrifice people for his own purposes. Remember that C. Schumer dealt with the previous such government funding vote by going along with the Republicans, for which he was heavily criticized. This time he tried a different tactic, which clearly won't work and he still gets criticized. I'm not sure what he's supposed to do about it when he has no leverage. People voted in this clown of a President; they get to live with the consequences.
Like I've said before, the health care situation in the US won't be dealt with until a lot of people start dying. The unaffordability of health care is one way (and perhaps the only way) to achieve that goal here. It's a completely irrational situation.
The All Things Political Topic - SNAFU edition
in Way Off-Topic
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.