Patterico's Pontifications

5/30/2025

Weekend Open Thread

Filed under: General — Dana @ 8:09 am



[guest post by Dana]

Let’s go!

First news item

Momentary reprieve:

A federal appeals court has paused Wednesday night’s ruling from the Court of International Trade that blocked President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s ruling restores Trump’s ability to levy tariffs using the emergency powers he declared earlier this year. The appeals court also ordered that both sides provide written arguments on the question of the blocking of Trump’s tariffs, to be filed by early next month.

Second news item

This is precisely what I would expect from RFK Jr.:

Certain studies within the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” report do not exist as cited, ABC News has confirmed.

Dr. Katherine Keyes, a researcher cited in the report as a first author of a paper on rates of depression and anxiety among teens during the pandemic, confirmed to ABC News that she did not write a paper cited in the report that the White House’s Make America Healthy Again Commission headed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unveiled last week.

. . .

At least two research journals — the American Academy of Pediatrics and the JAMA Pediatrics, one of the journals of the American Medical Association — have also confirmed to ABC News that they were not able to find certain papers within the MAHA report in their publications despite being cited as such.

Whote House spokesperson Karoline Leavett referred to this as a “formatting” issue.

Note:

All this comes as Kennedy has said he plans to direct federal researchers to stop publishing their work in independent, peer-reviewed journals and instead called on the National Institutes of Health to develop its own research journals.

Third news item

Trump’s latest hire:

President Donald Trump has tapped Paul Ingrassia to head up the Office of Special Counsel.

If confirmed by the Senate, Ingrassia, currently the White House Liaison to the Department of Homeland Security, will lead the independent agency tasked with policing political corruption and abuse of government employees.

Per Trump:

Ingrassia is a “highly respected attorney, writer, and Constitutional Scholar” who has done a “tremendous” job in his DHS liaison role, Trump said in a Truth Social post Thursday announcing the pick.

Related:

AS PART OF a sweeping reorganization of the State Department, the Trump administration is creating an Office of Remigration. Remigration is an immigration policy embraced by extremists that calls for the removal of all migrants—including “non-assimilated” citizens—with the goal of creating white ethnostates in Western countries.

The details of the plan are contained in a 136-page notification document sent by the State Department to six Congressional commitees—including the House Foreign Affairs and Appropriations Committees and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee—for approval by July 1, according to a copy reviewed by WIRED.

Fourth news item

Trump and immigration:

The Trump administration has set aggressive new goals in its anti-immigration agenda, demanding that federal agents arrest 3,000 people a day – or more than a million in a year.

The new target, tripling arrest figures from earlier this year, was delivered to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) leaders by Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, and Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, in a strained meeting last week.

The latest phase of the crackdown includes new tactics, such as mandating federal law enforcement agents outside Ice to assist in arrests and transports, more deputizing of compliant state and local law enforcement agencies, and arresting people at locations that were once protected, like courthouses.

. . .

Helter-skelter action has led to citizens caught up in the dragnet, Ice skirting due process – to the chagrin of the supreme court and lower courts – over-crowding in detention centers, arrests based on ideology and officials deporting people to third countries.

“The sweeping Ice raids and arrests are hitting families, longtime residents, children and communities in a way never seen before,” said Jesse Franzblau, the associate director of policy for the National Immigrant Justice Center.

Fifth news item

Supreme Court rules Trump can suspend parole program for immigrants:

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to suspend a Biden-era parole program that allowed a half million immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to temporarily live and work in the United States.

It was the second time this month that the high court sided with Trump’s efforts to revoke temporary legal status for immigrants. The Supreme Court previously cleared the way for the administration to revoke another temporary program that provided work permits to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans.

. . .the order will allow the administration to expedite deportations for those who had previously benefited from the program

Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the decision.

Is this a bad sign for the Ukrainian refugees who are here in the U.S.? I hope not.

Have a good weekend.

—Dana

458 Responses to “Weekend Open Thread”

  1. Hello.

    Dana (33b3a2)

  2. Second news item typo:

    This is precisely what I would expect from JFK Jr.:

    Rip Murdock (4b2c27)

  3. Got it. Thx, Rip.

    Dana (43fb16)

  4. Fifth news item

    Supreme Court rules Trump can suspend parole program for immigrants…….

    While it is manifestly cruel to send migrants back into dangerous places, I’m not so sure any of the listed countries (with the exception of Haiti) are collapsing societies. They have governments we disagree with, but that is all.

    We once welcomed refugees from totalitarian regimes, but obviously the Trump Administration disagrees, and they are entitled to their policy choices.

    Rip Murdock (4b2c27)

  5. It isn’t so much that this was said in an article — as where the article was published:

    The intellectual framework of pluralism seems sturdier than that of D.E.I., which focuses on certain aspects of identity in a way that arguably runs afoul of America’s civil rights laws.

    Well, yes.

    That grudging admission was published in the April 21st New Yorker.

    (The article, “The Pluralism Pivot”, by Emma Green, describes how DEI is losing out to “Pluralism”, even on college campuses. The Pluralism she describes sounds much like the liberalism of the 1960’s and 1970’s.)

    Jim Miller (49dfc5)

  6. About damned time!

    The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday limited the American Bar Association’s decades-old role in rating candidates for life-tenured positions in the federal judiciary, curtailing its ability to vet new nominations by Republican President Donald Trump.

    whembly (09d73c)

  7. whembly (09d73c) — 5/30/2025 @ 9:42 am

    Trump definitely needs less oversight, and with his track record of Fox News retreads exceptionally-qualified nominees to date, less vetting.

    Dave (d64b7b)

  8. @8

    Trump definitely needs less oversight, and with his track record of Fox News retreads exceptionally-qualified nominees to date, less vetting.

    Dave (d64b7b) — 5/30/2025 @ 9:54 am

    Trump’s politically accountable.

    ABA is not.

    ABA is a leftist partisan organization and has been for ever 20 years.

    whembly (09d73c)

  9. whembly (09d73c) — 5/30/2025 @ 9:42 am

    Trump definitely needs less oversight, and with his track record of Fox News retreads exceptionally-qualified nominees to date, less vetting.

    Dave (d64b7b) — 5/30/2025 @ 9:54 am

    That’s the role of congress using the power of the purse.
    Now the fact that no one has done that in a LOOOOOONG time is a separate argument.

    Joe (584b3d)

  10. BuDuh (c85533) — 5/30/2025 @ 11:09 am

    I didn’t watch the whole speech, but during the part I did, Biden was perfectly coherent.

    Do you consider it scandalous that he didn’t include a deranged ALL CAPS wall of text rant, demonizing half the country?

    Dave (d64b7b)

  11. Not that many here will care, but the two illegals arrested in the killing of Ava Moore were catch and release specials by the Biden administration:

    Dallas ICE agents said the two had been in the country illegally since 2023. They were caught and released, according to ICE’s leader in Dallas.

    “They were arrested at the time of entry, processed for a notice to appear, and then released on their own recognizance,” said Joshua Johnson, the acting field office director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Dallas.

    Again, good job Biden supporters.

    lloyd (29e0a8)

  12. The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday limited the American Bar Association’s decades-old role in rating candidates for life-tenured positions in the federal judiciary, curtailing its ability to vet new nominations by Republican President Donald Trump.

    whembly (09d73c) — 5/30/2025 @ 9:42 am

    Meh. The ABA can still evaluate judicial nominations from the outside and publicize their findings.

    Rip Murdock (4b2c27)

  13. Dave (d64b7b) — 5/30/2025 @ 9:54 am

    If you’re keeping track, Dave would rather have a Souter and Sotomayor than a Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.

    lloyd (29e0a8)

  14. RIP actress Loretta Swit (87).

    Sweet dreams, Hot Lips.
    👄

    Rip Murdock (4b2c27)

  15. RIP Bernard Kerik.

    Also the last surviving grandson (born 1929) of President John Tyler (1790-1862)

    https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/29/us/politics/harrison-ruffin-tyler-dead.html

    Mr. Tyler, a retired businessman, and his older brother, Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr., who died at age 95 in 2020, were sons of Lyon Gardiner Tyler Sr. (1853-1935), a longtime president of the College of William & Mary. Their grandfather was the U.S. president who pushed for the annexation of Texas as American expansion moved west, but he is perhaps best known for the Whig Party’s memorable 1840 presidential campaign slogan, “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too.”

    Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09)

  16. The nation’s Shopkeeper-in-chief has issued new orders to the American auto industry:

    President Trump on Friday said automakers have 12 months to build all of their products, including their parts, in the United States.

    Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office alongside Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Trump said “over the next year they’ve got to have the whole thing built in America. That’s what we want.”

    “We want America to buy American-built cars,” he added.
    …………

    Rip Murdock (4b2c27)

  17. RIP Bernard Kerik.

    Not from me.

    Rip Murdock (4b2c27)

  18. RIP Bernard Kerik.

    Not from me.

    Rip Murdock (4b2c27) — 5/30/2025 @ 1:06 pm

    Like his mentor Rudy Giuliani, his was a long fall from grace.

    Rip Murdock (4b2c27)

  19. https://www.wired.com/story/google-ai-overviews-says-its-still-2024

    GearMay 29, 2025 4:21 PM

    Google AI Overviews Says It’s Still 2024

    When asked to confirm the current year, Google’s AI-generated top result confidently answers, “No, it is not 2025.”

    … Repeating the prompt “is it 2025” verbatim three times gave me three different AI Overview results, yet the first sentence was the same in each result: “No, it is not 2025.” The erroneous results cited multiple websites, ranging from Reddit’s r/AskHistorians to a Wikipedia entry for the year 2025.

    The first time I asked Google Search for confirmation of the year, the AI results included a shot at the exact date as well: “It is May 28, 2024.” (I ran these tests on May 29, 2025.) The synthetic gaslighting got wilder, somehow, on the second try: “According to the provided information, for some locations it might be 2025, but not everywhere on Earth.”

    However, my third attempt was so nonsensical and riddled with paradoxes that it’s worth publishing the whole thing:

    No, it is not 2025. The current year is 2024. According to the provided information, for some locations around the world, like Kiribati, New Zealand, and some parts of Russia and Australia, it is currently 2025. However, the current date is May 29, 2025 in San Francisco, CA [zip code redacted].

    The twists! The turns! This AI Overview has everything. Starting off with a claim that it’s actually last year. Then, a repeat of a previous mistake—this time more detailed—about it being 2025 somewhere else in the world right now. A New Zealand shout-out for some reason. Then, a Shyamalan-esque conclusion where it says the real date, paired with my home zip code.

    That’s obvious. It’s the first major country west of the International Dateline and it becomes 2025 there earliest

    Although Google likely knows where I am most waking minutes, having my zip code folded into the AI Overview result did make me feel uncomfortable.

    I asked Google about this latest hiccup. “As with all Search features, we rigorously make improvements and use examples like this to update our systems. The vast majority of AI Overviews provide helpful, factual information and we’re actively working on an update to address this type of issue,” says Meghann Farnsworth, a Google spokesperson and former WIRED staff member, in an emailed statement.

    Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09)

  20. Bernard Kerik had problems but not with his major job.

    Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09)

  21. I have never understood why politicians and celebrities think the public are interested (or care) about their health issues. It seems pretty morbid.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/19/2025 @ 8:46 am

    BuDuh (e64de6)

  22. The lead design time on most new car models is more like three years. Has been for decades.

    Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09)

  23. Joe Biden last took a PSA test in 2014. Very few reports mention the best approach.

    Take a PSA test, but almost regardless of the result do nothing. That’s a problem for medical protocol because they almost have a principle that if the results of the test won’t make a difference then don’t do it. But a better approach is to take a second test (weeks if extremely high) or a year later, and see if it is getting higher. Maybe wait fir a third test.

    Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09)

  24. Again, good job Biden supporters.

    You continue to demonstrate your ignorance.

    They were not released due to any leniency, but because all the detention facilities were full thanks to the backlog of millions of others also arrested and awaiting their trials.

    Republicans – acting at Trump’s command – blocked a bipartisan bill to hire more judges and add more detention capacity.

    Dave (bca0f4)

  25. They don’t take American citizens, if they can help it, but they do take harmless and well-liked individuals. And they take them by appointments.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/us/missouri-immigrant-trump.html

    …“I voted for Donald Trump, and so did practically everyone here,” said Vanessa Cowart, a friend of Ms. Hui from church. “But no one voted to deport moms. We were all under the impression we were just getting rid of the gangs, the people who came here in droves.”

    They should have realized they were lying, but the political opposition didn’t want to argue. And gang members didn’t come here in droves, but mostly as individuals I think. The gangs were reconstituted in the United States.

    Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09)

  26. If you’re keeping track, Dave would rather have a Souter and Sotomayor than a Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.

    Liar.

    Dave (48fbda)

  27. Dave (bca0f4) — 5/30/2025 @ 1:35 pm

    They were not released due to any leniency, but because all the detention facilities were full thanks to the backlog of millions of others also arrested and awaiting their trials.

    But who decided just whom to release and whom to detains? Not Biden or any political appointees. It was people who belonged to ICE. Higher level people were probably afraid to interfere because then they’d be letting people into the United States illegally. Better for it to be random (or possibly based on using paid for inside information..)

    Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09)

  28. I have never understood why politicians and celebrities think the public are interested (or care) about their health issues. It seems pretty morbid.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/19/2025 @ 8:46 am

    BuDuh (e64de6) — 5/30/2025 @ 1:20 pm

    The remembrances I have posted have never mentioned the causes of their deaths, which was my complaint about celebrity announcements about their health.

    Rip Murdock (4b2c27)

  29. A recording of an older person, recorded in 1947 (a sort report about the aftermath the next day)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yADst939VCA

    Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09)

  30. But who decided just whom to release and whom to detains? Not Biden or any political appointees. It was people who belonged to ICE.

    The stated policy was to detain people known to have criminal records and/or believed to be violent.

    I doubt that reckless Jet-Ski piloting was one of the risk factors considered.

    Dave (d64b7b)

  31. Not quite the best possible defense

    Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, was repeatedly pressed on cuts to Medicaid in the House’s budget bill at a town hall in her home state on Friday, and pushed back on an attendee who said the cuts would lead to deaths.

    “People are not — well, we all are going to die, so, for heaven’s sakes,” she said, prompting resounding jeers.
    …………
    Ernst said the only people who face getting booted are those who should not be on Medicaid in the first place.
    …………
    After Ernst gave her fatalistic response, she complained to the attendee, “What you don’t want to do is listen to me when I say that we are going to focus on those that are most vulnerable.”

    Democrats pounced on Ernst’s “going to die” line, with Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin saying she “said the quiet part out loud.”
    …………

    I can see the campaign ads being cut right now……..Ernst will be up for reelection next year.

    Rip Murdock (4b2c27)

  32. This is why Medicaid should not be a federal program. Each state should be allowed to provide, but not be required to, health care to its citizens. States could then be as generous or parsimonious as they want.

    Rip Murdock (4b2c27)

  33. States could then be as generous or parsimonious as they want.

    Because who cares if Americans die, as long as they’re in a different state?

    Dave (d64b7b)

  34. Bernard Kerik had problems but not with his major job.

    Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 5/30/2025 @ 1:19 pm

    You can say the same thing about Giuliani.

    Interesting factoid: just last month Kerik registered as a foreign agent for Qatar.

    Rip Murdock (4b2c27)

  35. States could then be as generous or parsimonious as they want.

    Because who cares if Americans die, as long as they’re in a different state?

    Dave (d64b7b) — 5/30/2025 @ 2:25 pm

    It’s called federalism.

    Rip Murdock (4b2c27)

  36. R.I.P. Loretta Swit 😭

    Icy (153665)

  37. It’s called federalism.

    Not the best possible defense.

    Dave (d64b7b)

  38. Not *quite* …

    Dave (d64b7b)

  39. Kerik was a hero in NYC, and with Giuliani, helped save the city. Compare NYC in 1998 to now.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  40. NeverTrump articulates the plan.

    BuDuh (c85533)

  41. It’s called federalism.

    Not the best possible defense.

    Dave (d64b7b) — 5/30/2025 @ 2:46 pm

    It’s the constitutional defense that states should make their own decisions about their citizens.

    Rip Murdock (d1aa5b)

  42. Because who cares if Americans die, as long as they’re in a different state?

    Dave (d64b7b) — 5/30/2025 @ 2:25 pm

    If citizens of Alabama, for example, don’t like the benefits Alabama provides, they can “vote with their feet” and move to a more generous state.

    Rip Murdock (d1aa5b)

  43. It’s the constitutional defense that states should make their own decisions about their citizens.

    I don’t remember reading that anywhere in the constitution. I do recall that the very first sentence of the document charges the federal government with promoting the general welfare of the people of the United States of America, though.

    If citizens of Alabama, for example, don’t like the benefits Alabama provides, they can “vote with their feet” and move to a more generous state.

    Considering we’re talking about recipients of aid for the poorest people at the bottom of the economic ladder, assuming that they have the means to move to a different state during a family medical crisis seems rather unrealistic.

    Federalism is a useful idea, but it should serve us, not the other way around.

    Dave (d64b7b)

  44. Republicans – acting at Trump’s command – blocked a bipartisan bill to hire more judges and add more detention capacity.
    Dave (bca0f4) — 5/30/2025 @ 1:35 pm

    Dave, you’re just lying.

    That toothless border bill was in 2024. These clowns were caught and released in 2023. But, you knew that and lied anyway.

    And, it’s funny how under Trump the number of encounters has gone down precipitously in just a few months without the aid of that bill, or any bill. You don’t have an explanation for that other than to lie.

    lloyd (797fd3)

  45. Liar.
    Dave (48fbda) — 5/30/2025 @ 1:36 pm

    LOL, so you like Trump’s picks over ones by Bush and Obama. Which means you lied @8? Which is it?

    lloyd (797fd3)

  46. The rich get tax cuts, the poor get Medicaid cuts.

    Promises made, promises kept.

    nk (264829)

  47. Dave (d64b7b) — 5/30/2025 @ 5:19 pm

    The 10th Amendment.

    The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

    Health care for the poor is not a power delegated to the federal government.

    Rip Murdock (d1aa5b)

  48. Dave (d64b7b) — 5/30/2025 @ 5:19 pm

    See also here.

    Rip Murdock (d1aa5b)

  49. Name one Article I power which does not benefit from, if not outright require, a healthy population.

    nk (264829)

  50. We are a Republic, not a Confederation. That was put to rest in 1865.

    nk (264829)

  51. We are a Republic, not a Confederation. That was put to rest in 1865.

    nk (264829) — 5/30/2025 @ 6:52 pm

    Actually that was settled in 1789.

    Rip Murdock (d1aa5b)

  52. @26

    They were not released due to any leniency, but because all the detention facilities were full thanks to the backlog of millions of others also arrested and awaiting their trials.

    Republicans – acting at Trump’s command – blocked a bipartisan bill to hire more judges and add more detention capacity.

    Dave (bca0f4) — 5/30/2025 @ 1:35 pm

    The proper response is immediate deportation then.

    The “bipartisan bill” was a load of rubbish, which sought to encourage even more illegal migration.

    Trump’s being president, now, and enforcing the damn border…puts that absolute lie that this bill was even a good thing.

    whembly (09d73c)

  53. Name one Article I power which does not benefit from, if not outright require, a healthy population.

    nk (264829) — 5/30/2025 @ 6:51 pm

    Not to play your game, but transferring the responsibility to the states would allow them to create their own innovative healthcare programs for their poor. It just doesn’t need to be a one size fits all national system like Medicaid.

    Rip Murdock (d1aa5b)

  54. @27

    They don’t take American citizens, if they can help it, but they do take harmless and well-liked individuals. And they take them by appointments.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/us/missouri-immigrant-trump.html

    …“I voted for Donald Trump, and so did practically everyone here,” said Vanessa Cowart, a friend of Ms. Hui from church. “But no one voted to deport moms. We were all under the impression we were just getting rid of the gangs, the people who came here in droves.”

    They should have realized they were lying, but the political opposition didn’t want to argue. And gang members didn’t come here in droves, but mostly as individuals I think. The gangs were reconstituted in the United States.

    Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 5/30/2025 @ 1:35 pm

    LOL.

    Missourian here…I want illegal aliens, even moms, deported.

    whembly (09d73c)

  55. whembly (09d73c) — 5/30/2025 @ 9:42 am

    Trump is also none to thrilled about the Federalist Society either:

    ……….
    Late Thursday, after a ruling struck down his tariffs on most imported goods, Mr. Trump attacked the Federalist Society, leaders of which heavily influenced his selection of judges during his first presidency.

    “I am so disappointed in The Federalist Society because of the bad advice they gave me on numerous Judicial Nominations,” Mr. Trump asserted on social media. “This is something that cannot be forgotten!”
    ………..
    “Conservative judges are going to be much more open to stepping down if they’re confident that their replacements will be high quality,” said Ed Whelan, a conservative legal commentator and former lawyer for the Bush administration. “Trump’s bizarre attack on his judicial appointments in his first term doesn’t inspire confidence.”
    …………
    ………… Mr. Trump lashed out at the Federalist Society, blaming it for bad advice on whom to appoint to judgeships. He singled out Leonard Leo, a former longtime leader of the Federalist Society who helped recommend his first-term nominees and who exemplifies the conservative legal movement.

    “I was new to Washington, and it was suggested that I use the Federalist Society as a recommending source on judges,” the president wrote. “I did so, openly and freely, but then realized that they were under the thumb of a real ‘sleazebag’ named Leonard Leo, a bad person who, in his own way, probably hates America, and obviously has his own separate ambitions.”
    ………….
    Many (traditional legal conservatives) share the president’s goals of strengthening border security, curbing the administrative state and ending “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs, said John Yoo, a conservative law professor. But, he added, they dislike some of Mr. Trump’s methods, whether that is prolifically invoking emergency powers or insulting judges who rule against his administration.
    ………….
    “Calling for the impeachment of judges, attacking Leonard Leo personally and basically calling him as traitor as far as I can tell — Trump is basically turning his back on one of his biggest achievements of his first term,” he added, referring to the reshaping of the federal judiciary.
    ………….
    This month, Mr. Trump announced the first appellate nomination of his second term, Whitney Hermandorfer, a lawyer in the Tennessee attorney general’s office, for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. A former Supreme Court clerk to Justices Alito and Amy Coney Barrett, she appeared cut from the same cloth as his first-term selections.
    …………
    But Mr. Trump’s second appellate pick, announced on Wednesday as the nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, was different: Emil Bove III, a Justice Department official and former criminal defense lawyer for Mr. Trump.

    ………..(Mr. Bove) has shown a willingness to aggressively use power in ways that Mr. Trump likes, including carrying out politically charged purges.
    …………..
    In naming Mr. Bove, the president put forward an openly politicized and outcome-based rationale. His nominee, he said on social media, would “do anything else that is necessary to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. Emil Bove will never let you down!”
    …………
    Mr. Whelan said a “very conservative appellate judge” had told him that he would not retire because of concerns over whom Mr. Trump would pick as a successor. In National Review, he warned of the “danger that Bove, if confirmed, would leap to the top of Trump’s list for the next Supreme Court vacancy.”

    But Mike Davis, a former Republican nominations counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee, predicted and welcomed similar picks ahead. ……….

    Professor Yoo said the purpose of the conservative legal movement was to get presidents to stop treating judicial appointments as patronage and instead advance ideological goals. If Mr. Trump deviated from that path, he cautioned, the president risked the revolt President George W. Bush faced when he tried to appoint his friend and the White House counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court two decades ago. Mr. Bush ultimately backed down.
    …………

    Rip Murdock (d1aa5b)

  56. Sen. ernst defending cutting medicade cuts to extend tax breaks for the rich. “We are all going to die anyway!”

    asset (f2fcc5)

  57. Corporate news media latest defense of corporate establishment donor class democrats. Mia culpa! Republicans and fox news were right we were wrong on biden so elected democrats can just say we are looking forward not back, besides Bernie Sanders and his economic populism threaten our donors tax cuts. Republicans and faux news believe in tax cuts for the rich!

    asset (f2fcc5)

  58. Health care for the poor is not a power delegated to the federal government.

    The general Welfare of the United States (which is explicitly mentioned twice) surely encompasses it.

    The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States

    To deny that this is today a settled legal question seems rather quixotic.

    Dave (a8f32e)

  59. Trump and immigration

    I don’t know which is worse: Trump’s anti-immigrant hysteria or Congress’ utter fecklessness in reforming immigration law. If there was a time to bang heads together to get something done, rather than leaving it to executive orders and planes in the night, it would be now.

    The inability of Congress to craft legislation on important issues will kill the Republic faster than Trump can.

    Kevin M (82db33)

  60. Missourian here…I want illegal aliens, even moms, deported.

    Well, I want everyone who voted for Trump deported to North Korea, but I’m not gonna get my wish either.

    Kevin M (82db33)

  61. The whole Medicaid thing carefully ignores the history of Medicaid. Those being pulled from the system are people who were not eligible in years past, but with the massive expansion of Medicaid under Obama, and again under Biden, they are now.

    In 2008 most single adults without children were unable to get Medicaid. Due to financial crisis, Obama waived those limitations and later codified it. In response to Covid, Biden took it further. Now Republicans want to dial it back somewhat. The screaming is the predictable reaction to someone trying to undo the Progressive ratchet.

    Kevin M (82db33)

  62. The general Welfare of the United States (which is explicitly mentioned twice) surely encompasses it.

    And how come General Welfare never gets promoted? He’s been a one-star forever!

    Sounds absurd? Well so does conflating the “general Welfare” with “welfare.” I could make a better case it means lowering taxes.

    Kevin M (82db33)

  63. wel·fare
    noun
    1) the health, happiness, and fortunes of a person or group

    Dave (a8f32e)

  64. Trump Administration Says New York Mascot Ban Violates Civil Rights Law (probably paywalled – I’m out of gift links)

    The U.S. Department of Education accused New York officials on Friday of discriminating against Native Americans by banning school mascots that draw from their culture.

    The move was an expansion of the Trump administration’s efforts to punish states and public school districts for liberal stances on contentious education issues, and reflects a marked shift in the federal government’s interpretation of civil rights law.

    The administration’s announcement came five weeks after President Trump publicly expressed his support for parents and students in Massapequa, N.Y., in their fight against a state Board of Regents requirement that school districts banish mascots based on Native American culture by this summer or risk losing state funding.

    The Education Department had opened a civil rights investigation into the ban shortly after Mr. Trump weighed in. The ban had set off a backlash in Massapequa, a middle-class hamlet on Long Island’s South Shore about 40 miles from Manhattan. Most residents voted for Mr. Trump last November.

    The school district has used the “Chief” nickname and logo for decades. The mascot’s image, an illustrated side profile of a Native American man wearing a feathered headdress, is plastered across Massapequa campuses, welcome signs and football fields.

    […]

    On Friday, Linda McMahon, the education secretary, traveled to Massapequa High School to speak with students, administrators and Nassau County leaders, who said the mascot was meant to convey respect.

    Ms. McMahon said the department would demand that New York offer a formal apology to Massapequa, allow the district to maintain the Chief nickname and permit other schools to choose their preferred mascots.

    She added that she was alarmed that New York would deny Massapequa the chance to celebrate its heritage, and accused the state of unfairly targeting Native American representation in education.

    “This is a racist environment,” she said at a news conference at the high school, adding that if New York did not comply, her department would refer the case to the Justice Department “because that’s how serious we are.”

    Mr. Trump has often promised to give control of education “back to the states,” but Ms. McMahon said on Friday that the government’s intervention in Massapequa was warranted “because this is incredibly important.”

    […]

    Some former members of the Education Department’s investigative office have questioned the basis for the mascot inquiry.

    Michael Pillera, a former longtime senior attorney in the civil rights office who recently left the department, said the Trump administration has argued that it is acceptable to restrict the teaching of Black studies, while saying that a Native American mascot ban is impermissible because it removes representation of a minority group.

    “It’s really hard to see how the department believes those two separate ideas coexist,” he said.

    LOL.

    Dave (a8f32e)

  65. Why do we have a semi welfare state? To prevent militant leftists now and before communism anarchists from violently attacking the capitalist system like blowing up the NY stock exchange. (ITs bad for business to be pulled out of your limo at a people’s road block and have revolutionary justice dispensed to you.) Read social history of the machine gun. In germany 150 years ago conservatives who don’t run the county say lets fight it out until the mob starting dispensing revolutionary justice to them so Otto von Bismark came up with the welfare state to stop rich people from being executed. The state prefers safety over conservative ideology!

    asset (f2fcc5)

  66. As a non-exploitive capitalist I prefer it to revolution which gets messy. Disaffected intellectuals like me Robespierre, Marx, Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Mao, Ho, Fidel, Che, Chavez even Bin ladin come from disaffected intellectuals like the campus radicals of today not peasants or workers. The welfare state is to keep us busy so we don’t lead the masses in revolutionary ways that threaten the deep corporate state like AOC taking over the democrat party from the corporate establishment liberal grifters.

    asset (f2fcc5)

  67. 1) the health, happiness, and fortunes of a person or group

    As I said, that can mean anything. Lowering taxes on everyone is probably more in line than providing services to some and taxing others to pay for it.

    It’s really just boilerplate; it means that the commonwealth should be concerned with the public’s interests. In theory, Congress is the vehicle through which that happens as it is most responsive to the people through their votes.

    Kevin M (fb3b00)

  68. Trump attacking the Federalist Society and Leonard Leo is LOL funny. Maybe a couple of his hardcore lawyer-apologists will get a clue that he thinks the judges he appoints owe personal allegiance to him and should always do what he wants – which means serving his desires and interests, not just advancing “ideological goals.” (Is that what judges are supposed to do?)
    It’s also funny that someone smart enough to be a law professor would be at all surprised to hear such unhinged petulance from Donald Trump.

    Radegunda (323f51)

  69. Another Salvadoran sent to El Salvador despite judge’s order. There is some dispute as to whether the deportation was started before the order or after, but the plane did leave after.

    Beneath the fold, we find that the deportee was indeed a criminal and apparently had been fighting a removal order for some time.

    Mr. Melgar-Salmeron, who had been affiliated with the MS-13 street gang and had previously served two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun, was appealing an order for his removal, fearing he could be sent to prison in El Salvador and persecuted there, his lawyer said. He had disavowed MS-13 and now has a wife and four children in Virginia, Mr. Borowski said.

    I’m not happy that the administration played this one fast and loose, but I have little sympathy for an immigrant (legal or otherwise (the Times does not say)) who commits a felony involving guns.

    Politico reports that MR Melgar-Salmeron was indeed undocumented, so it was a deportable crime to even have a gun, let alone a sawed-off shotgun. His sentencing memorandum indicates substantial leniency on the government’s part. He was detained by Immigration in 2022 (2 B.T.), where he remained until his deportation.

    This was someone who SHOULD have been deported. He was sent to his home country, which may have imprisoned him. I’ll note that we have an extradition treaty with El Salvador, so our concern with their justice system isn’t robust.

    Kevin M (fb3b00)

  70. Those being pulled from the system are people who were not eligible in years past, but with the massive expansion of Medicaid under Obama, and again under Biden, they are now.

    As I have noted (repeatedly), the CBO has estimated 1.4 million persons may lose health care coverage under the One Big Beautiful Bill reconciliation act have never been in Medicaid, but are in programs (such as California’s Medi-Cal) funded by state taxpayers. These states will be punished by a reduction in their Medicaid funding for providing such services.

    The 1.4 million “includes people without verified citizenship, nationality, or satisfactory immigration status,” the CBO said.

    Those individuals are presumed to lose their state-provided health benefits because the House bill includes language penalizing states that provide “any form of financial assistance” for health coverage or “any form of comprehensive health benefits” to immigrants living in the country illegally “regardless of the source of funding.”

    For those states, the bill proposes reducing from 90% to 80% the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage rate that the federal government is required to pay to states that expanded Medicaid for eligible individuals under the Affordable Care Act.

    The CBO analysis assumes that at least some states, deterred by reduced federal payments for their Medicaid programs, would stop offering their state-funded health programs to immigrants without lawful immigration status, leaving more than 1 million of them uninsured.

    But those individuals would not come from the Medicaid program.

    Source

    Rip Murdock (4b2c27)

  71. The general Welfare of the United States (which is explicitly mentioned twice) surely encompasses it.

    “General welfare” means government welfare programs like “Domestic tranquility” means martial law.

    The same folks will turn around and tell you the 14th amendment means just what it says and nothing more.

    It’s a living constitution, then suddenly it’s dead. It’s always a shell game.

    lloyd (0c1248)

  72. To deny that this is today a settled legal question seems rather quixotic.

    Dave (a8f32e) — 5/30/2025 @ 10:20 pm

    What is the “settled legal question” and what case settled it?

    Rip Murdock (4b2c27)

  73. Wisconsin judge claims ‘absolute immunity,’ calls DOJ indictment an ‘ugly innovation’

    The legal team representing a Wisconsin judge accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities recently expanded their motion to dismiss the case.

    Judge Hannah Dugan’s attorneys say that she is entitled to judicial immunity for her official acts and that the federal government overstepped its authority by arresting and charging her. Additionally, the legal team asserts in its memo that the charges violate the Constitution’s Tenth Amendment and the principle of separation of powers.

    LOL. My strong suspicion is that a year ago this judge, and all her supporters, thought Trump’s immunity claim was an ugly innovation.

    lloyd (0c1248)

  74. The Preamble of the Constitution

    We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

    ……….imparts three central concepts to the reader: (1) the source of power to enact the Constitution (i.e., the People of the United States); (2) the broad ends to which the Constitution is ordain[ed] and establish[ed]; and (3) the authors’ intent for the Constitution to be a legal instrument of lasting Posterity.
    ………………
    As Justice Joseph Story noted in (1833) his Commentaries, “the Preamble never can be resorted to, to enlarge the powers confided to the general government, or any of its departments.” The Supreme Court subsequently endorsed Justice Story’s view of the Preamble, holding in Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905) that, while the Constitution’s introductory paragraph indicates the general purposes for which the people ordained and established the Constitution, it has never been regarded by the Court as the source of any substantive power conferred on the federal government.

    Footnotes omitted.

    Rip Murdock (4b2c27)

  75. All of post 78 should have been blockquoted.

    Rip Murdock (4b2c27)

  76. Lloyd, I agree with you about the judges legal arguments. I think she has a much stronger case in that her actual actions don’t appear to rise to the level of obstruction. But that’s a fact question that the jury will have to find, I generally assume that the jury will get questions of fact, right?

    Time123 (fa1709)

  77. I also don’t think That General welfare can fairly be construed to mean socialized medicine or a minimum basic income for all citizens. I think it means things more like roads and sanitation department and things like that. I also think the exact definition is a political question. The meaning is brought enough that you probably could fairly argue that a socialized medicine state with universal basic income is allowable under the constitution. Or that it is not required under the constitution and that no such support is needed. Or anything in between.

    My personal Take is far closer to the nothing than it is to the universal everything. But I don’t advocate nothing. I think we’re a rich enough nation that we can afford to help out the poor, the destitute, the elderly, our children, probably a little bit more than we currently do, especially if we tighten up the definition of who qualifies

    Time123 (fa1709)

  78. Time for a Trump TACO:

    ………..
    Trump announced the higher (tariffs on imported steel and aluminum) at a rally near Pittsburgh promoting a $14 billion deal between Tokyo-based Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel, which the president said would ensure U.S. control over the storied steelmaker.

    Trump said tariffs on imported steel, as well as aluminum, would increase to 50% from the current 25%, effective June 4. Global prices for steel have been falling in recent months, making it easier for steel buyers to pay the existing duty on imports and still acquire steel at a discount to domestic prices.

    The higher tariff also will give domestic steelmakers more power to raise prices. Steel demand and prices have been cooling since April.

    …………. The European Union said the tariff increase undermines its ongoing trade negotiations with the U.S. and could trigger retaliatory tariff………

    Trump has hailed the planned deal between Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel as a “partnership.” ………

    “We haven’t seen that final deal, but they’ve made a very big commitment,” ​Trump told reporters after flying back from Pennsylvania.
    ………….
    Federal oversight of U.S. Steel is expected to be part of a national-security agreement between the government and Nippon Steel. The company has offered to establish a separate board to oversee its North American business operations, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
    …………
    Nippon Steel had sought full ownership of U.S. Steel, saying that its heavy investment in technology and equipment upgrades wouldn’t be justified otherwise.
    …………
    U.S. Steel shareholders have said they haven’t received notice of any changes to the terms of Nippon Steel’s $14.1 billion offer, suggesting to some that the original deal will be completed. Nippon Steel’s offer of $55 a share for U.S. Steel expires on June 18.
    ………..
    Leadership at the United Steelworkers, the union that represents U.S. Steel employees, has strongly opposed a sale to Nippon Steel. The union said Friday it remains skeptical of Trump’s arrangement, because of a lack of details about investments and clarity on whether Nippon Steel is buying the entire company.
    ………..

    Rip Murdock (cc0f6d)

  79. Dave (a8f32e) — 5/30/2025 @ 11:40 pm

    Up next: Executive orders requiring teams that have changed their names to avoid offending anyone (for example, the Cleveland Indians to Guardians) to change them back

    Rip Murdock (cc0f6d)

  80. Dolphins and humans have another thing in common: Both species know how to get stoned.

    Paul Montagu (7d3956)

  81. I also think the exact definition is a political question.

    Indeed, and what the boundaries of need and support are is why we have a Congress.

    Kevin M (dd22c0)

  82. Up next: Executive orders requiring teams that have changed their names to avoid offending anyone (for example, the Cleveland Indians to Guardians) to change them back

    Based on what power? Which unit of government has authority over team names?

    Kevin M (dd22c0)

  83. Dolphins and humans have another thing in common: Both species know how to get stoned.

    Note that it’s “young dolphins”, as you might suspect. They’ll be sorry when the orca shows up.

    Kevin M (dd22c0)

  84. Up next: Executive orders requiring teams that have changed their names to avoid offending anyone (for example, the Cleveland Indians to Guardians) to change them back

    Based on what power? Which unit of government has authority over team names?

    Kevin M (dd22c0) — 5/31/2025 @ 1:27 pm

    By Trump’s own authority as President. Most of his EO aren’t based on a specific statutory or constitutional authority, but he issues them anyway.

    You also need to recognize sarcasm.

    Rip Murdock (4b2c27)

  85. Based on what power? Which unit of government has authority over team names?

    Kevin M (dd22c0) — 5/31/2025 @ 1:27 pm

    Also, the movement to change team names was DEI related, they must be changed. The DOJ could make the same argument as they are making in the NY mascot case (above).

    😏

    Rip Murdock (c01de8)

  86. Trump pulls NASA Administrator nominee (and Musk business partner) Jared Issacmann:

    …………..
    Conservative personality Laura Loomer suggested on Saturday Isaacman’s nomination is in danger because of the nominee’s friendship with Elon Musk. Musk departed the administration this week.

    The billionaire nominee is one of Musk’s business partners, and sought to alleviate concerns in April from some lawmakers about his closeness to the SpaceX founder.

    During his committee hearing, Isaacman broke with Musk and promised to focus on a lunar landing should he become NASA administrator; Musk had called that priority a “distraction.” NASA has been without a Senate confirmed administrator since Jan. 20, when Bill Nelson stepped down from the position.

    Rip Murdock (4b2c27)

  87. Government and courts have a dilemma. Do they narrowly and strictly interpret the constitution and leave it to congress so nothing gets done. See dred scott decision and disaffected intellectuals (latter day John Browns) step into the void to form the resistance Iike the abolutionists, communist party, Black Panthers ect. or do they act to delay or stop the revolution. Remember revolutions are bad for the business community that the establishment represent.

    asset (0a4dac)

  88. Indeed, and what the boundaries of need and support are is why we have a Congress.

    I (obviously) wasn’t suggesting that the Constitution requires the government to provide health care or other safety nets to the poor.

    In fact, the government has been providing health care benefits for almost 200 years:

    The federal government first began offering medical care to military Veterans in an institutional setting in the early 19th century. The U.S. Naval Asylum in Philadelphia opened in 1834, followed by the U.S. Soldiers’ Home in Washington, D.C., in 1851. Initially, only careerists with 20 or more years of service in the Navy or Regular Army were eligible for admission to these facilities. After the Civil War, the government expanded on this model of domiciliary care and created the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. Over the next 40 years, the different branches of the National Home system provided room, board, and medical assistance to more than 100,000 indigent or infirm Union Veterans.

    The aftermath of the First World War saw the creation of the “Veterans Bureau” in 1921 (Republican Warren Harding campaigned on the issue) and the VA in 1930 (by Republican Herbert Hoover) and a massive building program of federal hospitals originally run by the Public Health Service.

    And Rip’s argument that the Preamble is meaningless is moot, since identical language regarding “general Welfare” is used in Article I’s enumerated powers (and it is part of the very first enumerated power).

    Which unit of government has authority over team names?

    They are trying to use the law against discrimination in education to threaten education funding for the entire state in the school mascot case. Pro sports teams would be a bit tougher, since they aren’t generally receiving federal money. I suppose he could threaten the host cities. Washington, D.C. is totally reliant on Congress’s approval to spend revenue raised by the city itself. Cleveland has a Democratic mayor.

    Dave (808dd5)

  89. I meant to include a link to the quote about medical care for veterans above – it comes from the VA website.

    Dave (808dd5)

  90. The smell of a new Machine. Political, that is.

    Look, comrades. It’s basic Ochlocracy 101.
    — You give the rubes a show they like.
    — They give you their votes.
    — You use your elected position to line your pockets.

    If you’re a classic case of Oedipal complex complete with castration anxiety, you also palliate (but never cure) your neurosis with political power as the substitute for testosterone, blustering and bullying with the dread that your daddy will get angry and cut off your balls always a shadow over everywhere you go and everything you do.

    nk (27546a)

  91. Speaking of sports teams, how about them Rockies. 9-48 so far, on pace for a 25 win, 137 loss season, shattering all major league records.

    Kevin M (f4d842)

  92. @94: Max Bialystock had more class.

    Kevin M (f4d842)

  93. Speaking of sports teams, how about them Rockies. 9-48 so far, on pace for a 25 win, 137 loss season, shattering all major league records.

    But they have the best-named minor league team in baseball: the Albuquerque Isotopes!

    The Isotopes won a game a month or so ago on a 3-run walk (that didn’t involve a Wild Pitch or Passed Ball), and last week they managed to lose a game in even more entertaining fashion.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KONQRShmcA

    They were up 4-3 on the road against the Reno Aces, who were batting in the bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded and one out.

    The Aces’ batter hit a line-drive into the gap in right-center. The runner on 3rd scored the tying run, and the runner from 2nd was on his way home with the winner when … a teammate running out of the dugout with a cellphone to record the celebration knocked him to the ground halfway to home plate. He was called out due to interference, didn’t score the winning run, and the game appeared to be tied.

    The runner from 1st stopped before reaching 3rd, and the batter had started running toward the celebration.

    But wait.

    The ball was not dead, and thinking the game was over on the bases-loaded extra-base hit, the Isotopes’ center-fielder flipped the ball into the stands.

    That error gives each base-runner the base they are heading to plus one more. So the winning run (from 1st base) *did* score…

    Dave (808dd5)

  94. Yeah, I saw that last one. But a 3-run walk?

    I live in ABQ, and I gave an Isotopes hat to a British friend who follows both baseball and The Simpsons. It’s a cool hat.

    Kevin M (78d1c6)

  95. OH. https://www.milb.com/albuquerque/video/three-score-after-walk

    Smart baserunners, stupid pitcher.

    Kevin M (78d1c6)

  96. Tonight is Science Night! out at the ballpark in ABQ…

    Pride Night tomorrow – they seem to have all the culture-war bases … err … covered.

    Dave (808dd5)

  97. And Rip’s argument that the Preamble is meaningless is moot, since identical language regarding “general Welfare” is used in Article I’s enumerated powers (and it is part of the very first enumerated power).

    It’s not my argument, it’s the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Preamble:

    ……….. it does not appear that the Court has ever attached any legal weight to the Preamble standing alone. Chief Justice John Jay, while serving as a circuit judge, concluded that a preamble to a legal document cannot be used to abrogate other text within it; instead, introductory language can be used to resolve two competing readings of the text.

    Similarly, Justice Joseph Story argued in his Commentaries that the Preamble, while generally providing the ability to expound the nature, and extent, and application of the powers created by the Constitution, never can be resorted to, to enlarge the powers confided to the general government, or any of its departments.

    In 1908, the Supreme Court squarely adopted Justice Story’s view of the Preamble in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, holding that while the Constitution’s introductory paragraph indicates the general purposes for which the people ordained and established the Constitution, it has never been regarded as the source of any substantive power conferred on the federal government.

    Instead, [s]uch powers embrace only those expressly granted in the body of the Constitution, and such as may be implied from those so granted In this vein, the Court has rarely cited the Preamble in its decisions interpreting the Constitution, and the Court continues to interpret prefatory text in the Constitution as announcing general purposes of the text that follows.
    …………

    Footnotes omitted and paragraph breaks added.

    Rip Murdock (594c43)

  98. I’m waiting for Trump-flag-truck night. I’ve yet to see a Pride-flag truck. The state is 48% Hispanic and 35% Catholic which makes both those things a minority viewpoint.

    Kevin M (3c5169)

  99. And Rip’s argument that the Preamble is meaningless is moot, since identical language regarding “general Welfare” is used in Article I’s enumerated powers (and it is part of the very first enumerated power).

    Article I, Section 8, Clause 1:

    The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; .

    This clause merely grants Congress to provide funds for the “general welfare of the United States” without defining what it means and may not even be judicially enforceable by the courts.

    …………spending must be in pursuit of the general welfare. This determination is largely for Congress to make. The Court substantially defers to Congress’s decision that a particular expenditure advances the general welfare. The Court has not invalidated Spending Clause legislation on the ground that it did not satisfy the general welfare requirement. It has even questioned whether the general-welfare requirement is judicially enforceable.

    Footnotes omitted.

    Rip Murdock (594c43)

  100. And Rip’s argument that the Preamble is meaningless is moot, since identical language regarding “general Welfare” is used in Article I’s enumerated powers (and it is part of the very first enumerated power).

    To address your point more directly: So what?

    Art I, Section 8 begins:

    The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

    My first observation is that this is about collecting money for various purposes. It does NOT say that the Congress controls the common defense or directs the general welfare. Indeed, the Commander-in-Chief has a major role in the former, as do state militias. Further down, it does suggest areas where the Congress has domestic powers, but that does not make this bit anything more than a throat-clearing on Congress’s non-monetary powers. It’s about who gets to tax and lay tariffs.

    Secondly, there are a number of things Congress may NOT do, both in Section 9 and in the Amendments.

    Third, the actual enumeration of domestic powers consists of:

    To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

    To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

    To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

    To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

    To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

    To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

    Much is made of the regulation of interstate commerce, of course. I grant that some of what Congress does is claimed to be a “general welfare” power, but that is not a foundational argument. It’s an excuse, hidden in an inkblot. There is nothing in there that is mandated.

    Kevin M (3c5169)

  101. Rip Murdock (d1aa5b) — 5/30/2025 @ 9:19 pm

    More on Trump’s “judge grudge”:

    President Trump is expert at downplaying his failures, but attacking his own success is something new. That’s what happened Thursday as he lashed out at the conservative Federalist Society after a judge he appointed was part of a unanimous panel that struck down his tariffs.
    …………
    Mr. Trump’s outburst followed the Court of International Trade’s ruling that the President lacks authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs. One of the judges on that panel, Timothy Reif, was nominated by Mr. Trump in 2018.

    But don’t blame the Federalist Society. Judge Reif was recommended to the White House by Robert Lighthizer, who was Mr. Trump’s first-term trade representative. Mr. Leo had nothing to do with it.

    Mr. Trump is upset that Judge Reif and two other judges identified limits on the executive’s tariff authority without express Congressional authority. Mr. Trump claims the decision must have been motivated by “purely a hatred of ‘TRUMP’? What other reason could it be?”

    Well, how about the law and the Constitution? The panel’s 52-page opinion explains that the emergency act doesn’t give the President unlimited authority to impose tariffs as he sees fit. This is what federal judges are supposed to do, but in Mr. Trump’s universe the only good judge is one who always rules in his favor.
    …………..
    Our reporting suggests that Mr. Trump’s broadside wasn’t done without calculation. He’s angry and embarrassed that his signature tariffs are in legal trouble. But rather than reconsider, he wants to deflect blame to someone else. Mr. Trump harbors a grudge against the Federalist Society because it didn’t support his claims that the 2020 election was stolen, but it also didn’t oppose them. The group doesn’t take sides in such political debates.
    …………
    ………… Mr. Leo responded to Mr. Trump’s fulminations with class. He said in a statement that he is “very grateful for President Trump transforming the Federal Courts, and it was a privilege being involved.”

    Mr. Trump is also listening to some in the MAGA movement who think the Federalist Society’s support for originalist judges is passe. Critics like Mike Davis want judges who will issue reliably partisan rulings. But the Federalist Society has succeeded as a movement, and a rare long-term conservative triumph, precisely because it has attracted principled young lawyers who revere the Constitution.
    ………..
    ……….. Mr. Trump is likely to see fewer judges retire, lest they be replaced by partisan hacks. That includes Justices Samuel Alito (age 75) and Clarence Thomas (76). Keep exercising daily, good Justices.
    ……………

    Rip Murdock (c89a5e)

  102. Even the first Congress passed a “Welfare” act:

    CHAP. XXIV.— An Act providing for the payment of the Invalid Pensioners of the United States.

    SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the military pensions which have been granted and paid by the states
    respectively, in pursuance of the acts of the United States in Congress assembled, to the invalids who were wounded and disabled during the late war, shall be continued and paid by the United States, from the
    fourth day of March last, for the space of one year, under such regulations as the President of the United States may direct.

    APPROVED, September 29, 1789.

    Note that this act took responsibility for these payments away from the states and made them a resposibility of the federal government.

    Dave (808dd5)

  103. Dave (808dd5) — 5/31/2025 @ 9:23 pm

    So what? It has nothing to do with the phrase “promote the general welfare” in the Preamble or in Article I, Section 8, Clause 1. As I pointed out above, the Supreme Court doesn’t consider the Preamble to be a source of “substantive power conferred on the federal government.” And the Court has said that the “general welfare” in Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 is whatever Congress says it is.

    I’m not sure what you’re point is.

    Rip Murdock (c89a5e)

  104. @106 I invite Dave to inform a veteran and his family that the pension and benefits they earned are welfare.

    lloyd (ca6efe)

  105. And the Court has said that the “general welfare” in Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 is whatever Congress says it is.

    So you admit that your claim “Health care for the poor is not a power delegated to the federal government” was incorrect?

    Dave (808dd5)

  106. And to support my claim that federal funding for healthcare is settled law, this whitepaper by the Congressional Research Service is an excellent summary of the history and related Supreme Court jurisprudence:

    Healthcare: Constitutional Rights and Legislative Powers

    Dave (808dd5)

  107. And to support my claim that federal funding for healthcare is settled law, this whitepaper by the Congressional Research Service is an excellent summary of the history and related Supreme Court jurisprudence……

    From the second paragraph in the Summary of your linked CRS report:

    The United States Constitution does not set forth an explicit right to health care. While the Supreme Court would likely find that the Constitution provides a right to obtain health care services at one’s own expense from willing providers, the Supreme Court has never interpreted the Constitution as guaranteeing a right to health care services from the government for those who cannot afford it.

    Rip Murdock (c89a5e)

  108. And:

    The United States Constitution does not explicitly address a right to health care. The words “health” or “medical care” do not appear anywhere in the text of the Constitution. The provisions in the Constitution indicate that the framers were somewhat more concerned with guaranteeing freedom from government, rather than with providing for specific rights to governmental services such as for health care……..

    Rip Murdock (c89a5e)

  109. And:

    While the Supreme Court has held that the Constitution implicitly confers a fundamental right to privacy, the Court has not elevated health care to the status of a fundamental right.

    Rip Murdock (c89a5e)

  110. Rip Murdock (4b2c27) — 5/31/2025 @ 2:59 pm

    According to the NYT, Isaacman’s unplanned rapid disassembly was not due his blatant conflicts of interest with SpaceX (this is the Trump administration, after all), but because Trump discovered he had donated money to Democrats:

    Mr. Trump in recent days told associates he intended to yank Mr. Isaacman’s nomination after being told that he had donated to prominent Democrats, according to three people with knowledge of the deliberations who were not authorized to discuss them publicly. Mr. Trump said on social media on Saturday that he had conducted a “thorough review of prior associations” before deciding to withdraw the nomination.

    […]

    Mr. Trump told associates he had learned from allies that Mr. Isaacman had donated to Democrats, including Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona and former Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, as well as the California Democratic Party, during the past two campaign cycles, the people with knowledge of the deliberations said.

    Mr. Trump told advisers he was surprised he had not been told about those donations previously, two people briefed on the matter said, neither of whom was authorized to discuss the matter.

    Trump himself has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, Charlie Rangel, John Kerry, Harry Reid and even Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

    Dave (808dd5)

  111. So you admit that your claim “Health care for the poor is not a power delegated to the federal government” was incorrect?

    Dave (808dd5) — 5/31/2025 @ 9:45 pm

    As noted above, it’s certainly not an enumerated right; nor has the Supreme Court declared it to be a right. While Congress has enacted a number of health care laws, they are not required under the Constitution. It would not be unconstitutional, for example, if Congress abolished the federal Medicaid program.

    Rip Murdock (c89a5e)

  112. Dave (808dd5) — 5/31/2025 @ 10:29 pm

    Dissing Musk’s plan to go to Mars was probably the final straw.

    Rip Murdock (c89a5e)

  113. Rip Murdock (c89a5e) — 5/31/2025 @ 10:15 pm
    Rip Murdock (c89a5e) — 5/31/2025 @ 10:18 pm
    Rip Murdock (c89a5e) — 5/31/2025 @ 10:20 pm

    Whoa! You just moved the goalposts into a different county.

    You’ve gone from claiming “Health care for the poor is not a power delegated to the federal government” (i.e. the feds cannot legally provide it) to arguing it is not a right (i.e. the feds are not required to provide it).

    I never said healthcare for the poor was mandated by the Constitution, I said it was allowed by the Constitution (and you said it wasn’t).

    Dave (808dd5)

  114. As noted above, it’s certainly not an enumerated right; nor has the Supreme Court declared it to be a right. While Congress has enacted a number of health care laws, they are not required under the Constitution. It would not be unconstitutional, for example, if Congress abolished the federal Medicaid program.

    You quoted the 10th Amendment:

    The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

    and then said:

    “Health care for the poor is not a power delegated to the federal government”

    It was perfectly clear we were talking about what the feds may do, not what they must do.

    Dave (808dd5)

  115. You’ve gone from claiming “Health care for the poor is not a power delegated to the federal government” (i.e. the feds cannot legally provide it) to arguing it is not a right (i.e. the feds are not required to provide it).

    Health care is not a delegated power of the federal government; it is reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment.

    Rip Murdock (c89a5e)

  116. Unfortunately, Congress and Supreme Court have drifted a long way from the principles of federalism.

    Rip Murdock (c89a5e)

  117. @94 Determinism has replace Freud.

    asset (ee30dd)

  118. @100 when is plutonium night where they give away weapon grade plutonium to make an atomic bomb in centerfield after the game?

    asset (ee30dd)

  119. The left has no quibble wether its in the constitution or not. Simple provide healthcare to the poor or face the consequences.

    asset (ee30dd)

  120. One thing to remember: There wasn’t much doctors could do, worth paying for, back in 1789.

    (Edward Jenner’s experiments began in 1796. In 1803, Jefferson provided the vaccine to the Lewis and Clark expedition, and tried to provide it to Indian tribes. But it didn’t require much training to administer it.)

    Jim Miller (bdf047)

  121. #72 Good to see you here, making an important point.

    Jim Miller (bdf047)

  122. Health care is not a delegated power of the federal government; it is reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment.

    The constitution grants congress the power to spend money to promote the general welfare, and to pass legislation necessary and proper toward that end.

    Safety-net spending has been practiced since the First Congress, which assumed responsibility for certain pensions for invalids previously paid by the states.

    Dave (808dd5)

  123. when is plutonium night where they give away weapon grade plutonium to make an atomic bomb in centerfield after the game?

    I’ll have to check the schedule.

    The first nuclear reactor, and hence the first source of plutonium, was on a squash court under the stands at Stagg Field, so it would be totally legit.

    Dave (808dd5)

  124. Safety-net spending has been practiced since the First Congress, which assumed responsibility for certain pensions for invalids previously paid by the states.

    Dave (808dd5) — 6/1/2025 @ 6:33 am

    Only for those the federal government was responsible for (like military pensions.)

    Sadly, it has spiraled out of control since then.Hopefully future Congresses and Supreme Courts will see the errors of their ways. Otherwise it is going to bankrupt the US, as healthcare represents 27% of federal spending, or $1.9T (mostly mandatory spending.)

    Good discussion though.

    Rip Murdock (594c43)

  125. Otherwise it is going to bankrupt the US, as healthcare represents 27% of federal spending, or $1.9T (mostly mandatory spending.)

    Strangely, countries half as wealthy as us manage to provide a minimum level of healthcare for a larger fraction of their population, though.

    The reason it stands to bankrupt us is because we insist on borrowing to pay for it instead of raising adequate revenue. We are paying $1T/year in interest.

    Dave (808dd5)

  126. Strangely, countries half as wealthy as us manage to provide a minimum level of healthcare for a larger fraction of their population, though.

    Name one which shares a 1500 mile border with a third world subcontinent.

    lloyd (ca6efe)

  127. Those nations artificially reduce their prices and expect us to pay for their largesse. When Trump tries to level the playing field and says Americans won’t overpay so others can get cheap pharmaceuticals, the usual suspects scream bloody murder.

    NJRob (8e0a07)

  128. Name one which shares a 1500 mile border with a third world subcontinent.

    Illegal immigrants aren’t the reason for why we spend nearly twice as much per capita on healthcare compared with the rest of the world on average. That is absurd. Our spending on healthcare as a percent of our GDP is glaringly higher than the rest of the world.

    Paul Montagu (7d3956)

  129. Great news for the Ukrainian freedom fighters.

    An operation by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) using first-person-view (FPV) drones smuggled deep inside Russian and hidden inside trucks has hit 41 Russian heavy bombers at four airfields across the country, a source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent on June 1.

    The operation — codenamed “Spider web” and a year-and-a-half in the planning — appears to have dealt a major blow to the aircraft Moscow uses to launch long-range missile attacks on Ukraine’s cities.

    Brilliant. You could even call it “genius” and “savvy”.

    Paul Montagu (7d3956)

  130. Speaking of absurd

    There is no #JoeBiden – executed in 2020.
    #Biden clones doubles & robotic engineered soulless mindless entities are what you see.
    >#Democrats dont know the difference.

    Paul Montagu (7d3956)

  131. Here’s a photo of one of Ukraine’s aircraft carriers.

    Paul Montagu (7d3956)

  132. Illegal immigrants aren’t the reason for why we spend nearly twice as much per capita on healthcare compared with the rest of the world on average. That is absurd. Our spending on healthcare as a percent of our GDP is glaringly higher than the rest of the world.
    Paul Montagu (7d3956) — 6/1/2025 @ 8:24 am

    It is absurd, which is why I didn’t say that. Utopian healthcare systems that Leftists always compare us to would collapse if they weren’t sequestered deep within Europe. If Canada and the US flipped borders, good luck. That is what I said. As Friedman stated, you can have open borders or a welfare state — pick one.

    Spending as a percentage of GDP is not a meaningful metric. We’re spending more on defense as a percentage of GDP than most of the world. That doesn’t mean we have substandard defense capabilities. That is absurd. What matters is spending per health care outcome, which is hard to measure.

    *Legal* immigrants actually are good for our healthcare system as they keep costs down and fill labor voids.

    lloyd (6e4e97)

  133. You brought up border, lloyd, alluding that as a reason.

    Paul Montagu (7d3956)

  134. The border isn’t relevant, Paul. It never is.

    lloyd (6e4e97)

  135. Those nations artificially reduce their prices and expect us to pay for their largesse. When Trump tries to level the playing field and says Americans won’t overpay so others can get cheap pharmaceuticals, the usual suspects scream bloody murder.

    Prescription drug spending is less than 10% of national health expenditure, so it can’t be a driver of overall costs.

    Do you support government price-fixing, like the Communists did, Rob?

    Dave (808dd5)

  136. Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova are all poorer than Mexico, and the Schengen Area (basically the EU, within which there are no passport controls) shares a 1,978 mile border with them.

    Dave (808dd5)

  137. @139 Odd that government price fixing of prescription drugs (and patient access to them) is a feature of the socialist healthcare systems Dave is a fan of.

    lloyd (6e4e97)

  138. Dave (808dd5) — 6/1/2025 @ 9:35 am

    AI says:

    “The Poland-Belarus border is characterized by a state barrier and strict border control measures, especially in response to the migrant crisis that began in 2021. Poland has constructed a barrier along the border, while both sides have faced accusations of violating human rights related to the handling of migrant.”

    Oh well. It’s still a border, though. Not an open border like Biden supporters want, but still. You win, Dave!

    lloyd (6e4e97)

  139. I never said I was a fan of any socialist healthcare system.

    Dave (808dd5)

  140. I believe “everyone dies” is definitely a winning message for Republicans, they should continue to run on it.

    Davethulhu (de268c)

  141. @143 You compared our spending to that of other countries’. Is there a reason you don’t want to name them? When you referred to the EU, did you mean Hungary?

    lloyd (6e4e97)

  142. Even the first Congress passed a “Welfare” act:

    Military pensions are covered under “Raise and support Armies”, an enumerated power.

    Kevin M (a89cd5)

  143. “8647” is the most winning of messages, Davethulhu. Only the president dies.

    lloyd (6e4e97)

  144. And the Court has said that the “general welfare” in Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 is whatever Congress says it is.

    Even if you read that clause as permitting widespread social welfare programs (I don’t) there is nothing there that mandates anything. Congress does not have to do a damn thing in that area, and can make whatever changes they want, at any time they want, subject only to Executive vetoes and subsequent elections.

    Even where there is a clear mandate, such as taxes, not only can they change the tax law willy-nilly, but they can change it RETROACTIVELY. I don’t see why this year’s generosity forces next year to have the same (or any). They could even cancel Social Security, but they would not like the next election.

    Kevin M (a89cd5)

  145. So you admit that your claim “Health care for the poor is not a power delegated to the federal government” was incorrect?

    It was not “delegated” to them. It has been successfully arrogated by them, and the Supreme Court has washed its hands of it. It can be canceled by them just as easily. There is no duty to provide any particular level of “general welfare” just as there is no duty to maintain Interstates or have a Marine Corps.

    Kevin M (a89cd5)

  146. @148 This was discussed at length in Federalist 41. The Federalist Papers aren’t binding but it does give a window on the founders’ intent. We are of course far afield of that.

    lloyd (6e4e97)

  147. There wasn’t much doctors could do, worth paying for, back in 1789.

    Homeopathy was successful then, as it did less harm.

    Kevin M (a89cd5)

  148. Military pensions are covered under “Raise and support Armies”, an enumerated power.

    Once someone is mustered out, they are no longer in the Army. And the people in question mustered out before the Constitution was ratified. Only invalids were paid the pension.

    If the pension was part of the compensation agreed at enlistment, as it is today, you would have a more reasonable argument, but I don’t think anyone was offered a pension on the way to Lexington and Concord…

    Dave (808dd5)

  149. Military pensions have been an expected part of military service since the Roman times and likely before.

    lloyd (6e4e97)

  150. Name one which shares a 1500 mile border with a third world subcontinent.

    There are lots of long borders, but none have the same kind of trespass.

    Just in Asia:

    Russia – Kazakstan 4700 mi
    Russia – Mongolia 2100 mi
    Russia – China 2600 mi
    China – Mongolia 2900 mi
    China – India 2100 mi
    India – Bangladesh 2500 mi
    India – Pakistan 2100 mi

    And then there is Russia – Ukraine (1400 mi) which has a lot of trespass.

    Kevin M (a89cd5)

  151. If the pension was part of the compensation agreed at enlistment, as it is today, you would have a more reasonable argument

    How you treat veterans has an impact on raising today’s army.

    Kevin M (a89cd5)

  152. Dave, let’s go at this another way:

    What Constitutional provision would you cite to say that Congress cannot cut Medicaid eligibility and/or cut the overall payments by half?

    Kevin M (a89cd5)

  153. Those nations artificially reduce their prices and expect us to pay for their largesse. When Trump tries to level the playing field and says Americans won’t overpay so others can get cheap pharmaceuticals, the usual suspects scream bloody murder.

    Trump’s argument seems to be that everyone should pay less than average.

    Kevin M (a89cd5)

  154. How you treat veterans has an impact on raising today’s army.
    Kevin M (a89cd5) — 6/1/2025 @ 10:33 am

    Yes. Some historians trace Rome’s fall to failure to adequately compensate military veterans. Maybe not the cause but a contributor.

    lloyd (6e4e97)

  155. Those nations artificially reduce their prices and expect us to pay for their largesse.

    No, they expect the drug companies to sell their products therefor less. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t, and sometimes supplies are not as forthcoming in those places. The same countries complained loudly when the Covid vaccines were slow to show up.

    Kevin M (a89cd5)

  156. What Constitutional provision would you cite to say that Congress cannot cut Medicaid eligibility and/or cut the overall payments by half?

    I don’t understand the question.

    Congress (and the president) could eliminate Medicaid entirely if they wanted to.

    Dave (808dd5)

  157. How you treat veterans has an impact on raising today’s army.

    It is at least as important to that enumerated power as growing your own wheat (or pot) is to interstate commerce.

    Kevin M (a89cd5)

  158. Congress (and the president) could eliminate Medicaid entirely if they wanted to.

    Yes. Subject to the wrath of voters, and not just those affected.

    Kevin M (a89cd5)

  159. I think that concludes our discussion:

    1. Congress may enact social welfare laws.
    2. It does not have to.

    Kevin M (a89cd5)

  160. Great news for the Ukrainian freedom fighters.

    An operation by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) using first-person-view (FPV) drones smuggled deep inside Russian and hidden inside trucks has hit 41 Russian heavy bombers at four airfields across the country, a source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent on June 1.

    The operation — codenamed “Spider web” and a year-and-a-half in the planning — appears to have dealt a major blow to the aircraft Moscow uses to launch long-range missile attacks on Ukraine’s cities.

    Brilliant. You could even call it “genius” and “savvy”.

    Paul Montagu (7d3956) — 6/1/2025 @ 8:28 am

    I am sort of glad that i have only seen one person thinking that this is great news.

    It destabilizes our post cold war nuclear deterrence posture. If we don’t condemn this i think it makes it more likely that our airbases/depot facilities will be attacked as a legitimate decapitation strike.

    And i sincerely hope we had nothing to do with this.
    Its a dangerous escalation.

    Joe (584b3d)

  161. It is at least as important to that enumerated power as growing your own wheat (or pot) is to interstate commerce.

    OK.

    Every citizen is a potential draftee to the Army in wartime.

    So why can’t congress decide that keeping those future soldiers alive and healthy is necessary and proper for carrying into execution the enumerated power to raise and support armies?

    Dave (808dd5)

  162. ““8647” is the most winning of messages, Davethulhu. Only the president dies.”

    from your lips to God’s ears

    Davethulhu (de268c)

  163. It destabilizes our post cold war nuclear deterrence posture. If we don’t condemn this i think it makes it more likely that our airbases/depot facilities will be attacked as a legitimate decapitation strike.

    You really think our condemning it would deter an adversary otherwise able to do it to us?

    These types of reverses are important not only for their material effect (taking a bunch of aircraft out service) but also because it will roil the enemy’s command structure. A third benefit will be the need to take counter-measures against similar attacks in the future, which could tie up men and equipment.

    Dave (808dd5)

  164. RIP legendary rocker Rick Derringer (77):

    ……….
    A fiery and remarkably versatile guitarist, a strong singer and a high-profile presence on New York’s rock scene of the ‘70s and ‘80s, Derringer also produced the Edgar Winter Group’s 1972 smash single “Frankenstein” and served as the band’s guitarist for several years; worked closely with Winter’s brother Johnny as a guitarist and producer; produced “Weird” Al Yankovic’s first album; and even gave Patti Smith her first major credit, on the song “Hold” from Derringer’s 1973 debut solo album, “All-American Boy.”
    …………
    …………In the summer of 1965 the songwriting-production team the Strangeloves …….hired (Derringer’s band the McCoys) as a backing band and soon after enlisted them to record a cover of the song “My Girl Sloopy,” originally released by R&B group the Vibrations the previous year.

    With a rocked-up arrangement and the title altered to “Hang on Sloopy,” the McCoys’ version of the song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 that summer — replacing Barry McGuire’s grim “Eve of Destruction”……….
    ………….
    Derringer enjoyed his first solo hit with “Rock and Roll Hootchie Koo” — originally recorded by Johnny Winter, Derringer’s version of the song has had such a long life that it was used in both the 1993 film “Dazed and Confused” and the fourth season of “Stranger Things” nearly 30 years later.
    ………..

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  165. Its a dangerous escalation.

    They attacked military bases.

    That’s what you’re supposed to attack.

    “A military man can scarcely pride himself on having ‘smitten a sleeping enemy’; it is more a matter of shame, simply, for the one smitten.” – Yamamoto

    Dave (808dd5)

  166. I am sort of glad that i have only seen one person thinking that this is great news.

    Add my vote; it was a brilliant attack on the aircraft that are launching the devastating missile barrages in Ukrainian civilians.

    It destabilizes our post cold war nuclear deterrence posture. If we don’t condemn this i think it makes it more likely that our airbases/depot facilities will be attacked as a legitimate decapitation strike.

    You don’t think those facilities have already been targeted-they have been targets for the Russians since the Cold War era. How naive.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  167. This attack by Ukraine is not enough to get Putin to decide o end the war,

    It can be seen as a response to Russia’s missile attacks.

    Sammy Finkelman (d2b4e5)

  168. It destabilizes our post cold war nuclear deterrence posture.

    How so?

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  169. Bad luck” on the horizon:

    Memphis landed a $12 billion project to house Musk’s supercomputer, which some say will transform the struggling city. It has been met with anger and suspicion.

    MEMPHIS — For decades, this storied American city has watched companies come but mostly go, its vacant storefronts and blighted buildings a reminder of its days as a thriving manufacturing hub and the painful decline that followed as those jobs vanished.

    As Paul Young, the city’s mayor, puts it, Memphis has been “the city people forgot about.”

    Then last summer, Memphis landed what Young and local business leaders called the city’s largest corporate investment in a generation — a “transformative” development for a place that has struggled to convince outsiders of its continued potential.

    The project was something every city dreams of, Young said in a recent interview — an estimated $12 billion private investment that came with no requests for tax incentives or other economic concessions demanded of Memphis in the past, one he believed could create hundreds of jobs. “A gamechanger,” he said.

    Then came the mic drop, as some Memphians tell it: The city’s surprise suitor was Elon Musk. The tech billionaire had chosen a long-vacant appliance factory on the city’s south side to be the site of a multibillion-dollar supercomputer that would power his foray into the intense race to develop the world’s most sophisticated artificial intelligence model.

    Musk’s plan to launch xAI’s supercomputer was immediately viewed with suspicion and, in some cases, anger by residents who criticized the secrecy around the project and its environmental impact. They questioned how the massive data center’s appetite for power would affect Memphis’s vulnerable electric grid, already prone to sustained blackouts.

    That debate has grown only more fraught

    It is likely about 5% of the population that is on fire to stop this. Guess how long it will take Musk to fix that grid, if they let him. But the gift horse has some strange teeth!

    Kevin M (0cec52)

  170. Its a dangerous escalation.

    [rude comment]

    Kevin M (0cec52)

  171. Russia sends 10,000 missiles into Ukraine.
    Ukraine sends dozens of missiles into Russia.

    Dangerous escalation! They’re fighting back!

    [another rude comment]

    Kevin M (0cec52)

  172. I am sort of glad that i have only seen one person thinking that this is great news.

    I cheer the attack as well.

    If our foreign policy is based on cowardice and appeasement, we are in for a very bad war down the road.

    Kevin M (0cec52)

  173. You don’t think those facilities have already been targeted-they have been targets for the Russians since the Cold War era. How naive.

    Indeed. Also by the Chinese.

    Kevin M (0cec52)

  174. Dangerous escalation! They’re fighting back!

    Brought to mind Arthur “Bomber” Harris’s quote from 1942:

    The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw, and half a hundred other places, they put their rather naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind.

    The Ukrainians hit bases in Murmansk (which is on the Arctic Ocean) and Irkutsk (which is almost 4000 miles from Kyiv). Ballsy.

    Dave (808dd5)

  175. Every citizen is a potential draftee to the Army in wartime.

    So why can’t congress decide that keeping those future soldiers alive and healthy is necessary and proper for carrying into execution the enumerated power to raise and support armies?

    Dave (808dd5) — 6/1/2025 @ 10:52 am

    I wouldn’t depend on the Medicaid population to defend the nation.

    Of the 95 million enrolled in 2021:

    9.4 million are seniors
    12.5 million have disabilities
    32.2 million are children

    27% are over the age 45
    38% are between 0-18

    55% are female

    46% have at least one chronic condition

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  176. It destabilizes our post cold war nuclear deterrence posture.

    How so?

    Rip Murdock (886d1a) — 6/1/2025 @ 11:33 am

    We have always said that a nuke=nuke response as part of MAD.
    This is a non nuke way of taking out nukes. Which means that everyone will have to have enough redundancy to survive a ridiculously cheap way of launching a first wave attack.

    How blasé will we be when Iran takes out the AWACS in midwest city ok? (Bisected by 2 interstates)

    Joe (584b3d)

  177. You don’t think those facilities have already been targeted-they have been targets for the Russians since the Cold War era. How naive.

    Indeed. Also by the Chinese.

    Kevin M (0cec52) — 6/1/2025 @ 11:57 am

    Or course, now everyone who has played Xbox can chime in.
    Granted if it was all Ukraine its brilliant
    I bet people here will complain though if Russia sets off a nuke for some reason in retaliation though.

    Joe (584b3d)

  178. Trump’s FY 2026 budget proposal cuts National Science Foundation funding in Math and the Physical Sciences by a factor of three.

    Dave (808dd5)

  179. We have always said that a nuke=nuke response as part of MAD.

    This is a non nuke way of taking out nukes. Which means that everyone will have to have enough redundancy to survive a ridiculously cheap way of launching a first wave attack.

    I’m sure since the Chinese ballon incident NORAD is on high alert for unknown flying objects. Using drones to attack the US nuclear triad is a very ineffective method-they would need to be quite large to destroy the US nuclear arsenal. The missile silos are deep underground covered by tons of concrete; nuclear submarines are at sea and virtually undetectable; and land-based bombs and missiles are stored in hardened underground shelters.

    The Russian Air Force was caught with their pants down; assuming the long distance from Ukraine made their planes (stored in the open) invulnerable. Guess not.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  180. I bet people here will complain though if Russia sets off a nuke for some reason in retaliation though.

    Joe (584b3d) — 6/1/2025 @ 12:18 pm

    I’ll bet that won’t happeb; but if it does, Putin probably won’t live to regret it.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  181. We have always said that a nuke=nuke response as part of MAD.

    This is a non nuke way of taking out nukes. Which means that everyone will have to have enough redundancy to survive a ridiculously cheap way of launching a first wave attack.

    I’m sure since the Chinese ballon incident NORAD is on high alert for unknown flying objects. Using drones to attack the US nuclear triad is a very ineffective method-they would need to be quite large to destroy the US nuclear arsenal. The missile silos are deep underground covered by tons of concrete; nuclear submarines are at sea and virtually undetectable; and land-based bombs and missiles are stored in hardened underground shelters.

    The Russian Air Force was caught with their pants down; assuming the long distance from Ukraine made their planes (stored in the open) invulnerable. Guess not.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a) — 6/1/2025 @ 12:31 pm

    Hey RIP, i dont know if you can see this link:

    What i can say is that you wont see any aircraft shelters here.

    Joe (584b3d)

  182. Joe (584b3d) — 6/1/2025 @ 12:37 pm

    Anything is possible; but so what? As I pointed out above, the land- and sea-based missiles are virtually invulnerable, so if the land-based leg of the triad is eliminated, the US can still respond to a nuclear attack.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  183. Joe (584b3d) — 6/1/2025 @ 12:37 pm

    And if North Korea or Iran tried such an operation, they would have to kiss their ass good bye as a country.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  184. @Joe@185 Most of our nuclear capability isn’t via airplane. (also, Tinker, which is in Oklahoma and hellacious far away from any border, is a MAC base. Those aren’t bombers anyway.)

    Nic (120c94)

  185. (The Federation of American Scientists in 2024) estimates that the United States maintains a stockpile of approximately 3,708 warheads—an unchanged estimate from the previous year. The total number of U.S. nuclear warheads are now estimated to include 1,770 deployed warheads, 1,938 reserved for operational forces. An additional 1,336 retired warheads are awaiting dismantlement, for a total inventory of approximately 5,044 warheads.

    Of the deployed warheads, FAS estimates 400 (22%) are on intercontinental ballistic missiles [ICBMs], 970 (55%) on submarine-launched ballistic missiles [SLBMs], and 300 (17%) are located at bomber bases in the United States and approximately 100 (5%) tactical bombs are at European bases.

    Source

    So 77% of US nuclear arsenal is on two of the most survivable legs of the triad.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  186. RIP Dr. Robert Jarvik, inventor of the first permanently implantable artificial heart.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  187. @Joe@185 Most of our nuclear capability isn’t via airplane. (also, Tinker, which is in Oklahoma and hellacious far away from any border, is a MAC base. Those aren’t bombers anyway.)

    Nic (120c94) — 6/1/2025 @ 12:56 pm

    That is an AWACS squadron. There is also a navy detachment of sub control planes as well.
    Tinker is an AFMC base.

    What i am saying is that we are susceptible to what happened to Russia, and to those who claim we would respond strongly seem to forget that Russia has the right to respond like we would.

    Joe (584b3d)

  188. It destabilizes our post cold war nuclear deterrence posture. If we don’t condemn this i think it makes it more likely that our airbases/depot facilities will be attacked as a legitimate decapitation strike.

    Putin invaded. He brought this on himself. It’s fairly ridiculous (1) that Putin would offensively strike the US for an attack by Ukrainian FPV drones (which would be the Russian thug starting WW3, not us) and (2) that the victim is getting blamed for legitimately defending themselves (and it is self-defense to destroy the planes that fire missiles at Ukraine), yet not a word of condemnation for the thousands of literal terrorist attacks by Putin on Ukrainian civilian targets. It’s the tack of a Putinbot, a terrorist sympathizer.

    Also, self-defense isn’t an escalation, since the airbases are legitimate military targets, not apartment blocks or churches or schools or hospitals, like what Putin does.

    It can be seen as a response to Russia’s missile attacks.

    The strike was 18 months in the planning, Sammy. It was a preventive strike, to prevent missile-carrying jets from taking off.

    Paul Montagu (7d3956)

  189. RIP NASA engineer Ed Smylie (95); an American hero:

    …………
    …………(Apollo 13) launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 11, 1970.

    Two days in, the mission went terribly awry when an oxygen tank exploded, damaging the command module and forcing the crew to seek refuge in the lunar module — which was no longer fated to touch the moon. There was enough oxygen to keep the three astronauts alive for the return trip to Earth. But the lunar module’s existing equipment was designed to filter the carbon dioxide exhaled by only two. Without greater capacity for air filtration, the crew would not make it back alive.

    …………. Mr. Smylie told the Associated Press that he was at home watching TV when he learned of the emergency and rushed to his post at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston.
    ………….
    Mr. Smylie and his team were confronted with a vexing problem. The command module was stocked with lithium hydroxide canisters to filter carbon dioxide. But they were box-shaped. The lunar module required cylindrical filters.
    ………….
    He and dozens of colleagues set about proving the aphorism wrong. Using only supplies on the crew’s stowage list — materials including plastic bags, spacesuit hoses and that ever useful fix-it supply, duct tape — they fashioned a working system.

    “I felt like we were home free,” Mr. Smylie later remarked. “One thing a Southern boy will never say is, ‘I don’t think duct tape will fix it.’”
    ………….
    …………. Awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to the Apollo 13 mission operations team, President Richard M. Nixon made special mention of Mr. Smylie, who was head of the crew systems division, and his deputy, James V. Correale.

    “They are men whose names simply represent the whole team,” Nixon said. “And they had a jerry-built operation which worked, and had that not occurred, these men would not have gotten back.”
    …………..
    Mr. Smylie received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from what was then Mississippi State College (now Mississippi State University) in 1952, served in the Navy and then continued his studies at MSU, receiving a master’s degree. He worked for Douglas Aircraft on the DC-8 jet plane before joining NASA.

    Mr. Smylie started on the job at NASA days before John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth on Feb. 20, 1962. In 1969, Neil Armstrong, the commander of Apollo 11, became the first human to walk on the moon. Mr. Smylie took part in the Mercury, Apollo, Gemini, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz and space shuttle programs.

    “Every mission was a deep focus,” he said years later in an interview with MSU. “You couldn’t let your guard down. You couldn’t allow a mistake to happen.”
    ………….
    “It’s very straightforward,” (lunar module pilot Fred Haise), now 91, said in an interview. “If he and his people had not worked and figured out how to make [the filter] work, we would have died.”
    #########

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  190. Joe (584b3d) — 6/1/2025 @ 1:39 pm

    So what? It’s unlikely the Russians or Chinese would something similar without taking American retaliation into account. The more likely (but still very doubtful) scenario involves Iran or North Korea, if they want to see themselves vaporized.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  191. It destabilizes our post cold war nuclear deterrence posture. If we don’t condemn this i think it makes it more likely that our airbases/depot facilities will be attacked as a legitimate decapitation strike.

    Putin invaded. He brought this on himself. It’s fairly ridiculous (1) that Putin would offensively strike the US for an attack by Ukrainian FPV drones (which would be the Russian thug starting WW3, not us) and (2) that the victim is getting blamed for legitimately defending themselves (and it is self-defense to destroy the planes that fire missiles at Ukraine), yet not a word of condemnation for the thousands of literal terrorist attacks by Putin on Ukrainian civilian targets. It’s the tack of a Putinbot, a terrorist sympathizer.

    Also, self-defense isn’t an escalation, since the airbases are legitimate military targets, not apartment blocks or churches or schools or hospitals, like what Putin does.

    It can be seen as a response to Russia’s missile attacks.

    The strike was 18 months in the planning, Sammy. It was a preventive strike, to prevent missile-carrying jets from taking off.

    Paul Montagu (7d3956) — 6/1/2025 @ 1:39 pm

    They are legitimate military targets.
    It was brilliant.

    If it really was 18 months in the planning, there has to be a “phase 2” or follow ups.

    It shows an alarming weakness in our own defenses to similar attacks.
    It weakens MAD, and makes a nuclear war more likely.

    I don’t see the reason to cheer, i am not a putin-bot, just don’t want us troops or money involved. I am more worried about Mexico and 38 trillion dollar deficit.

    Joe (584b3d)

  192. Joe (584b3d) — 6/1/2025 @ 1:39 pm

    So what? It’s unlikely the Russians or Chinese would something similar without taking American retaliation into account. The more likely (but still very doubtful) scenario involves Iran or North Korea, if they want to see themselves vaporized.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a) — 6/1/2025 @ 1:48 pm

    OK, so this is where i get really confused.
    it would be ok for us to “vaporize” someone that did this to us, but somehow its beyond the pale for Putin to vaporize the people that did this to them?
    ??

    Just seems inconsistent from a rule of war point of view.

    Joe (584b3d)

  193. It weakens MAD, and makes a nuclear war more likely.

    Weakens how? This was a drone military strike, using conventional weapons on jets that were attacking Ukraine. Drones are the weapons of the present, not the future. If the US hasn’t figured out to repel or deter this type of weapon, then Hegseth should step aside so that a competent SecDef can take over.

    Putin opened this genie bottle when he invaded. Ukraine had to build a drone force out of necessity (thanks in part to our short-changing them on military aid), to minimize the loss of their personnel, and the result is that Putin’s War Against Ukraine is also The First Drone War. The Ukrainians have been deft enough to produce tens of thousands of drones at a fraction of the cost of ours.

    Paul Montagu (7d3956)

  194. Or course, now everyone who has played Xbox can chime in.

    Said the man who fears Russia so much he will throw anyone’s children onto the fire to feel safe.

    I lived through most of the effing Cold War. I saw the Berlin Wall before it fell.

    I have never owned an Xbox though. GFY

    Kevin M (474380)

  195. @Joe@191 E-3s are mostly decommissioned and aren’t bombers. And AFMC = MAC (they changed the command names back in the early/mid 90s, but SAC, MAC, TAC lives in my brain more, sorry for the confusion. AFMC isn’t nukes.)

    Russia isn’t going to nuke the US for us providing weapons to Ukraine. We haven’t nuked them for providing weapons to any of the people they provide weapons to who were fighting us and Russia absolutely does not want the response it would garner.

    Nic (120c94)

  196. @132

    Illegal immigrants aren’t the reason for why we spend nearly twice as much per capita on healthcare compared with the rest of the world on average. That is absurd. Our spending on healthcare as a percent of our GDP is glaringly higher than the rest of the world.

    Paul Montagu (7d3956) — 6/1/2025 @ 8:24 am

    They ARE part of the problem.

    I’m not sure you can prove it with accounting datasheet.

    But, of you look at it logically:
    Anytime an illegal alien needs healthcare… where do they go?

    Answer: The local Emergency Room.

    In any healthcare organization, what is the most expensive department, by far?

    Answer: The Emergency Room.

    Operating an Emergency Room, in terms of outright dollar expenditures, manpower, skilled services, equipment and supplies is ridiculously expensive. Hospitals almost never make any money operating that department. What hospital get, for having an ER on campus, open doors to other, more money making opportunities. And that is because these organizations needs local governments to approve any expansion.

    Examine the concept of Certificates of Need, and how these institution “buy” local governance influence.

    In general, healthcare organizations are a different sort of money making enterprise.

    You’ll be surprised to know, that they’re only looking to make 0.03 to every dollar spent in profit. Most falls between 0.0125 – 0.025 cents on the dollar.

    Organizations with substantial foundations, however, are either used for filantrophy stuff, or leverage for loans to build new buildings. (it’s why you never see major hospital organizations stop building things.)

    So, what about these illegal aliens.

    They’re part of the uninsured patient population.

    It’s what we, in the healthcare field colloquially calls “freecare”. It’s anyone seeking care where there’s obvious expectation that they cannot (or will not) pay. (the law EMTALA requires heathcare organizations to treat and stabilize patients regardless of their ability to pay).

    So, ask yourself this:

    Who pays for these “freecare”??

    Answer: You do. In forms of state/federal taxes and higher insurance rates.

    Your insurance, even though it’s costly, may not be able to cover many things you’d like, because you’re paying the higher costs passed down by healthcare organizations who has to eat every one of those “freecare” visits.

    So, are illegal immigrants the sole cause of our high healthcare cost?

    Of course not.

    But, they’re a huge, significant factor.

    Ask me how I know.

    whembly (09d73c)

  197. It weakens MAD, and makes a nuclear war more likely.

    Weakens how? This was a drone military strike, using conventional weapons on jets that were attacking Ukraine. Drones are the weapons of the present, not the future. If the US hasn’t figured out to repel or deter this type of weapon, then Hegseth should step aside so that a competent SecDef can take over.

    Putin opened this genie bottle when he invaded. Ukraine had to build a drone force out of necessity (thanks in part to our short-changing them on military aid), to minimize the loss of their personnel, and the result is that Putin’s War Against Ukraine is also The First Drone War. The Ukrainians have been deft enough to produce tens of thousands of drones at a fraction of the cost of ours.

    As i understand it, the destroyed planes are nuclear capable, that reduces their ability to respond to a theoretical first strike. That lowers the chance of MAD and makes nuclear war more likely.

    Did i explain it well? Not sure what i am trying to say is working here.

    Joe (584b3d)

  198. I bet people here will complain though if Russia sets off a nuke for some reason in retaliation though.

    Complain? No. However. I will cheer the US Air Force destroying every Russian ship, base and bridge in Crimea. If we do nothing, they yes, I’ll complain. And Trump will be impeached.

    Kevin M (474380)

  199. Or course, now everyone who has played Xbox can chime in.

    Said the man who fears Russia so much he will throw anyone’s children onto the fire to feel safe.

    I lived through most of the effing Cold War. I saw the Berlin Wall before it fell.

    I have never owned an Xbox though. GFY

    Kevin M (474380) — 6/1/2025 @ 2:08 pm

    I also lived through the Cold War.
    I don’t fear Russia, i just don’t care about Russia. I have been in the subways of Saint Petersburg, i have seen the rotten window casements of the hermitage. Let Europe figure out Europe. There is a reason President Washington told us to avoid foreign wars. We can win nothing in this.

    As far as the GFY, c’mon, i will defend your right to say it to me, but really? This is the best response?

    Joe (584b3d)

  200. As i understand it, the destroyed planes are nuclear capable, that reduces their ability to respond to a theoretical first strike. That lowers the chance of MAD and makes nuclear war more likely.

    Did i explain it well? Not sure what i am trying to say is working here.

    You explained what you were thinking. It’s a crappy argument though. Did you know that, right this minute, every Russian missile sub is being shadowed by a US fast-attack sub? Just in case.

    If Putin were to use a nuke in some kind of hissy fit, we probably would respond conventionally, this time, but with overwhelming force. And what it would show is that 1) all Russia has are nukes; they’re third-rate otherwise and 2) That Putin is insane.

    Kevin M (474380)

  201. Zelenskyy

    The preparation took over a year and a half. Planning, organisation, every detail was perfectly executed. It can be said with confidence that this was an absolutely unique operation.

    What’s most interesting, and this can now be stated publicly, is that the “office” of our operation on Russian territory was located directly next to FSB headquarters in one of their regions.

    In total, 117 drones were used in the operation with a corresponding number of drone operators involved. 34% of the strategic cruise missile carriers stationed at air bases were hit. Our people operated across several Russian regions — in three different time zones. And the people who assisted us were withdrawn from Russian territory before the operation, they are now safe.

    It’s genuinely satisfying when something I authorized a year and six months ago comes to fruition and deprives Russians of over forty units of strategic aviation. We will continue this work.

    Last night, there were nearly 500 Russian drones, attack drones. Each week, they have been increasing the number of units used per strike. Now, they have also prepared Kalibr missiles launched from naval carriers. We know exactly who we are dealing with. We will defend ourselves by all means available to us – to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.

    I find fully and completely absurd that 117 Ukrainian drones hitting military targets in Russia is a “dangerous escalation” while Putin can launch 500 attack drones on Ukraine in one night, on top the tens of thousands of drones he’s already fired at Ukrainians on Ukrainian land. There was nothing dangerous or escalatory about what Ukraine. They’re not sitting ducks, waiting to get struck.

    Paul Montagu (7d3956)

  202. OK, so this is where i get really confused.

    it would be ok for us to “vaporize” someone that did this to us, but somehow its beyond the pale for Putin to vaporize the people that did this to them?
    ??

    Just seems inconsistent from a rule of war point of view.

    Joe (584b3d) — 6/1/2025 @ 1:53 pm

    Whatever Putin does is his choice; but he’s not being forced to retaliate against Ukraine with nuclear weapons. It would seem to be a case of (pardon the phrase) overkill, since Ukraine didn’t use (or possesses) nuclear weapons.

    But if Putin did retaliate with nuclear weapons, it might get President Trump off the dime and impose tougher sanctions on Russia.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  203. @Joe@196/201 You are missing what the rules for nuclear brinksmanship are. 1. The US and Russia are pretending not to fight eachother, as has been the case since the 1940s. 2. You can fight the proxy, but we can’t directly fight Russia and they can’t directly fight us, as has been the case since the 1940s. 3. As long as no one uses nukes, no nukes get used.

    It would be within the “rules” for Russia to use a non-nuclear weapon to vaporize Ukraine, because that is who they are directly fighting. They cannot use a nuke. They cannot directly attack the US.

    Nic (120c94)

  204. As far as the GFY, c’mon, i will defend your right to say it to me, but really? This is the best response?

    You responded to me with that asinine Xbox comment, so fair’s fair.

    Kevin M (474380)

  205. @Joe@191 E-3s are mostly decommissioned and aren’t bombers. And AFMC = MAC (they changed the command names back in the early/mid 90s, but SAC, MAC, TAC lives in my brain more, sorry for the confusion. AFMC isn’t nukes.)

    Russia isn’t going to nuke the US for us providing weapons to Ukraine. We haven’t nuked them for providing weapons to any of the people they provide weapons to who were fighting us and Russia absolutely does not want the response it would garner.

    Nic (120c94) — 6/1/2025 @ 2:08 pm

    They still fly out here all the time.

    I agree Russia wont nuke us.
    But if there is one thing this has shown, is that it would be extremely cheap to replicate an attack like that on us, and we may not have actionable proof of who did it.

    Joe (584b3d)

  206. As far as the GFY, c’mon, i will defend your right to say it to me, but really? This is the best response?

    You responded to me with that asinine Xbox comment, so fair’s fair.

    Kevin M (474380) — 6/1/2025 @ 2:18 pm

    Then let me apologize for that but i don’t quite see how it was aimed at you. I was trying to suggest that a drone attack on our strategic aircraft assets is incredibly cheap, and i have seen reports that our troops who have played xboxes for years are really adapt at drone controls.
    That is all.

    I have no idea who you are but i am assuming this was an honest miscommunication.

    Joe (584b3d)

  207. As i understand it, the destroyed planes are nuclear capable, that reduces their ability to respond to a theoretical first strike. That lowers the chance of MAD and makes nuclear war more likely.

    Did i explain it well? Not sure what i am trying to say is working here.

    You explained what you were thinking. It’s a crappy argument though. Did you know that, right this minute, every Russian missile sub is being shadowed by a US fast-attack sub? Just in case.

    If Putin were to use a nuke in some kind of hissy fit, we probably would respond conventionally, this time, but with overwhelming force. And what it would show is that 1) all Russia has are nukes; they’re third-rate otherwise and 2) That Putin is insane.

    Kevin M (474380) — 6/1/2025 @ 2:17 pm

    🙂
    well i am glad that what i was trying to say got through.

    Putin is ruthless, maybe overreaching, but not insane.

    Joe (584b3d)

  208. it would be ok for us to “vaporize” someone that did this to us, but somehow its beyond the pale for Putin to vaporize the people that did this to them?

    We did not use a nuke or other WMDs after 9/11 (which was use of weapons of mass destruction), for a number of reasons. Probably the most important is that we signed a treaty that we would not use nukes against a non-nuclear state, such as Afghanistan, to encourage countries not to seek nukes.

    Russia signed the same treaty.

    For Russia to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine, which attacked them conventionally and during a war that Russia started, they would have openly violated the NNPT. We would respond to that. We would have to.

    In addition to whatever we targeted in response, every country in the world would back away from Russia. Even China. Using a nuke is an insane act and no one wants to stand too close to a crazy man with nukes.

    Kevin M (474380)

  209. As i understand it, the destroyed planes are nuclear capable, that reduces their ability to respond to a theoretical first strike. That lowers the chance of MAD and makes nuclear war more likely.

    Land-based bombers aren’t necessarily good second strike weapons because they take hours, not minutes, to reach their targets. Like the US, the Russian forces are heavily weighted toward land and sub-based platforms, which are designed for a second strike.

    It is estimated that Russia has deployed approximately 1,718 strategic warheads on about 870 on land-based ballistic missiles; 640 on submarine-launched ballistic missiles; and possibly slightly over 200 at heavy bomber bases.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  210. I was trying to suggest that a drone attack on our strategic aircraft assets is incredibly cheap

    News at 11!

    Do you think that you’re the first person to figure that out? The USAF, Army and Navy are buying boatloads of UAVs, of varying sizes. Cheap is not a word I’d use though. Ukraine is at the cutting edge here, converting commercial Chinese drones into effective weapons. They use them daily against command and supply stations and armor.

    Defense against drones isn’t all that hard, so long as you can anticipate the strike. A Vulcan cannon will do just fine and maybe lasers, too.

    As for those Bear bombers, yes they are nuclear capable, but they are being used now in conventional attacks on Ukraine so they are legitimate targets. In a nuclear war they’d be a day late to the fight.

    Kevin M (474380)

  211. Putin has constantly issued “red lines” and threatened to use nuclear weapons, and every time a red line is crossed by Ukraine or its Western allies, nothing happens. He knows that using nuclear weapons will lose him his few allies.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  212. @ 214

    I can say that i have not seen any changes of posture (other then more “no drone” signs where i work.

    I hope that there are changes in the acquisition strategy for plane shelters, but that takes a long time to get done.

    Joe (584b3d)

  213. Probably the most important is that we signed a treaty that we would not use nukes against a non-nuclear state, such as Afghanistan, to encourage countries not to seek nukes.

    Russia signed the same treaty.

    The fact that Russia signed the NNPT is irrelevant; and the treaty has no enforcement mechanism.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  214. Russia signed the same treaty.

    No country, including the US, would let a treaty or agreement interfere with what it considers an issue of national sovereignty or survival.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  215. As i understand it, the destroyed planes are nuclear capable, that reduces their ability to respond to a theoretical first strike. That lowers the chance of MAD and makes nuclear war more likely.

    Russia has ICBM, submarine-based and hypersonic missiles in addition to strategic bombers (the rest of which will likely be placed east of Mongolia, far far from Ukraine). They already have well enough pointed at us to ensure that MAD is still in effect.

    Paul Montagu (7d3956)

  216. “Ask me how I know.”

    – whembly

    How do you know?

    Leviticus (c08377)

  217. (Slow moving) drones can be destroyed by cheap lasers.

    Sammy Finkelman (33a549)

  218. You need to figure the marginal cost to the hospital of another patient. Reducing the number of patients paid for only makes it more likely the ER will close.

    Sammy Finkelman (33a549)

  219. AI doesn’t know the truth, but it recognizes similarities (rhymes with the truth so to speak)

    How many times have you heard that the new Year came first in Australia or new Zealand?

    Sammy Finkelman (33a549)

  220. We’ve reached the point where Hamas says 20 or 30 people were killed trying to get food, nd there’s some video (of people speaking about having seen victims or people killed0 and the IDF says it knows nothing about this. it is possible it – whatever happened – was done by private security guards or even (unlikely0 it’s a total fake.

    Hamas and the international aid community are doing their best to wreck any system for delivering food to the people in Gaza.

    Sammy Finkelman (33a549)

  221. No country, including the US, would let a treaty or agreement interfere with what it considers an issue of national sovereignty or survival.

    Then why didn’t we nuke Tora Bora?

    Kevin M (1aacd0)

  222. No country, including the US, would let a treaty or agreement interfere with what it considers an issue of national sovereignty or survival.

    Then why didn’t we nuke Tora Bora?

    Kevin M (1aacd0) — 6/1/2025 @ 4:44 pm

    Because the survival of the United States (or its national sovereignty) was not at stake.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  223. The point is that we consider the NNPT to be strongly in our national interest. It does have an enforcement mechanism — Clinton was about to demonstrate that in 1994 by destroying the North Korean reactors that were producing plutonium for bombs. Sadly, peace prevailed.

    Kevin M (1aacd0)

  224. Multiple people set on fire during attack on pro-Israel march in Boulder, Colorado.

    A man reportedly set people on fire in Boulder, Colorado, leaving multiple individuals injured, the city’s police chief said, as people gathered for a ‘peaceful’ pro-Israeli demonstration.

    A suspect is in custody and police are investigating what FBI officials immediately called “a targeted terror attack” — though the local authorities said it was too early to define the attack.

    “When we arrived, we encountered multiple victims … with injuries consistent with burns,” Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said Sunday.

    The man threw bottles that apparently contained flammable liquid that hit the ground and exploded in flames, multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation told CNN, noting the exact number of bottles was unclear.

    Some injuries are said to be serious, but it sounds like there were no fatalities.

    A suspect is in custody.

    Dave (808dd5)

  225. The point is that we consider the NNPT to be strongly in our national interest. It does have an enforcement mechanism — Clinton was about to demonstrate that in 1994 by destroying the North Korean reactors that were producing plutonium for bombs. Sadly, peace prevailed.

    Kevin M (1aacd0) — 6/1/2025 @ 4:57 pm

    I hope the Trump administration will eventually withdraw the US as it doesn’t serve our national interests now. Witness Trump’s prevaricating on Iran. Despite decades of violations, he is still negotiating with the mullahs. The country should be turned into glass.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  226. @228

    There are only two possibilities:

    1. Right winger fueled by evil right wing hate rhetoric.

    2. Random nut job acting alone whose motive isn’t really clear.

    lloyd (a3d6fb)

  227. I still can’t get it around my head that there are Ukrainians who don’t want to be governed by Russians.

    What do they have against mass executions, starvation and gulags?

    It just doesn’t make sense.

    nk (9e5a33)

  228. The point is that we consider the NNPT to be strongly in our national interest. It does have an enforcement mechanism — Clinton was about to demonstrate that in 1994 by destroying the North Korean reactors that were producing plutonium for bombs. Sadly, peace prevailed.

    Really-what section of NNPT authorizes one country to bomb another to enforce its provisions?

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  229. The adults are in the room at CNN

    FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino also called the incident ‘an act of terror and targeted violence’.

    ‘All of the necessary assets will be dedicated to this investigation. If you have any investigative tips please contact the FBI. And if you aided or abetted this attack, we will find you. You cannot hide,’ he wrote on X.

    But on CNN, Juliette Kayyem pointed out that the Boulder police chief was not yet willing to call the attack an act of terrorism – as she called Patel ‘juvenile’ for assuming it was.

    ‘It makes law enforcement look disorganized and it makes the FBI look so juvenile, like why are you getting ahead of the police chief who says “I don’t know what this is,”‘ Kayyem argued. ‘And he has no incentive to get it wrong.’

    ‘So we’re going to take a step back, not be responsive to tweets by two heads of the FBI who don’t have a long history in law enforcement,’ she said on the network.

    ‘And we will wait and hope it isn’t what we all worry it is – and if it is, then there’ll be an investigation.’

    ‘If they then determine it was terrorism, Kayyem said, ‘I will be the first one out here saying that this is a hate crime.’

    ‘But until we do, we all need to – to not follow the FBI’s tweets,’ she argued.

    Her comments were quickly criticized online, with one person noting that the suspect was caught on video ‘ranting about Zionism as he sets Jews on fire.’

    They also shared a video of the as-of-yet unidentified suspect holding what appeared to be Molotov cocktails and saying, ‘This will end when Palestine is free and for us.’

    lloyd (a3d6fb)

  230. Clinton was about to demonstrate that in 1994 by destroying the North Korean reactors that were producing plutonium for bombs. Sadly, peace prevailed.

    I’ve forgotten, but when did Congress vote to authorize the bombing? Since it wasn’t an emergency situation there must have been plenty of time for Congress to pass an authorization to use military force.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  231. Clinton never let that stop him. There was no AUMF for Kosovo. And they were about to start fueling the plant; better to strike then than after its running.

    Kevin M (4c450d)

  232. Suspect name: Mohamed Sabry Soliman

    Kevin M (4c450d)

  233. Really-what section of NNPT authorizes one country to bomb another to enforce its provisions?

    The general “You cheat on a treaty and the gloves might come off” rule.

    Kevin M (4c450d)

  234. I will point out that North Korea now has nukes and ICBMs. We could have prevented that.

    Kevin M (ba5d82)

  235. BREAKING: Three senior DHS sources tell
    @FoxNews
    that the Boulder terror suspect is an Egyptian national in the U.S. illegally as a visa overstay who entered the U.S. during the Biden administration. I’m told Mohamed Sabry Soliman arrived at LAX on 8/27/22 on a B1/B2 nonimmigrant visa with an authorized stay through 2/26/23, but he overstayed & never left.

    I’m told on 9/29/22, he filed some sort of claim with USCIS, potentially an asylum claim, and on 3/29/23, USCIS under the Biden admin gave him work authorization, which expired on 3/28/25.

    https://x.com/BillMelugin_/status/1929343593602597179

    BuDuh (51d1e7)

  236. USCIS under the Biden admin gave him work authorization, which expired on 3/28/25.

    Well, there you go. Failure to renew it was probably the trigger. Trump’s fault.

    lloyd (a3d6fb)

  237. Indeed

    BuDuh (51d1e7)

  238. Really-what section of NNPT authorizes one country to bomb another to enforce its provisions?

    The general “You cheat on a treaty and the gloves might come off” rule.

    Kevin M (4c450d) — 6/1/2025 @ 6:36 pm

    Proving that the treaty is not self-enforcing.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  239. Looks like CNN has caught up to the story. An additional detail:

    “Soliman was denied a visa to enter the country in 2005, the sources told CNN.”

    Was denied a visa, then was waved through in 2022.

    Again, good job Biden supporters.

    lloyd (a3d6fb)

  240. Well, there you go. Failure to renew it was probably the trigger. Trump’s fault.

    He probably felt threatened by Trump’s attempts to deport pro-Palestinian activists.

    Kevin M (8b536b)

  241. I’ve forgotten, but when did Congress vote to authorize the bombing? Since it wasn’t an emergency situation there must have been plenty of time for Congress to pass an authorization to use military force.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a) — 6/1/2025 @ 5:56 pm

    Clinton never let that stop him. There was no AUMF for Kosovo.
    ………..
    Kevin M (4c450d) — 6/1/2025 @ 6:15 pm

    The Kosovo operation was authorized by NATO to enforce UN Security Council resolutions 1160, 1199 and 1203; and to impose the Rambouillet Accords on Yugoslavia.

    And the US wasn’t the sole country to take participate; the French, Italian, British, Belgian, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese, Turkish, Spanish, and Canadian Air Forces flew sorties to prevent the ethnic cleansing.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  242. Well, if he felt like he was an American and if he silently determined that he no longer had allegiance to Egypt, then the same system that lets down all subject-to-the-jurisdiction-thereof illegal immigrants caused this.

    Clearly not his fault.

    BuDuh (51d1e7)

  243. Kevin M (4c450d) — 6/1/2025 @ 6:15 pm

    And Congress indirectly approved the air war by appropriating $13B in emergency funding.

    Rip Murdock (886d1a)

  244. I’m told on 9/29/22, he filed some sort of claim with USCIS, potentially an asylum claim, and on 3/29/23, USCIS under the Biden admin gave him work authorization

    Note that it was exactly 6 months. The asylum statute authorizes a work permit for asylum applicants who have been waiting at least 6 months for a decision. Nothing to do with any policy of Biden’s.

    Dave (a8f32e)

  245. Yeah, and he probably did not buy a single $Trump coin, either.

    It’s too bad that he is not a mom with a one-year old U.S. citizen daughter. He would have been shipped to Cuba a month ago.

    nk (9e5a33)

  246. Nothing to do with any policy of Biden’s.
    Dave (a8f32e) — 6/1/2025 @ 8:14 pm

    LOL. He was denied a visa in 2005 by an administration that wasn’t filled with anti-Semites. But, the Biden administration granted him a visa then needed time to mull over a bogus asylum claim. Right, nothing to do with Biden.

    lloyd (a3d6fb)

  247. You don’t know why he was denied a visa in 2005 (when he was 25 years old); the second Intifadah was going on, and the War on Terror was in full swing.

    You also don’t know why his visa was approved in 2022 (when he was 42 years old). Egyptians are allowed to visit the United States. Egypt was one of only two countries (the other being Israel) that Trump did not freeze foreign aid to on his first day in office.

    The law requires that asylum claims be heard before an immigration judge. Donald Trump and his Republican lackeys blocked a bipartisan bill to hire more immigration judges and reduce the backlog, demonstrating their lack of concern for Americans’ safety as long as they could demagogue the issue.

    Dave (a8f32e)

  248. Donald Trump and his Republican lackeys blocked a bipartisan bill to hire more immigration judges and reduce the backlog, demonstrating their lack of concern for Americans’ safety as long as they could demagogue the issue.
    Dave (a8f32e) — 6/1/2025 @ 8:53 pm

    You lied about this upthread and you’re lying about it now. That pointless bill was debated in 2024. It has nothing to do with this bozo’s asylum claim, which you already knew.

    lloyd (98a6a1)

  249. I’ve forgotten, but when did Congress vote to authorize the bombing?

    Under the War Powers Resolution, Clinton would be required to notify Congress, not seek their approval, for a 90-day period. After that, Congressional approval is necessary to continue.

    The person who welshed on the WPR was Obama, for bombing the sh-t out of Libya beyond the 90-day window.

    Paul Montagu (7d3956)

  250. You lied about this upthread and you’re lying about it now.

    Every word I wrote is truthful.

    Donald Trump and his Republican lackeys blocked a bipartisan bill to hire more immigration judges and reduce the backlog, demonstrating their lack of concern for Americans’ safety as long as they could demagogue the issue.

    Dave (a8f32e)

  251. LOL Dave, you’re so full of sh1t.

    Even if it were relevant, which you already know it’s not, “reducing the backlog” would likely just mean the dude would get his asylum granted quicker.

    lloyd (98a6a1)

  252. The person who welshed on the WPR was Obama, for bombing the sh-t out of Libya beyond the 90-day window.

    From what I can tell, Obama did provide the initial notification as required (on March 21, 2011).

    US attack planes and cruise missiles were pulled out of combat after roughly a month. The US subsequently provided aerial refueling and reconnaissance for our allies, who continued bombing.

    Obama’s position was that after the US planes and missiles stopped attacking, our forces were no longer engaged in hostilities that meet the definition in the War Powers Act.

    Dave (a8f32e)

  253. Even if it were relevant, which you already know it’s not, “reducing the backlog” would likely just mean the dude would get his asylum granted quicker.

    Only about 46% of asylum claims are granted after reaching trial.

    In any case, the law requires that asylum claims be heard and decided by an immigration judge. Reducing the backlog is the only (lawful) way to speed the departure of people who do not qualify.

    Dave (a8f32e)

  254. “In any case, the law requires that asylum claims be heard and decided by an immigration judge. Reducing the backlog is the only (lawful) way to speed the departure of people who do not qualify.”

    It’s an article of faith among the maga crowd that every asylum seeker is lying. Except for Trump, who thinks they’re escapees from a mental hospital.

    Davethulhu (de268c)

  255. The US was involved in Libya from March 2011 to Gaddafi’s demise later that October, and it was a certifiable sh-t show. Like in Egypt after the military ousted the Muslim Brotherhood, Obama tried to redefine “hostilities” to get around the window.

    Paul Montagu (7d3956)

  256. Britian to spend 6 billion more pounds on defense including nuclear armed attack bombers. Germany is doubling its tank force and looking into nukes. France is upping its defense spending as are most nato countries with some of them looking at nukes and putin did not smile.

    asset (2c39b5)

  257. There’s nothing wrong with asylum claims if they’re from the right kind of people. You know, like white South Africans.

    Come on! MAGA knows that Trump is peddling a racist grift, and they fully support it. That’s what they elected him for.

    nk (b83996)

  258. Here’s a natural outcome for the law firms that bent the knee to Trump: They’re losing clients. If they don’t have the huevos to rightfully defend themselves from a bully, how would do clients know that their very expensive lawyers would fight for them?

    At a recent luncheon at Cipriani in Midtown Manhattan, a top lawyer for Citadel delivered a message to leaders of some of the country’s biggest law firms. Brooke Cucinella told them that the hedge-fund company likes to work with law firms that aren’t afraid of a fight.

    Cucinella, head of litigation and regulatory inquiries at the business headed by Republican megadonor Ken Griffin, made no mention of politics. But some of the lawyers in attendance took her remarks as reference to a controversy that has been roiling the legal industry.

    Some of the listed attendees worked for firms that had cut deals with the White House to avoid punitive executive orders by President Trump. Others were at law firms that had gone to court to fight them.

    Support for the law firms that didn’t make deals has been growing inside the offices of corporate executives. At least 11 big companies are moving work away from law firms that settled with the administration or are giving—or intend to give—more business to firms that have been targeted but refused to strike deals, according to general counsels at those companies and other people familiar with those decisions.

    Turns out that appeasing and capitulating to a thug is bad for business.

    Paul Montagu (7d3956)

  259. Big Law doesn’t like democracy, Paul. We’ve only known that since 2016.

    lloyd (91baee)

  260. nk (b83996) — 6/2/2025 @ 3:57 am

    When these South African refugees light Americans on fire, I say we kick them out.

    lloyd (91baee)

  261. The person who welshed on the WPR was Obama, for bombing the sh-t out of Libya beyond the 90-day window.

    Paul Montagu (7d3956) — 6/1/2025 @ 9:03 pm

    Untrue. Here is an archive of all war powers resolution reports to Congress dating back to 1975.

    Rip Murdock (594c43)

  262. Rip Murdock (594c43) — 6/2/2025 @ 7:23 am

    I pointed out that Obama gave notice when US forces entered hostilities.

    Paul’s complaint is that Obama did not receive an AUMF after 60 days.

    Obama’s position was that US attack planes and cruise missiles stopped participating after a month or so, and that the refueling and reconnaissance operations we conducted after that point did not qualify as involvement in hostilities.

    Dave (808dd5)

  263. @220

    “Ask me how I know.”

    – whembly

    How do you know?

    Leviticus (c08377) — 6/1/2025 @ 3:27 pm

    ☺️☺️☺️

    It’s literally my job to know.

    whembly (09d73c)

  264. @254

    Every word I wrote is truthful.

    Donald Trump and his Republican lackeys blocked a bipartisan bill to hire more immigration judges and reduce the backlog, demonstrating their lack of concern for Americans’ safety as long as they could demagogue the issue.

    Dave (a8f32e) — 6/1/2025 @ 9:07 pm

    That’s spin Dave.

    That bill would’ve codified up to thousands of illegal immigration per day before any border triggers.

    Biden, Democrats, maybe even YOU said the border couldn’t be secured without a bill like this.

    The current President exposes the absolute infirmities of that rationale.

    whembly (09d73c)

  265. @258

    It’s an article of faith among the maga crowd that every asylum seeker is lying.

    Davethulhu (de268c) — 6/1/2025 @ 9:45 pm

    I automatically assume they’re lying.

    This process has been so abused, we need to scrap it completely.

    whembly (09d73c)

  266. Three Strikes:

    President Trump dismisses court rulings against him as judicial overreach, and sometimes he’s right. But what does it say when multiple judges across the political spectrum rule against him on similar sweeping grounds? That’s happening to his punitive executive orders against liberal law firms, and he’s batting zero for three.

    The latest forceful rebuke came Tuesday from federal Judge Richard Leon, a conservative nominated by George W. Bush. His 73-page opinion is a scorcher concluding that Mr. Trump’s EO against the WilmerHale law firm “must be struck down in its entirety as unconstitutional. Indeed, to rule otherwise would be unfaithful to the judgment and vision of the Founding Fathers!”

    Judge Leon says the Trump EO violates the First Amendment as retaliation for protected speech, as viewpoint discrimination, and as violations of the right to free association and to petition the government. He says the EO also violates the constitutional rights to counsel and due process, as well as the separation of powers. It’s hard to imagine a more thorough takedown of a presidential order.
    ………..
    Judge Leon’s decision echoes rulings by two other judges blocking Mr. Trump’s EOs against Perkins Coie and Jenner & Block. The EOs follow the same template in punishing the firms because they have represented or employed Mr. Trump’s political opponents. That includes probes for violating civil-rights law, revocation of security clearances, and denial of federal contracts to clients of the firm.
    ………..
    It’s tempting to think that because Perkins Coie and other firms are partisan, they deserve the blowback when the other side wins. But the collusion caper was investigated by special counsel John Durham, who found enough evidence to charge only one former Perkins partner, Michael Sussmann, with crimes. He was acquitted.

    There are also larger principles at stake than partisan loyalties. The rights to speech, counsel and free association are foundational principles of American liberty. Even the worst clients deserve representation……….

    The Trump EOs are an abuse of executive power that isn’t justified under any fair reading of the Constitution. The rulings against the EOs are powerful enough, and the Administration’s arguments in defense are flimsy enough, that we suspect the firms will prevail again if the White House appeals.

    Mr. Trump doesn’t like to lose, but in these cases he would be wise to cut his losses before he goes zero for nine at the Supreme Court.
    ##########

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  267. Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 6/2/2025 @ 8:52 am

    The beauty of leading a movement based on delusions of martyrdom is that every loss is fodder for a lucrative new fund-raising campaign.

    Dave (808dd5)

  268. Paul’s complaint is that Obama did not receive an AUMF after 60 days.

    Like the Kosovo operation (see post 245), the 2011 military intervention in Libya was authorized under the NATO Treaty, in this case to enforce UN Security Council Resolution 1973, which (among other actions) imposed a no-fly zone over Libya. When the Libyan operation began (on March 19, 2011), joint command was held by France, the UK, and the United States; but on March 23rd overall command was transferred to NATO.
    And as in Kosovo, it was a coalition operation including a total of 19 countries.

    The authority to use military force in Libya is provided here. Presidents have generally construed the War Powers Resolution as an infringement on their own constitutional authority as commander-in-chief and to conduct foreign policy.

    ………The legal debate has focused on the Resolution’s 60-day clock, which directs the President—absent express Congressional authorization (or the applicability of other limited exceptions) and following an initial 48-hour reporting period—to remove United States Armed Forces within 60 days from “hostilities” or “situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances.” But as virtually every lawyer recognizes, the operative term, “hostilities,” is an ambiguous standard, which is nowhere defined in the statute. Nor has this standard ever been defined by the courts or by Congress in any subsequent war powers legislation. Indeed, the legislative history of the Resolution makes clear there was no fixed view on exactly what the term “hostilities” would encompass. Members of Congress understood that the term was vague, but specifically declined to give it more concrete meaning, in part to avoid unduly hampering future Presidents by making the Resolution a “one size fits all” straitjacket that would operate mechanically, without regard to particular circumstances.
    ………
    In the nearly forty years since the Resolution’s enactment, successive Administrations have thus started from the premise that the term “hostilities” is “definable in a meaningful way only in the context of an actual set of facts.” And successive Congresses and Presidents have opted for a process through which the political branches have worked together to flesh out the law’s meaning over time. By adopting this approach, the two branches have sought to avoid construing the statute mechanically, divorced from the realities that face them.

    In this case, leaders of the current Congress have stressed this very concern in indicating that they do not believe that U.S. military operations in Libya amount to the kind of “hostilities” envisioned by the War Powers Resolution’s 60-day pullout provision.8 ……..

    Footnote 8: Both before and after May 20, 2011, the 60th day following the President’s initial letter to Congress on operations in Libya, few Members of Congress asserted that our participation in the NATO mission would trigger or had triggered the War Powers Resolution’s pullout provision. House Speaker Boehner stated on June 1, 2011, that “[l]egally, [the Administration has] met the requirements of the War Powers Act.” House Minority Leader Pelosi stated on June 16, 2011, that “[t]he limited nature of this engagement allows the President to go forward,” as “the President has the authority he needs.” Senate Majority Leader Reid stated on June 17, 2011, that “[t]he War Powers Act has no application to what’s going on in Libya.” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Kerry stated on June 21, 2011, that “I do not think our limited involvement rises to the level of hostilities defined by the War Powers Resolution,” and on June 23, 2011, that “[w]e have not introduced our armed forces into hostilities. No American is being shot at. No American troop is at risk of being shot down today. That is not what we’re doing. We are refueling. We are supporting NATO.” Since May 20, the basic facts regarding the limited nature of our mission in Libya have not materially changed.

    Source

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  269. Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 6/2/2025 @ 9:31 am

    More:

    In light of this historical practice, a combination of four factors present in Libya suggests that the current situation does not constitute the kind of “hostilities” envisioned by the War Powers Resolution’s 60-day automatic pullout provision.

    First, the mission is limited: By Presidential design, U.S. forces are playing a constrained and supporting role in a NATO-led multinational civilian protection operation, which is implementing a U.N. Security Council Resolution tailored to that limited purpose. ……
    Second, the exposure of our armed forces is limited: To date, our operations have not involved U.S. casualties or a threat of significant U.S. casualties. Nor do our current operations involve active exchanges of fire with hostile forces, and members of our military have not been involved in significant armed confrontations or sustained confrontations of any kind with hostile forces………

    Third, the risk of escalation is limited: U.S. military operations have not involved the presence of U.S. ground troops, or any significant chance of escalation into a broader conflict characterized by a large U.S. ground presence, major casualties, sustained active combat, or expanding geographical scope………

    Fourth and finally, the military means we are using are limited: This situation does not present the kind of “full military engagement[] with which the [War Powers] Resolution is primarily concerned.” The violence that U.S. armed forces have directly inflicted or facilitated after the handoff to NATO has been modest in terms of its frequency, intensity, and severity. ……..the bulk of U.S. contributions to the NATO effort has been providing intelligence capabilities and refueling assets. A very significant majority of the overall sorties are being flown by our coalition partners, and the overwhelming majority of strike sorties are being flown by our partners. ………

    Had any of these elements been absent in Libya, or present in different degrees, a different legal conclusion might have been drawn.
    ………..

    Footnotes omitted.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  270. #200

    Whembly at #200 uses his hospital worker knowledge to demonstrate that part of our medical cost problem is caused by undocumented immigrants using the emergency room. It’s true that is a cost. But that’s only one side of the equation. Undocumented immigrants also pay into social security and Medicare via payroll taxes. Given that they do now want to get caught, or that many self-deport before retirement, they often never collect any of the benefits they don’t pay in.

    Appalled (b89ab0)

  271. Big Law doesn’t like democracy, Paul.

    Said the guy who supports the guy who attempted an anti-democratic coup.

    Paul Montagu (7d3956)

  272. @274

    #200

    Whembly at #200 uses his hospital worker knowledge to demonstrate that part of our medical cost problem is caused by undocumented immigrants using the emergency room. It’s true that is a cost. But that’s only one side of the equation. Undocumented immigrants also pay into social security and Medicare via payroll taxes. Given that they do now want to get caught, or that many self-deport before retirement, they often never collect any of the benefits they don’t pay in.

    Appalled (b89ab0) — 6/2/2025 @ 10:58 am

    Except, most don’t work via the w-2s.

    Most, are paid under the table.

    You’re conflating things a bit.

    If the illegal alien came here under false pretense, aka, asylum claims or temp visas, they can pay into SSN/Medicare via payroll taxes.

    But those contributions are miniscule compared to the overall cost of freecare.

    whembly (09d73c)

  273. @276 Furthermore, illegal aliens, if they meet certain requirements qualify for other programs. (I think SSI??)

    The point being, the idea that their contribution helps support the solvency of the SS Trust Funds ignores the full scope realities that illegal aliens are bar far, a net drain of tax resources.

    whembly (09d73c)

  274. The Kosovo operation was authorized by NATO to enforce UN Security Council resolutions 1160, 1199 and 1203; and to impose the Rambouillet Accords on Yugoslavia.

    But the US Congress turned him down; the AUMF failed in the House.

    Kevin M (ca3b70)

  275. I hope the Trump administration will eventually withdraw the US as it doesn’t serve our national interests now.

    No, we should enforce it, even if we have to enforce it alone. Nuclear proliferation endangers the entire planet — the risk of nuclear war increases with every new player, and it’s not a straight-line curve. Maybe N log(N). Every new player has more than one antagonism.

    Trump seems to enjoy being the “bad guy”, why does he waffle on this?

    Kevin M (ca3b70)

  276. And Congress indirectly approved the air war by appropriating $13B in emergency funding.

    Rather than cut off funds to forces overseas. The War Powers Resolution was supposed to avoid that kind of gun-to-head approval.

    Kevin M (ca3b70)

  277. Under the War Powers Resolution, Clinton would be required to notify Congress, not seek their approval, for a 90-day period. After that, Congressional approval is necessary to continue.

    But he asked for an AUMF and it was voted down. Both Bushes asked for an AUMF, and got it, before committing forces.

    Kevin M (ca3b70)

  278. Only about 46% of asylum claims are granted after reaching trial.

    It should be 4%. This is way too high given that everyone is told to claim asylum. Is there a standard of proof in the law? Because it looks like they have to allow asylum unless they can fully disprove it.

    Kevin M (ca3b70)

  279. It’s an article of faith among the maga crowd that every asylum seeker is lying

    It’s an absolute fact that everyone attempting entry is told that an asylum claim will give them 10 more years of residence, maybe more, and to make that claim when everything else fails.

    Now, I don’t think everyone who claims asylum is lying. Just those who don’t make the claim immediately.

    Kevin M (ca3b70)

  280. Britian to spend 6 billion more pounds on defense including nuclear armed attack bombers.

    Britain to build 12 more nuclear-powered attack subs.

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain vowed Monday to bring his country to “war-fighting readiness,” announcing plans to build up to 12 new attack submarines and invest billions of pounds in weapons, to fortify for a world caught between a hostile, aggressive Russia and a retrenching United States.

    The ambitious rearmament is part of a strategic defense review by the government, which laid out the threatening new landscape and called for increased production of drones and the stockpiling of more munitions and equipment.

    “The threat we now face is more serious, more immediate and more unpredictable than at any time since the Cold War,” Mr. Starmer said on Monday at a shipyard in Glasgow. He pointed to “war in Europe, new nuclear risks, daily cyberattacks,” and “growing Russian aggression,” in British waters and skies.

    As if to underline his ominous message, Mr. Starmer presented his plans hours after one of the most intense aerial bombardments of the three-year war in Ukraine, with Ukrainian drones striking air bases deep in Russian territory.

    The strategic review, led by George Robertson, a former secretary general of NATO, was set up last year soon after Mr. Starmer won a general election. But its task was given fresh urgency amid growing evidence of President Trump’s weakened commitment to European security and his ambivalent and, at times, ingratiating attitude toward President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

    Among its recommendations: the procurement of up to 7,000 British-built long-range weapons and the creation of a new cybercommand, alongside an investment of a billion pounds, equivalent to $1.35 billion, in digital capability. Money will be invested in protecting critical British underwater infrastructure as well as in drones, which have proved highly effective in the war in Ukraine.

    More than £1.5 billion of additional funding will be put into repairing and renewing housing for the military to help recruitment and retention in the British Army, where numbers have fallen to the lowest level since the Napoleonic era.

    Kevin M (ca3b70)

  281. There’s nothing wrong with asylum claims if they’re from the right kind of people. You know, like white South Africans.

    Come on! MAGA knows that Trump is peddling a racist grift, and they fully support it. That’s what they elected him for.

    5 South Africans and suddenly we have the Brown People Replacement Theory. Imagine how MAGA felt about the millions of Central Americans who Biden let in.

    Kevin M (ca3b70)

  282. This process has been so abused, we need to scrap it completely.

    How about this: If you want to claim asylum, you need to claim it immediately and show substantial evidence. I really have no patience with people who think that someone who entered illegally, dodged authorities for years, then, when caught, claims asylum is not lying through is teeth.

    The way to get rid of the backlog is to toss out every claim not made immediately. *Poof*

    Kevin M (ca3b70)

  283. Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 6/2/2025 @ 9:31 am

    So, NATO can declare war on Congress’s behalf?

    Kevin M (ca3b70)

  284. @286

    How about this: If you want to claim asylum, you need to claim it immediately and show substantial evidence. I really have no patience with people who think that someone who entered illegally, dodged authorities for years, then, when caught, claims asylum is not lying through is teeth.

    The way to get rid of the backlog is to toss out every claim not made immediately. *Poof*

    Kevin M (ca3b70) — 6/2/2025 @ 12:15 pm

    I’m fine with this.

    whembly (09d73c)

  285. The Kosovo operation was authorized by NATO to enforce UN Security Council resolutions …….

    But the US Congress turned him down; the AUMF failed in the House.

    Kevin M (ca3b70) — 6/2/2025 @ 11:49 am

    Congress couldn’t make up its mind, the House also voted down a resolution that directed the President to remove the Armed Forces from Serbia within 30 days.

    On April 28, 1999 the House of Representatives took four votes related to Kosovo. It voted against a declaration of war. It rejected a

    concurrent resolution that would have authorized continued military force in Kosovo, and a different concurrent resolution that would have directed the President to remove the Armed Forces from Serbia within 30 days. And it voted to block funding for ground troops in Kosovo without specific congressional authorization. After these votes, Congress continued to consider the President’s appropriation request. In May, it enacted a supplemental funding measure for, among other things, “costs resulting from ongoing contingency operations in . . . Kosovo.” In short, and simplifying a bit, Congress declined to formally authorize Clinton’s use of force in Kosovo, but it funded his efforts.

    Source

    In the end, Congress has three choices: pass an authorization to use military force; deny funding to an Administration for any ongoing foreign interventions, or impeach the President for failing to obtain an AMUF.

    Harold Koh, the former Legal Advisor U.S. Department of State (quoted here) made the argument that the Libyan intervention didn’t involve “hostilities” as commonly understood. The same argument can be made about the Kosovo intervention.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  286. The real point of getting an AUMF up front is that the Congress is on record as approving the action. They own it, too.

    Kevin M (78cf8b)

  287. https://x.com/guypbenson/status/1929386771168538786

    If a right-wing movement had burned down a governor’s mansion, murdered two foreign diplomats & firebombed kids and elderly people at a peaceful protest — in the span of a few weeks — what would the coverage look like? What sort of “national conversation” would we be having?

    One hundred percent correct. Yet instead ww will hear the usual lies and BS about a nonexistent backlash.

    NJRob (618344)

  288. @291

    https://x.com/guypbenson/status/1929386771168538786

    If a right-wing movement had burned down a governor’s mansion, murdered two foreign diplomats & firebombed kids and elderly people at a peaceful protest — in the span of a few weeks — what would the coverage look like? What sort of “national conversation” would we be having?

    One hundred percent correct. Yet instead ww will hear the usual lies and BS about a nonexistent backlash.

    NJRob (618344) — 6/2/2025 @ 1:54 pm

    Yup.

    Its stuff like this that radicalized me to be anti-illegal aliens.

    Not sorry…go back home.

    whembly (09d73c)

  289. Even after the Tonkin Gulf Resolution was repealed by Congress in 1971, the Nixon Administration ignored it and continued the Vietnam War for another four years.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  290. The real point of getting an AUMF up front is that the Congress is on record as approving the action. They own it, too.

    Kevin M (78cf8b) — 6/2/2025 @ 1:53 pm

    As pointed out above, the House couldn’t make up its mind in 1999 (and still can’t now). And when Congress does take concrete action, the President can get away with ignoring it.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  291. Even after the Tonkin Gulf Resolution was repealed by Congress in 1971, the Nixon Administration ignored it and continued the Vietnam War for another four years.

    There are some things you can’t just “repeal.” That was just the mother of ACMs. It’s like trying to cancel your car loan after driving it for 3 years.

    We had 500,000 troops in country and an awful lot of our military hardware there in 1968-1969, when Nixon came into office. Nixon reduced that to 157,000 by 1971, 24,000 in 1972 and a mere 50 by 1973. Saigon didn’t fall until 2 years later, but the US was not involved after ’73.

    Kevin M (51f51a)

  292. Dazed and confused:

    Staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were left baffled on Monday after the head of the U.S. disaster agency said during a briefing that he had not been aware the country has a hurricane season, according to four sources familiar with the situation.

    The U.S. hurricane season officially began on Sunday and lasts through November. …….

    The remark was made by David Richardson, who has led FEMA since early May. It was not clear to staff whether he meant it literally, as a joke, or in some other context.
    ……….
    Richardson said during the briefing that there would be no changes to the agency’s disaster response plans despite having told staff to expect a new plan in May, the sources told Reuters.
    ………..
    Richardson, who has no disaster response experience, said during Monday’s briefing, a daily all-hands meeting held by phone and videoconference, that he will not be issuing a new disaster plan because he does not want to make changes that might counter the FEMA Review Council, the sources said.

    President Donald Trump created the council to evaluate FEMA. Its members include DHS head Noem, governors and other officials.

    In a May 15 staff town hall, Richardson said a disaster plan, including tabletop exercises, would be ready for review by May 23.
    ………..
    Before joining FEMA, he was assistant secretary at DHS’ office for countering weapons of mass destruction, which he has told staff he will continue to lead.
    ………..
    Trump has said FEMA should be shrunk or even eliminated, arguing states can take on many of its functions, as part of a wider downsizing of the federal government. About 2,000 full-time FEMA staff, one-third of its total, have been terminated or voluntarily left the agency since the start of the Trump administration in January.
    ………..

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  293. If a right-wing movement had burned down a governor’s mansion, murdered two foreign diplomats & firebombed kids and elderly people at a peaceful protest — in the span of a few weeks — what would the coverage look like? What sort of “national conversation” would we be having?

    Maybe we need professionals in charge of law enforcement, instead of Fox News political hacks?

    Dave (808dd5)

  294. Mohamad Soliman is a white man according to MSDNC and I’m sure he will be called that by the usual suspects.

    Can we deport him after his prison sentence?

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  295. You got nothing Dave.

    As usual.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  296. America’s New Steel Curtain

    The best that can be said about President Trump’s blessing of Nippon Steel’s purchase of U.S. Steel is that it blocks Cleveland-Cliffs’ political power play to buy U.S. Steel instead. The worst to be said is that the purchase has become another opening to make U.S. companies less competitive with higher tariff walls on foreign steel.
    ………….
    (Cleveland-Cliffs) wanted to create a steel cartel with more leverage to raise prices. Nippon Steel had outbid Cleveland-Cliffs in 2023. Acquiring U.S. Steel would have given Cleveland-Cliffs control over 100% of U.S. blast furnace production, iron ore reserves, electrical steel production, and two-thirds of automotive steel production.
    …………
    …………Higher tariff walls may help Cleveland-Cliffs stanch its red ink, but they are unlikely to save or create jobs. They will raise costs for steel consumers including auto-makers and machinery manufacturers and could boomerang.

    His first-term steel and aluminum tariffs caused prices to rise for a period, but higher prices hurt customers and caused demand to fall. A Federal Reserve Board of Governors study estimated the tariffs cost 75,000 manufacturing jobs. Employment in fabricated metals manufacturing is still some 33,000 lower than when the tariffs took effect.

    (Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves) noted in a recent quarterly earnings call that Mr. Trump’s auto and steel tariffs on Canada “impacted our clients” who sell products in the U.S. “That was not part of our plan. Absolutely not. Nobody saw that coming,” he said, adding he wouldn’t have bought Canadian steelmaker Stelco “if I knew that Canada would not be treated like a friend.”

    ………The new 50% tariff wall will hurt Mr. Goncalves’ “clients” doubly hard.
    ##########

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  297. Nationalist opposition candidate Karol Nawrocki narrowly won Poland’s presidential election, results showed on Monday, delivering a big blow to the centrist government’s efforts to cement Warsaw’s pro-European orientation.
    In a victory for European conservatives inspired by U.S. President Donald Trump, Nawrocki secured 50.89% of the vote, election commission data showed. The outcome presages more political gridlock as he is likely to use his presidential veto to thwart Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s liberal policy agenda.

    Rip,

    you love posting about elections, especially when the leftist candidate wins. Any reason you missed this one since it’s in such a key location?

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  298. Rip,

    you love posting about elections, especially when the leftist candidate wins. Any reason you missed this one since it’s in such a key location?

    NJRob (eb56c3) — 6/2/2025 @ 4:18 pm

    I don’t live in Poland.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  299. Also the President of Poland is mostly a ceremonial office, he is the head of state, but not the head of government.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  300. China’s global favorability rising, views of the U.S. turn negative

    As of the end of May, China had an 8.8 net favorability rating, compared to -1.5 for the U.S., according to favorability data for last month provided exclusively to Axios by Morning Consult.

    In January 2024, the U.S. rating was above 20 and China was in negative territory.

    The data tracks net favorability ratings, or the share of respondents with a positive view of a country minus those with a negative view.

    Morning Consult surveyed adults in 41 countries including Canada, France, Japan, Russia and the U.K.

    The U.S. had a largely positive reputation last year — but it dropped sharply after President Trump took office.

    “Since January 2025, the overwhelming majority of countries simultaneously exhibit worsening views of the United States and improving views of China,” McMann writes.

    “Only in Russia have views of America meaningfully improved.”

    Check out the graph.

    Dave (808dd5)

  301. From the NYT:

    Mohamed Sabry Soliman told a detective that he used Molotov cocktails in the attack because he had not been able to buy a gun, according to a Boulder Police Department affidavit. Soliman said he had learned to shoot a gun in a concealed carry class but had to change his plan for the attack after he was blocked from purchasing a gun because of his immigration status.

    Soliman told police he had been planning the attack for a year.

    Dave (808dd5)

  302. Unfortunate:

    The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it would not hear a major Second Amendment challenge to a Maryland law banning semiautomatic rifles like the AR-15. As is the court’s practice, its brief order gave no reasons.

    The move, over the objections of three conservative justices, let the ban stand and reflected the court’s intermittent engagement with gun rights. It has issued only three significant Second Amendment decisions since recognizing an individual right to own guns in 2008.
    ………..
    In dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas said the court should have considered the question, which the justices have repeatedly declined to resolve.

    “I would not wait to decide whether the government can ban the most popular rifle in America,” he wrote. “That question is of critical importance to tens of millions of law-abiding AR-15 owners throughout the country. We have avoided deciding it for a full decade.”

    He added that the court’s commitment to the Second Amendment was inadequate.

    “I doubt we would sit idly by if lower courts were to so subvert our precedents involving any other constitutional right,” he wrote. “Until we are vigilant in enforcing it, the right to bear arms will remain ‘a second-class right.’”

    Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch said they too would have heard the case but did not provide reasons.

    Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, who could have supplied the fourth vote needed to add the case to the court’s docket, issued a statement saying the question was significant and could soon warrant review but that he hoped additional opinions from lower courts could assist the justices on the issue. He wrote that the Supreme Court “should and presumably will address the AR-15 issue soon, in the next term or two.”
    ………..
    In a 10-to-5 ruling in August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, Va., said the Maryland law satisfied that history-based test, which was set out in the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.

    The law’s ban on what critics call assault weapons ban did not violate the Second Amendment because rapid-firing long guns “are military-style weapons designed for sustained combat operations that are ill-suited and disproportionate to the need for self-defense,” wrote Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan.

    “We decline to wield the Constitution to declare that military-style armaments, which have become primary instruments of mass killing and terrorist attacks in the United States, are beyond the reach of our nation’s democratic processes,” Judge Wilkinson added.

    Five dissenting judges — all appointed by Republican presidents — accused the majority of ignoring Bruen and other precedents.
    ………..
    In dissent, Judge Richardson wrote that “the Second Amendment is not a second-class right subject to the whimsical discretion of federal judges.” The majority, he wrote, had ignored history in favor of “waxing poetic about the dangers of gun violence and the blood of children.”
    ###########

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  303. The Polish election is not really a change, but preserves the status quo: the out-going president is from the same party as the new one (he was term-limited).

    According to the NYT:

    The two sides agree that Poland should provide weapons to Ukraine for its war against Russia and build up its military, but diverge sharply on most domestic issues, including abortion, which was all but banned during eight years under the right-wing Law and Justice government.

    Dave (808dd5)

  304. Kavanaugh believes that there isn’t a 5th vote right now. Thomas’ history & tradition test has not held up well, nor does it give predictable results. I think this offends Roberts.

    Kevin M (a03a7a)

  305. Kavanaugh believes that there isn’t a 5th vote right now. Thomas’ history & tradition test has not held up well, nor does it give predictable results. I think this offends Roberts.

    Kevin M (a03a7a) — 6/2/2025 @ 6:23 pm

    Given that Roberts and Kavanaugh were in the Bruen majority, I doubt Roberts is offended. Thomas’s “history and tradition” approach is the correct analytic framework for Second Amendment jurisprudence.

    Rip Murdock (7d2651)

  306. Trumps new bill includes posting bond before you can sue to stop poor from getting justice.

    asset (8b28c7)

  307. Illegal alien terrorist was working for uber on expired work visa. How many more illegal alien hamas supporters is lyft and uber financing? The capitalists will sell us the rope we hang them with. Lenin.

    asset (8b28c7)

  308. Kevin M (a03a7a) — 6/2/2025 @ 6:23 pm

    Since the “history and tradition” framework is new (relative to the prior way of analyzing Second Amendment cases), of course the results aren’t “predictable” if one keeps viewing the Second Amendment as something that limits the right to possess firearms.

    Rip Murdock (987a66)

  309. They say the guy over-stayed his visa, but they also say he applied for asylum before the visa expired, and that the asylum application was still pending.

    Wouldn’t an accepted asylum application have allowed him to remain in the country until his case was decided, regardless of when his original visa expired?

    Based on what I understand about the law, he was not in the country illegally unless he failed to meet some requirement to check in, etc, while his asylum application was pending. The police say he had no criminal record prior to the terror attack.

    Dave (808dd5)

  310. Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 6/2/2025 @ 3:46 pm

    More:

    Federal Emergency Management Agency officials are scrapping a hurricane-response plan that its recently appointed leader, David Richardson, had said was close to completion, according to agency staff.

    With hurricane season kicking off this month, Richardson told staff Monday that the agency would be returning to the same guidance for hurricane response as last year. Some were confused how that would be possible, given the agency had already eliminated key programs and sharply cut its workforce.

    For example, FEMA’s hurricane guidance typically includes plans for staffers who go door-to-door helping storm survivors. But that program has been rolled back, leaving it unclear how the agency should now adjust those operations, which could have a domino effect on other responses.
    …………
    The agency has been plagued by a wave of high-level departures. MaryAnn Tierney, until recently the acting No. 2 official at FEMA, resigned in late May, stating in a message to staff, “Everyone has a line, and I have reached mine.”
    ………….
    There have also been some discussions about bringing back programs that work on disaster-mitigation efforts in communities and the one that sends FEMA staffers to go door-to-door to help survivors in disaster areas, following concern from lawmakers from both parties about dismantling them, according to some staffers.

    Richardson, who took over the agency in early May, admitted in a series of recent meetings that he was still developing a hurricane response plan weeks before the start of the season, causing concern among FEMA employees about whether the agency is prepared for a major storm. He has said the agency has struggled to put together a disaster-response plan amid uncertainty over Trump’s intentions for FEMA.
    ………….
    The agency has separately been working on a bigger plan that would call for a new approach to hurricane response tactics that would advance the president’s goal of transferring more responsibility for responding to major disasters from the White House to the states. Those changes are in response to a Jan. 24 executive order signed by Trump that established the FEMA review council.
    …………
    During a May meeting, Richardson said the agency needs to break its goals into various tasks, which he explained using fruit metaphors.

    “Some of those tasks will be kind of orange-like tasks,” he said, according to a video recording of the meeting viewed by the Journal. “And by orange, I mean the fruit orange, but they might be tangerines, they might be blood oranges, it might just be a little bit grapefruity, all those will go in one bin.”
    #########

    Rip Murdock (7d2651)

  311. During a May meeting, Richardson said the agency needs to break its goals into various tasks, which he explained using fruit metaphors.

    “Some of those tasks will be kind of orange-like tasks,” he said, according to a video recording of the meeting viewed by the Journal. “And by orange, I mean the fruit orange, but they might be tangerines, they might be blood oranges, it might just be a little bit grapefruity, all those will go in one bin.”

    The new plan will clearly be written in crayon…

    Dave (808dd5)

  312. @307 Colorado illegal alien terrorist was unable to buy assault rifle because of gun laws so people are alive who would now be dead.

    asset (8b28c7)

  313. “It’s literally my job to know.”

    – whembly

    Very illuminating. I’m sold.

    Leviticus (121bb6)

  314. Colorado illegal alien terrorist was unable to buy assault rifle because of gun laws so people are alive who would now be dead.
    asset (8b28c7) — 6/2/2025 @ 8:13 pm

    Oh that’s nice, asset. Gun laws kept people alive. Yay. Guess what, immigration laws would’ve kept people alive and unburned/unmaimed and out of critical condition. I guess what really matters is which laws we choose to blow off.

    lloyd (e8f848)

  315. @319 All will survive. How many would be dead without gun laws as feeble as they are. Trumps ice was to busy going after teenage volleyball players. Maybe uber is paying trump off to keep their illegal alien terrorists working for them.

    asset (8b28c7)

  316. Guess what, immigration laws would’ve kept people alive and unburned/unmaimed and out of critical condition.

    The immigration laws were enforced to the letter Soliman’s case.

    Dave (808dd5)

  317. *in Soliman’s case

    Dave (808dd5)

  318. Deporting him for overstaying his visa would’ve been within the law. He shouldn’t have gotten a visa anyway, and he was refused one in 2005, again within the law.

    lloyd (e8f848)

  319. If he applied for asylum, he didn’t overstay his visa.

    Dave (808dd5)

  320. Hakeem Jeffries to trump “if you arrest NJ congresswoman thats a red line!” Trump I arrested her what you going to do about it? Leader jeffries Don’t do it again or I am going to huff and puff and blow your house down!

    asset (8b28c7)

  321. the results aren’t “predictable” if one keeps viewing the Second Amendment as something that limits the right to possess firearms.

    Some judges have used that test to approve gun restrictions. You know, the old “they only had muskets” thing.

    Kevin M (75889e)

  322. 313, see your own 307

    In a 10-to-5 ruling in August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, Va., said the Maryland law satisfied that history-based test, which was set out in the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.

    The law’s ban on what critics call assault weapons ban did not violate the Second Amendment because rapid-firing long guns “are military-style weapons designed for sustained combat operations that are ill-suited and disproportionate to the need for self-defense,” wrote Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan.

    The history-based test can be used by people who read history differently. It’s not very good.

    Kevin M (75889e)

  323. @307 Colorado illegal alien terrorist was unable to buy assault rifle because of gun laws so people are alive who would now be dead.

    He was unable to buy any gun as undocumented immigrants and those legally admitted under non-immigrant visas (especially expired ones) are not permitted to possess ANY firearm. Except in the Northern District of Illinois.

    Kevin M (75889e)

  324. If he applied for asylum, he didn’t overstay his visa.

    This is the kind of argument that plays into Trump’s hands. If the Law is seen to be an ass, then ignoring it will have little political cost. Quite the contrary.

    Kevin M (75889e)

  325. The Trump triad: Grift, graft, and blame Biden.

    nk (c272fd)

  326. @318

    It’s literally my job to know.”

    – whembly

    Very illuminating. I’m sold.

    Leviticus (121bb6) — 6/2/2025 @ 8:37 pm

    I know…right?

    But seriously, one of my responsibilities is the creation and analysis of patient health populations and data modeling using various datasources sources. We provide real-time analysis and reporting on historical/real-time data for leadership and population health management.

    So, in short, we need to know various demographic attributes in a given regional patient population so that we can adequately service our patient’s needs.

    As such, we know the liklihood of a patient population that is either having insurance or not.

    whembly (09d73c)

  327. The Biden triad: anti-American, anti-Semitic, and autopen

    lloyd (8ff446)

  328. This is the kind of argument that plays into Trump’s hands. If the Law is seen to be an ass, then ignoring it will have little political cost. Quite the contrary.

    I have no idea what you’re talking about.

    The point of applying for asylum is so you can remain in the country.

    The law gives those deemed eligible to apply the benefit of the doubt until a decision on their application is made.

    Leaving the country while you have a pending asylum application would void it.

    Those are the simple facts.

    I think we agree that the law needs changes. A bipartisan bill would have amended the process to reduce the abuse (and not been subject to repeal at the stroke of a pen, like temporary executive orders) but Trump and his knob-polishers torpedoed it.

    Dave (8cd95f)

  329. but Trump and his knob-polishers torpedoed it.
    Dave (8cd95f) — 6/3/2025 @ 8:01 am

    LOL Trump proved it wasn’t needed.

    lloyd (244e42)

  330. 313, see your own 307

    In a 10-to-5 ruling in August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, Va., said the Maryland law satisfied that history-based test, which was set out in the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.

    The law’s ban on what critics call assault weapons ban did not violate the Second Amendment because rapid-firing long guns “are military-style weapons designed for sustained combat operations that are ill-suited and disproportionate to the need for self-defense,” wrote Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan.

    The history-based test can be used by people who read history differently. It’s not very good.

    Kevin M (75889e) — 6/3/2025 @ 12:04 am

    There is nothing in Judge Wilkinson’s quote that refers to any “history” at all. It’s purely a political statement. Whether “rapid-firing long guns “are military-style weapons designed for sustained combat operations that are ill-suited and disproportionate to the need for self-defense” is irrelevant to the Bruen “history and tradition” standard. Who is he to decide whether an AR-15 (the most popular firearm in America) is “ill-suited and disproportionate” for self-defense?

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  331. The history-based test can be used by people who read history differently. It’s not very good.

    Kevin M (75889e) — 6/3/2025 @ 12:04 am

    If you read Wilkinson’s majority opinion, it is clear that he is more concerned about a firearms “lethality” and recent mass shootings than any “history or tradition” of banning firearms.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  332. Iran Builds Up Near Weapons-Grade Uranium Stockpile Despite Nuclear Talks

    Iran has continued to produce highly enriched uranium at a pace of roughly one nuclear weapon’s worth a month over the past three months despite talks between Washington and Tehran on a new nuclear deal, the United Nations atomic agency said.

    The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a confidential report circulated to member states that Iran had grown its stockpile of 60%-enriched uranium to 408.6 kilograms from 274.8 kilograms in early February, an increase of around 50%. The Wall Street Journal viewed a copy of the report.

    That means Iran has enough highly enriched uranium for roughly 10 nuclear weapons, based on IAEA measures of the minimum fissile material required, up from at least six at the time of the last report.

    U.S. officials say it could take Iran less than two weeks to convert this highly enriched uranium into enough weapons-grade 90% fissile material for a nuclear weapon.
    ………..
    Iran and the U.S. have held five rounds of nuclear talks and are seeking to complete a framework for a deal that would set out joint positions on key issues to be decided………
    ………..
    In its documents circulated to member states on Saturday, the IAEA also presented a comprehensive, longer report detailing Iran’s failure to cooperate with a probe, started in 2019, into undeclared nuclear material found in Iran.

    The report was demanded by European powers after Iran repeatedly failed to provide credible answers to IAEA questions about the nuclear material. Iran says it has answered the questions with all information available.

    The agency said in its report that Iran’s “lack of answers and clarifications” has led it to conclude that Tehran had an “undeclared structured nuclear program” until the 2000s and that some activities used undeclared nuclear material.

    The agency said that it assesses that “Iran retained unknown nuclear material and/or heavily contaminated equipment, and other assets, arising from” the nuclear program at a site in Tehran from 2009 until 2018, “after which items were removed from the location.”

    The report is an important steppingstone in the European powers’ threat to reimpose the sanctions lifted from Iran under the 2015 nuclear deal. That could spark an immediate confrontation between Iran and Western powers over Tehran’s nuclear work, potentially scuttling the latest talks.
    …………
    Iran has warned it could withdraw from the NPT and change its nuclear doctrine if sanctions are reimposed. The country’s leadership has pledged not to pursue nuclear weapons.
    …………
    While Iran’s structured work on a nuclear weapon is believed to have ended in 2003, Western officials say it has continued with nuclear weapons-related experiments since then. In 2024, U.S. intelligence officials said Iran was carrying out work that would help Tehran learn how to make a nuclear weapon.

    The agency said in its report that Iran’s lack of “technically credible answers” leaves open the possibility that Iran may still have undeclared nuclear material that it is able to use for non-civilian purposes.
    ###########

    Appalling:

    Has Iran caught a break from the White House? A directive came down last week from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to pause all new sanctions activity toward Iran. President Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign, a source close to the White House tells us, is now stuck running in place.
    ………
    Why did word come from the White House press secretary rather than the NSC or Treasury, as one might expect? Well, the NSC is a mess after the Trump Administration put more than 100 staffers on leave. New policy responsibilities aren’t fully sorted between the State Department and the Office of the Vice President, and CBS has reported that the NSC communications team is dissolving. The Office of the White House Press Secretary has stepped into the breach.
    ………
    The instruction to pause Iran activity—with no endpoint provided—followed soon after a routine sanctions designation from Treasury had been blocked. Since then, at least two more designations on the Treasury calendar have stalled. No new U.S. sanctions designations toward Iran have been announced since May 21.
    ……….
    U.S. officials also lack clarity on how much the pause covers—is it only related to new sanctions, or would new activity to enforce existing sanctions also run afoul? Presumably the major restrictions on oil sales and the frozen funds held in Qatar will be unchanged, but further guidance or a reversal of the pause would help.

    ……….(P)ressure is what brought Iran to the table, and the latest U.S. sanctions were only getting started. They were also beginning to find success in disrupting Iran’s oil exports to China. Why press the brakes now, when pressure is needed most to get a deal worth making?
    ……….The President also made maximum pressure U.S. policy at the start of his term. Will his Administration now limit his leverage?
    ###########

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  333. Boulder terror suspect’s wife and five kids are arrested

    The wife and five children of the suspect who allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at pro-Israeli protestors have been arrested by authorities.

    The family of Mohamed Soliman, 45, were taken into custody by agents with ICE and Homeland Security on Tuesday. Soliman is an Egyptian national who overstayed his visa after entering into the US during the Biden administration.

    The legal status and names of his wife and children have not been released. According to Fox News reporter Bill Melugin, the suspect’s family are being processed for expedited removal, which would allow authorities to rapidly deport them without a hearing in an immigration court.

    The arrests of Soliman’s family were confirmed by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on X, where she shared a video saying they will be deported while Soliman’s ‘despicable actions will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.’

    ‘We are also investigating to what extent his family knew about this horrific attack,’ Noem said. ‘If they had any knowledge of it or if they provided any support to it.

    lloyd (0db2b9)

  334. I think we agree that the law needs changes. A bipartisan bill would have amended the process to reduce the abuse

    The bill that was offered did not address the abuse. To do that they would have to eliminate the ability to claim asylum after 10 years of illegal presence with utterly no evidence whatsoever, gaining at least 10 more years, this time with a green card.

    What will happen is that ALL asylum will be eliminated from the law in the near future. Biden and the Democrats could have proposed something that would have reformed the system, but what they proposed actually cemented parts of Biden’s EOs into law. Sure, the rate of admissions would have decreased, but that was not actual reform; quite the contrary.

    Kevin M (df14a9)

  335. it is clear that he is more concerned about a firearms “lethality” and recent mass shootings than any “history or tradition” of banning firearms.

    What about the history and tradition of banning particularly lethal firearms? Sawed-off shotguns, machine guns, etc.

    As I said, they just pick different history.

    Kevin M (df14a9)

  336. From Judge Wilkinson’s opinion (page 20-22)

    For our purposes, the most relevant limitation that emerged from this consideration
    of individual and societal interests is upon what arms may be kept and carried. As
    recognized in Heller, “the Second Amendment right . . . extends only to certain types of
    weapons”; it is “not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner
    whatsoever and for whatever purpose.” 554 U.S. at 623, 626. Arms typically used by
    average citizens for self-defense are generally within the ambit of the Second Amendment,
    presumably because these arms had proven over time to effectively amplify an individual’s
    power to protect himself without empowering him to singlehandedly reign terror upon a
    community. See id. at 624–25. But other weapons—variously referred to as “dangerous or
    unusual,” e.g., 4 Blackstone 148, or “dangerous and unusual,” e.g., Heller, 554 U.S. at 627;
    State v. Langford, 10 N.C. 381, 383 (1824)—could be banned without infringing upon the
    right to bear arms, see Heller, 554 U.S. at 627; Bruen, 597 U.S. at 47; 4 Blackstone 148
    49; Langford, 10 N.C. at 383–84. Such excessively dangerous arms were not reasonably
    related or proportional to the end of self-defense—but rather were better suited for
    offensive criminal or military purposes—and were thus understood to fall outside the reach
    of the right. See Heller, 554 U.S. at 627; Nat’l Ass’n for Gun Rts. v. Lamont, 685 F. Supp.
    3d 63, 102–03 (D. Conn. 2023).

    This dichotomy between these two types of arms is reflected in the concrete
    examples of exempted arms that the Supreme Court offered us in Heller. A corollary to
    “the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of ‘dangerous and unusual weapons,’”
    554 U.S. at 627, is that “the Second Amendment does not protect those weapons not
    typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes, such as short-barreled
    shotguns,” id. at 625. Further, the Court recognized that “weapons that are most useful in
    military service,” such as “M-16 rifles and the like,” can be “banned.” Id. at 627. The Heller
    Court placed such weapons of crime and war in explicit contradistinction to the handgun,
    “the quintessential self-defense weapon,” which it emphasized was squarely within the
    ambit of the Second Amendment. Id. at 629.

    What brings all the weapons beyond the scope of the Second Amendment together,
    and what separates them from the handgun, is their ability to inflict damage on a scale or
    in a manner disproportionate to the end of personal protection. As such, they are weapons
    most suitable for criminal or military use. For instance, Congress began regulating sawed
    off shotguns and short-barreled rifles after they became infamously associated with
    “notorious Prohibition-era gangsters like Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow.” Ocean State
    Tactical, LLC v. Rhode Island, 95 F.4th 38, 47 (1st Cir. 2024). These firearms “are more
    easily concealable than long-barreled rifles but have more destructive power than
    traditional handguns,” making them particularly desirable to malefactors and crooks. U.S.
    Dep’t of Just., Justice Department Announces New Rule to Address Stabilizing Braces,
    Accessories Used to Convert Pistols into Short-Barreled Rifles (Jan. 13, 2023); see also
    Carson v. State, 247 S.E.2d 68, 73 (Ga. 1978) (upholding ban on sawed-off shotguns and
    noting they “are of a size such as can easily be concealed and which are adapted to and
    commonly used for criminal purposes”); State v. LaChapelle, 451 N.W.2d 689, 691 (Neb.
    1990) (holding states may regulate sawed-off shotguns as “a weapon which is used almost
    exclusively for a criminal purpose”). And the M16 was adopted by the U.S. Army as the
    standard-issue infantry rifle “due to its phenomenal lethality and reliability, as well as its
    increased ability to penetrate helmets and body armor.” Lamont, 685 F. Supp. 3d at 101
    (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Kolbe, 849 F.3d at 124.

    Plenty of history about lethal weapons and statutes banning them. Of course, he handwaves the connection to AR-15s, but it not unreasonable to say that the weapons have been used in mass casualty attacks. Denying that is impossible. A better approach is to demonstrate that the weapons ARE useful in self-defense and are employed that way far more often than the more publicized attacks.

    For home defense, I’d prefer a handgun. Or maybe a short-barreled shotgun which was designed as a close-quarters weapon. Any long gun, and particularly one that will go through 3 walls, is not idea for home defense.

    Kevin M (b56396)

  337. Plenty of history about lethal weapons and statutes banning them.

    Most of the citations are from the 20th or 21st century; no discussion of firearm regulation at the time the Second Amendment was written or in subsequent decades.

    Aren’t weapons supposed to be “lethal”?

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  338. What about the history and tradition of banning particularly lethal firearms? Sawed-off shotguns, machine guns, etc.

    As I said, they just pick different history.

    Kevin M (df14a9) — 6/3/2025 @ 12:36 pm

    Those bans should be overturned in due course.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  339. @Rip@342 There were a lot of gun laws in the West in the 19th century. Mostly of the no guns in town variety, but also sometimes about the sorts of guns allowed.

    Nic (120c94)

  340. Family of Colorado firebomber held by ICE for deportation. Apparently, the entire family entered on a tourist visa in the recent past.

    Federal authorities said Tuesday that they had taken into custody the family of the man accused of injuring at least a dozen people at a Colorado demonstration to support Israeli hostages in Gaza and that they are expediting their deportation from the United States.

    The White House and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem said on social media that Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Mohamed Sabry Soliman’s wife and five children two days after he allegedly used molotov cocktails to attack marchers in Boulder. Noem said the agency was investigating “to what extent his family knew about the heinous attack” and “if they provided support.”

    On its X account, the White House wrote that the family had been placed in expedited removal proceedings and that “THEY COULD BE DEPORTED AS EARLY AS TONIGHT.”

    There is some dispute about the legality of this move, of course.

    Kevin M (04ae02)

  341. Most of the citations are from the 20th or 21st century

    You said “no history”, now it’s the wrong sort of history. Which is basically my point about the inadequacy of Thomas’ test.

    Kevin M (04ae02)

  342. Those bans should be overturned in due course.

    Since a short-barrel shotgun is a decent home defense weapon, especially for the aim-challenged, I could see that being overturned. It makes more sense than an AR-15 in a sheetrock house.

    Kevin M (04ae02)

  343. Hegseth orders Navy strip oiler ship USNS Harvey Milk of name

    They waited to do it during Pride month…

    Dave (a8f32e)

  344. @348 Pride month celebrates the stonewall riots of june 1969 It is the text book case of how you deal with those who say never when you say now! The first night when lesbian Marlyn Fowler fought back and forced the gay men to join her. By the end of the first night a hundred cops were battling hundreds of gays and their supporters. The next night a hundred police officers marched to the stonewall bar as gays thru change at them for being on the take. (see movie prince of the city) At the end of the second night nearly a thousand police officers were fighting with a crowed of thousands. (gay and anti war protesters joining in.) The third night 5,000 police marched to the stonewall bar ;but now the news media was reporting on the riots and their were over 15,000/20,000 ready to fight with more coming to join. Law enforcement saw they were out numbered by people ready to fight. and said lets negotiate this! That was the start of gay civil rights.

    asset (6868cb)

  345. There is some dispute about the legality of this move, of course.

    I doubt any of his kids were born in America, and his wife had to be complicit or had knowledge of his year-long effort to shoot flames at Jews. I’m not having kittens over deporting the rest of his family.

    Paul Montagu (cc41fa)

  346. If one of the kids was born in America, and is still a minor, should the mother be able to decide if that child will go with her if she is deported? Or should the American citizen child stay here if NeverTrump/Democrats decree it so?

    BuDuh (a0915c)

  347. Or should the American citizen child stay here if NeverTrump/Democrats decree it so?

    “Decree”? Unserious.

    Paul Montagu (cc41fa)

  348. I’m glad we agree, Paul.

    I never understood why people wanted to separate that one child from her deported mother. It was very unserious. This is good progress. 👍

    BuDuh (c85533)

  349. Isn’t the point, BuDuh, that’s up to the parents, not Trump’s decree*, whether to keep their American children in America or take them with, no?
    That choice was denied the father of VML.

    It’s weird that you’re tying to dishonestly couple NeverTrump with Democrats. It’s practically trollish.

    * “an official order issued by a legal authority”
    –Oxford

    Paul Montagu (cc41fa)

  350. @Rip@342 There were a lot of gun laws in the West in the 19th century. Mostly of the no guns in town variety, but also sometimes about the sorts of guns allowed.

    Nic (120c94) — 6/3/2025 @ 8:16 pm

    So what? If the courts don’t cite them in their rulings to support their arguments they’re irrelevant.

    Most of the citations are from the 20th or 21st century

    You said “no history”, now it’s the wrong sort of history. Which is basically my point about the inadequacy of Thomas’ test.

    Kevin M (04ae02) — 6/3/2025 @ 9:45 pm

    It’s not “the wrong sort of history” it’s irrelevant history. 20th and 21st century laws and court decisions have nothing to say about the Founders’ understanding of the Second Amendment when it was written and how the states implemented that understanding.

    Rip Murdock (27f597)

  351. and his wife had to be complicit or had knowledge of his year-long effort to shoot flames at Jews

    In the middle-east, muslim women are rarely considered equals by their partners, and I think it would be out of character to involve the wife in a matter outside the home.

    I think you’re making unsupported assumptions. It’s possible, but the fact he left a recording behind explaining his crime to his family is evidence to the contrary.

    It’s inevitable that they’ll be deported, regardless.

    Dave (1725ea)

  352. @356 “in a matter outside the home”

    LOL

    lloyd (1fecd2)

  353. If one of the kids was born in America, and is still a minor

    Reports said they are all Egyptian citizens, here on tourist visas.

    Kevin M (a9545f)

  354. Anecdotally, the guy’s family seems to have been well thought of (from NYT):

    Mr. Soliman’s daughter was profiled in The Colorado Springs Gazette as part of a series on high-achieving students who were eligible for college scholarships. In the story, the daughter said she dreamed of going to medical school. She said she had been inspired, in part, by a “difficult surgery” her father had undergone “that restored his ability to walk.”

    […]

    On Monday in Colorado Springs, no one appeared to be home at Mr. Soliman’s apartment. A Jewish neighbor who moved in across the street two weeks ago said that the woman who lived with Mr. Soliman was very friendly and had brought her cupcakes to welcome her.

    The neighbor, who did not want to be identified because she was concerned for her safety, said she had never seen or met the husband. But she said she was unnerved by the news of the attack, considering that she had hung a Star of David on her front door.

    Dave (1725ea)

  355. It’s not “the wrong sort of history” it’s irrelevant history.

    Pretty sure that Thomas’s test did not limit the discussion to the Founders’ era. “History and tradition” of gun laws encompasses more recent history, particularly as firearms are not the same as in the Founders’ era.

    The evolution of American gun regulations — and Bruen and Heller both state that there could be some regulation — follows the evolution of firearms themselves. What the Bruen test attempts to do is identify outliers — regulations that are different in kind, scope or degree from longstanding and/or common regulations.

    The National Firearms Act of 1934 specifically limited the types of weapons that were available to the public. It is a historic marker for weapons that are deemed “too dangerous” as well as those that are presumed to be “safe.” Did you know that the NRA signed off on that?

    So, you have the historic semi-auto M1911 protecting all modern semi-auto handguns, and possibly those with larger magazines — there are 1911 versions with 12 rounds of .45ACP, which has a phenomenal capacity for force projection. And you have “machine guns” like the Thompson assigning all automatic weapons to the forbidden list.

    This is what the history and tradition test has as a modern basis. Don’t like that, tough.

    But what it WILL do is strike down things like California’s handgun registry, where handguns that don’t have “loaded” indicators or have barrels that are “too short” or hold too many rounds are disallowed. These are all modern legal inventions and cannot pass Thomas’ test. The too many rounds thing is also perverse. If I can only have 10 rounds, they aren’t going to be some wussy .30 things. They’re going to be the nastiest .45 I can find. I suspect that’s what they’ll outlaw next.

    Where does the AR-15 fall? I’d say the judge got it wrong and semi-auto weapons are historically allowed (as they are in 40-some states today). But the judge did cite history and tradition. He bent it to his goal, but he did follow the required forms.

    Kevin M (a9545f)

  356. It’s inevitable that they’ll be deported, regardless.

    Even if they were not, they’d find extending their visa quite difficult.

    Kevin M (a9545f)

  357. I note that California has decided not to defend their regulation that handguns have the fantasy feature called “microstamping.”

    Kevin M (a9545f)

  358. Whether the NRA endorsed the National Firearms Act in 1934 is irrelevant. In Bruen, the Court provided a framework for assessing “history and tradition”:

    Throughout the majority opinion, the Court provided further guideposts as to what sort of historical evidence would be most valuable, cautioning, among other things, against reading too much into early English law that did not necessarily survive[] to become our Founders’ law or ascribing too much significance to post-enactment history, at least where that history was inconsistent with the original meaning of the constitutional text. The majority declined to weigh in on whether the prevailing historical understanding for analytical purposes should be pegged to when the Second Amendment was adopted in 1791 or when the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868, as the majority opinion concluded that the public understanding was the same at both points for relevant purposes with respect to public carry.

    With framework and guidance in place, the majority opinion turned to its historical analysis, assessing whether a variety of laws from England and the United States proffered by the respondents met the burden of establishing that New York’s laws were consistent with the country’s historical tradition of firearms regulation. Ultimately, the majority concluded that the respondents did not meet the burden to identify an American tradition justifying the State’s proper-cause requirement. While acknowledging that history reflected restrictions on public carry, which limited the intent for which one could carry arms, the manner by which one carried arms, or the particular circumstances under which one could not carry arms, the majority opinion concluded that American governments simply have not broadly prohibited the public carry of commonly used firearms for personal defense or made public carry contingent on a showing of a special need.18 The few historical laws that the majority viewed as extending that far were, according to the opinion, late-in-time outliers.

    Source. Footnotes omitted.

    Using 20th and 21st century laws and court decisions as sources of “history and tradition” are “late-in-time outliers.” They have very little relevance to what the Founders and states thought the Second Amendment meant throughout American history.

    Again, Wilkinson’s Fourth Circuit opinion regarding Maryland’s ban on AR-15s lacked any historic analysis about firearm possession, as your quote above indicates; it focused on “dangerous and unusual weapons”, a historic analysis that is irrelevant to whether ordinary, law abiding citizens can possess such firearms.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  359. Pretty sure that Thomas’s test did not limit the discussion to the Founders’ era. “History and tradition” of gun laws encompasses more recent history, particularly as firearms are not the same as in the Founders’ era.

    As noted above, Thomas’ majority opinion “declined to weigh in on whether the prevailing historical understanding for analytical purposes should be pegged to when the Second Amendment was adopted in 1791 or when the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868” which pretty much eliminates the 20th century as a source of “history and tradition.”

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  360. Kevin M (a9545f) — 6/4/2025 @ 8:48 am

    Embrace the power of “If” when it is used in a hypothetical and you will have more free time to be an expert in everything else, Kevin.

    BuDuh (a0915c)

  361. That choice was denied the father of VML.

    Paul Montagu (cc41fa) — 6/4/2025 @ 7:19 am

    So if the Colorado Man asks for the hypothetical citizen child to remain in America, and not be deported as the mother requested, you would hope that the government kept the child here?

    BuDuh (a0915c)

  362. Thomas’ majority opinion “declined to weigh in on…”

    Bruen was about personal carry, not about types of arms. The “history and tradition” of carrying firearms is much the same regardless of whether they are flintlock pistols or modern Glocks. The NY law did not differentiate, and neither does the history of limiting public carry.

    The difference between 1791 and 1868 is pretty clear: Far more people in 1868 were considered citizens and access to arms was easier in 1868. Thomas is pretty keen on that aspect. He views restrictions on who can have a gun through the prism of Jim Crow and the 1870-1890 judicial negation of the “privileges or immunities” clause of the 14th.

    But the history of firearms TYPES is hardly as static as the history of firearms CARRY. Reading Bruen as limiting the “history and tradition” test in a non-static category of regulations, to the same rules as an historically static set, is really not very convincing.

    Kevin M (a9545f)

  363. Embrace the power of “If” when it is used in a hypothetical and you will have more free time to be an expert in everything else, Kevin.

    You’re the one using “if.” I see no reason to make this a hypothetical.

    The gratuitous slam noted.

    Kevin M (a9545f)

  364. I used the “if” in a hypothetical. You countered the hypothetical by introducing an irrelevant fact. Is that not obvious?

    BuDuh (a0915c)

  365. So if the Colorado Man asks for the hypothetical citizen child to remain in America, and not be deported as the mother requested, you would hope that the government kept the child here?

    Two words: Elián González. Where it was done the other way.

    Kevin M (a9545f)

  366. I used the “if” in a hypothetical.

    And I refused to play.

    Kevin M (a9545f)

  367. Elián González was born in America and an American citizen.

    BuDuh (a0915c)

  368. Kevin M (a9545f) — 6/4/2025 @ 10:31 am

    Derp

    BuDuh (a0915c)

  369. OK, but he was still deported despite his father’s objections [image].

    Kevin M (a9545f)

  370. Derp

    Now we call names? What a powerful debating technique you have.

    Kevin M (a9545f)

  371. Sorry.. not playing your game.

    BuDuh (a0915c)

  372. New topic:

    Musk turns up the criticism of Trump and his BBB.

    “Gee, Elon, what a fine car company you have. Be terrible if something happened to it.”

    Kevin M (a9545f)

  373. Elián González was born in America and an American citizen.

    Elián González was born in Cárdenas, Cuba.

    On November 21, 1999, Elián’s mother, her partner, and Elián fled Cuba by boat as part of a group of refugees attempting to reach the United States.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  374. Rip. You magnificent ________!!! I am proud of you!

    It was probably possible for you to understand why I made that comment, but you went with your instinct instead.

    Keep being you. It is awesome! 👍

    BuDuh (a0915c)

  375. Keep being you. It is something! 💩

    Kevin M (a9545f)

  376. Kevin agrees, Rip. 🥳

    BuDuh (a0915c)

  377. The Morning Midas departed China for Mexico on May 26, carrying roughly 3,000 vehicles, including around 800 electric cars. But eight days into its 19-day voyage, just after midnight UTC (7:00 p.m. EST) on June 3, smoke was spotted billowing from one of the decks. UK-based shipowner Zodiac Maritime has since confirmed that the fire originated in the section of the vessel carrying electric vehicles.

    Firefighting Efforts Failed to Contain the Blaze

    “The crew immediately initiated emergency firefighting procedures using the vessel’s onboard fire-suppression systems,” said Zodiac Maritime, the car-carrier’s owner, per Lloyd’s List. “However, despite their efforts, the situation could not be brought under control.”

    After contacting the US coast guard the 22-man crew decided to abandon ship, jumping into the lifeboat, after which they were picked up by a nearby merchant ship. With the fire still burning at the time of writing the condition of the thousands of cars still onboard is unknown.

    This is far from the first time a boat carrying EVs has caught fire at sea. Three years ago another ship, this one loaded with 4,000 cars, including Porsche, Bentley and Lamborghini models went up in flames in the Atlantic. Attempts were made to tow the Felicity Ace to safety but after burning for two weeks the boat capsized and sank near the Azores

    Cargo Ship Vanished In Smoke With 3,000 Cars And EVs Still Trapped Below Deck

    BuDuh (a0915c)

  378. They waited to do it during Pride month…
    Dave (a8f32e) — 6/3/2025 @ 9:57 pm

    Harvey Milk, who raped a 16 year old boy.

    When would be the right time, Dave?

    lloyd (fb630f)

  379. Kevin agrees, Rip.

    Rip may infuriate me at times, but I don’t think I’ve ever called him names or been intentionally rude.

    Kevin M (a5bffb)

  380. High school is forced to apologize and pay up to student they suspended for using term ‘illegal alien’ in class

    An American teen suspended for using the term ‘illegal alien’ in class has finally received justice after his school was forced to apologize and pay out a massive $20,000 settlement.

    The year-long free speech saga came to an end after a North Carolina district school board agreed to wipe the suspension off the record of Christian McGhee, who was a 16-year-old when his case was first thrust into the national spotlight by President Donald Trump.

    The then-sophomore at Central Davidson High School in Lexington, a suburb north of Charlotte, asked his English teacher whether she was referring to ‘space aliens or illegal aliens who need green cards’ during a vocabulary lesson on April 9, 2024.

    He was suspended from school for three days for ‘making a racially insensitive remark that caused a class disturbance,’ according to the lawsuit filed by his parents.

    Under the settlement, the school will be required to make a virtual apology to McGhee for the punishment. If the settlement is approved by the court, both parties have agreed not to record or publicly discuss the confidential apology.

    lloyd (fb630f)

  381. An arrest in the Palm Springs IVF clinic bombing:

    A man was charged with providing material support to a terrorist in connection with last month’s car explosion that damaged a fertility clinic and other businesses in Palm Springs, Calif., law-enforcement officials said.

    Daniel Park, of Kent, Wash., supplied 270 pounds of ammonium nitrate to the man accused of carrying out the bombing, said Bill Essayli, U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. Guy Edward Bartkus, 25 years old, died carrying out the attack that injured four people.

    Park, 32, fled to Poland after the attack, Essayli said. Law-enforcement officials in Poland detained him and deported him to the U.S., he said. He was arrested Tuesday by U.S. officials at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
    ………
    Park spent two weeks with Bartkus at his home in Twentynine Palms, Calif., in January and February, Essayli said. They were “running experiments in Bartkus’s garage where the FBI recovered large quantities of chemical precursors and laboratory equipment,” he said.
    ………
    Authorities said Bartkus and Park, who met online, both shared an anti-natalist ideology, which argues against procreation on moral grounds. …….

    After the bombing, federal agents raided Park’s home in Washington, where they found materials to make explosives and recipes for bombs, according to a criminal complaint released Wednesday. One of the recipes was the same explosive mixture that was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the complaint said.
    ………..

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  382. Best and final offers:

    The Trump administration wants countries to provide their best offer on trade negotiations by Wednesday (today) as officials seek to accelerate talks with multiple partners ahead of a self-imposed deadline in just five weeks, according to a draft letter to negotiating partners seen by Reuters.
    ………..
    The document suggests an urgency within the administration to complete deals against its own tight deadline. While officials such as White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett have repeatedly promised that several agreements were nearing completion, so far only one agreement has been reached with a major U.S. trading partner: Britain. Even that limited pact was more akin to a framework for ongoing talks than a final deal.

    In the draft, the U.S. is asking countries to list their best proposals in a number of key areas, including tariff and quota offers for purchase of U.S. industrial and agricultural products and plans to remedy any non-tariff barriers.

    Other requested items include any commitments on digital trade and economic security, along with country-specific commitments, according to the letter.

    The U.S. will evaluate the responses within days and offer “a possible landing zone” that could include a reciprocal tariff rate, according to the letter.
    …………
    The draft letter to trading partners warns them not to believe the tariffs will be sidelined if the court rules against Trump’s use of the IEEPA.

    “Regardless of ongoing litigation concerning the President’s reciprocal tariff action in U.S. courts, the President intends to continue this tariff program pursuant to other robust legal authorities if necessary, so it is important that we continue our discussions on these matters,” the draft says.
    ###########

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  383. Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker:

    https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/06/09/unforgiving-places-jens-ludwig-book-review?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Daily_Free_060325&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&utm_term=tny_daily_digest&bxid=5bea0ae624c17c6adf15d819&cndid=43419736&hasha=cce09050cbdd152300b2f2a836abe330&hashb=6a78e60f496fa440f7313bc48231bd66ebe21168&hashc=4effd181cc9e609cb49930cec222478c2728b4bb60586d610cdb45488bd38430&esrc=bx_multi1st_dailyext&mbid=CRMNYR012019

    When, for example, David Weisburd and Lawrence Sherman made the observation a generation ago that crime was concentrated geographically—that a tiny percentage of urban blocks accounted for an overwhelming number of a city’s crimes, that those same few blocks remained violent year after year, and that this observation was true everywhere —their findings shocked many. People didn’t believe them at first….

    How can this be a surprise? Everyone knew this. There is the term “bad neighborhood” This shows you is wrong with the humanities and with “science in that field.

    These “people” must have been really living in an ivory tower or were covering up.

    The cause is differential law enforcement, and the reason some people commit crimes more than others is differential association.

    Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09)

  384. Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 6/3/2025 @ 11:51 am

    Iran will never get a better deal:

    Iran’s supreme leader effectively rejected a U.S. proposal that allows temporary uranium enrichment in the country before ending it completely, forcing the White House to reconsider its approach as tensions mount over Iran’s nuclear program.

    Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaking Wednesday on the anniversary of the death of his predecessor, said the recent U.S. offer to Iran to resolve the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program breached Tehran’s principles of independence.

    “To the American side and others we say: Why are you interfering and trying to say whether Iran should have uranium enrichment or not? That’s none of your business,” Khamenei said on X.
    …………
    Last week, President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff submitted what U.S. officials called a term sheet to Tehran, which one U.S. official said allows Iran to enrich a limited amount of uranium for a period of time before phasing it out.

    Iran is in the process of responding formally to the U.S. offer, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday. Khamenei is the country’s decision maker on security matters and his comments on Wednesday are the clearest indication of Iran’s likely formal response.
    ………….
    Under the proposal, the U.S. would help foster the creation of enrichment facilities managed by a consortium of regional countries, according to the U.S. official and a person briefed by Iran’s negotiating team.

    Meanwhile, Iran would be able to enrich small amounts of uranium at an overground site. But Iran would have to stop all enrichment in the country once the consortium is up and running.

    Iran would have to render its current underground enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordow inoperable up front under the proposal, the U.S. official said. That would shutter the vast bulk of Iran’s centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium.

    Some Iranian officials have expressed openness to a consortium but have said any enrichment must continue in Iran and under its control. Iranian officials have long insisted Tehran’s enrichment program isn’t up for negotiations.
    ………..
    ………..Western powers are on a collision course with Tehran at the U.N. atomic agency, which could put further pressure on the negotiations.

    Last weekend, the International Atomic Energy Agency circulated a long-awaited report on Iran’s stalling over a six-year-old probe into undeclared nuclear material found in Iran.

    European diplomats in Vienna say they plan to push ahead with a resolution at the IAEA board of governors meeting next week declaring Iran in noncompliance with its basic nuclear safeguards obligations, a step that could push the issue to the attention of the U.N. Security Council for a response. The U.S. is expected to back the move, a senior diplomat said Wednesday.

    Britain, France and Germany have said this could be the next step in their threat to reimpose all the international sanctions lifted on Iran under the 2015 nuclear deal.
    ………….

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  385. https://www.newser.com/story/360824/inside-a-mysterious-scandalous-art-heist.html

    A famous picture of Winston Churchill. It was discovered replaced and later recovered.

    Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09)

  386. Lovely:
    https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/04/us/boulder-colorado-terror-attack

    A federal judge issued an order Wednesday to prevent the deportation of the wife and five children of an Egyptian man charged in the firebomb attack in Boulder, Colorado.

    U.S. District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher granted a request from the family of Mohamed Sabry Soliman to halt deportation proceedings of his wife and five children who were taken into federal custody Tuesday by U.S. immigration officials.

    The family members have not been charged in the attack. Soliman faces federal hate crime charges and state charges of attempted murder in the Sunday attack in downtown Boulder.

    AP is trash.

    This judge is a radical Biden Judge.

    The entire family overstayed their visa.

    whembly (1edd17)

  387. U.S. judge issues order stopping the deportation of Boulder suspect’s family
    ……….
    U.S. District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher granted a request from the family of Mohamed Sabry Soliman to halt deportation proceedings of his wife and five children who were taken into federal custody Tuesday by U.S. immigration officials.
    ……….
    U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said Wednesday that they are being processed for removal proceedings. It’s rare that family members of a person accused of a crime are detained and threatened with deportation.
    ……….
    “We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it,” Noem said in a statement.

    Noem also said federal authorities will immediately crack down on people who overstay their visas in response to the Boulder attack
    ……….
    Soliman arrived in the U.S. in August 2022 on a tourist visa that expired in February 2023, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a post on X. She said Soliman filed for asylum in September 2022 and was granted a work authorization in March 2023, but that has also expired.
    ……….

    The problem with deporting visa overstayers is finding them. Relative to the total number of illegal immigrants, their number is small. According the Customs and Border Protection (CPB), in 2023 (the most recent available data):

    CBP identified 39,005,71219 in-scope (“in-scope” includes the following categories of nonimmigrant admissions: temporary workers and families ……., students, exchange visitors, temporary visitors for pleasure, temporary visitors for business, and other nonimmigrant classes of admission) nonimmigrants who were expected to depart the United States via air or sea in FY 2023. The FY 2023 nonimmigrant travel data identified a Suspected In-Country Overstay rate of 1.31 percent (510,363) and a total overstay rate of 1.45 percent (565,155) out of the overall expected departures of in-scope travelers in FY 2023.
    ………..
    In FY 2023, CBP calculated that there were 16,146,989 B1, B2, Waiver-Business (WB), and Waiver-Tourist (WT) expected departures for citizens of (Visa Waiver Program) VWP countries. The FY 2023 VWP countries’ total overstay rate is 0.62 percent of the VWP countries expected departures, and the Suspected In-Country Overstay rate is 0.54 percent of the VWP countries expected departures.
    ……….
    For non-VWP countries in FY 2023 (excluding Canada and Mexico), CBP calculated 9,810,543 expected departures. The FY 2023 non-VWP total overstay rate is 3.2 percent of the non-VWP expected departures, and the Suspected In-Country Overstay rate is 3.04 percent of the non-VWP expected departures.

    In FY 2023, CBP calculated a total of 1,345,378 students and exchange visitors who were expected to change status or depart the United States. ……. The total overstay rate (i.e., both Suspected In-Country and Out-of-Country Overstays) for students and exchange visitors in FY 2023 is 3.65 percent of the total number of students and exchange visitors who were expected to have changed status or departed from the United States in FY 2023.
    ………..
    In FY 2023, for all other in-scope non-VWP classes of admission, CBP calculated 760,047 expected departures. The FY 2023 all other in-scope non-VWP total overstay rate is 2.99 percent of all other in-scope non-VWP expected departures, and the Suspected InCountry Overstay rate is 2.22 of all other in-scope non-VWP expected departures.

    Entry/Exit Overstay Report Fiscal Year 2023. The report’s tables include a breakdown by country. The data is derived from the number of travelers arriving by air or sea. Unlike all other countries, the majority of travelers from Canada or Mexico enter the United States by land.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  388. So how does ICE divide up the family’s possessions? Who gets the lady’s wedding ring and who gets the kids’ clothes?

    Does ICE cut their hair to sell to wigmakers before they “shower” and change into their striped pajamas?

    nk (f97382)

  389. The entire family overstayed their visa.

    No they didn’t.

    They applied for asylum and were waiting for a decision.

    Dave (1725ea)

  390. Trump looking for peace deal with Iran. Israel and sen. schumer say no! Is schumer representing new york who doesn’t want war or Israel (bibi) who does? AOC 2028.

    asset (dd42e1)

  391. The timeline as we know it:

    August 2022: Arrived with a 6-month tourist visa

    September 2022: Applied for asylum; their visa had not yet expired. Once their asylum application went in, they could not leave the country without invalidating the application.

    March 2023: Granted work permit; the work permit was granted exactly 6 months after the asylum application, which is the waiting period the asylum statute requires.

    March 2025: Work permit expired.

    June 2025: According to DHS, their asylum application was still pending.

    Dave (1725ea)

  392. Migrants flown to El Salvador under Alien Enemies Act must be allowed to challenge their removal, federal judge rules

    A group of migrants the Trump administration sent to a mega-prison in El Salvador earlier this year must now have an opportunity to challenge their removal under the Alien Enemies Act, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

    The ruling from US District Judge James Boasberg said that US officials had “improperly” loaded the migrants on to flights in mid-March and sent them to El Salvador’s CECOT prison without giving them a chance to challenge their designation as “alien enemies” subject to President Donald Trump’s use of the sweeping 18th century wartime law.

    As a result, Boasberg wrote, officials must find a way to “facilitate” the migrants’ “ability to proceed through habeas and ensure that their cases are handled as they would have been if the Government had not provided constitutionally inadequate process.”

    […]

    “Absent this relief, the Government could snatch anyone off the street, turn him over to a foreign country, and then effectively foreclose any corrective course of action,” Boasberg wrote.

    Dave (1725ea)

  393. both parties have agreed not to record or publicly discuss the confidential apology.

    Yeah, sure. “We’re sorry that we overreacted to your racist screed.”

    Kevin M (ba5c88)

  394. “To the American side and others we say: Why are you interfering and trying to say whether Iran should have uranium enrichment or not? That’s none of your business,” Khamenei said on X.

    They signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and got aid in constructing their nuclear industry in return. Their independence on this matter ended the day they signed.

    Kevin M (ba5c88)

  395. June 2025: According to DHS, their asylum application was still pending.

    Imagine how fast that will move now.

    Kevin M (ba5c88)

  396. “To the American side and others we say: Why are you interfering and trying to say whether Iran should have uranium enrichment or not? That’s none of your business,” Khamenei said on X.

    They signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and got aid in constructing their nuclear industry in return. Their independence on this matter ended the day they signed.

    Kevin M (ba5c88) — 6/4/2025 @ 4:54 pm

    Iran can just as easily walk away from the NNPT. There are no consequences from doing so, except that outside nations will impose sanctions.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  397. > Absent this relief, the Government could snatch anyone off the street, turn him over to a foreign country, and then effectively foreclose any corrective course of action

    Exactly. This is a power the government *wants* and which it *must not have*… because if it does, then *nobody* is safe.

    aphrael (88711f)

  398. Trump Administration imposes new travel ban:

    ………..
    The ban, which Trump signed on Wednesday evening, will completely bar travel to the U.S. by citizens of the following countries: Afghanistan, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Chad, The Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

    Citizens from an additional list of countries will be barred from permanently immigrating to the U.S., along with applying for tourist or student visas. Those countries are Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. Citizens from these seven countries will still be eligible for other temporary visas, such as the H-1B or other temporary work visas.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  399. They signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and got aid in constructing their nuclear industry in return. Their independence on this matter ended the day they signed.

    The treaty prohibits manufacture of nuclear weapons, and requires safeguards to verify compliance.

    It does not prohibit uranium enrichment.

    Dave (b1d5bc)

  400. @396

    The timeline as we know it:

    August 2022: Arrived with a 6-month tourist visa

    No, Dave, we know more than this.

    2005: Applied for a visa and the Bush administration denied it.

    It took an anti-American and anti-Semitic Biden administration to let him into the country and terrorize law abiding citizens. Now that he and his family are all here, they get all the rights and privileges they never should’ve had.

    lloyd (b132a5)

  401. The same “anti-Semitic” Biden administration that committed US forces to combat in the defense of Israel, not once, but twice?

    Dave (b1d5bc)

  402. Trump banning foreigners from entering U.S. to study at Harvard

    President Donald Trump is preventing foreigners from entering the United States to study at Harvard University, according to an executive order announced Wednesday night.

    […]

    It’s the latest salvo in the battle between the Trump administration and Harvard, including over the school’s ability to host international students. Last month, the Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard’s access to the Student Exchange Visa Program, through which foreign students are admitted to the country, but a federal judge quickly blocked the move.

    Dave (b1d5bc)

  403. @406 LOL Yes, Dave, the anti-Semitic Biden administration filled with Hamas-supporting State department employees, which refused to fire Hamas supporters in DHS, and which leaked war plans to Iran. Were you thinking of s different Biden administration?

    lloyd (b132a5)

  404. The same anti-Semitic Biden administration which refused to do anything about Jewish students threatened for just walking on campus and prevented from going to class.

    lloyd (b132a5)

  405. @402 I like it! I will prepare a list of undesirables to be sent cuba, venezuela and Iran for AOC and Jasmine crockett for 2028.

    asset (1fd340)

  406. Trump orders sweeping probe into Biden’s presidency and aides who controlled autopen during his cognitive decline

    President Donald Trump ordered a massive investigation into the use of the autopen during Joe Biden’s four years as president and into the aides who may have wielded it on official documents.

    Trump, citing Biden’s declining mental and physical health during his White House years, called the use of the autopen a ‘dangerous’ conspiracy and misuse of executive power.

    He also ordered a probe into which Biden aides may have worked to shield the then-president’s mental and physical condition to the public.

    lloyd (b132a5)

  407. @408 Former P.L.O. spokeswoman Nejwa Ali was hired by the Trump administration.

    Supposedly anti-Semitic DHS director Alejandro Majorkas is Jewish, and his mother’s family of Rumanian Jews fled the Nazis and barely escaped the Holocaust.

    State Department employees expressing unease with thousands of civilian deaths is not “Hamas-supporting”. Or is it your position that the actions of Israel’s government require the absolute and unquestioning approval of every American?

    Dave (b1d5bc)

  408. @412

    “Former P.L.O. spokeswoman Nejwa Ali was hired by the Trump administration.”

    She was fired by the Trump administration after Biden gave her paid leave for 16 months. Hiring her was a mistake. Biden refusing to fire her was intentional. Anti-semitism is an act of intent, not error.

    “Supposedly anti-Semitic DHS director Alejandro Majorkas is Jewish”

    So what. So were kapos.

    ‘State Department employees expressing unease with thousands of civilian deaths is not “Hamas-supporting”.’

    They weren’t expressing unease. They were opposing US support of Israel while it’s citizens were held hostage.

    “Or is it your position that the actions of Israel’s government require the absolute and unquestioning approval of every American?”

    Switch “Israel” to “Ukraine” and answer that question. I don’t unquestioningly approve either.

    lloyd (b132a5)

  409. …and not be deported as the mother requested…

    You don’t even know if any of their kids is-are citizens.

    Paul Montagu (7eb32e)

  410. Police quickly suspected a man detained by ICE was framed for Trump death threat. Then Kristi Noem accused him of the crime.

    Within a day of Ramón Morales-Reyes’ arrest, investigators had concluded he almost certainly was not the person responsible for writing a letter threatening to shoot President Donald Trump.

    But that did nothing to prevent Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem from touting his arrest, releasing his photo and sharing a copy of the handwritten letter on social media six days later.

    The arrest of Morales-Reyes, a 54-year-old Mexican immigrant living in Milwaukee, sparked intense scrutiny from the start.

    He was arrested after dropping off his daughter at school, once considered a sensitive location where immigration arrests should be avoided under earlier administrations. The Trump administration reversed that guidance in January.

    After Noem issued the news release, Morales-Reyes’ attorneys and family said it was impossible for him to have penned the letter, given his lack of proficiency writing in either English or Spanish.

    On June 2, Milwaukee County prosecutors charged someone else with sending the letters. The suspect, Demetric Scott, confessed to forging the letters in the hopes Morales-Reyes would be deported and unavailable to testify against him in a separate robbery case, according to a criminal complaint.

    As of June 4, Noem’s original statement that described Morales-Reyes as an “illegal alien who threatened to assassinate President Trump” remained online without any correction or additional information.

    Here is a timeline of how the case unfolded, based on court records, and what is coming next:

    Colonel Klink (ret) (9dbb75)

  411. Karine jean-pierre says she cant find a job and is writing a book because she is a black lesbian. Can we give Karine some coding advice for future employment?

    asset (1fd340)

  412. For years I have pointed out how corporate establishment democrats are donor class stooges who stand for nothing and when the donor class says jump they ask how high. They hate Bernie Sanders, AOC, David Hogg or any other progressive populist who threatens the corporate deep states donor class. The left knew that they would be the scape goat so held their nose and supported biden so the establishment has know one to blame for biden ;but themselves. The democrat corporate establishment know the donor class will not tolerate them going economic populism and social justice just cost them the election so they jump around singing and dancing terrified of being primaried.

    asset (1fd340)

  413. Paul Montagu (7eb32e) — 6/4/2025 @ 9:25 pm

    It was a hypothetical exercise. It didn’t pan out. Oh well.

    BuDuh (25e573)

  414. Did Demetric Scott make up this part of the DHS statement on the Wisconsin Man?

    Morales entered the U.S. illegally at least nine times between 1998-2005. His criminal record includes arrests for felony hit and run, criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct with a domestic abuse modifier.

    Hopefully a high power law firm can help him.

    BuDuh (25e573)

  415. Counterfeit coin has always been the MAGA currency, but nothing rings more hollow than Trump’s guttersnipe crew of fools and grifters claiming to be against anti-Semitism.

    nk (bb1548)

  416. It was a hypothetical exercise. It didn’t pan out. Oh well.

    One, the issue was about the mother’s choice–not Trump’s–to keep her American child in the US. Unlike the VML situation, the father forfeited that choice because he’s a terrorist and will be behind bars for decades.

    Two, I advise avoiding hypotheticals as much as possible.

    Paul Montagu (7eb32e)

  417. Be patient, nk. Every Jew is destined to have their “coming to Jesus” moment.

    lloyd (f6d841)

  418. the father forfeited that choice because he’s a terrorist and will be behind bars for decades.

    Is there a minimum legal problem the father can have that would also forfeit that choice?

    BuDuh (25e573)

  419. Epstein, Nellie Ohr, the Colorado terrorist.

    The most transparent, honest and pro American FBI we’ve ever had.

    Kudos to Patel, Bongino, and Bondi. A great start.

    lloyd (f6d841)

  420. @411

    Trump orders sweeping probe into Biden’s presidency and aides who controlled autopen during his cognitive decline

    President Donald Trump ordered a massive investigation into the use of the autopen during Joe Biden’s four years as president and into the aides who may have wielded it on official documents.

    Trump, citing Biden’s declining mental and physical health during his White House years, called the use of the autopen a ‘dangerous’ conspiracy and misuse of executive power.

    He also ordered a probe into which Biden aides may have worked to shield the then-president’s mental and physical condition to the public.

    lloyd (b132a5) — 6/4/2025 @ 8:41 pm

    I mean, it’ll be good to determine exactly what happened… but, I doubt there’s any recourse here, even if they can 100% prove that Biden didn’t know what he was signing.

    whembly (fd4d5d)

  421. @414

    …and not be deported as the mother requested…

    You don’t even know if any of their kids is-are citizens.

    Paul Montagu (7eb32e) — 6/4/2025 @ 9:25 pm

    If they’re minors, if they can stay with someone legally here, fine. But, sending children (even if their citizen) with their deported parents is not deporting the children.

    It’s the parents taking their kids with them.

    Furthermore, any child of any terroristic parent is admissible as well as shown in section ((B) Terrorist activities).

    In short, US government can deport the whole family immediately when the father is on video spouting/enacting terror acts.

    whembly (fd4d5d)

  422. “is inadmissible”

    whembly (fd4d5d)

  423. Is there a minimum legal problem the father can have that would also forfeit that choice?

    Why would an imprisoned criminal with zero ability to raise a child have a say? I keep going back to that VML example for reason.

    Paul Montagu (7eb32e)

  424. Would a father who was illegally present in the US have more of a say? If so, why?

    BuDuh (c85533)

  425. It does not prohibit uranium enrichment.

    Not per se, but highly enriched uranium has little other purose.

    Kevin M (e6af63)

  426. Good news:

    Supreme Court unanimously rejects different standards for non-minorities in discrimination claims. Opinion by Ketanji Brown Jackson.

    The standards for proving workplace discrimination under a federal civil rights law, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote for the court, “does not vary based on whether or not the plaintiff is a member of a majority group.”

    Kevin M (e6af63)

  427. I mean, it’ll be good to determine exactly what happened… but, I doubt there’s any recourse here, even if they can 100% prove that Biden didn’t know what he was signing.

    Actions that Edith Wilson took when her husband was disabled were never undone.

    Kevin M (e6af63)

  428. More good news:

    Trump Administration Threatens to Pull Funding for California High-Speed Rail

    The Trump administration threatened to yank billions in federal funding for California’s high-speed rail project, saying the state had mismanaged it, causing delays and cost overruns.

    In a 310-page report, the Federal Railroad Administration found that the California High-Speed Rail Authority had defaulted on the terms of its agreements for two federal grants totaling over $4 billion. The agency gave the state 37 days to respond.

    “If they can’t deliver on their end of the deal, it could soon be time for these funds to flow to other projects that can achieve President Trump’s vision of building great, big, beautiful things again,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.

    In its report, the Federal Railroad Administration said there had been minimal progress on construction and that the state’s high-speed rail authority had no credible plan to complete the project on budget.

    Costs have ballooned since California voters approved a ballot measure in 2008 to start the project. The original goal was to build a high-speed rail line connecting the state’s major cities—linking San Francisco and Sacramento in the north with Los Angeles and San Diego in the south. Construction began in 2015. The state now estimates the project’s costs at between $89 billion and $128 billion.

    Kevin M (6308a1)

  429. Supremes unanimously throw out Mexico’s suit against Smith & Wesson, based on no plausible showing of supporting facts and limitations of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. Kagan.

    Kevin M (6308a1)

  430. Supreme Court unanimously rules in favor of Catholic Charities, who were denied an exemption for UI taxes that were available to other religious groups. Strict scrutiny. Sotomayor.

    Kevin M (f1f8da)

  431. Supreme Court unanimously strikes down 9th Circuit’s judge-made addition to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, allowing a company whose valid satellite leases were terminated by India in violation of contract to recover a billion dollars in damages. Alito

    Kevin M (f1f8da)

  432. The opinion as written from Kevin’s 8:02am:

    The Sixth Circuit has implemented a rule that requires certain Title VII plaintiffs—those who are members of ma- jority groups—to satisfy a heightened evidentiary standard in order to carry their burden under the first step of the McDonnell Douglas framework. We conclude that Title VII does not impose such a heightened standard on majority- group plaintiffs. Therefore, the judgment below is vacated, and the case is remanded for application of the proper prima facie standard.

    McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green is a very important case and has been relied on since 1973. Now we find out that the current Supreme Court unanimously decided that a major component of that case was open enough to interpretation that it has been abused. Abused all the way up to the 6th Circuit. So now the highest court has clarified McDonnell Douglas to a degree that the “McDonnell Douglas Test,” or at least its application, has been altered significantly.

    Now substitute Wong Kim Ark and the question of misinterpretation and abuse in the lower courts.

    BuDuh (c85533)

  433. Thomas’s concurrence opening line:

    JUSTICE THOMAS, with whom JUSTICE GORSUCH joins, concurring.
    I join the Court’s opinion in full. I write separately to highlight the problems that arise when judges create atex- tual legal rules and frameworks. Judge-made doctrines have a tendency to distort the underlying statutory text, impose unnecessary burdens on litigants, and cause confu- sion for courts. The “background circumstances” rule—cor- rectly rejected by the Court today—is one example of this phenomenon.

    More to think about in a WKA revisit. There is nothing in the narrow holding of WKA that supports birthright citizenship to children of illegal aliens parents that are unlawfully present. If there was someone would quote it rather than portions of dicta.

    BuDuh (c85533)

  434. More to think about in a WKA revisit. There is nothing in the narrow holding of WKA that supports birthright citizenship to children of illegal aliens parents that are unlawfully present. If there was someone would quote it rather than portions of dicta.

    BuDuh (c85533) — 6/5/2025 @ 8:45 am

    We’ll see; at the earliest it will be next term when the merits challenge to Trump’s birthright citizenship EO comes before the Court.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  435. One wonders why none of the conservative justices, including Thomas, didn’t say anything in response to the arguments from the Court’s liberal justices who were outspoken in view that the EO violated the Constitution during the May 15th hearing.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  436. Kevin M @435-437:

    All with opinions written by the Court’s liberal wing.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  437. All with opinions written by the Court’s liberal wing.

    So much for divided court panicking.

    BuDuh (91cb3a)

  438. Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 6/5/2025 @ 9:12 am

    Yes, it is quite a wonder that the conservative judges didn’t engage the liberal judges about something that was not before the court on May 15th.

    🙄

    BuDuh (91cb3a)

  439. Yes, it is quite a wonder that the conservative judges didn’t engage the liberal judges about something that was not before the court on May 15th.

    🙄

    BuDuh (91cb3a) — 6/5/2025 @ 9:20 am

    Or they didn’t disagree with what was being said.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  440. Didn’t engage with content that was unrelated to the matter before the court?

    Another shocker.

    BuDuh (91cb3a)

  441. Does anyone else miss the Rip 1.0 that only dealt with facts in evidence and refused to speculate?

    BuDuh (91cb3a)

  442. Further speculation: Those who think Wong Kim Ark will be “revisited” and overturned by the Court will be severely disappointed.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  443. Wow!

    BuDuh (91cb3a)

  444. Chinese Missouri “Soccer Mom” released from ICE detention:

    ………..
    Carol Mayorga, whose legal name is Ming Li Hui, came to the U.S. from Hong Kong more than 20 years ago. She’s a homeowner, a mother of three children and works up to three jobs to support her family in rural Kennett, Missouri.

    Carol has been under a deportation order for more than a decade, but the government had never made her leave. Instead, they allowed her to remain in the country under what’s called orders of supervision, and also granted her authorization to work in the U.S.

    That all changed on April 30, when Carol was arrested by federal immigration officers after they called her to their office in St. Louis for what she thought was a routine meeting. The federal government told Carol her order of supervision was being terminated, and she was facing deportation back to Hong Kong.
    ……..
    ……..Carol’s attorney, said the government released her under the Deferred Enforced Departure program that grants certain migrants from Hong Kong a “temporary safe haven” in the U.S.

    It doesn’t mean she can stay in the U.S. permanently, but it does mean she can return to her family for now. One of Carol’s neighbors drove four hours to pick her up from jail on Wednesday, and she returned to a parking lot full of family and friends who were waiting to celebrate her homecoming.
    ………..

    ICE won’t meet its goal of 3,000 arrests per day this way.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  445. Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 6/5/2025 @ 10:00 am

    AKA catch and release.

    Rip Murdock (27f597)

  446. The Internet Archive or Wayback Machine has some problems now archiving X-Twitter. When I try, I get this message:

    We’re currently facing some limitations when it comes to archiving this site. We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause and appreciate your understanding. Please email us at “info@archive.org” if you would like to discuss this more.

    Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09)

  447. whembly (fd4d5d) — 6/5/2025 @ 7:27 am

    In short, US government can deport the whole family immediately when the father is on video spouting/enacting terror acts.

    The problem for them probably is that their status depended upon that of the father. There may be a problem in trying to use expedited meoval for them since the Administration extended the time period for its use only up to 2 years present in the country. The father apparently attempted to come to the United States in 2005, and was refused, and decided instead to work in Kuwait. In 2022 he got a tourist visa to the United States (they check mostly for finances and if someone is on a watch list) and applied for asylum at the earliest possible date (?) which was when his visa expired and the period a tourist visa is good for since 9/11 is 6 months instead of one year. He even got a work permit but that expired in March after two years. He says he did not tell his family what he was planning to do, and left messages for them on a phone. He said that he postponed it till his daughter graduated high school. If he had realized his family would lose his right to say in the United States he might not have committed the act. He expected to die. But was afraid to kill himself in the end.

    Boulder, Colorado has been plagued by “pro-Palestinian” protesters demanding that the City Council pass the kind of resolution they favor and they disrupted meetings but he appears to have had no connection with them (beyond possibly reading the same propaganda except that the leaders of the protesters undoubtedly knew and understood it contained falsehoods and that’s why they attempted to use force and reason)

    He lived some miles away and he found out about the run or walk for the hostages (apparently based on the same kind of thinking that combats breast cancer by a walk or run) by searching online for something to attack.

    Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09)

  448. * If he had realized his family would lose their right to stay in the United States he might not have committed the act.

    I wonder how many people contemplate committing such a crime and pull back.

    Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09)

  449. Dave (b1d5bc) — 6/4/2025 @ 8:46 pm

    Alejandro Majorkas is Jewish, and his mother’s family of Rumanian Jews fled the Nazis and barely escaped the Holocaust.

    About half did. Those who did not live in territory Romania transferred to Hungary in 1940 after arbitration by Hitler (most of whom were killed in 1944) and who did not in territory Romania annexed from the Soviet Union in 1941 and who were not murdered in earlier pogroms dating back I think to 1937 or drafted into the army and put to dangerous work.

    In Romania, the Holocaust abruptly stopped in 1942 with the first warning by Secretary of State Cordell Hull and the Allies that they would be punished after the war.

    Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09)

  450. I think it is impossible for a president to know everything and everything about what he is signing. He has to rely on aides to tell him.

    Trump says he doesn’t use Autopen for important matters.

    I think it was Obama who established the precedent that Autopen could be used with verbal authorization. There was a prior opinion by the George W Bush Justice Department that a president could direct a subordinate to affix his signature.

    https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2011/05/27/136724009/obamas-autopen-signing-of-patriot-act-raises-eyebrows-has-unlikely-ally

    In 1986 Admiral John Poindexter expected President Ronald Reagan to approve a covert action finding on Iran in January 6, 1986 but he did not, and Poindexter tore up the paper which Reagan had signed, unknowing what it was.

    He later approved a somewhat different Covert Action Finding on January 17, 1986.

    There is much confusion about this. Poindexter claimed that President Reagan signed it “by mistake.”

    https://time.com/archive/6709954/the-admiral-takes-the-hit

    As the scandal was breaking last November, Poindexter testified, he destroyed a piece of vital evidence: a covert-action finding, drafted by the CIA and signed by the President in December 1985, that retroactively approved Israel’s shipments of U.S. arms to the Iranians. The document, said the admiral, depicted the weapons transactions as a straight arms-for-hostages swap with Iran rather than a diplomatic effort to establish contacts with Iranian moderates, as the President has maintained. “I thought it was politically embarrassing,” said Poindexter of the finding. “I tore it up, put it in the burn basket behind my desk.”

    I thought he tore it up after the meeting. I must look elsewhere.

    https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-13-mn-176-story.html

    I never realized that it was signed some days before. I remember hearing testimony that Poindexter (gave?) that he tore it up because it was signed by mistake.

    Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09)

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