8 hours ago, Malcador said:

Saw some one say "We gave the powers of pardon to a mob boss"

"There is no rule of law until the Mafia needs lawyers."

--Stephen Holmes

Lenny Wilkens, NBA player and coach

10 hours ago, Malcador said:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/us/politics/hegseth-firing-military-leaders.html?unlocked_article_code=1.zU8.i1ZG.sAYO9l-kvrYk&smid=bs-share

"Other officers fell out of favor after being targeted on social media by right-wing influencers or because they had voiced support years earlier for diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Rear Adm. Milton Sands, the commander of the Navy SEALs, who pushed to have female instructors in SEAL training, was fired by Mr. Hegseth in August."

"Some rising stars have survived right-wing scrutiny. Lt. Gen. Jonathan P. Braga, a decorated Special Operations officer, was sharply criticized in a conservative blog for promoting diversity initiatives. But the strong backing of several senior officers in the elite Special Operations community, which Mr. Hegseth respects, protected him"

And just for a vivd example of Hegseth's quality

Future application process: (1) verify male neanderthal genome; (2) welcome to the military son.

The Starfinder: Afterlight Kickstarter has wrapped.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/epictellers/starfinder-afterlight/posts/4533285

The final stretch goal (Mechanic class) made it in under the bar.

10 hours ago, BruceVC said:

What the GOP needs to do is change there entire strategy around how ICE enforces migration laws 

And Im talking about the optics and reality around  ICE arrests and these violent   raids  on buildings and apartments 

Its alienating large parts of the Hispanic community and they will lose votes 

Trump ran on deportations of illegals as a popular policy and large numbers of Hispanics voted for him 

But they never signed up for how ICE is conducting themselves. Im not sure how exactly they would change things but I would start with being less militant and working with state and city officials to enforce migration laws

This idea of  ICE bypassing or just ignoring   local authorities is not working and its mostly Dem cities where you see this practice by ICE 

From a mile-high perspective, the fundamental problem is that illegal immigrants are deeply embedded in the US economy, and trying to extract that component is going to have negative consequences for everybody. It would be less impactful if they focused on avoiding new illegal immigration and extraditing the newest arrivals before they become entrenched. But either way the optics won't look pretty.

Speculation: AI will gradually become a fourth branch of government. I could see it starting out in an advisory role, then the politicians steadily offload more and more responsibility to AI. Eventually it will become like the government in Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

7 hours ago, Lexx said:

"56.2% to 43.2%" still crazy how many are STILL voting for the GOP.

In the US, many people vote for a particular party because they don't like the other side. Given the political division in this nation, they are too far apart for many people to switch. That doesn't necessarily mean they like the direction of their own party. Personally, at this point I don't particularly favor either party; they have both diverged too far from the mainstream.

Greg Newby of Project Gutenberg fame

Trump threatens to cut New York funding if ‘communist’ Mamdani elected

Everything is a transaction with DJT, including implicit vote buying.

I watched Vinland Saga on Hulu; it wasn't bad for a semi-historical drama (and it lacked anything resembling anime goofiness). Unfortunately, the second season isn't available yet.

9 hours ago, Gfted1 said:

Duane Roberts

At least he passed away peacefully in his sleep. May he rest in burrito.

12 hours ago, Lexx said:

Is it one, though? If even regular people, who work full time jobs, are depending on food stamps... that's just not normal. That's the churn. 

What are you suggesting then? Many countries have food subsidy programs for their poor. Are they okay but the US is not? My understanding is that SNAP is just 1.5% of the federal budget. Many European nations spend much more of their GDP than the US on public social welfare programs. What are they doing wrong?

7 hours ago, Lexx said:

I find it crazy that so many people in america are depending on food stamps in the first place. Just shows you that something is very wrong right in the core.

Perhaps. But it's good to know there's a safety net available for hard times.

DJT wants to append a massive dance hall to the White House for $300 million. Well, okay. Washington D.C. was designed to impress foreign powers, so if a dance hall serves that purpose then it's in line with the founders intent. What I don't see a need for is a surface hallway connecting the two structures. It looks tacky. A more suitable approach would be to connect them with an underground tunnel.

Rather than a dance hall, I think the structure will evolve into a multi-purpose events hall for things like concerts and other happenings.

I keep coming back to a quote by MacArthur about Roosevelt:

"...a man who would never tell the truth when a lie would serve him just as well."

I don't think DJT is an idiot; nor is he a genius. He's crafty, manipulative, and, at his age, still intelligent enough to retain a glib tongue. Given that his mental grasp of reality is highly questionable, I'd say we've never had a more dangerous President. Let him take all the cognitive tests he wants. That still doesn't mean he's a rational thinker.

DJs threat to declare the mythical antifa as a terrorist organization got me to thinking about the future... when MAGA is declared a terrorist organization. He's laying the groundwork for that event. What was 1/6 if not a domestic terrorist act? Should be fun.

Went back to replay D:OS 2. I guess one thing I don't like about it is the number of times I have to refight every battle until I get a result where I don't need to resurrect half the party. It gets a little tedious, but I persevere.

Trump decides to bribe himself:

Trump seeking $230 million from Justice Department over investigations into him, report says

Ethics, schmatics.

Nothing to see here, move along.

On 10/21/2025 at 12:16 AM, BruceVC said:

I see Australia and the USA have signed several rare minerals deals and the submarine deal is back on

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/21/sha...itical-minerals-deal-lynas-alcoa-pilbara.html 

China is to thank for this with there recent stockpiling of critical minerals but its good for Australia mining investments and a lesson to Trump around humility that countries like Australia matter. The USA cannot thrive on its own and its allies that include Western countries matter

Heh, "humble Trump" is an oxymoron. He probably views the deals as a side benefit of his tariff program. Yes, allies matter, but for Trump every relationship is a transaction.

5 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

When something way worse than this time goes down, it's gonna be fun. People forget how fragile and wholesale/controlled by too few companies, the whole 'net interconnection stuff is.

It's been that way for decades now; there's just more and more layers where systems can break. Companies rely on everything running efficiently most of the time, to counter the infrequent times when it breaks. But, “there are only nine meals between mankind and anarchy” still holds true.

Flo is back with her machine

 

Breaking news: Mexico has agreed to pay for the wall, and Canada wants one too.

Fat Shady just got a little shadier...

"Trump says he has commuted sentence of former US Rep. George Santos in fraud case"

They say that people usually get the government they deserve. I suppose we had this coming.