Defaults on credit cards in the U.S. have spiked significantly in the last year, according to a new report. read more
A former UnitedHealthcare claims representative says employees were systematically trained to deny medical claims and rush distressed customers off phone lines, revealing internal practices at the nation's largest health insurer amid growing scrutiny of the industry. read more
There's one place with a GOP supermajority where linking voting to citizenship appears to be a nonstarter: Kansas. read more
Mob rule is not conducive to representative democracy. read more
Poet Rives does 8 minutes of lyrical origami, folding history into a series of coincidences surrounding that most surreal of hours, 4 o'clock in the morning.
Trio - Da Da Da (1981)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt ...
...
What you do and what you don't
What you will and what you won't
Whatyoucan and whatyou can't
This is what you gotto know:
Loved you though it didn't show
Ich lieb' dich nicht, du liebst mich nicht
Ich lieb' dich nicht, du liebst mich nicht
Ich lieb' dich nicht, du liebst mich nicht
Ich lieb' dich nicht, du liebst mich nicht, da da da
Da da da
Da da da
Da da da
Da da da I don't love you you don't love me
Da da da I don't love you you don't love me
Da da da I don't love you you don't love me
Da da da I don't love you you don't love me, da da da
Da da da
Da da da
Da da da
...
OpEd: The DOGE Bros Win a Battle Against the MAGA Faithful
www.thenation.com
...It's unsettling when you find yourself slightly agreeing with white-nationalist MAGA maniacs like Steve Bannon and Laura Loomer. Their battle over the issue of H-1B visas"the kind provided to highly educated immigrants"just shows that top members of MAGA nation disagree with one another, on matters big and small. It will be a rare joy of the Trump era to watch them try to bring one another down.
The world's most pathetic billionaire, Elon Musk, and the most successful Trump-kissing Republican to emerge from the 2024 primary, Vivek Ramaswamy, tag-teamed over the weekend to promote the benefits of the visa so beloved by tech bros. Ramaswamy wrote on X, "A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers." ...
@#7 ... Also.
Russia ... if you are listening ...
Yeah, that was not a good thing.
A Republican candidate for President seeming to openly ask Russia cyber-criminals to get involved in the campaign.
What could possibly go wrong with that?
Senate Releases Final Report On Russia's Interference In 2016 Election
www.npr.org
... A GOP-led Senate panel released a report Tuesday that details extensive contacts between Trump campaign advisers and Russian intelligence in 2016. ...
@#44 ... So the DNC is running like a well oiled machine? ...
Where did you ever get that idea?
I mean, really, where?
In my view, the DNC is running like the s40-yer-old shelf clock I have. The clock that is unable to chime on the hour anymore. The DNC, like that clock, needs an infusion of something new, for the clock, a new movement (which I did buy www.clockworks.com )
The DNC has struggled to get out of its own way, for years.
The recent election has proven that.
Will it fix itself?
2026 will tell a lot in that area.
imo, the DNC seems to have lost contact with voters, proposing to move forward instead of solving the problems people actually face.
Related ...
Biden's fast-track asylum plan juices immigration courts
www.axios.com
... U.S. immigration courts are on pace to decide record numbers of deportation cases " and order the most removals in five years -- under President Biden's push to fast-track asylum decisions.
Why it matters: The increases in the first two months of fiscal 2025, if they continue, will help reduce a backlog of 3.7 million immigration cases that could take four years to resolve.
- - - But Biden's fast-track system -- in which immigration judges are hearing and ruling on asylum requests in a matter of minutes -- stands to be overrun by President-elect Trump's plan for mass deportations.
- - - Without significant increases in immigration court personnel and other resources for asylum claims, Trump's plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants could create decades-long backlogs in immigration courts.
By the numbers: Immigration courts are on pace to rule on 852,000 deportation cases from Oct. 1, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2025, according to an analysis of case data by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University.
- - - That analysis reviewed the pace of court rulings in October and November, the first two months of the government's fiscal 2025.
- - - If that pace continues, immigration judges will rule on more deportation cases in 2025 than in any previous year.
Zoom in: So far in fiscal 2025, immigration judges have ordered removals or voluntary departures in 45% of the cases that came before them " up from 39% in 2024 and the highest rate since 2020. ...
@#8 ... No, let's not "go with that", because Ian Cramer has absolutely nothing to do with Hunter Biden. ...
Did I say that?
I merely pointed out a possible false equivalence.
... That is my whole point. It is sickening to take a tragic situation and turn it a "Red vs. Blue" pissing contest, comparing the parents of grown ass men. ...
Please see #5
... So, you hold Cramers parents accountable for their 43 year old son's actions, but you do NOT hold Biden responsible for his 53 year old sons actions? How do you square that up? ...