@#25 ... It is more of a district or town-level thing. ...

i.e., the wealthy just seeking to perpetuate their wealth.

@#24

oops, keyboard had issues... lemme try again ...

Here in Connecticut, I see high schools that resemble a college campus in the wealthy towns. While the less wealthy towns struggle to hire talented teachers.

So, yeah, it is not a state-level thing.

It is more of a district or town-level thing.

@#3 ... It's nonsense to say which state when within the states huge disparities exist between school districts. ...

Nonsense?

I'm not there yet.

But I do take your point.

Here in Connecticut, I see high schools that resemble a college campus in the wealthy town. While the less wealthy town struggle to hire talented teacher

So, yeah, it is not a state-level thing.

It is more of a district or ton-level thing.

@#9 ... Anyone recall Trump claiming the plane was just being sent to Europe so US troops could tour it? ...

I saw him saying that.

At the time my first thought was along the lines of... ~what's he covering up?~

Now Pres Trump finally seems to admit the real reason.

Qatar 1 was a civilian aircraft that was attempted to be at the capability level of a usual Air Force 1.

And it failed in that aspect.

OK, let's take a step back here, and look at things ...

Qatar 1 was originally a civilian Boeing aircraft.

The Air Force 1 planes start out as military planes.

OK, from the get-go, there is a huge difference in the planes, military vs civilian usage.

So, then the question becomes, how much money needs to be spent upon a civilian aircraft, Qatar 1, in order to bring it up to the standards of a military Air Force 1 aircraft?

So far, I see $400 million, and counting.

@#7 ... Everyone says that, no one says what really needs cutting. ...

I do not disagree.

However, as a director in a corporation, I saw excesses from prior management.

So, my view is that there are always excesses in an organization.

But to your point, how to identify those excesses as detrimental to the organization?

Yeah, that is the main issue.

Destroying CISA?

imo, that was not the best of choices.

Unless, of course, there was an alternative goal like, say, reducing the ability to see and report election fraud?

@#12 ... These people won't actually learn anything from Trump's destructive policies. ...

imo the question is not what they may have learned, but how might they vote?

MAGA supporters have shown that they do not appear to have a problem with voting for policies that hurt them.

That, in and of itself, is a curious topic of discussion. Why might voters actually vote against their own interests? Perhaps a different thread. ...

... Talarico also pledged to reverse DOGE cuts ...

I'd prefer if he had said that he would reverse the manner in which the DOGE cuts were performed, i.e., imo, a reckless manner.

Did the Fed government need cuts? imo, yes.

But those cuts should have been performed with a view towards how the cuts would affect the Country in the future.

Now we have explosive-diarrhea, et al.

Thank-you chain-saw Musk (who, fwiw, apparently admitted to his failure in this regard.)

@#29 ... Now, if I was in charge I'd eliminate food stamps entirely - and replace them with a much larger no questions asked cash benefit. And institute a wealth tax to pay for it. ...

OK, I admit that I am not yet fully there with that opinion.

But I'm close.

Then, I see things like this ..

@#17 ... Canada's military was the only nation that stuck with us in Afghanistan until nearly the end. They have a whole bunch of veterans of that conflict "burdening" their medical system too. They fought against the Nazis for two years before the USA. ...

I agree.

But that long-term friendship of Canada towards the US does not seem to make a difference in our current ~how can I profit~ "leadership" in the Oval Office.

As a result of these types of whimsical international actions, the US is becoming more and more isolated upon the world stage.

China seems to be the main beneficiary.

@#3

... The White House appears to be shielding China from scrutiny in President Donald Trump's push to get to the bottom of what he has declared an official cover-up of Chinese interference in the 2020 presidential election. ...

Of course Pres Trump is going to TACO in accusations against China.

There's the upcoming summit between Pres Trump and Pres Xi in September, and Pres Trump may not want to do anything to upset the early negotiations for that summit meeting.

... The Pentagon insists the Strait of Hormuz remains open ...

Before Pres Trump's war of choice against Iran, there were 130+ ships per day traversing the Strait of Hormuz.

If, as Pres Trump's administration say, the Strait is now open ...

Then how many ships per day are traversing the Strait of Hormuz today, or yesterday?

More from the article ...

... Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Thursday morning local time that it stopped three oil tankers from passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

In recent weeks, Iran has hit tankers using a route hugging the Omani coast to traverse the strait, in a bid to strongarm vessels into using its own waters and pay for safe passage.

"Three oil tankers, provoked and tempted by the child-killing American army, were trying to pass through the mine-laid route south of the Strait of Hormuz, but after one of them exploded and caught fire, the other two quickly turned around and turned back," the Guard said in a statement quoted by Iranian state media.

The statement did not say when the incident happened.

"The powerful IRGC Navy emphasizes that the Strait of Hormuz is under our control... and any ship that is deceived by the US and intends to pass without coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran will suffer the same fate," the Guard added. ...

I'll ask again ...

Of course, that raises the question (again!) ... where have the Venezuelan oil revenues been going?

@#2 ... The Orleans Parish Court is a schittshow. ...

Why?

Please be specific.

thx.

Saw this today ...

@#19 ... It seems the biggest lesson in both is low tech, low cost drone warfare is in and big, expensive missiles blowing up bigger, more expensive missiles/tanks/targets is out. ...

Bingo!

A $10k drone can take out a $1M missile is a significant thing.

One that should not be a topic of trivialization.

Our weapons stockpile is based in expensive per-unit item. Missiles and the such.

Ukraine has shown the US that much lower-cost drones are now a capable defensive weapon.

But our stockpiles of counter-defensive (and expensive) measures has been diminished because of Pres Trump unprovoked war.

To the point that our defense abilities in the eastern Pacific are being questioned.

How many military units have been moved from the Pacific to fight in Pres Trump's war of choice against Iran?

@#8 ... Not as happy as the Democrat party, er I mean the socialist party. ...

Your unsubstantiated attribution of happiness towards the Democrats is quite telling.

How else might your current trolling alias want to degrade its posts?

@#4

I take your point.

thx for the follow-up.

Tangentially related ...

More from the article ...

... "There's a massive opportunity for us," said TJ Dembinski, president of Eagle Wireless. He said Eagle grew out of a need to counter China's dominance in modules, which he knew would be challenging for U.S. automakers as the regulations took effect.

It's been a mad dash to scale up production of modules, the small circuit boards that enable vehicles to have a wireless connection to the outside world.

Eagle started with about 140 employees and is aiming to grow to 1,000 in the next three years. Its revenue expectations have increased by almost 100% for the year, to nearly $100 million.

"It's been insane," Dembinski said.

The connected-vehicle rules were adopted in January 2025 under U.S. President Joe Biden, based on national security concerns around data privacy, and have been kept in place under the Trump administration. They prohibit the use of Chinese connectivity software starting in the 2027 model year, and hardware from model-year 2030. Though those deadlines may seem far off, automakers plan vehicle programs years in advance, meaning compliant suppliers must be locked in now.

Amid heightened geopolitical tensions and unpredictable trade wars, auto companies are in the middle of a disruptive uncoupling from China, on everything from inexpensive components -- like Eagle's modules -- to battery materials and essential rare earth minerals. ...

@#25 ... "We have no idea who is going to be running Saudi Arabia 10 years from now." ...

Details, details.

Does Pres Trump look ahead 10 years when he makes his policy decisions?

Does Pres Trump look ahead 10 months when he makes his policy decisions?

OK, maybe a more apropos question might be ...

Does Pres Trump look ahead 10 days when he makes his policy decisions?

... Global Energy Supplies Threat Worsens Due to Iran War ...

It's Iran's ace in the hole.

Before Pres Trump's unprovoked war against Iran, both the Strait of Hormuz and the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb were wide open to shipping. Wide open.

130+ ships per day.

Now, Pres Trump's numero uno goal seems to be to try to return to that prior, and possibly unattainable, condition.

The question that lingers like an unclaimed air biscuit is...

Now that Pres Trump has educated Iran regarding the global strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's possibility ability to profit therefrom, will Iran ever again return to a wide-open Strait of Hormuz?

... A federal magistrate judge ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump must turn over detailed financial information in connection with his defamation lawsuit against the BBC. ...

"Detailed" financial information.

That could become an issue.

What may lurk in that "detailed" financial information?

More from the article ...

... The case was put on hold almost immediately after the July 2 indictment, when the Louisiana Supreme Court said the local court and special prosecutor did not follow procedures surrounding the indictment. The dismissal by special prosecutor Laurie White came a day after New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams, Democratic Mayor Helena Moreno and five City Council members sent a letter urging her to drop the case.

"What I did was not a crime, it was never a crime," said Murrill, a Republican. "I think this was a malicious prosecution."

At the center of the case are deepening rifts between the state's Republican leaders and Democrats who control Louisiana's most prominent city. ...