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.

1 hour ago, Malcador said:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/world/americas/trinidad-us-military-venezuela-boats.html

Shouldn't be surprised the current administration acts like some bad cop stereotype but still is remarkable.

The justification is flimsy since most drug trafficking takes place by land. This repeated murdering of civilians is more about imagery; he's playing to his party followers.

With the government shut down, DJT now wants to build a French-style arch in time for the nation's 250th anniversary (2026). So... that would be in nine months. Uh-huh. BTW, the Arc de Triumphe took 30 years to build, but I suppose ours could be 3D printed. 😛

I have no idea what he's saying; something about a wine gal. But he sounds good as always.

9 hours ago, melkathi said:

Probably has to do with the imminent release of Bloodlines 2.

If so, I must admit I can't fathom the connection. Some sort of supernatural tether, perhaps.

It's still sunny in Seattle. In October. This never used to happen. October was always cold and grey. Anyway, time for my morning walk.

9 hours ago, BruceVC said:

That was never a serious idea  from Trump and it was just him making his " normal " illogical  and inane  public statements which is  just his random  thoughts

In turn, I was being satirical. 😛 I tend to assume nothing coming from that man is serious until it is implemented. But his frequently undiplomatic utterances still have negative impacts on our foreign relations.

In the end, Trump will get his Mediterranean resort. Just you watch... 😇

9 hours ago, BruceVC said:

I dont see this  as a final solution to the Israeli vs Palestinian conflict because I firmly still believe only a 2 state solution can achieve that 

That's true for the US and Israel because of their humanitarian heritage; if Israel were instead a loyal Russian ally, then the solution would be to relocate the entire Palestinian population to Jordan. I.e. there's more than one solution, just only a single tolerable one for the West.