@#153 ... They most certainly are in Washington advocating for something. ...

White Christian Nationalism?

Iran seems to be turning into a proxy war for the US against its ~enemies.~

Ukraine also but that's a whole different threat. So I won't go there.

What sort of help are Russia and China giving to Iran in its battle against the US?

Oh, this ain't good in our already weakened South China Sea area.

@#151 ... That's one heavy loaded post sounding like you're on the verge of a nervous breakdown from Trump being in office. ...

Far be it from me to try to defend a post from that person, but ...

Then there are the other ramifications of Pres Trump's occupation of the Oval office and how that occupation is affecting Americans who are just trying to feed their families.

So, maybe such a "heavy loaded post" may be an appropriate response to the destruction of the Country that Pres Trump seems to be doing?

@#7 ... She's already been paid. ...

All of what may be owed?

The article you cite talks about $5 million or so.

But what was the actual settlement?

From the article you cite...

... Trump is also appealing $83 million in defamation compensation granted to Carroll by a separate Manhattan jury after a 2024 trial where Trump briefly testified. ...

So this case does not yet seem to have been resolved.

@#3

Back in the late 1970's, I had a computer (assembled from a kit) with 64k of RAM. The CPU ran at the astounding speed of 2MHz.

It ran CP/M. A CP/M that I had to reload each time I started the PC up. (i.e., there was no disk drive to boot from)

I was able to convince it to communicate over the modem, at a whopping 300 bits per second.

So much fun back then, exploring.

... Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, an Army National Guard veteran, has repeatedly elevated military recruiting successes into the marquee achievement of his tenure and folded recruiting, long treated as an apolitical function of the military, into a broader culture-war proxy.

In remarks to roughly two dozen of the military's top recruiters at the Pentagon in December, Hegseth framed improved enlistment numbers as a reflection of confidence in the administration.

"You can talk about polls, you can talk about money, but men and women willing to serve and put on the uniform is a reflection of the belief they have in civilian leadership and military leadership," he told them.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, in a statement to ABC News, shared that same sentiment, adding that, "Americans everywhere are prouder than ever to serve in our unmatched military that prioritizes lethality, merit, and protecting our nation from those who seek to harm it."

Yet the military has been selling effectively the same proposition since the U.S. abandoned the draft and fully transitioned to an all-volunteer force in 1973: job stability and benefits, with a sense of adventure to sweeten the deal. What has changed, however, is the politics surrounding that bargain.

The military's recruiting rebound is real, but the reasons behind it are far less political than Hegseth's framing suggests.

ABC News interviewed nearly 40 recruits and prospective recruits at different stages of enlistment, along with two dozen recruiters across the military and current and former defense officials, and found young Americans are still largely making the same calculation that has driven enlistment for decades: steady pay, education benefits, job training and a direct path to the middle class. ...

HHS Sec Kennedy is not a medically-educated person. He seems to have obtained his ~medical knowledge~ via rumors and unsubstantiated, even unproven, assertions.

And that seems to be the basis of his policies for the United States.

But in the Trump admin, why should competent people be expected to serve us?

@#2

I am not sure just what the proxy war you refer to is.

Can you be more specific?

thx.

Great cartoon at the link.

Has the increased capacity and power of computers actually benefited Americans, or just the tech billionaires?

What are you doing with that 1.5GB of RAM?

Running Slack.

@#148 ... What we do worry about is how you and literally thousands of others can turn their backs on humanity and worship a child raping dementia ridden Imbecile. ...

Yup. That about sums it up for my concerns.

@#1 ... E Jean Carroll hangs another L on the disgusting orange chomo. ...

Yes, but when will she get all the money?

So, might the US reduce, or even eliminate its huge $$$ support, for what it now seems to call a terrorist regime?

@#6

To wit ...

@#5 ... That's a bad ratio even for Israel. ...

yeah.

Then there are the Israeli settlers on the West Bank besieging Palestinians in their homes for days.

@#7 ... So you're gonna argue trump is competent? ...

That, in and of itself is a losing argument, even for the current trolling alias you replied to.

Instead, that alias seems to post numerous messages for the apparent purpose to chasten the members of this august forum

Perhaps it seeks to gain some manner of credibility in doing so. I wish I knew.

Nonetheless, it merely seems to degrade itself more and more with each of its posts.

@#146 ... Atheism becomes organized when it extorts money from members for future unrealized outcomes.
Not before. Like every other fucking religion there is. Nothing but a scam. ...

Please allow me to rephrase that comment ...

Cultism becomes organized when it extorts money from members for future unrealized outcomes.
Not before. Like every other fucking cult there is. Nothing but a scam.

So then, that rephrasing would lead me to ask the question, is MAGA a cult?

If I were Sen Schumer, I'd be very concerned.

To wit ...

More from the article ...

... "It's really a sea change in American politics," said Evan Roth Smith, a Democratic pollster.

Some of it appears to be the result of the widening gulf between the generations on a host of policy issues, from economics to the US's relationship with Israel.

But Democrats have also spoken of a collective trauma in the party following Joe Biden's repeated gaffes and the collapse of his campaign in 2024, aged 81. That, and the Republican victories in the 2024 election, have left a mark.

The transformation in the party has taken place over a matter of months, beginning in Texas on May 26, when Julie Johnson, 60, lost to Colin Allred, 43, and Al Green, 78, lost to Christian Menefee, 40 years his junior.

Mr Green is one of the oldest members of Congress " although more than a decade younger than the very oldest.

In March 2025, he was ejected from the House chamber during 80-year-old Donald Trump's joint address for heckling and waving his cane in the air: possibly not the image of youthful vitality that his voters back home had been looking for.
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Then in June, Adriano Espaillat, aged 71, lost his New York primary to 32-year-old Darializa Avila Chevalier, who had been backed by another young, dynamic socialist " Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor.

Ms Avila Chevalier backed abolishing ICE and cutting off US military aid for Israel " many of the hallmarks of the younger candidates who surged to prominence this year.

"Israel is probably the biggest dividing line within the Democratic Party right now, and it is one that divides very neatly along age lines," said Seth Masket, a political science professor at the University of Denver.

"Older Democrats tend to be much more sympathetic to Israel, and younger Democrats, particularly those who came of age while [Benjamin] Netanyahu has been a prominent national figure, have a very negative view toward Israel." ...

Ceasefire?

The day after the Memorandum of Understanding (Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran) was issued, with its first paragraph stating that neither party will threaten the other party, among other things. Pres Trump apparently sent out a social media post about attacking Iran.

Was there ever a ceasefire in place?

@#4 ... Another tourist visa expired. ...

Was it expired?

From the cited article ...

... Bobreneva arrived in the U.S. in 2021 on a tourist visa, which she later extended after the war in Ukraine broke out. She applied for asylum in 2022, before meeting Jindra.

"It was your storybook romance," Jindra told the Times of their relationship. The couple met in March 2025 and married that December. In April, Jindra petitioned to sponsor his wife for a marriage-based green card.

By the time she was detained, Bobreneva had reportedly received official confirmation that her application had been accepted and had already been fingerprinted as part of the process. Her lawyer has asserted that she was never out of lawful status. ...

So, what yer got to the contrary?

@#10 ... Republican healthcare program: "we're all going to die" ...