Enter The Trump Kakistocracy…

[tsar4]

2 hours ago, _lost_username_ said:

I'm actually extra nervous because I work for a nonprofit that operates Head Starts, Food Pantry and LIHEAPs. We're apparently operating at the whim of DOGE right now. So I'm looking at expanding my skill set because I'm fortunate enough to be GenX around a lot of Boomers, GenXers and Millennials that still don't understand website design, communications and coding.

Our Food Bank has created a task force to try to figure out what we're going to do to go forward.  We're not dropping DEI (thank God), but we also currently require those we deal with to be DEI, so what do we do if they cave to the administration?  Migrants are being kicked out, so how will we get from farm to table?  What do we do if/when federal funding/programs gets cut?  How do we best help those affected with this ICE situation, especially if they are afraid to leave their homes?  There's tons of questions like these, some darker than others.

[katt_goddess]

State's rights! State's rights! The DOJ was weaponized against political opponents!

...

Wait! Not those states! Not those rights! Sic 'em, DOJ! 

There's not a rolled-up newspaper big enough right now.  

[katt_goddess]

Fun fact, the destruction of USAID not only kills off aid to starving people all over the globe, it killed off massive purchases of said food items from US farmers. 

Farmers in their red hats, flashing their rednecks, forgetting the last time Pumpkin Tits had the reins and cut their revenue to shreds - FAFO. 

[tsar4]

DOGE engineer's racist texts get him fired.

Would have thought that was a hiring prerequisite.

[Insipid]

Seriously one of the biggest disappointments . . . had she not done her TERF shit, she could have easily been one of the most potent voices against Trump and all this anti DEI bullshit.

[tsar4]

[discolé monade]

Despite Trump’s full-throttle push to “unleash” U.S. energy, Permian oil producers are keeping their foot on the brakes. At a Houston conference this week, energy executives made it clear that while production is still growing, the breakneck pace of the past decade is history.

 

 

[discolé monade]

Italian politicians allege Donald Trump Jr.'s hunting party killed a protected duck           *^ the orange/with white wings-black tips. 

Edited February 7 by discolé monade

[discolé monade]

In Michigan, some Arab American voters revisit their support for Trump after he suggests "take over" of Gaza Strip

lmao. fuck right off. lul lul lulz 

[Raptorpat]

16 minutes ago, tsar4 said:

one is R+19 and the other is R+14

there will presumably be a pro-D lean, but I wouldn't hold my breath on a 20 point lean

[1pooh4u]

12 minutes ago, discolé monade said:

In Michigan, some Arab American voters revisit their support for Trump after he suggests "take over" of Gaza Strip

lmao. fuck right off. lul lul lulz 

I couldn’t read the article past “if Kamala were President the war would be still going on” she believes this despite it being a Biden assisted cease fire

 

[tsar4]

I just had to unfriend someone I've known since the 70s.  They are in a position of authority and were interviewed on TV - espousing the same maga drivel I'd expect from a mouth breathing Jan 6-er.  

I have a feeling that my friends list is going to be a lot smaller in the coming months.

[tsar4]

USAID shut down just as it began investigating Musk's Ukraine Starlink

[discolé monade]

7 hours ago, tsar4 said:

I just had to unfriend someone I've known since the 70s.  They are in a position of authority and were interviewed on TV - espousing the same maga drivel I'd expect from a mouth breathing Jan 6-er.  

I have a feeling that my friends list is going to be a lot smaller in the coming months.

my last usmc buddy, over 20 years,  closet maga. he's also in a position of authority/tsa. he would hint around, but i thought it was strictly libertarian. 

i came out day after election, 'so who'd you vote for?' he says 'you know', i said 'trump?", 'yes'. 

i told him how very disappointing, that a decorated marine, and upper echelon tsa. would go against everything we promised when we were swown in all those decades ago...so much disappointment, i said. hung up, and deleted all contact. 

[1pooh4u]

Letters From an American 

Prof Heather Cox Richardson discusses the consequences of dismantling USAID, Trumps lies to his base, ex the water he released and the ICE raids happening across the country. Apparently Google is using old pics of raids and making it seem like Trump’s administration is doing something 

https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/february-6-2025?r=kmtvs&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

[Jman]

The next item on the agenda of “Make America the 80s again” - Plastic straws.

 

[Dark_Cloud_Overhead]

22 minutes ago, Jman said:

The next item on the agenda of “Make America the 80s again” - Plastic straws.

 

I hate to say it, but I kind of actually agree with him for once on this one. I've tried drinking through a paper straw before and it's just yuck. When I'm having my iced matcha, I want it to taste like matcha, not an old newspaper. He needs to stop with the executive orders already, seriously. It's beyond ridiculous at this point.

[1pooh4u]

This all feels almost surreal. Like a movie 
 

It feels like the Republicans have been playing the long con and this is the part of the film where all is revealed and people in the audience gasp or shout “oh shit!” 

[naraku360]

20 minutes ago, 1pooh4u said:

This all feels almost surreal. Like a movie 
 

It feels like the Republicans have been playing the long con and this is the part of the film where all is revealed and people in the audience gasp or shout “oh shit!” 

Except the twist is that the goal was to do the plan and they hadn't thought about what to do afterwards if it worked.

[Insipid]

28 minutes ago, 1pooh4u said:

This all feels almost surreal. Like a movie 
 

It feels like the Republicans have been playing the long con and this is the part of the film where all is revealed and people in the audience gasp or shout “oh shit!” 

You're giving them far too much credit. It's all about short term profits to these people. Most of the GOP still feels like they will pull ahead with everything going on.

[1pooh4u]

6 minutes ago, Insipid said:

You're giving them far too much credit. It's all about short term profits to these people. Most of the GOP still feels like they will pull ahead with everything going on.

No, we are here because of what started in the 80s under Reagan. Allowing religion into politics, failed reaganomics, and the, started off slowly, but sped up recently, gerrymandering of districts. 

[1pooh4u]

17 minutes ago, naraku360 said:

Except the twist is that the goal was to do the plan and they hadn't thought about what to do afterwards if it worked.

We need the part of the movie where the good guys reveal how they were on top of the con all along 

idt that’s happening in this film. The characters are sloppy. too many good guys want the same things as the bad guys in this one

[1pooh4u]

15 minutes ago, Insipid said:

You're giving them far too much credit. It's all about short term profits to these people. Most of the GOP still feels like they will pull ahead with everything going on.

Just one more thing. They should not have been able to pull ahead with the threats of what was going to go on but they did.  Things are so slanted for the GOP now they don’t have to worry about appearances they will win regardless of how unpopular they are 

Edited February 7 by 1pooh4u

[katt_goddess]

15 hours ago, Raptorpat said:

one is R+19 and the other is R+14

there will presumably be a pro-D lean, but I wouldn't hold my breath on a 20 point lean

Keep pointing out that its the GOP and their absolute complicity that is targeting the complete destruction of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security benefits. Absolutely hammer that. Florida is skewed R but it's also skewed OLD. Don't let the opponent start in on how they are going to protect stuff when they've already kissed the rim in order to run in the first place. Point out how republicans are just outright lying at every opportunity because they don't think there will be any consequences. Don't let the spin cycle start - toss a red sock in that white-washed load. 

[Insipid]

39 minutes ago, 1pooh4u said:

No, we are here because of what started in the 80s under Reagan. Allowing religion into politics, failed reaganomics, and the, started off slowly, but sped up recently, gerrymandering of districts. 

I think that's more to do with deregulations and their ramifications and less to do with long term planning. Musk and Trump are culminations of race to the bottom economics. I'm sure there are some insidious politicians right now who are able to grasp things together to work in their favor, but I really think people like Musk and Trump are winging it and are being seemingly lucky, at least for now. Musk is notorious for vaporware and Trump could sell literal shit to some of his supporters.

Edited February 7 by Insipid

[katt_goddess]

18 minutes ago, Insipid said:

I think that's more to do with deregulations and their ramifications and less to do with long term planning. Musk and Trump are culminations of race to the bottom economics. I'm sure there are some insidious politicians right now who are able to grasp things together to work in their favor, but I really think people like Musk and Trump are winging it and are being seemingly lucky, at least for now. Musk is notorious for vaporware and Trump could sell literal shit to some of his supporters.

The basis of the Heritage Foundation of today [ the ones that wrote Project 2025 ] comes from the Reagan years. When they lost their communist boogieman, they started going after any Americans they didn't like along with the policies they felt helped those undesirables too much as the new boogieman. They've been wrapping themselves publicly in the flag, christianity, and the whole 'moral majority' schtick ever since while privately seeing how many of those so-called commandments they can break in a weekend. Drumpf loves his useful idiots; but he's also a useful idiot because his constant need to be the king of all the things means he's right there to push through the worst things without any one specific person within the Heritage Foundation having to officially be the face of the shit sandwich. 

[wacky1980]

On 2/6/2025 at 1:20 AM, scoobdog said:

You’re conflating a systemic security breach with a personnel breach.  Most Americans live with the specter of an aging computer code that’s exploited or a network that’s overloaded.  But those  are singular flaws in highly complex processes; hackers, even state sanctioned, work in teams continuously over months to find the proverbial needle in a haystack.

A human security breech is a variable that is reactive and unpredictable.  Humans don’t make the same mistake in the same situation because their frame of mind is constantly in flux.  Nine of ten times you won’t click on an email that’s an obvious phishing scam, but that tenth time may coincide with a distraction that impedes your ability to see the scam or there’s a particular phrase that changes the scam enough to create a blind spot that affects only you.  One hacker sending a limited rotation of phishing emails relentlessly to a known bunch of inexperienced kids is going to have about the same degree of success as the team of hackers.

Add to that the fact that a human has access to multiple networks in a compact and convenient way that a server does not.  This is a human with access to multiple critical networks at once.

So, no, it’s not maybe worse, it’s definitively and objectively worse.

social engineering 101. systemic security breaches are almost always the goal, and often end result, of personnel breaches.

listen. i'm not saying people shouldn't be scared. disco provides a valid example of the uncertainty everyone is feeling. all i'm saying is that the account pilfering threat is non-existent. like, 99.9% of people should not be considering changing their account numbers. the only folks who SHOULD be concerned about this are the ones actively scamming the gov't out of something.

but then again, those folks shouldn't be resting easy anyways, so :shrug:

[scoobdog]

12 minutes ago, wacky1980 said:

listen. i'm not saying people shouldn't be scared. disco provides a valid example of the uncertainty everyone is feeling. all i'm saying is that the account pilfering threat is non-existent. like, 99.9% of people should not be considering changing their account numbers. the only folks who SHOULD be concerned about this are the ones actively scamming the gov't out of something.

The account pilfering threat isn't non-existent, it just isn't by the known actors (beyond the people identified who are perpetrating the breach).  There's a middle ground here - everyone doesn't need to be going to extreme lengths by closing accounts, but they should be monitoring for fraudulent use of their identity and unauthorized access to their accounts.  It's bad enough that people you don't know are authorized to look at your information in government databases, it's infinitely worse when those people aren't authorized and are not compelled to use established security protocols while doing it.  If you're content to assume that DOGE is taking every possible avenue to protect your information, then that's you.  I am not content to assume that and objective observations support that discontent.

[wacky1980]

On 2/6/2025 at 8:55 AM, discolé monade said:

fair enough. but in my case, i'm plenty scared. i posted somewhere...probably the musky thread, but my acces to my v.a. information has been halted. there is no reason for that to be the case. i've been using the new/required login ^(login.gov)  for over 3months, an just as recently as 2 weeks ago, where  i requested my last optic exam, so i can pay for some more, now, [...and this is odd,] i never recieved an email saying they got the secure message. i went back (2 weeks ago) and there was no sign of a message, or any past messages, for that matter. yesterday i get a letter with the information, again, a message would have been sent through the system, letting me know why i'm getting a hard copy. 
glitch? maybe , but then i read that musky musk and his funky bunch has everyone's info, and they've able to hack into the current server, and recode the $$ routings systems, which includes....you guessed it, my pay. it's ok, i'm prepared, i've been prepared, since the felon was placed on his throne. 

so you call it fearmongery (which if i had even just 100's of 1000's of $$ in an account, i would do some drastic changes. sometimes it's better to allow the person to rant that fear, then try to explain...cordially, what steps would be better to take.

how's the beer garden?  

i'm strictly referring to the wild notion of the treasury pulling back valid deposits. nobody's minimizing your valid concerns here. i'd be right there with you if i were experiencing this as well. and if i've learned anything being married for ...uh, 14 years now, is that it's usually better to let the rant happen than to try fixing it. as a fixer, this was a hard lesson, and i'm still not great at it.

eh, whatever, i tried.

beer garden is going well. but that gourmet hot dog gig ... O_O

[wacky1980]

On 2/6/2025 at 9:25 AM, 1pooh4u said:

You’re the only one scared idiot because most other people read the entire fuckin thing,  you fuckin Packard and MD had a baby, and out shot you. 

weird, it's almost like you don't want to bring traffic back to this site.

[wacky1980]

On 2/6/2025 at 1:13 PM, Insipid said:

I'll bite and preface the question only in one way: what is the richest man on Earth currently doing that suggests his intentions aren't 100% evil?

ahh, the old "prove a negative" approach. idk, let's start with revolutionizing the space industry and decreasing its cost of participation tenfold in the last decade. 

[wacky1980]

16 minutes ago, scoobdog said:

The account pilfering threat isn't non-existent, it just isn't by the known actors (beyond the people identified who are perpetrating the breach).  There's a middle ground here - everyone doesn't need to be going to extreme lengths by closing accounts, but they should be monitoring for fraudulent use of their identity and unauthorized access to their accounts.  It's bad enough that people you don't know are authorized to look at your information in government databases, it's infinitely worse when those people aren't authorized and are not compelled to use established security protocols while doing it.  If you're content to assume that DOGE is taking every possible avenue to protect your information, then that's you.  I am not content to assume that and objective observations support that discontent.

as someone who's been completely compromised at least since 2017, i couldn't agree more that people should be closely monitoring their accounts and their personal data for any unauthorized changes. but people should have been doing that already. i guess if this is what it takes to get people to be more responsible with their data, then so be it. 

[scoobdog]

4 minutes ago, wacky1980 said:

as someone who's been completely compromised at least since 2017, i couldn't agree more that people should be closely monitoring their accounts and their personal data for any unauthorized changes. but people should have been doing that already. i guess if this is what it takes to get people to be more responsible with their data, then so be it. 

That is the silver lining, to be sure.

[André Toulon]

10 minutes ago, wacky1980 said:

ahh, the old "prove a negative" approach. idk, let's start with revolutionizing the space industry and decreasing its cost of participation tenfold in the last decade. 

I'm asking.

Besides launching a car into space, what breakthroughs...financial or craft wise, is he responsible for.

Again, I'm asking because while I do have a huge interest in what's out there, I don't keep up with the business side much

[wacky1980]

1 minute ago, André Toulon said:

I'm asking.

Besides launching a car into space, what breakthroughs...financial or craft wise, is he responsible for.

Again, I'm asking because while I do have a huge interest in what's out there, I don't keep up with the business side much

to be clear, you're asking what musk has done that convinces me he's not 100% evil?

[[classic swim]]

No, Benji asked you that.

[André Toulon]

2 minutes ago, wacky1980 said:

to be clear, you're asking what musk has done that convinces me he's not 100% evil?

.....wut?

Do you think I'm Benji too .... nevermind, you probably wouldn't get that one.

But no....I'm asking what I asked.... You'll excuse me if I don't type it again. Not sure what my question has to do with his moral compass at all

[wacky1980]

8 minutes ago, André Toulon said:

.....wut?

Do you think I'm Benji too .... nevermind, you probably wouldn't get that one.

But no....I'm asking what I asked.... You'll excuse me if I don't type it again. Not sure what my question has to do with his moral compass at all

ok, you said "i'm asking." so what then are you asking?

i misread before. i get what you're asking now. brb.

Edited February 7 by wacky1980

[Top Gun]

2 minutes ago, André Toulon said:

I'm asking.

Besides launching a car into space, what breakthroughs...financial or craft wise, is he responsible for.

Again, I'm asking because while I do have a huge interest in what's out there, I don't keep up with the business side much

If you can somehow take the raging douchenozzle out of the picture, SpaceX's reusable technology has led to massive cuts to the cost of getting payloads to orbit. Their iterative design process of launching stuff even if it's not entirely ready, seeing what breaks, and fixing it is something that NASA and traditional aerospace companies by their nature could never do, and was probably a sorely-needed disruption ot the industry. And while I think Starship is maybe the dumbest fucking looking rocket ever (seriously, it's a giant space dildo), if it does what it has the potential to do, then it'll be an equal game-changer in terms of heavy lift capacity. Honestly I used to be a huge fan of what they were doing, before said douchenozzle started to let his Nazi flag fly.

[André Toulon]

1 minute ago, wacky1980 said:

ok, you said "i'm asking." so what then are you asking?

Dude, scroll up and read it again. I'll edit in a ? Since I rarely punctuate other than ....

But if you can't be bothered, I'll just assume he's done nothing of note and the furthering of tech and cost effectiveness is due to someone else's hard work.

Is that fair?

[André Toulon]

1 minute ago, Top Gun said:

If you can somehow take the raging douchenozzle out of the picture, SpaceX's reusable technology has led to massive cuts to the cost of getting payloads to orbit. Their iterative design process of launching stuff even if it's not entirely ready, seeing what breaks, and fixing it is something that NASA and traditional aerospace companies by their nature could never do, and was probably a sorely-needed disruption ot the industry. And while I think Starship is maybe the dumbest fucking looking rocket ever (seriously, it's a giant space dildo), if it does what it has the potential to do, then it'll be an equal game-changer in terms of heavy lift capacity. Honestly I used to be a huge fan of what they were doing, before said douchenozzle started to let his Nazi flag fly.

Thx....I really didn't want to go back and add that question mark 

[wacky1980]

15 minutes ago, André Toulon said:

I'm asking.

Besides launching a car into space, what breakthroughs...financial or craft wise, is he responsible for.

Again, I'm asking because while I do have a huge interest in what's out there, I don't keep up with the business side much

the first line threw me for some reason. the second line is your ask. ok, i've put the wheels back on now, ugh.

what breakthroughs is he directly, personally responsible for? hell, probably none. but he's funding things that are responsible for a lot of advancement. specifically in the space industry, the commercialization of space (for better or for worse) has made the cost of entry approachable for a lot of NGO research and sat comms. the concept of mining asteroids is hard scifi, but it's coming into focus with the advancement of starship and its ability to deliver giant payloads into orbit. i'm not gonna keep going because i'm most certainly not an elon fanboi, but i do follow the work spacex is doing.

[wacky1980]

4 minutes ago, André Toulon said:

Dude, scroll up and read it again. I'll edit in a ? Since I rarely punctuate other than ....

But if you can't be bothered, I'll just assume he's done nothing of note and the furthering of tech and cost effectiveness is due to someone else's hard work.

Is that fair?

i edited my response

[tsar4]

[tsar4]

https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-security-clearance-revoked-be82cd4f185f01404718fcc69e074fbf

[tsar4]

[tsar4]

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/02/kash-patel-fbi-trump-tucker-carlson-russia-ukraine-putin/

[1pooh4u]

18 minutes ago, tsar4 said:

https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-security-clearance-revoked-be82cd4f185f01404718fcc69e074fbf

Just read that. Saying he “set the precedent” 

what a load of horseshit. Trump already proved he was too much of a leak and irresponsible to get the briefings. All his legal battles?  I don’t blame Biden for having done that. Trump is the biggest baby in the Universe 

[1pooh4u]

3 hours ago, wacky1980 said:

weird, it's almost like you don't want to bring traffic back to this site.

Not if it’s going to be people saying stupid shit like what you’re saying. As soon as you came back you did a “oh why did I even bother” so fuck off w you then 

[tsar4]