Humans don't just recognize each other's voices -- our brains also light up for the calls of chimpanzees, hinting at ancient communication roots shared with our closest primate relatives.
On Monday, US District Court Judge Patti Saris vacated a Trump executive order that brought a halt to all offshore wind power development, as well as some projects on land. read more
Federal tax prosecutions fell to their lowest level in decades this year, declining more than 27% from the year before as the Trump administration cut the ranks of attorneys and agents who pursue those cases, a Reuters examination has found.
Reuters is reporting that the Trump Administration is trying to force a pledge from the International Criminal Court that it will not prosecute Trump or his officials. read more
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed it will buy six Boeing 737s for deportations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
... Whether he did the same for gloomy voters haunted by high prices is more doubtful. ...
imo, that is the issue here.
Are Pres Trump and his billionaire-populated Cabinet even aware of what Americans are facing?
What is a 'K-shaped' economy, and what's causing the divide? (November 2025)
finance.yahoo.com
... The "K-shaped" economy, widely touted in the financial press, is the latest expression of wealth inequality. The U.S. economy is experiencing a growing gap between the highest earners and the richest corporations, who are spending and expanding their wealth, and the lowest-income households and mom-and-pop companies, who struggle to pay their bills day to day. ...
He cited the Fed's ongoing concerns regarding inflation, employment, rising defaults in subprime credit, layoffs, and a "bifurcated economy."
"If you listen to the earnings calls or the reports of big, public, consumer-facing companies, many, many of them are saying that there's a bifurcated economy there and that consumers at the lower end are struggling and buying less and shifting to lower cost products, but that at the top, people are spending at the higher income and wealth," Powell said.
That, in a nutshell, is the K-shaped economy. ...
@#4 ... While he was awake, Dummkopf Trumpf addressed reporters at the White House, sounding like Al Capone threatening Eliot Ness:
"Colombia is producing a lot of drugs," Dummkopf Trumpf warned. "So he better wise up or he'll be next. He'll be next soon. I hope he's listening, he's going to be next." ...
Related ...
He'll be next': Donald Trump threatens Colombian President Gustavo Petro
www.aljazeera.com
... United States President Donald Trump has renewed his threats against his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, warning that the South American leader could be the next target for his anti-drug campaign.
On Wednesday, at a White House roundtable with business leaders, one reporter asked Trump if he had spoken to Petro. That touched off a fiery response from the Republican leader.
"I haven't really thought too much about him. He's been fairly hostile to the United States," Trump began, before going on the offensive.
"He's going to have himself some big problems if he doesn't wise up," Trump continued.
"Colombia is producing a lot of drugs. They have cocaine factories. They make cocaine, as you know, and they sell it right into the United States. So he better wise up, or he'll be next. He'll be next. I hope he's listening. He's going to be next because we don't like people when they kill people." ...
So, my first question then becomes ...
Why did Pres Trump pardon fmr Honduran Pres Hernandez for his conviction on bringing over 400 tons of cocaine into the United States?
It is a simple question, but I've not yet seen any manner of rationale for that action.
Seizure of oil tanker marks new level of tensions between US and Venezuela
www.theguardian.com
... US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, in a major escalation of Donald Trump's four-month pressure campaign against the South American country's dictator, Nicols Maduro.
Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, posted footage of the seizure on X. The grainy, unclassified 45-second video shows US forces landing on the tanker from a helicopter.
In an accompanying statement, Bondi said the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the US Coast Guard, with support from the Department of Defense, had "executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran".
Venezuela's government made no immediate comment on the seizure " but speaking at a rally in Caracas, Maduro urged citizens to act like "warriors" and be ready "to smash the teeth of the North American empire if necessary". ...
Yeah, an escalation.
But why?
@#59 ... NBC....one of the liars nest that said TRUMP
made national parks a FREE day because it was his
birthday....like many of you STUPID PRIX did. ...
Trump adds his birthday as free national park day while axing MLK Day and Juneteenth
www.foxnews.com
What else yer got?
@#15 ... Wait, so the sudden crisis over Venezuela wasn't really about drugs at all. It was about oil. ...
That's my supposition at this point.
There does seems to be little justification for Pres Trump's action regarding drugs from Venezuela.
So then, I looked around and discovered the huge oil wealth of Venezuela.
Oil reserves in Venezuela
en.wikipedia.org
... The proven oil reserves in Venezuela are recognized as the largest in the world, totaling 300 billion barrels (4.81010 m3) as of 1 January 2014.[1] The 2019 edition of the BP Statistical Review of World Energy reports the total proved reserves of 303.3 billion barrels for Venezuela (slightly more than Saudi Arabia's 297.7 billion barrels).[2] ...
And ...
(no paywall on this one)
Trafigura Warns of "Super Glut" as Oil Supply Surges
oilprice.com
... Echoing what has become a now daily refrain by commodity bears everywhere, Saad Rahim, chief economist of commodity-trading giant, Trafigura, said that the oil market faces a "super glut" next year as a burst of new supply collides with weakness in the global economy. According to Rahim, new drilling projects and slowing demand growth would weigh further on already depressed crude prices next year.
"Whether it's a glut, or a super glut, it's hard to get away from that," Rahim said in remarks alongside the company's annual results.
Brent crude has fallen 16% this year, on track for its worst year since 2020. Prices are expected to be further damped by major projects coming online next year, including in Brazil and Guyana.
The glut thesis is hardly new, and has been popularized by banks such as Citi and Goldman for the past year. As Goldman analyst Daan Struyven wrote in his latest oil tracker note, "global visible oil stocks have built by nearly 2mb/d over the past 30 days." The banks expects them to grow significantly more in the coming years. ...
Curious aspect ...
A Billion-Barrel Oil Glut Is Forming at Sea
www.wsj.com
... The oil market is grappling with whether sanctioned Russian and Iranian cargoes should still be counted as supply. This may explain why oil prices have been slow to react to a huge glut that is building on the ocean.
There are 1.4 billion barrels of oil "on the water." That is 24% higher than the average for this time of year between 2016 and 2024, according to oil-analytics firm Vortexa. The data measures shipments that are on their way to be unloaded at a port, or cargoes that haven't yet found a buyer. ...
@#2 ... Thanks, JB.
You da Man. ...
Yep. Law and Order instead of autocracy.
But, also quite curious how the various current trolling aliases seemed to have been activated on this thread.
:)