The All Things Political Topic - SNAFU edition

[Pidesco]

1 hour ago, Hurlshort said:

Jesus. The complete waste of resources is what I think should be unifying people here. These guys are paid by taxpayer money to do what, exactly? 

A little authoritarianism. Just a little. 

[Malcador]

2 hours ago, Hurlshort said:

Jesus. The complete waste of resources is what I think should be unifying people here. These guys are paid by taxpayer money to do what, exactly? 

To satisfy the large number of Americans that dig uniformed men roughing up or intimidating people. See Noem, Patel, Bondi or Hegseth constantly trying to show how big their figurative penises are, it's how this show goes.

Related to that, what lame ass Operation name will they give the Venezuela job.  

[uuuhhii]

usa already have least cost effective military in the world

now they can have the least cost effective secret police too

[Gromnir]

7 hours ago, ShadySands said:

Carry out Trump's plan of grievance? Stamp out opposition? Own the libs?

I think fiscal conservatism only applies to "things we don't like" for the Republicans at the moment and it probably always was for a lot of them.. and they seem to be fine with the above reasons.

@Hurlshot is looking for rational and reasonable, but what too many people ain't figured out yet is that rational and reasonable is incidental concerns which 90% o' the time may be deflected with whataboutism or bible verse.  the remaining ten percent? the maga faithful, when confronted with clear evidence o' mistake and/or hypocrisy, will final admit, "nothing you say or do will change my mind." 

even before hillary's deplorables remark, libs like hurl made real americans feel shame. all too frequent you (not hurl specific, but libs in general,)  dismissed their beliefs as conspiracy theories and religious zealotry. recognizing that minorities commit more crime and are habitual leeching off o' government welfare programs is facts according to tucker carlson, but libs identify such truth telling as racist. real americans worked harder and got less every year, but libs ignored their problems and instead focused on providing free transition surgery to prisoners. etc.

hurl being annoyed and confused is the point.

immigrant suffering is also the point. precisely because immigrants is part of the them as opposed to the maga us, their suffering is justified and righteous. additional, hurl's impotent displeasure is in part why ice has videographers following around their ice teams. seeing them suffer is swell, but hurl qqing about the unnecessary cruelty is delicious.

children crying as their parents is detained with excessive force is the point... but hurl predictable complaining is also a motivating factor.

vol's transitive property stoopid which resulted in every act o' violence being the fault of blm and antifa has been coopted by the trump administration. 'ccording to 47, antifa is a terrorist organization.  if you suggest that a member o' the trump administration is fascist, authoritarian, or you accuse 'em of using unnecessary violence to achieve illegal government goals, then you are a member of antifa and as such a terrorist and an enemy of the state? hurl being outraged by this kinda stoopid is as much the point as is the genuine authoritarian effort to suppress dissent.

etc.

maga wants trump to lower prices of groceries, housing and healthcare, but they don't need it. what maga needs is for them to suffer and for hurl to complain without being able to do anything about it. 

HA! Good Fun!

 

[uuuhhii]

3 hours ago, Gromnir said:

@Hurlshot is looking for rational and reasonable, but what too many people ain't figured out yet is that rational and reasonable is incidental concerns which 90% o' the time may be deflected with whataboutism or bible verse.  the remaining ten percent? the maga faithful, when confronted with clear evidence o' mistake and/or hypocrisy, will final admit, "nothing you say or do will change my mind." 

even before hillary's deplorables remark, libs like hurl made real americans feel shame. all too frequent you (not hurl specific, but libs in general,)  dismissed their beliefs as conspiracy theories and religious zealotry. recognizing that minorities commit more crime and are habitual leeching off o' government welfare programs is facts according to tucker carlson, but libs identify such truth telling as racist. real americans worked harder and got less every year, but libs ignored their problems and instead focused on providing free transition surgery to prisoners. etc.

hurl being annoyed and confused is the point.

immigrant suffering is also the point. precisely because immigrants is part of the them as opposed to the maga us, their suffering is justified and righteous. additional, hurl's impotent displeasure is in part why ice has videographers following around their ice teams. seeing them suffer is swell, but hurl qqing about the unnecessary cruelty is delicious.

children crying as their parents is detained with excessive force is the point... but hurl predictable complaining is also a motivating factor.

vol's transitive property stoopid which resulted in every act o' violence being the fault of blm and antifa has been coopted by the trump administration. 'ccording to 47, antifa is a terrorist organization.  if you suggest that a member o' the trump administration is fascist, authoritarian, or you accuse 'em of using unnecessary violence to achieve illegal government goals, then you are a member of antifa and as such a terrorist and an enemy of the state? hurl being outraged by this kinda stoopid is as much the point as is the genuine authoritarian effort to suppress dissent.

etc.

maga wants trump to lower prices of groceries, housing and healthcare, but they don't need it. what maga needs is for them to suffer and for hurl to complain without being able to do anything about it. 

HA! Good Fun!

 

pretty sure someone on this forum once quoted this

 

A man catches a magical golden fish, who tells him: "I'm going to grant you a wish, any wish, but your neighbour will receive double what you get."

After thinking for a bit, the man says "I wish I was blind in one eye."

 

 

[Gorth]

Would it be tasteless of me to quote my signature here?

[uuuhhii]

does usa really want to do regime change on venezuela

the incompetence shown so far are impressive

they did syria so well not so long ago

[Malcador]

 

 

[Bartimaeus]

https://people.com/donald-trump-mistakes-dementia-screening-for-iq-test-11837935

Canadian neurologist Dr. Ziad Nasreddine, who created the MoCA test in 1996, told NBC News that the screening should not be used to measure intelligence.
"There are no studies showing that this test is correlated to IQ tests," Nasreddine said. "The purpose of it was not to determine persons who have a low IQ level. So we cannot say that this test reflects somebody's IQ.”

I always like it when news stories bother to add these "expert opinions" to stories like this, bonus points that it's literally the creator of the MoCA* this time - as if this is a serious story where we really need context to fully understand what all of this means, when actually...yeah, we know the guy is just a dumbass.

*

Edited 22 hours ago by Bartimaeus

[BruceVC]

11 hours ago, Malcador said:

 

 

Yes its a horrific ongoing war and Im being generous if I say its gets 5% of the attention and outrage that the Palestinian vs Israeli conflict gets

And that includes attention and activism from Africa which is where you would expect to find the real concern

But there was attempts to pass UNSC resolutions last year declaring a ceasefire but Russia vetoed it, the only country that blocked the resolution 

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/11/25/un-russia-vetoes-sudan-resolution-despite-global-support

 

 

 

[Gromnir]

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

https://people.com/donald-trump-mistakes-dementia-screening-for-iq-test-11837935

Canadian neurologist Dr. Ziad Nasreddine, who created the MoCA test in 1996, told NBC News that the screening should not be used to measure intelligence.
"There are no studies showing that this test is correlated to IQ tests," Nasreddine said. "The purpose of it was not to determine persons who have a low IQ level. So we cannot say that this test reflects somebody's IQ.”

I always like it when news stories bother to add these "expert opinions" to stories like this, bonus points that it's literally the creator of the MoCA* this time - as if this is a serious story where we really need context to fully understand what all of this means, when actually...yeah, we know the guy is just a dumbass.

*

 

"Trump has unveiled a number of moves aimed at cutting drug prices in recent months, but he has yet to move the needle on reducing costs – much less slashing them by 1,500%, which is mathematically impossible, experts say."

...

experts say? experts? why not just ask a random fourth grader?

 

am curious why the obvious question regarding the MoCA administered by walter reed doctors as part o' a trump exam is never asked: why did doctors feel it were prudent to have trump take the MoCA? is not a standard test for seventy-somethings. the fact doctors had trump take the test should be worrisome to people, but somehow that fact gets lost. tell us that his most recent PET scan is clear wouldn't raise alarms? 'course you would be curious as to why he were getting PET scans, right? PET scans is not routine. MoCA is similar not ordinary. trump bragging about acing the test is signature trump stoopid, but it should concern everybody that doctors had reason to administer the test.

we were in the room when the test were administered to our +80 father following his TIA. 

*shrug*

keep in mind that the media mocking trump for his ignorance and stoopidity is one o' the reasons he is so popular, as insane as that sounds. maga is about outrage and grievance... maga is the real victims in 2025. the perception that smarty-pants libs has been mocking working class americans for their lack o' education is one reason why they vote for trump.  47 is overt ignorant, unapologetically bigoted... and he is a winner. is a curiously seductive combination for too many americans.

trump is using his voters and likely hates 'em, but maga loves trump 'cause he is their retribution.

https://www.c-span.org/clip/campaign-2024/user-clip-i-am-your-retribution/5100721

maga identifies with trump not in spite o' his ignorance and bigotry but 'cause o' such. maga loves trump 'cause he is shameless and vindictive.

lord help us.

HA! Good Fun!

 

[Malcador]

7 hours ago, BruceVC said:

Yes its a horrific ongoing war and Im being generous if I say its gets 5% of the attention and outrage that the Palestinian vs Israeli conflict gets

And that includes attention and activism from Africa which is where you would expect to find the real concern

But there was attempts to pass UNSC resolutions last year declaring a ceasefire but Russia vetoed it, the only country that blocked the resolution 

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/11/25/un-russia-vetoes-sudan-resolution-despite-global-support

 

 

 

Maybe someone should lean on the UAE to stop funding the RSF.

[BruceVC]

1 hour ago, Malcador said:

Maybe someone should lean on the UAE to stop funding the RSF.

Yes there is interference from several countries that include the UAE and Russia and they all have vested interests in the war continuing but the 2 Sudanese  factions fighting it are the  main problem 

But the real disappointment for me is this should be something that the AU resolves but its toothless. Very good at rhetoric and podium statements but terrible at implementation of its own policies

Africa cannot realize its full potential until the likes of the AU is effective and consistent

So failing that we constantly fall back on the UN to resolve Africa's problems with mixed results. And then if a UNSC is vetoed you  see nothing constructive 

Unfortunately Trumps direct intervention and transactional approach to geopolitics has more success in several conflicts than the UNSC but the US has no interests in this Sudan war so I cant see the US intervening unless asked?

 

 

[Zoraptor]

Eh, I'm not sure we can draw too many conclusions from what was done in Trump's medical exams. Especially so given what happened with Biden. Not just the apparent mental decline with no (medical) explanation but also having advanced prostate cancer. Diagnosed after he left office for sure, but he definitely had it while president and it was not picked up on.

Whatever else, Trump isn't just a normal 70+ year old just as Biden wasn't. He's not just getting his bp checked, maybe a blood test and a listen to the heart plus a quick chat about any ongoing issues and review of medications; and you wouldn't expect that to be all they had even for relative youngsters like Clinton/ BushGW/ Obama.

And in this case, and I can't believe I'm going to end up 'defending' Donald Trump, Trump did insist Biden should take a cognitive impairment test way back in early 2024 (which Biden didn't) so he's actually being consistent taking one himself.

Really though, Executive Leaders ought to be obliged to take cognitive tests. Otherwise you'll end up with something potentially disastrous like announcing a declaration of war as a sound test (thanks, Ronnie).

[Gromnir]

MoCA is not a special test, like for astronauts or somesuch.

MoCA is far more akin to a roadside sobriety test administered 'cause there is some reason to believe an individual is an imminent danger to themself or others. doctors won't let mary go home alone from the hospital if she fails to pass the test. furthermore, as explained to us, the MoCA is one tool for assessing cognitive issues and is far from dispositive. the test is crude and not meant to be used as proof o' wellbeing. 

incidental aside:

we mentioned how our father took the MoCA following a TIA episode. gonna admit we were shocked when dad got every question correct 'cause at 81 and suffering numerous health problems, he were cognitive more than a couple dimes short o' a dollar. dad were at his worst at night, but even during daylight hours he were noticeable... off. people who hadn't seen our father since he were 78 or even 79 woulda' been nonplussed at pop's decline. our father aced the MoCA, and he were simultaneous a wreck. pass the test is not meaningful proof o' mental fitness.

personal anecdotal evidence is functional worthless when attempting to formulate conclusions o' general applicability. nevertheless, am mentioning in part 'cause our father were not proud o' his test results and he sure as heck wouldn't have shared with anybody that he had taken the exam; am suspecting our presence in the exam room were mildly traumatic for him. our father, as diminished as he were at 81, recognized how simple and trivial were the questions o' the MoCA. our father were insulted at being asked such ridiculous simple questions, but he were also self aware enough to be afraid that doctors deemed the test were necessary. we can count on one hand the number o' times we had seen our father show visible fear... and have a couple spare fingers.

am thinking trump consistency on demanding everybody take the MoCA missies the point(s.) the MoCA is not an intelligence test as he suggests. nobody with all their marbles would brag about acing the test. the test is not part o' even comprehensive physicals. etc.

edit: as a practical matter, am not seeing a way to add a cognitive test requirement for article 1, 2 and/or 3 offices. would need to amend the Constitution and is unlikely you add a specific test or some subjective measure such as cognitive fitness to an amendment. am s'posing individual states could require passing a state approved mental fitness test to be added to their ballot, but am thinking there is obvious hurdles for that solution, not to mention the nightmare scenario o' each state having different tests and standards which would then likely result in scotus deciding the scheme is unconstitutional regardless. 

the most simple answer is one am having mentioned previous: a Constitutional Amendment which creates an age limit for enumerated article 1, 2, and 3 offices. yeah, such an amendment would not solve the problem o' folks such as fetterman and others who is younger but possible impaired, but age is an objective standard and cognitive fitness is not. 

is unfortunate that the only way we see the adoption o' any kinda amendment which might address the cognitive impairment issue either direct or indirect is if something were to go dramatic and horrible wrong with a President or a scotus Justice. 

HA! Good Fun!

ps https://www.instagram.com/p/DN_Ui9oD-LU/

 

Edited 5 hours ago by Gromnir

[Zoraptor]

14 specialists examined Trump in 2025, and 20 (!) examined Biden in 2024. That is far beyond a 'comprehensive physical' already. Maybe, if your surname was Bezos/ Musk/ Ellison. Maybe.

Drawing conclusions from mislabeling a cognition test is at very very best tenuous. Trump boasting of passing an 'intelligence test' for a cognitive test is absolutely par for the course with his behaviour since forever. Not just in getting what it was wrong (ie thinking he's highly intelligent and this proves it, as a narcissist that is absolute par for the course) but also because he's getting back at his predecessor since Biden infamously didn't take one in 2024 when prompted to; and Trump is very much about being 'better' than Biden (and Obama). 

The answer to the question of "why did doctors feel it were prudent to have trump take the MoCA?" is pretty clearly explained by him having demanded Biden take one, and that is actually a pretty good reason for taking it.

(I know perfectly well what cognitive tests are as my dad has dementia and I too sat in a room while one was administered. He didn't take a MoCA (or at least, not the one Bartimaeus posted, it was out of 20 and apart from the clock what he had to draw was different) but a very similar one. That and the simultaneous chat with the specialist was enough for a diagnosis of dementia on the spot. Note: I actually can prove that since I still have the formal diagnosis in my files, though for obvious reasons I won't. What the cause/ type was needed an MRI, but that was all. And knowing it was mixed ischaemic/ frontotemporal meant basically nothing anyway, except in terms of knowing what to expect)

Edited 4 hours ago by Zoraptor

[Malcador]

https://www.gamefile.news/p/halo-ice-developers-react

Well, at least they're not portraying illegal immigrants as Tyranids or something. 

[Gromnir]

10 minutes ago, Zoraptor said:

14 specialists examined Trump in 2025, and 20 (!) examined Biden in 2024. That is far beyond a 'comprehensive physical' already.

the number of specialists named as having been part o' a Presidential medical review is strawman. our recollection is that  george w. bush (is literal the only President other than kennedy am having searched... and the kennedy doctors lied about his addison's and drug use, so take that for what it is worth,) had more than a dozen listed specialists examine him and he took any number o' tests during his time as President including a head ears nose and throat exam, a chest x-ray and an ekg, but nothing particularly noteworthy. no MoCA. no multiple mri. if george w bush had been subjected to multiple PET scans or a doctor felt a MoCA was warranted, that woulda' been big news. for gawd's sake, bush had some benign colon polyps removed and 'cause he were incapacitated during the procedure, **** cheney were the temp chief executive. the polyp removal procedure were relative trivial, but 'cause it were Presidential polyps, the news were front page. but for some reason, trump getting tested for dementia deserves a hand wave from zor? ok.

yeah, instead o' a general practitioner reviewing basic test numbers as would happen for joe the plumber, the doctors reviewing joe the President tests is gonna be specialists, but that fact is not actual relevant to the significance o' a doctor determining a MoCA were warranted. 

14 minutes ago, Zoraptor said:

Trump boasting of passing an 'intelligence test' for a cognitive test is absolutely par for the course with his behaviour since forever.

again,  not helping your position. 

14 minutes ago, Zoraptor said:

The answer to the question of "why did doctors feel it were prudent to have trump take the MoCA?" is pretty clearly explained by him having demanded Biden take one, and that is actually a pretty good reason for taking it.

uh... what? the real sequence of events is worth a review. first reports o' trump taking the test is from 2018 and he were bragging 'bout his results before anybody knew biden would be his opponent in a Presidential election. am not recollecting any trump mention o' biden contemporaneous with the 2018 MoCA test, so maybe the explanation you see as clear is a bit more muddy, eh? trump figured that he might be running against an old guy in 2020, so in january o' 2018 he takes a dementia test? 

...

well, ok then.

are you sharing your father's situation as some kinda rebuttal of the observation that the test itself is not dispositive? that wouldn't make much sense, would it? is gonna be a host o' factors involved, including the chat with the specialist you casually reference and again, whatever circumstances prompted the doctor to suggest your father should take the test in the first place, no? Gromnir's father had experienced a TIA and during conversations with doctors, he seemed impaired. taking the MoCA were not just some kinda rando checkup event. am not sure why this needs repetition, but the fact a doctor believed Gromnir's father should have a dementia test were concerning. even our father were recognizing the seriousness o' the situation. am not aware o' your father's circumstances, but given the results o' the doctor exam as you describe, am suspecting there were reasons why the doctor administered the test in the first place. 

by now am able to tell when you are arguing for the sake o' arguing no matter how weak is the position you choose to take.

HA! Good Fun!

 

[Gromnir]

Judge Blasts Border Patrol Boss Greg Bovino For Violating Excessive Force Order

“Kids dressed in Halloween costumes walking to a parade do not pose an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer,” U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis told Bovino during a court hearing Tuesday morning. “They just don’t.”

am having no idea what is the "block club chicago," or how trustworthy they is as sources, but am having read a couple stories which are near identical but are paywall protected. also, much o' the relevant info is quotes by bovino and ellis which am able to tentative verify via multiple sources. 

also,

this effective vacates the earlier appellate ruling, so the original tro preventing national guard in portland remains in effect... though am forgetting the duration o' the original tro, so there could be a need for the original judge to reissue the tros.

gives us a headache trying to keep all the troops in the streets cases separate. 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited 1 hour ago by Gromnir

[Zoraptor]

54 minutes ago, Gromnir said:

stuff

Shrug.

"why did doctors feel it were prudent to have trump take the MoCA?" or " but that fact is not actual relevant to the significance o' a doctor determining a MoCA were warranted" assumes- without evidence- that the doctor wanted it. It happened because Trump wanted it to.

Maybe, just maybe, it being spelled out in an actual quote from the horse's mouth- Donald J Trump himself- might help? 

Quote

Overall I felt I was in very good shape. Good heart. A good soul. Very good soul. I took — I wanted to be a little different than Biden. I took a cognitive test. I don’t know what to tell you other than I got every answer right,” Trump said.

from April 12, 2025. He even got what the test was right, then. Sure, Trump could be lying about his motivations just because it's Trump and he lies. Chances are significantly higher that he was telling the truth- otherwise, why mention it?- and wanted it specifically because Biden didn't take one, as he stated.

The chances of him being 'forced' to take one by his doctors are also shot to pieces by Biden not being forced to despite his obvious decline. Indeed, in some sources he is said to have refused to take one.

[Gromnir]

1 hour ago, Zoraptor said:

Sure, Trump could be lying about his motivations just because it's Trump

ya think?

HA!

1 hour ago, Zoraptor said:

Chances are significantly higher that he was telling the truth- otherwise, why mention it?

am having a hard time taking you serious. trump wanted to be tested for dementia? his idea? the 224lb trump wanted to prove to self, prove to the world, that he were just as sound o' mind as he were o' body?

alternative: mayhap the reason he mentioned it were 'cause the fact he got the test were recorded. Presidential records and all that. am having no idea what were the real reason why trump got the test, but is improbable biden figured into the calculus in January 2018. am s'posing that once trump took the test he could either find some way to hide the fact the test were administered, or he could try to spin the circumstances. as such, am seeing a relative obvious and plausible reason for trump mentioning it. admitted, hiding the fact the test were administered would not be unique in Presidential history;  has happened numerous times in the past. however, trying to cover up scandals in the trump wh were a hit-or-miss proposition in 2018 as his staff were notorious for leaking and knowing that your co-conspirator were the pill-popping and alcoholic ronny jackson might have been cause for concern. heck for all we know, kellyanne conway found out the truth at which point trump woulda' suspected wapo or cnn would have the story w/i twenty-four hours? sure, we know that in 2025 trump coulda' had seal team 6 disappear ms. conway to keep her from spilling the news, but that weren't the case in january 2018. doesn't actual matter what were trumps' thoughts 'cause regardless it takes near zero imagination to picture a trump convinced o' his own ability to dr. mesmer willful obtuse maga faithful (and zor) into believing that there were nothing at all curious about his being the subject of a dementia test... 'cause how many other stoopidly bad situations has he successful spun?

again, trump took the test in january 2018, so the biden explanation should immediately dissolve into insensibility for anybody paying attention... anybody but zor. 

...

and am wondering if you even bothered to read the rest o' your own linked article, which is pretty damning for trump.

regardless, am amused anybody would find a gobbledygook bit o' word salad from a pathologically mendacious 224lb horse's mouth at all persuasive when there is a skeevy and self-serving explanation available.

*shrug*

in any event, as predicted, this become farce all too quick.

HA! Good Fun!

 

Edited 17 minutes ago by Gromnir