@#2 ... There will be a brief distraction when Lewzer pardons Ghislaine Maxwell and has her flown to the UK on Bribe Force One, never to be seen again. ...

Given all the laws that Pres Trump apparently has flouted, that action would not surprise me at all.

Would it disgust me because it flouts the law of the Country? Absolutely.

But would it surprise me that Pres Trump may do this? Absolutely not.

@#3 ... Even Murdoch's rag is slamming the orange pedo for pardoning this degenerate. ...

Whoa, from that link ...

... LI drug dealer freed by Trump now convicted of molesting his kids' nanny and threatening synagogue congregant ...

So, this is the type of person that Pres Trump pardons?

LI drug dealer freed by Trump now convicted of molesting his kids' nanny and threatening synagogue congregant

More from the article ...

... "My goal has always been to save a life with this," creator Siddharth Thakur told the University of Texas when discussing an earlier version of the Firebot late last year. "There are over 500,000 structure fires a year. That's one every 60 seconds."

The Firebot is built to enter perilous situations and survive.

As CNN notes, version 4 of the Firebot is capable of handling temperatures as high as 1,200 degrees as it navigates burning structures.

The bot has treaded appendages that let it move up and over the sort of obstacles that fall to the ground as a building burns.

It can reach areas that might endanger the lives of firefighters.

More importantly, the Firebot helps firefighters spot those life-threatening situations before they enter a burning structure.

Once the robot is deployed, a firefighter can control the Firebot with a joystick attached to a laptop to guide it into the structure.

Thanks to an onboard camera that is protected from extreme heat, the robot sends a video feed back to the laptop.

The Firebot can also provide heat readings. ...

More from the article ...

... The legislature had created a map that heavily favored Republicans in the state, who have about a 2-1 majority, making it nearly impossible for a Democrat to get elected to the House of Representatives.

But plaintiffs from the League of Women Voters of Utah, Mormon Women for Ethical Government, the Campaign Legal Center and some Salt Lake County voters filed a lawsuit alleging that the map was illegal because of Proposition 4, a law that was chosen by Utah voters in 2018 to prevent gerrymandering.

Third District Judge Dianna Gibson reviewed potential maps submitted by the plaintiffs and the legislature. She chose the plaintiffs' map just minutes before a deadline. The Republican legislature submitted map C, while the plaintiffs submitted map 1.

Gibson said she chose map 1 because map C "fails in many ways to comply with Proposition 4," she wrote in her decision. ...

He's run out of excuses.

I've watched many, oh so many, of his attempted rationalizations for giving our House of Representatives a weeks-long paid vacation (what's it now? 7 or 8 or maybe 9 weeks? How many of Americans have 7 or 8 or 9 weeks of vacation?) in order to prevent the Epstein files from being revealed

So, what will be his next attempt to suppress the Epstein files, once the Houe is back in session?

@#1 ... The U.S. Department of Homeland Security flatly rejected the family's account ...

Of course, the Trump administration will deny any wrongdoing.

More from the article ...

... Rafael Veraza said the incident happened in a Sam's Club parking lot in Cicero on Saturday, amid escalating clashes that day between immigration agents and frustrated area residents. The suburb shares a border with the Chicago neighborhood of Little Village, a largely Mexican enclave that has frequently been at the center of a federal immigration crackdown that began two months ago in the nation's third-largest city.

Veraza said the family was in their car when they heard a helicopter and honking, common signals in the Chicago area these days that federal agents are nearby. They decided to leave.

That's when a masked agent pointed a pepper-spray gun through their vehicle's open window and fired. A cloudy substance hit Veraza in the face, which also affected his daughter, according to a video taken by the family.

"My daughter was trying to open her eyes," Veraza told reporters Sunday, as his wife held their daughter nearby. "She was struggling to breathe."

He said they were not protesting, honking their horns to warn others or trying to interfere.

A longtime pastor in the area, the Rev. Matt DeMateo, arrived at the scene to help and also recorded footage of Veraza struggling to open his eyes and of their daughter, Arianna, crying while her mother tried to comfort her.

"A family, and I shouldn't have to say this, but guess what? All U.S. citizens attacked while shopping," he said. "We need a better way."

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security flatly rejected the family's account. ...

@#10 ... He was only five years old when it happened, but he always seemed to remember that event and of course Gordon Lightfoot's song didn't help. Anyway, despite the cold and snow, our son and his daughter, who's attending school at Michigan Tech, my alma mater, and a few of her classmates, went out to a beach on the shores of Lake Superior last night, lit a bonfire and sang along with Lightfoot's, 'The Wreak of the Edmund Fitzgerald'. ...

In my view,the Canadian Mr Lighfoot's song is a tribute. (fwiw, Mr Lightfoot passed on in 2023)

In that respect, I'd proffer that those classmates offered their respect to those who died by singing the song.

... President Donald Trump told Fox News in an interview that aired Tuesday night the United States doesn't have talented workers to fill jobs needed domestically ...

Yet, pres Trump continues to assault and tries to destroy those very educational institutions that can create those talented workers.

More updated update ...

Update ...

@#6

So ...

A brilliant investment for and in the future?

Or just hopping upon the current tech wet dream?

There's lots of angst on Wall Street of late.

Will AI prove to be worth the investment that is being put into it, seems to be the largest on, from what I see.

Companies seem to be dumping billions (yeah, billions) of dollars into capital expenditure to bolster their AI capabillities.

But, so far, those expenditures are not showing any results on the bottom line for those companies.

For example ...

@#50 ... Did Spkr Johnson cave to the will of the eight Democrats in the Senate ...

Yeah, that seems to be the question at this point.

I have follow-up questions.

But that is my first ...

... But by caving, Democrats risk legitimizing Trump's maximum-pain shutdown tactics. ...

Did the Democrats actually cave?

My first question is: why ascribe the actions of a few to the entire party?

I mean, that is like making the statement that if there are 8 Republicans who oppose MAGA adulation of Pres Trump, that the Republicans have caved and no longer adulate Pres Trump.

And, one other aspect that I see ...

If the Democrats have actually caved, then why does Spkr Johnson now see the need to bring the House back in session to approve the changes that the Senate Democrats have proffered and the Republicans in the Senate approved?

Didn't the Spkr previously say that he would not bring the House back until the Democrats approved the bill the House passed?

But now, Spkr Johnson seems to see the need to call the House back into session to approve the bill pushed in the Senate by the eight Democrats.

So, looking at this differently...

Did Spkr Johnson cave to the will of the eight Democrats in the Senate who have the gumption to change the bill that was in front of them and convince their Republicans colleagues to pass that amended version?

The problem seems simple to me ...

Pres Trump wants to continue the lower and middle-class workers to have hunger issues so that he can continue giving tax cuts to his billionaire friends.

The video didn't post in #8 ...

Gordon Lightfoot - Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald (1976)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuzTkGyxkYI

Lyrics from the genius.com link I also forgot to post in #8... (I have to stop multi-tasking in the evenings.... :(   )

@#4 ... Not today, but at least a thousand other times. Lots of theories on what happened that night. Most of the folk at the Whitefish Point museum think it grounded on the 6-Fathom Shoal on the way by. ...

Yeah, the Edmond Fitzgerald entered into the pop music scene with this Gordon Lightfoot song ...

Gordon Lightfoot - Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald (1976)

... You're listening to the official audio for Gordon Lightfoot - "Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald" from the album 'Summertime Dream'.

Lightfoot wrote "Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald" to commemorate the 29 lives lost in the sinking of the ore carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. ...

Lyrics in next message due to 4k character length constraints ...

... Israel has destroyed more than 1,500 buildings in areas of Gaza that have remained under its control since the ceasefire with Hamas started on 10 October, satellite images reviewed by BBC Verify show. ...

Sooo, not a real cease-fire?

More from the article ...

... Some Trump administration officials are deeply concerned that the Gaza peace deal between Israel and Hamas could break down because of the difficulty implementing many of its core provisions, as private documents obtained by POLITICO and circulating among U.S. officials underscore the lack of a clear path forward.

The compendium of documents was presented last month during a two-day symposium of a few hundred people for U.S. Central Command and members of the newly created Civil-Military Coordination Center, which was established in southern Israel as part of the peace agreement between Israel and Hamas that went into effect Oct. 10.

The materials were shown to a few dozen people convened by Lt. Gen. Michael Fenzel, the United States security coordinator for Israel-Palestinian Authority, along with other officials, according to a symposium participant. The group included representatives from the State Department, Defense Department, nongovernmental organizations and private companies like RAND.

The presentation surfaces a particular concern about whether a so-called International Stabilization Force -- a multinational security initiative meant to keep the peace in Gaza -- can really be deployed. One slide shows an arrow with a question mark on it linking the first and second phases of the U.S.-brokered peace plan, underscoring the uncertainty about its prospects. ...

I do applaud, and am most thankful to, those who have served the Country.

The freedom we have has been established by your service and sacrifice.

A Thank-You.

I will also offer, back in the day I had a draft exemption. I did not pursue my degree in Engineering to avoid the draft, but because I thought I could contribute to the Country in a different manner.

Long story short, after I went 1-A draft status for a year, and was not called into service, I went on to designing things.

One of the things I had designed was ...

OK, let me take a step back here...

On an aircraft carrier, there is the flight deck. One deck lower is where the jets are stored.

So the problem becomes, how does the aircraft carrier get those needed jets from the below-deck to the flight deck?

Answer: a jet elevator.

Long story short [again] that elevator is a hydraulic elevator with a motor powering an oil pump.

Back in the day, I designed that motor that powered the elevator to bring the jets to the flight deck.

I also designed the motors for the cooling systems of nuclear power plants, and many other motors. But, I suspect that may be a different thread. :) ...

@#8 ... Retired 4-Star Navy Admiral and Navy Seal Officer William McRaven said this about Trump. ...

Your comment led me to this ...

My first question ...

Who might benefit from the establishment of this base?

Israelis or Palestinians?

If the former, how might this be A Good Thing for a lasting peace?

If the latter, will the Palestinians finally be acknowledged to have a two-state solution?

More from the cited article ...

... The US has already established a military outpost in southern Israel to oversee the ceasefire, known as the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), but the construction of such a large base would mark a significant escalation of the US military presence.

It would also increase the US involvement in Gaza, where Israel is regularly carrying out attacks and killing Palestinians despite the truce deal. ...