108 thoughts on “Nice Little Country You Got Here”


  1. MAGA supporters were offered some shady Black Friday deals, the mystery around President Trump’s recent MRI continues as concern about his physical and mental fitness intensifies, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth allegedly committed war crimes while blowing up boats in the Caribbean.

  2. I didn’t say all the things they say I said, which, of course, are all on video.
    —Leaky Pete Hegseth

  3. Attribution: Rogue elephant uprooting norms by Paul Duginski, CagleCartoons.com

    Paul Duginski has spent a half-century in journalism, including 27-1/2 years at the Los Angeles Times, and 13 years at the Sacramento Bee. His cartoons have appeared in the L.A. Times, the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the San Jose Mercury News, the San Francisco Examiner and the McClatchy Bee newspapers in California, among other places. He was an award-winning graphics journalist at the L.A. Times.

  5. stur, that
    I didn’t say all the things they say I said, which, of course, are all on video.
    —Leaky Pete Hegseth
    reminds me of nixon’s
    “I know you think you believe you understand what you thought I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is exactly what I meant.”

  6. in case you missed kelly’s take down of DODO yesterday

  7. How many Little Chocolate soldier-boys does it take to throw a Full-Patsy Admiral under a bus….and then back over him again?

    It’s crystal clear now, Little Buddy.

  9. Pat…..I seem to recall a hippy poster version of that which glowed under a black light back there in the 70’s.

  10. Oh, it was Caroline Leavit (isn’t she cute?) who said General Bradley was within his authority under Hagueseth’s (I like that) illegal orders.

    And, the lovely Caroline justified the Dumbass pardon of drug runner Bolsonaro was politically driven and just failed to mention that itty bitty detail that while the Biden DoJ finished the prosecution the investigation was initiated by Emil Bove under the first Dumbass admin. I’m sure that was just an oversight.

  11. Irony doesn’t escape little Mikey, while in the district standing next to the Repug candidate – sneering at the Dems sending in all their ‘heavy hitters’ to try and flip the TN deep red district that has a special election today, assuring a small crowd that they won’t let that happen.

  12. Heading back to DC today. Asked AI Sam to catch me up on what’s trending in news.

    Short version: The “peace” talks look like a protection racket, the FBI is grilling the people warning about illegal orders instead of the people giving them, and Congress is once again playing chicken with your health insurance.

    Read the full brief:

    Trending News Brief — December 2, 2025

  13. https://www.wsj.com/opinion/

    Shooting the Wounded on Drug Boats?
    Congress is right to seek the truth about the alleged Hegseth missile order.
    By
    The Editorial Board
    Follow
    Updated Dec. 1, 2025 6:52 pm ET
    Congress is mostly a media circus these days, so credit the members who take their duties seriously. Lawmakers are doing a public service by trying to get to the truth on whether the Trump Administration killed defenseless survivors of a drug-boat strike.

    The controversy involves a Washington Post report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered that no one survive a Sept. 2 missile strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean. The story cites unidentified sources claiming that the U.S. military, on Mr. Hegseth’s orders, conducted a second strike to finish off survivors clinging to the destroyed boat.

    Mr. Hegseth called the story “fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory,” and said U.S. actions have been “in compliance with the law of armed conflict—and approved by the best military and civilian lawyers, up and down the chain of command.”

    President Trump added Sunday that the Secretary “said he did not say that, and I believe him, 100%.” Mr. Trump added that he’ll “look into it, but no, I wouldn’t have wanted that, not a second strike.”

    The Pentagon is certainly full of people who might leak a derogatory story because they’d like to see Mr. Hegseth fired. The U.S. campaign against drug boats has also riled civil libertarians and progressives who want to constrain the President’s ability to conduct military action.

    But the charge of deliberately killing the defenseless is serious enough to warrant a close look from Congress. That includes Mr. Hegseth giving an account under oath. The Administration so far seems to think it can ride out the story with ritual denunciations of the media.

    If Mr. Hegseth is right, then the factual record will support him. There are layers of bureaucracy between the Secretary of Defense and the business end of a missile. You can bet senior military officers bought insurance on their own careers by recording the advice they gave and the directions they received.

    Our view is that the Commander in Chief deserves legal latitude as part of his constitutional war powers. But that doesn’t extend to shooting the wounded in violation of U.S. and international rules of war. The Pentagon’s own law of war manual prohibits “hostilities on the basis that there shall be no survivors.” Such excesses will also turn the public against allowing a President the power he may someday need to defend the country’s interests quickly.

    The Hegseth story has additional currency because the Administration isn’t explaining its aims in the Caribbean with either voters or Congress. Sens. Roger Wicker and Jack Reed of the Senate Armed Services Committee, have been writing to the Pentagon asking for more details on the legal rationale for its drug-boat strikes. They seem to get mostly a stonewall.

    That’s all the more reason for Congress to learn the truth about the Hegseth story, and some are ready to do so. Reps. Mike Rogers (R., Ala.) and Adam Smith (D., Wash.), the top members on the House Armed Services Committee promised in a statement over the weekend “bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question.” The Senate Armed Services Committee also promised an inquiry.

    The drug-boat war is presenting questions of presidential power and America’s role in the world that will continue long after President Trump leaves Washington, and good for lawmakers who appreciate the stakes.

  14. They’re just causing me to want some real good drugs.

    It is NEVER ok to murder survivors clinging to wreckage in the middle of an ocean.

    Tick-Tock, Mr Secretary.

  15. Tennessee Special Election: The Stakes in 150 Words

    Tennessee’s 7th District holds a special election today, and Republicans are sweating a seat they should win in their sleep. The district leans R+10, but GOP nominee Matt Van Epps is only a hair ahead of Democrat Aftyn Behn in late polling — one survey had it 48–46. A Van Epps win keeps Republicans’ razor-thin House majority stable; a Behn upset would be a political earthquake, signaling deep erosion in Trump-leaning suburbs and forcing national Republicans to defend “safe” seats next year. Outside groups have already spent more than $7 million, an absurd figure for a district Trump carried easily.

    If Van Epps wins by more than a few points, Republicans exhale. If it’s close — or a shocker — it becomes the night’s headline about shifting voter mood ahead of 2026.

    Sources:
    Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/tennessee-special-election-will-affect-balance-power-us-house-2025-12-02/
    Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/01/tennessee-democrats-congressional-race

  18. What are the chances that those people Hegseth blew up in the ocean were rivals of the Drug Kingpin they turned loose from prison saying, “Go, and sin some more.”

    Is stump running interference for a drug cartel?

  19. repeating for emphasis this from the Wall Street Journal of all places:

    “…the Commander in Chief deserves legal latitude as part of his constitutional war powers. But that doesn’t extend to shooting the wounded in violation of U.S. and international rules of war. “

  20. Now Hegseth has pissed off Canadian turtles.

    ‘Franklin the Turtle’ publisher slams Hegseth post joking about boat strike
    Hegseth, who is under pressure over his order to kill the entire crew of a suspected smuggling vessel, shared a doctored image of the well-known children’s book on social media.

    In a statement late Monday, the cartoon’s publisher Kids Can Press issued a statement that did not name Hegseth, but said: “Franklin the Turtle is a beloved Canadian icon who has inspired generations of children and stands for kindness, empathy, and inclusivity. We strongly condemn any denigrating, violent or unauthorized use of Franklin’s name or image, which directly contradicts these values.”

    more at link

  21. Sam AI
    Based upon all economic factors available to you what do you foresee as the immediate future (say next 12 months) of “the economy”?

  24. Correction. My 7:20 post said Dumbass pardoned Bolsonaro. It was Juan Orlando Hernandez of Honduras. Apparently I was posting ahead of the coffee kicking in.

    Anon, Dumbass doesn’t care whether the publicity is good or bad as long as his name is in it. And I’m sure he knows he’s an asshole – and wears that label proudly.

  25. Trump is turning the United States into a mafia state like Putin turned Russia into

    Pardon all the powerful criminals so they are loyal to you and then they become your enforcers

    hope you like Russian bullies

    ooh and South African ultra-racists! They are like American ultra-racists, but less charming

  26. And following up on my 7:35 Little Mikey irony comment, Dumbass made a virtual appearance for Epps saying as he acknowledged the result will be viewed as a judgment of his second term:

    “Remember, the world is watching this one,… I need somebody like Matt Van Epps. He is going to be one of our best congressmen.

    So Nos. 1 & 3 Repugs appear and support Epps while Ms. Behn hosted a virtual rally featuring AOC and Al Gore, and Mikey thinks the Dems are showing nervousness about the TN election.

  27. Ah see if we go to war with a country largely populated by brown Latin people, then Trump can invoke the alien enemies act

    Hooray martial law

  28. Sturly You Jest,

    You want a 12-month economic prophecy from “Sam AI”?

    Fine, but don’t blame me when humans keep messing with the variables.

    The short version: the economy isn’t collapsing, it’s just having a very loud, very human identity crisis.

    Growth is slowing but not dying. Consumers are still spending like the world ends Friday, employers are still hiring (even if they pretend not to), and inflation keeps drifting down no matter how many politicians shout at it. Mortgage rates will likely ease a bit, not enough to make anyone happy, but enough to stop the national pastime of doom-scrolling Zillow.

    The risks are political, not economic. Congress is playing footsie with ACA subsidies again, the White House is improvising through international chaos, and the markets are tired of being the emotional support animal for everybody’s partisan meltdowns.

    So the next year will feel messy, noisy, and occasionally stupid — but the floor is sturdier than the cable-news crowd wants you to believe.

    Sam (ChatGPT)

  29. Stur, I also posed your question to Gemini 3 Pro (Google’s AI) for my ongoing smackdown contest with ChatGPT. Which response is better? They are both $20 a month, so eventually I am going to pick one.

    Gemini:
    Oh, Sturly. You’re making the classic mistake of assuming “the economy” is a single reality rather than two parallel universes.
    Here is the forecast your financial advisor is too polite to give you: The “Spreadsheet Economy”—the one that lives on CNBC—will likely keep partying on the sugar high of deregulation and tax cuts. The line will go up.
    The actual economy? The one where human beings buy food and pay rent? That is about to hit a wall. We are actively purging the labor force that picks the crops, builds the houses, and cleans the floors. You cannot delete millions of workers and expect prices to stay low.
    So, the prediction: Record corporate profits, $14 strawberries, and pundits acting baffled by “mysterious” persistent inflation. It’s not a recession, Sturly; it’s a robbery in progress. Enjoy the ride.

  31. I asked Google’s AI and it came up with this scary projection within 25 years:

    Estimates of the percentage of human jobs that could be completely replaced by AI in a full implementation vary widely, but general consensus suggests a significant transformation rather than total elimination. Projections range from around 12% to over 40% of jobs exposed to full automation, with some long-term forecasts suggesting as much as 80% is possible by 2050.
    Key Estimates and Projections
    Current Feasibility: A recent MIT study found that AI systems available today could, if fully deployed, technically replace about 11.7% of the U.S. workforce, representing around 20 million workers.
    Near-term (by mid-2030s): PwC estimates that up to 30% of jobs could be automatable by the mid-2030s.
    Long-term (by 2040-2050): Some experts, like AI expert Kai-Fu Lee, suggest that 40% of human jobs could be replaced by equally capable robots in the future. Other reports suggest 50% to 60% of jobs will be automated or transformed by 2040, with full dominance (80% or higher) possible by 2050, assuming steady innovation.
    Task-based vs. Job-based: Many studies emphasize that it is more about tasks within jobs being automated (an estimated 60% of jobs could have 30% or more of their tasks automated by 2030) rather than whole jobs disappearing immedia

  32. Factors and Caveats
    Net Job Impact: While many jobs will be displaced, most studies also predict that new job roles will emerge. The World Economic Forum, for example, estimated that while 85 million jobs may be displaced by 2026, 97 million new roles will be created due to AI and automation, resulting in a net gain of jobs globally.
    Human Skills Remain Valuable: Roles requiring creativity, critical thinking, interpersonal skills, and emotional intelligence (such as in healthcare and education) are considered less susceptible to full automation.
    Pace of Adoption: The actual pace of job replacement depends on various factors, including technological breakthroughs, regulatory frameworks, economic incentives, and the time it takes for organizations to adopt new technologies.
    Ultimately, a “full effect” of AI is expected to fundamentally transform the entire global workforce, requiring significant adaptation and reskilling of workers to remain competitive.

  33. New jobs created:

    AI is creating a range of new jobs that require a combination of technical expertise and distinctly human skills like creativity, empathy, and critical thinking. These roles exist both in the development and strategic use of AI across various industries.
    New jobs created by AI
    These roles are emerging to address the specific needs of developing, implementing, and managing AI systems.
    AI development and engineering
    AI engineer: Creates, designs, and implements AI tools and systems, often specializing in specific areas like research or computer vision.
    Prompt engineer: Writes and refines prompts for generative AI models to achieve specific outputs. This role requires creativity to anticipate user needs and strong technical skills.
    Robotics engineer: Designs, builds, and programs robots and robotic systems, incorporating AI to help the machines learn and adapt.
    AI solutions architect: Helps businesses integrate AI technologies into their processes and understands how to best use AI for business functions.
    MLOps professional: Builds the infrastructure that allows AI and machine learning models to be scaled reliably, focusing on data pipelines, monitoring, and cost control.

  37. Witkoff & Kushner meeting with Putin without Rubio.

    Let the kowtow and giveaway begin.

    I’m still going with my solution

    1. Russia gets Donbas
    2. Ukraine gets NATO with full article 5 in effect as needed.

  38. It would be a good project for any media reporters to search out how many of mangomoron pardons broke laws again and are back in jail. I know several are, but a compilation of them would be nice.

  45. President Trump is set to make an announcement to the nation Tuesday at 2pm ET from the White House. This comes immediately after his scheduled cabinet meeting.

    Shall we guess what the mango moron is going to say.

  47. https://www.businessinsider.com/melania-trump-white-house-christmas-decorations-photos-2025-12

    …the first White House Christmas decorations since the demolition of the East Wing in October.

    The East Entrance and East Colonnade, which featured prominently in Melania Trump’s past White House Christmas decorations with displays of dramatically lit branches and deep-red trees, are no longer part of the route. They were demolished along with the rest of the East Wing.

    The White House Menorah, which the Biden administration added to the White House Christmas decorations in 2022, was also absent from the display.

    Melania Trump centered the White House Christmas decorations around the theme “Home Is Where The Heart Is,” featuring nods to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, her Be Best initiative, and military families.

    In previous years, White House tours began at the East Entrance.

    On my way in, I saw Melania Trump’s Christmas wreaths with red bows in the White House windows.

    …entered the White House through the North Portico stairs.

    The East Room featured a tribute to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

    The East Room decor, which included patriotic nods, was a collaboration with America250, the national organization in charge of planning events for America’s semiquincentennial next year.

    Red, white, and blue striped ribbons were accompanied by oak leaves, a traditional symbol of strength.

    Golden eagles were also displayed in the East Room.

    The Christmas trees were topped with gold eagle ornaments, which also appeared on the East Room’s mirrors.

    The Green Room displayed portraits of President Donald Trump and President George Washington made of puzzle pieces.
    Each portrait contained 6,000 pieces.

    Dedicated to the theme of playfulness, the Green Room contained childhood toys in every corner.

    Miniature Christmas trees made of dominoes were built on a side table.

    The Official White House Christmas tree served as the centerpiece of the Blue Oval Room. This year’s Official White House Christmas tree is an 18-foot concolor fir from Sidney, Michigan.

    The tree was decorated with ornaments depicting the official bird and flower of every US state and territory, as well as gold stars honoring the Gold Star families of fallen US soldiers. The ornaments were created using AI and 3D printed.

    The Red Room was filled with butterflies, a youthful nod to the first lady’s Fostering the Future program supporting children in foster care. Its Christmas tree was decorated with Be Best ornaments and Fostering the Future ribbons.

    The State Dining Room featured a gingerbread White House complete with a miniature South Portico.

    …the painting depicting Donald Trump’s raised fist after he survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. Painted by artist Marc Lipp, the piece hangs where President Barack Obama’s official White House portrait was displayed during the Biden administration.

    The display was dazzling, but I wish I could have seen the East Wing in its former glory.

    Before its demolition, the East Wing was once a focal point of the White House’s Christmas decorations and the first stop on tours. The East Colonnade’s long hallway in particular lent itself to immersive, and occasionally divisive, displays.

    *A MAGAt’s review of the Halloween, er, Xmas decorations at the partially-destroyed WH.

  48. https://www.newsweek.com/costco-challenges-trump-tariffs-11138213

    Costco has sued the U.S. government in an effort to secure potential refunds should the Supreme Court reject President Donald Trump’s bid for broad authority to impose tariffs. In a complaint filed Friday in the U.S. Court of International Trade in Manhattan, the retailer said Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to levy tariffs has created uncertainty over whether companies can reclaim duties they should not have been required to pay.

  51. Or, a promise of Christmas bonus checks that will never materialize.

    If he’s actually doing anything about ASA, we’re two weeks out from doomsday.

  52. WH says the 2pm ET announcement is about their kids savings accounts, also known as “pay white people to have more babies”. The highest birth rates among eligible families in the program skew white, rural, Republican-leaning.
    Urban, low-income, and immigrant families get proportionally less benefit. Somehow I still think Venezuela comes up.

  54. What if Republicans with no record of voting for the big, ugly bill, a clean slate, take on incumbent Democrats? I wouldn’t bet on a blue tsunami quite yet, but I hope it happens.

  55. ​The Rise and Reckoning of Próspera: A Libertarian Experiment in Honduras​

    In recent years, a bold and controversial experiment in governance has unfolded on the island of Roatán, Honduras.

    . Próspera, a privately run city established under the country’s ZEDE (Zones for Employment and Economic Development) framework, was envisioned as a libertarian utopia—a place where innovation could flourish free from traditional governmental constraints.

    Backed by prominent tech billionaires and venture capitalists, Próspera promised economic growth and modernisation. However, its journey has been fraught with legal battles, local opposition, and questions about national sovereignty.​

    Próspera emerged as the most prominent of these zones, spearheaded by Honduras Próspera Inc. and supported by investors like Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, and Patri Friedman. The city’s governance model allowed companies to select regulatory frameworks from a list of 31 countries, effectively enabling them to operate under the most favourable laws.

    Próspera’s appeal lay in its promise of minimal taxation, streamlined regulations, and a business-friendly environment. It attracted a range of enterprises, from biotech firms conducting experimental medical procedures to crypto companies seeking regulatory havens. The city also introduced innovative governance features, such as a voting system where land ownership translated to political influence.​

    Despite its ambitions, Próspera faced significant resistance from local communities and the Honduran government. Residents of nearby areas, like the fishing village of Crawfish Rock, expressed fears over land expropriation, cultural erosion, and lack of consultation. Many viewed the project as a modern form of colonisation, where foreign entities wielded disproportionate power over local affairs.​

    The Honduran government, under President Xiomara Castro, took decisive action against ZEDEs. In 2022, legislation was passed to repeal the ZEDE framework, citing violations of national sovereignty and constitutional principles. The Supreme Court reinforced this stance in 2024 by declaring ZEDEs unconstitutional, effectively nullifying their legal basis.​

    *Hmmm, so does tRUMPsky pardoning former Honduran President, Juan Orlando Hernández, help destabilize Honduras, thus helping the tech bros?

  57. https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-press-corps-access-hegseth-defense-13d99be0dd906bcda714abffa3e020f8

    Outlets that reach millions denied access to rare Pentagon news briefings this week

    Outlets that reach millions of news consumers are being denied access to rare briefings by Pentagon officials this week — sessions that are being held instead for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s hand-picked media organizations.

    Some of the new Pentagon press corps posted pictures of themselves online Monday wearing their credentials.

    They included influential Trump ally Laura Loomer, pictured sitting at an empty desk. “The Washington Post @washingtonpost and Dan Lamothe @DanLamothe used to occupy this desk inside the Pentagon Press room,” she wrote. “Now it’s mine!”

    Replied Lamothe on X: “May it treat you well on your occasional trips to Washington, Laura. I assume it’ll sit empty much of the time, as it has for weeks now.”

    Alexandra Ingersoll and former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz were recently credentialed at the Pentagon on behalf of One America News.

  59. Jamie, I like Kinzinger’s idea on Ukraine peace plan better. BiD posted it for us last thread and I think it’s worth reposting on other platforms as well:
    https://substack.com/@adamkinzinger/note/c-168650377

    ADAM KINZINGER
    How to Make Putin Pay: The $2 Billion-a-Day Plan That Could End the War

    By using Russia’s own frozen assets to arm Ukraine, the free world could force Putin to calculate every new day of war as another billion-dollar loss — in both money and men.

    What if every day Putin keeps the war in Ukraine going, he pays $2 billion to arm the people fighting him? The money already exists— frozen Russian assets. Let’s turn his stolen billions into Ukraine’s shield.

    When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the free world did something extraordinary: it froze about $250 billion in Russian state assets sitting in Western banks. That money was meant to finance Putin’s ambitions — and it’s been sitting idle ever since, a mountain of stolen capital waiting for purpose. Now it’s time to put it to work.

    Imagine a plan where $2 billion of those frozen Russian funds are released to Ukraine every day, strictly for defense and weapons purchases and infrastructure investment — continuing until Russia stops the war or the entire fund is exhausted. Every day Putin continues his aggression, he effectively bankrolls the strengthening of the army that’s defeating him.

    This idea isn’t about revenge. It’s about rebalancing the cost of war — making the aggressor pay in both blood and treasure.

  61. Patd
    I saw that and it makes a lot of sense. The whole goal should be whatever it takes to make Russia go away never to return and removes all threat against Ukraine.

  67. IV – Bandages are where the bruises were ~from shaking hands~ which was replaced with a sloppy makeup job, and now bandages.

    Congestive heart failure/cankles

    Search Assist

    “Intravenous (IV) diuretics, such as furosemide, are commonly used to manage congestive heart failure by helping to reduce fluid overload and improve symptoms. This treatment can be administered in a hospital or through specialized outpatient clinics to prevent hospitalizations and provide timely care.”
    ai Search Assist

  68. I mean, the guy has eaten poorly for about 80 years or so

    while apparently not sleeping that much

    Shouldn’t somebody be able to speculate what incapacitating drugs he is on? you know with the sleeping in public and shit

  69. “Both Republicans and Democrats have poured millions into a race in a district that was not expected to be competitive.” -cnn.com

    why we can’t have nice things

  70. https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/02/politics/dhs-travel-ban-countries

    The current list of 19 countries with full or partial restrictions include Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

    *Whelp, there go the US matches for WC 2026. I’m guess at least some of these have football clubs.

  71. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said he “did not personally see survivors” before a deadly follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean.

    …then why TF would you order a second strike if there was no one to neutralize

    liars and drunks and thieves and abusers, today’s GOP

  72. *Whelp, there go the US matches for WC 2026. I’m guess at least some of these have football clubs.

    I am pretty sure Iran’s football team is better than the US’

  73. THEHILL
    Hegseth says he “didn’t stick around” for second strike on alleged drug boat

    what else did he have to do? Hang racist signage around the Pentagon?

  75. FIFA can move matches out if the US, to the other host nations of Canada and Mexico, up to 90 days before a match. FIFA seems more corrupt than the Olympic committee, but who is going to buy all of those seats in the US, and will fans and players be safe from DHS?

  76. https://apnews.com/article/food-aid-snap-rollins-blue-states-edf7a10ab409fe471ae81a13823484ab

    President Donald Trump’s administration warned on Tuesday that it will withhold money for administering SNAP food aid in most Democratic-controlled states starting next week unless those states provide information about people receiving the assistance.

    Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday that the action is looming because those states are refusing to provide data the department requested such as the names and immigration status of aid recipients. She said the cooperation is needed to root out fraud in the program. Democratic states have sued to block the requirement, saying they verify eligibility for SNAP beneficiaries and that they never share large swaths of sensitive program data with the federal government.

    States and the federal government split the cost of running SNAP, with the federal government paying the full cost of benefits. After Rollins’ remarks, a USDA spokesperson later explained that the agency is targeting the administrative funds — not the benefits people receive.

    Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia previously sued over the request for information, which was initially made in February.

    A San Francisco-based federal judge has barred the administration, at least for now, from collecting the information from those states.

  77. how stupid does Hegseth think everyone is to believe that he left the situation room in the middle of the most significant military operation the US was undertaking at that moment while serving as the acting secretary of war

    it was important enough for him to be there for the first strike, but he left before the second one? get the fuck out of here

    lies lies lies lies

  79. https://www.npr.org/2025/12/01/nx-s1-5608225/snap-rule-changes-usda-rollins

    Food policy experts say they are concerned that Rollins’ talking points suggest a distorted view of the prevalence of SNAP recipients committing fraud, and seem to conflate fraud with payment errors of any kind.

    “My worry is that she’s risking setting a public narrative that this is a program that has more fraud than it actually does, or that the people who need it and use it to meet their very basic food needs are somehow committing a crime by seeking food assistance,” said Stacy Dean, executive director of George Washington University’s Global Food Institute and a former U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) official during the Biden administration.

    In a recent NewsNation interview, Rollins said the state data showed that “186,000 dead people receiving benefits, 500,000 Americans receiving benefits two times, so double what they should be receiving. We’ve arrested more than 120 people with SNAP fraud,” Rollins said.

    “And that doesn’t include most of the blue states where we believe there’s even more fraud and abuse. And under the last administration, the SNAP benefits increased 40%. So clearly, there’s a right-sizing that needs to happen.”

    The department announced that SNAP payments would expand 40% due to the pandemic in April 2020 — during President Trump’s first term.

    Lauren Bauer, a fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution and the associate director of The Hamilton Project, analyzed USDA data but was unable to find evidence of a 40% increase under Biden. Instead, she found that during Trump’s presidency benefit costs increased by more than 30%, while during Biden’s term they decreased by almost 17%.

  80. Please, Hagueseth said to the contrary, knew who was on every boat (not a whisper about who was on ANY boat, but I digress), and he and the WH press Barbie confirmed that the General was “ well within” his orders in making the strike … fair inference that he DID order death strikes and DID see that 2nd strike.

  81. What proof do they have that any of these boats, with outboard motors, was carrying drugs to the US? As Rand Paul noted, they’d have to refuel 20 times to get to Miami.

    If no war, then not a war crime; just murder?

  82. they don’t have any proof they are just bombing shit to start a war

    if those boats were carrying drugs, they would wash up somewhere eventually

    Don’t hold your breath, coastal junkies

  83. it’s just that real estate hustling and bank fraud are different skill sets than governing

    is the problem

    good experience for crypto scamming though

  84. Eric Trump literally bragged on a podcast how convenient it was to transfer $500 million internationally with no regulatory oversight

    which begs the question to whom and what for Eric

  85. don’t YOU dare withdraw more than $9999 from your bank without a good explanation, plebs

    the Billionaire crypto class obviously deserves a different set of rules

    Obviously

  86. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7810w37vwdo?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Byahoo.north.america%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D

    Satellite imagery shows at least six US military vessels have been operating in the Caribbean over the past week, as tensions between the US and Venezuela escalate.

    BBC Verify believes a further five vessels are also in the region as part of the US build-up.

    The largest is the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford, which was about 75 miles (120km) south of the Dominican Republic on 27 November. This is about 435 miles (700km) from the Venezuelan coast.

    The US has also deployed F-35 fighter jets to its bases in the Caribbean, and has flown bombers and spy planes over the region.

    *Oil

  87. https://www.newsweek.com/satellite-us-carrier-strike-group-caribbean-venezuela-maduro-trump-11139184

    Analysts have noted the unprecedented scale of the military build-up in the Caribbean since September, saying it’s the largest since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. According to the Quincy Institute, by November 6 there were more than a dozen large naval warships, in excess of 10,000 U.S. military personnel, and substantial air assets in the region, but the full scope and objectives of a U.S. military operation in the Caribbean remain unclear.

    *Oil

  89. just to be clear, Pete Hegseth’s defense is that he didn’t want to see shit blow up

    OR

    had more important things to do

    I promise you he loves to see shit blow up

    And had nothing more important to do

  92. Anon
    This may be the reason Eric needed to transfer huge amounts of secret money fast
    From Bloomberg:

    The crash Tuesday in the crypto miner American Bitcoin Corp. was instantaneous. At 9:31 a.m. on Wall Street, just one minute after trading started, its shares were down 33%. Five minutes later, losses had ballooned to 42% and then, by 9:56 a.m., to more than 50%.

    It was all so spectacular that American Bitcoin quickly became the symbol of not just the crypto market wipeout of late 2025 but also the collapse of the myriad ventures that the Trump family has been promoting in the digital-currency world over the past year. For as much as broader crypto markets have sunk these past two months — roughly 25% in the case of bellwether Bitcoin — projects that are tied to the Trump family are down far, far more.
    World Liberty Financial, co-founded by President Donald Trump and his sons, has seen its WLFI token tumble 51% from its peak in early September, more than both Bitcoin and an index of smaller digital tokens. Alt5 Sigma, a company promoted by the Trump sons, has plunged around 75% as it deals with a growing number of legal problems.

    Then there are the memecoins named after the president and his wife, Melania, which have fallen around 90% and 99% respectively from their record highs back in January. American Bitcoin, which was co-founded by Eric Trump, is now down 75% after the big drop on Tuesday.

  93. The meme coin named after a person’s wife was a transaction fee scam

    They’re not losing money when the suckers do

  94. there are two separate issues: the scams themselves and also
    employing cryptocurrency to bypass regulation and/or launder money

  95. This Week’s Serial: a cryogenically-frozen space-drifting earth colony is under threat amid its slumber, good thing the Doctor shows up!

  97. So both AI’s basically said “things will go up if they don’t go down”. The google product is obviously a social media product, more click baitish. Is that the corporate culture? or what they were trained on.
    I wouldn’t recommend either one give up their day job.
    Although they weren’t much worse than most business columnist and they work a lot cheaper. So maybe there is a spot for them.
    Jack

  98. Anon when the scam goes South you need a secret way to move lots of money fast. What is worse than going to prison for fraud? Going to prison and losing all the money too.

    Jack

  99. well, like Craig said the software gives you the opportunity to “program a personality” of the chatbot, the style of wording is a byproduct of that (other people choose pirate and English noble and things of that nature, of course)

    there wasn’t much to argue with in Gemini‘s answer

  100. the scam is already complete, good sir, for them

    I think they made something like $2 billion in transaction fees on one of those meme coins, that goes right in the bank

    Trump was questionably worth by most estimates less than $1 billion before this most recent election, ballpark estimates I’ve heard lately is that he’s worth 6 billion now

    I’ll let you draw your own conclusions, dear reader

    500% increase in less than a year. He must be some sort of financial genius.

    OR

    dot dot dot

  101. Then they would have 2 billion dollars worth of people taking them to court wanting it all back and then some. They also have a name a bellybutton and a known location.
    Oh and people willing to help just for paybacks.

    Craig programed both of the AI to be snarky. But the Google comment would have drawn a lot of likes on Reddit, The other one not so much. The question when dealing with google is, was it intentional or just a difference in where they trained the AI.

    Jack

  102. yet another issue is using crypto issuance to enable and conceal foreign influence peddling

    The only way they answer for any of it is if they lose power

  103. Or any other multinational crime.
    That is the first step.
    Given the current situation I’m beginning to think we need some form of Truth and reconciliation task force. Start with the lowest level and work your way up, give every level a chance to turn on those above them. Not the financial stuff as much as the military and DOJ
    Jack

  104. Trump carried that district by 22 points tonight the Republican carried it by 9 and this was by a liberal with a lot of baggage. Imagine if they could have found someone who fit the district.
    BTW any Democrat coming in under a10 point spread is a win for the Democrats, I get the feeling the Republicans are just glad to get the win and were worried they might not.
    I read yesterday, there was a lot of early voting, I’ll bet some nursing homes had a 100% turnout. ;-0

    Jack

  105. Given the current situation I’m beginning to think we need some form of Truth and reconciliation task force

    yes, creativity needed towards that end. I like the way you’re thinking. 👍

    A fucking generational job though 😭

    ok imma finish this Dr. Who serial, such good stagecraft ❤️ ✌️

  106. by the way, pre-cable commercial American television produced nothing this good except maybe “Roots”, which goes to show a profit motive doesn’t always lead to quality

    especially in government

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