The poll also finds widespread opposition to pardoning January 6th protesters and restricting women from military combat. read more
A woman told police she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Pete Hegseth after he took her phone, blocked the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave, according to 22 pages of graphic investigative reports made public late Wednesday.
Trump's choice had been hindered by sexual misconduct allegations and a House Ethics Committee investigation.
Ranging from a threatening hiss to a blood-curdling scream, the sound of the Aztec death whistle is as creepy as the skull-like appearance of the instrument that produces it. read more
Across platforms, male news influencers outnumber women, and creators with explicit political orientations lean conservative. read more
Non-paywall version...
Bill Clinton reveals regret over Russia-Ukraine deal that saw Kyiv give up nuclear weapons (April 2023)
www.the-independent.com
... Former US president said he knew that Vladimir Putin did not support' the 1994 agreement for Russia to respect Ukraine's sovereignty
Former President Bill Clinton has revealed misgivings over his role in pressing Ukraine to accept nuclear disarmament during his presidency in 1994.
Mr Clinton spoke to Irish news service RT on Tuesday, and said he felt a "personal stake" in Ukraine's fate as it struggles to fend off an invasion from Russia under Vladimir Putin.
He revealed that he did not think Russia would have invaded Ukraine in 2014 and again in 2022 if Kyiv was still armed with nuclear weapons. ...
@#8
Oh the Humanity: Herbert Morrison and the Hindenburg
www.airships.net
Is an apparent comparison to the crash of the Hindenburg valid?
Time will tell ...
Current events do, however, have a possibility to be even worse....
fwiw...
Bob Casey Concedes to David McCormick in Pennsylvania Senate Race
www.newsweek.com
... Democratic Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey conceded on Thursday to his Republican challenger, David McCormick, in Pennsylvania's hotly contested U.S. Senate election.
"I just called Dave McCormick to congratulate him on his election to represent Pennsylvania in the United States Senate," Casey said in a video statement posted to his account on X, formerly Twitter.
"As the first count of ballots is completed, Pennsylvanians can move forward with the knowledge that their voices were heard, whether their vote was the first to be counted or the last," Casey continued.
McCormick put out a statement thanking Casey and saying he "dedicated his career to bettering our commonwealth."
"I am so honored to represent every single citizen in Pennsylvania in the United States Senate and will fight for you every day," McCormick said. ...
Air Force captain becomes first woman in service history to receive Silver Star as crews honored for drone fight
taskandpurpose.com
... The assault was the Air Force's largest air-to-air engagement in five decades. Over 60 pilots, crew and ground troops faced hundreds of Iranian drones and missiles.
On Nov. 12, 30 fighter pilots and airmen were recognized for missions during the largest air-to-air enemy engagement in over 50 years, according to the Air Force. The crew of one F-15E, pilot Maj. Benjamin Coffey and weapon systems officer Capt. Lacie Hester, were awarded the nation's third-highest valor award, the Silver Star.
With that award, Hester is the first woman in the Air Force to receive the Silver Star and the 10th woman in the Department of Defense's history. Together, the Air Force said Coffey and Hester's squadron shot down 70 drones and three ballistic missiles.
"It takes a high-performing team with high-performing individuals to be able to find these things to begin with and then to engage it," Coffey said in a press release.
The missions came during a massive aerial attack of missiles and unmanned drones fired from Iran from the morning of April 13 into the early hours of April 14. In total, 66 airmen from the 494th Fighter Squadron and 494th Fighter Generation Squadron worked together to repel the massive aerial attack on Israel. ...
During the fight, Coffey and Hester depleted their air-to-air missiles and rockets. Instead of returning to their base, they engaged targets with the F-15's Gatling gun, shooting down several one-way attack drones at extremely low altitudes.
"Although intelligence provided the numbers of how many drones we could expect to see, it was still surprising to see them all," Hester told the Air Force.
Coffey and Hester also overcame a serious malfunction of one of their missiles. While engaging a drone, the crew launched an air-to-air missile, but the missile failed to detach from the wing of their F-15, a hung missile.' That forced the team to land with a potentially armed missile attached to their wing.
As they approached the landing strip, the base entered alarm red status, meaning the base was locking down due to an incoming attack and debris falling around it from destroyed drones and missiles. Despite being told to seek shelter in bunkers, support crews remained exposed to keep all the jets in the fight, refueling and rearming the jets.
"Really, all we could tell them was stay airborne as long as you can, with the gas that you have," F-15 pilot Maj. Clayton Wicks told CNN. Wicks who controlled jet operations on the ground during the attack. "Don't divert, because even our divert airfields " we don't know what's going on there either, so if stuff is blowing up over our heads, very likely stuff is blowing up there too." ...
Yup. And, in the past, the One app seems to [intentionally?] restrict the number of people it processes.
One example...
CBP One Mobile Application Violates the Rights of People Seeking Asylum in the United States
www.amnesty.org
... The mandatory use of the CBP One mobile application as the sole means of seeking asylum in the United States is a clear violation of international human rights and refugee law, said Amnesty International in a new report published today.
The report, USA: CBP One " A blessing or a trap?, documents the human rights concerns associated with the mobile app and sheds light on the implications of the Circumvention of Lawful Pathways Final Rule, more commonly known as the Asylum Ban, introduced by the Biden Administration on 11 May 2023.
The Asylum Ban imposes severe restrictions on asylum seekers entering the United States from Mexico at the southern border, denying human rights and violating international law. Amnesty International considers that the Final Rule violates the right to seek asylum, as well as the principles of non-refoulement and non-penalization. Under this rule, individuals are required to use the CBP One application to schedule appointments at ports of entry in order to be considered eligible for asylum, adding layers of complexity and obstacles to an already challenging process.
"The use of the CBP One application conditions entry and access to asylum on appearing at a port of entry with a prior appointment, which is not feasible for some people," said Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International. "While technological innovations could potentially provide for safe transit and more orderly border processes, programmes like CBP One cannot condition and limit the manner to seek international protection in the United States." ...
Amnesty International's report documents the significant hurdles faced by asylum seekers in using the CBP One application, including technological barriers, language and literacy limitations, misinformation and the arbitrary nature of appointment allocation. The CBP One application, available only in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole, operates on a system where daily appointments are mainly distributed at random, leading to inconsistent experiences among asylum seekers, leaving them in uncertainty and at risk. ...
Hegseth police report detailing alleged sexual assault released
www.axios.com
... A woman told police she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Pete Hegseth after he took her phone, blocked the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave, according to 22 pages of graphic investigative reports made public late Wednesday. ...
Related....
DOJ Proposal in Antitrust Case Aims to Undo Google-Anthropic Partnership
www.pymnts.com
... The Justice Department's proposal to resolve its antitrust case over online search against Google reportedly would force the tech giant to unwind its partnership with artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic.
A recommendation in the Justice Department's court filing Wednesday (Nov. 20) that Google be barred from partnerships with companies that control where consumers search for information, is intended to apply to the company's investment in Anthropic, Bloomberg reported Thursday (Nov. 21). ...
@#27 ... We have so much in common. Slide Rule, shortwave radio. I listened to Motown radio from my grandparents house in Alabama.... ...
For me "Motown radio" was the NYC radio stations, mainly but not limited to, WABC-AM.
... Now i use it to listen to the aircraft that I see fly by window. ...
I currently have (with the appropriate roof-top antenna) an ICom IC-R7000 receiver. Frequency range is 25MHz to 2GHz. And I purchased it so long ago that the cell bands are available. ;)
My current shortwave radio ...
OK, long story short --- back in my teens I built a HeathKit shortwave radio. But in the late 80's it was replace by a Japan Radio Corporation NRD-515 ( www.eham.net )
Which I recently sold for an Eton Satellit ( www.universal-radio.com )
But nowadays, the Internet seems to have replaced shortwave listening for news from other countries. Which is why I sold the most excellent table-top NRD-515 for a good portable receiver.
:)
@#2 ... Indescribably great pick! Even better than Gaetz, who was awesome! Thank you, Your Majesty! ...
Dire Straits - Why Worry (extended version, 1985)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt...
...
Baby, I see this world has made you sad
Some people can be bad
The things they do, the things they say
But baby, I'll wipe away those bitter tears
I'll chase away those restless fears
That turn your blue skies into grey
[Chorus]
Why worry? There should be laughter after pain
There should be sunshine after rain
These things have always been the same
So why worry now?
Why worry now?
...
@#31 ... I agree....which is why I have my doubts as to how far this will go. ...
How far do you think it will go?
Trump Confirms Plans to Use the Military to Assist in Mass Deportations
www.nytimes.com
... President-elect Donald J. Trump confirmed on Monday that he intended to declare a national emergency and use the U.S. military in some form to assist in his plans for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.
On his social media platform, Truth Social, Mr. Trump responded overnight to a post made earlier this month by Tom Fitton, who runs the conservative group Judicial Watch, and who wrote that Mr. Trump's administration would "declare a national emergency and will use military assets" to address illegal immigration "through a mass deportation program."
At around 4 a.m., Mr. Trump reposted Mr. Fitton's post with the comment, "TRUE!!!" ...
@#1 ... It's sad that Brazil is better at handling insurrectionist ---------- than the USA. ...
Apparently, but maybe too soon to tell.
What is interesting is that back in the time, I remember fmr Pres Bolsonaro saying ho much he admired Pres-elect Trump and was echoing his (Trump's) tactics.
So, now they both seem to have wound up in similar place, i.e., charged with coup-type crimes.
Quelle surprise.
Bolsonaro: I 'admire' Trump (2018)
www.france24.com
... Jair Bolsonaro, the favorite to win the second round of Brazil's presidential elections, on Thursday declared himself an "admirer" of US President Donald Trump.
Speaking during his first news conference since securing 46 percent of the vote in Sunday's first round -- trailed by leftist Fernando Haddad, who took 29 percent -- populist Bolsonaro also denied being a far-right leader.
"I'm not far-right. Point to me an act of mine that is far-right," he said.
"When I spoke of the migration question, it's because we can't have a country with open borders," he added, a point echoing Trump's anti-immigration rhetoric.
"I'm an admirer of President Trump. He wants a great United States -- I want a great Brazil." ...
@#3 ... Biden should just give Ukraine nukes, ...
About that...
Ukraine and Russia have (had?) an agreement that Ukraine would give up nukes
Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine
en.wikipedia.org
... The Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine ... as adopted on July 16, 1990, by the recently elected parliament of Ukrainian SSR by a vote of 355 for and four against.[1][2]
The document decreed that Ukrainian SSR laws took precedence over the laws of the USSR, and declared that the Ukrainian SSR would maintain its own army and its own national bank with the power to introduce its own currency.[2]
The declaration also proclaimed that the republic has intent to become in a future "a permanently neutral state that does not participate in military blocs," and that it would not accept, nor produce, nor procure nuclear weapons.[2] ...
imo, this is a mandate...
Limiting Government, 1980"2010 (2010)
www.cato.org
... Ronald Reagan won the 1980 presidential election decisively.[emphasis mine]
He beat incumbent president Jimmy Carter by 10 points in the popular vote.
In the Electoral College, Reagan carried 24 states by more than 10 points, 14 of them by more than 20 points. ...
Yeah, that's a mandate.
From the sub-summary...
... Despite Trump's claiming a mandate ...
Wow. A mandate?
OpEd: Trump thinks he won a mandate to change America. History says otherwise.
thehill.com
... And no, this isn't just about demographic changes; it's about our ever-shifting national mood. After all, how else can we explain two-time Barack Obama voters switching to Trump in 2016?
A major driver of this volatility is that newly elected presidents tend to overestimate the mandate they've been given, assuming they've won a sweeping endorsement for their entire agenda. Joe Biden fell into this trap, convinced he could be the next Franklin D. Roosevelt or Lyndon B. Johnson, and his ambitious policy moves likely contributed to the outcomes (such as inflation) that helped Trump reclaim the White House.
These days, Trump seems at risk of a similar misinterpretation. His initial staffing choices " appointing former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) as attorney general, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as head of Health and Human Services, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of National Intelligence, and Fox News host Pete Hegseth as Defense secretary -- signal a radical direction that feels like a bridge too far for many average Americans.
While Trump openly campaigned on a platform of disruption and retribution, few of his voters were expecting these specific moves. ...
@#23 ... Whenever a story breaks, I'm flipping channels with the remote. trying to discern the truth. ...
Similar here, but instead of flipping channels, I visit many websites.
Back, decades ago, in my teen years I had a shortwave radio. And I listened to the news broadcasts from many countries around the world. Some seemed to be quite odd, yet others seemed to be more rational.
And, as you may have noticed from the links I post, I still do try to find alternative views for much of what I see reported. But many times, those alternative views are, as Ms Kellyanne Conway stated, "alternate facts."
In those endeavors to find alternate views, I have found a few websites to be quite good.
Long story short, imo, I have found these two news evaluation websites to be quite helpful, and also pretty much correct.
Interactive Media Bias Chart
adfontesmedia.com
Media Bias / Fact Check
mediabiasfactcheck.com
YMMV, and all that.
@#8 ... At least she's an experienced lawyer and prosecutor. ...
Yup.
... The other idiot barely practiced civil law for at most 3 years. ...
Yeah, but that seemed to be the least of the issues.
That aside, ...
Do you remember a past Pres-elect who has had so many of his nominees be so questionable?