Close your tags FFS.

Ever had to follow someone to a party or something who then sped off though a stale yellow light without a second thought?

Doh, missed the earlier post.

Some rare good news out of the Senate for a change.

#9,

Yep. The first 6 months or so of the 2nd Trump administration was spent literally giving away America's future to China and others. The soft power tools we used for decades to build good will were shut down or crippled. The brain drain that happened after we cut off funding for scientific research at major universities. The damage to our credibility overseas. The economic hit we, especially our farmers, took when trading partners decided it was cheaper to deal with others after the ridiculous tariffs were enacted. China or Russia couldn't have done it better if they had written a script for Trump to follow.

Time for this dinosaur to go extinct.

More: "Never in recorded history has a nation's military been so quickly and effectively neutralized," Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth claimed on March 26. The next day, Iran launched a drone and missile attack on an American base in Saudi Arabia that wounded more than a dozen service members, destroyed a radar surveillance plane and damaged at least two refueling tankers.

The immediate debunking of Mr. Hegseth's bombast points to the reform agenda that America's military needs. There are four main priorities.

First, the United States needs to invest in counter-drone technologies, like those that Ukraine has developed in its war against Russia. The lack of such defenses is one reason that the vaunted U.S. Navy has been unable to prevent the closure of a vital waterway, the Strait of Hormuz.

Second, the United States needs more of its own cheap, disposable weapons like one-way attack drones and unmanned ships. Although much of the war in Ukraine has been fought by mass-produced drones, the Pentagon is pouring money into much more complex equipment, including pilotless "wingmen" that can fly alongside a piloted plane.
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Third, the country needs larger and more flexible industrial capacity. Until recently, a single factory made all of America's Tomahawk cruise missiles, and there is a constant shortage of Patriot missile interceptors. Congress should pass laws that help the private sector build up its manufacturing capacity. The Pentagon, for its part, needs to stop buying so many of its weapons from just five big weapons makers and start betting on dynamic tech companies that can quickly adapt.

Lastly, the United States needs to collaborate with other industrialized democracies. Mr. Trump's pleas for help in reopening the Strait of Hormuz from the very allies he spurned at the start of the war is just the latest proof that America can't go it alone. In the years ahead, keeping pace with China's economic and military expansion will require collaborating with like-minded democracies.

All of these steps are not merely about winning the next war. They also can help prevent it " by making our enemies believe they would lose any war they start.

Instead, the war in Iran has provided a road map for any country that wants to resist the United States in the future, including Russia and North Korea. For China, the country with the greatest potential to challenge American military might, the war validates its focus on new forms of warfare such as drones and cyber and space power.

But maybe get rid of Hitler first so Hitler can't take credit for your hard work.

Slave classes don't create themselves ya know.

I don't know, MAGA seems perfectly happy to be slaves to the billionaires.

Guess I'm not renewing my passport anytime soon then.

More: The new case represents another twist in the department's tortured efforts to satisfy the demands of Mr. Trump to pursue criminal charges against Mr. Comey, a longtime target of the president's wrath. The first indictment against Mr. Comey was thrown out by a judge.

The charge stems from an incident nearly a year ago, when Mr. Comey, vacationing on the North Carolina coast, posted a photograph on social media showing seashells arranged to say "86 47," combining the slang term "86" often used to mean dismiss or remove in reference to Mr. Trump, the country's 47th president.

More: In one or two words, finish this sentence: "I'm feeling blank' about the country these days."

Natan, 19, Ore., Black, Republican, student - 'Disappointed and sad.'

Kitty, 36, Pa., Asian, independent, student - 'Disappointed and hopeful.'

Michelle, 45, Md., Latina, Republican, construction administration - 'Concerned.'

Alla, 51, Ala., white, Republican, portfolio manager - 'Worried.'

Jose, 62, Fla., Latino, independent, employment specialist - 'Anxious.'

Pamela, 65, Tenn., white, Republican, small business owner - 'Frustrated.'

Daniel, 41, Calif., Latino, independent, manufacturing - 'Annoyed.'

Argenis, 35, Fla., Latino, independent, HVAC sales - 'Discouraged.'

Chris, 42, Ill., white, Republican, electrician - 'Surprised and discouraged.'

Nancy, 55, Ariz., white, independent, operations - 'Concerned.'

John, 62, Md., white, Republican, packaging specialist - 'Apathetic.'

Franceska, 26, Wash., mixed race, independent, deckhand - 'Betrayed.'

Discovery for this one should be quite interesting.

This whole thing was so obviously staged they should have held it at the Kennedy Center.

The price of gas under Biden was 600% lower.

How long after Warsh is confirmed will they wait to reopen it?

More: "My response is that I stand by every single word of this report," she said. "We were very diligent. We were very careful. It went through multiple levels of editing, review, care.

"And I think one of the things that has been most gratifying, after " immediately after the story published was, I have been inundated by additional sourcing going up to the highest levels of the government, thanking us for doing the work, providing additional corroborating information."

Fitzpatrick said that she used more than two dozen sources for her original report, characterizing the officials she spoke to as "people who felt that not only was this conduct embarrassing, unbecoming, but that it was a national security vulnerability, and that Americans were perhaps less safe as a result."

Asked about some of the more shocking details in her report, she said: "I had never heard anything like this as a reporter, and I think I spent a very long time, a very diligent amount of time checking it out because it was so explosive.

"And I think the fact that this was known throughout the FBI, throughout the Justice Department, that it reached the White House is because it was so alarming. And people were really frightened."

She said some of her sources were not merely panicking but profoundly emotional in expressing their concerns to her, describing them as "grown men who have done nothing but counterintelligence and solving some of the worst-of-the-worst crimes who are not easily scared, intimidated, concerned."

"They were frightened," she said. "And that really stuck with me."

Hunting accidents are the best accidents.

More: In fact, the US president is bound by the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which limits his ability to wage war without congressional approval to 60 days.

That deadline passes on May 1, 60 days after his formal notification of the war to Congress on March 2.

It will compel him to choose one of four options " seek congressional authorisation to continue the war, start winding down US involvement, buy some breathing space or ignore the law.

Some Democrats say the war is illegal and dismiss Mr Trump's justification that it was necessary for the US national interest and "collective self-defence of regional allies, including Israel".

But several Senate Republicans have made it clear that they will not support a war without congressional approval past the 60-day mark.

Brian Mast, the representative for Florida and chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, warned that the vote could be different next time after the last of five Democratic efforts to stop the offensive failed.

Honey traps are one of the the first things they warn you about when you get a high level clearance. This woman has serious judgement issues.

Just a lot of hot air from Carlson. He has no integrity. He'd do it over again in a heartbeat of he thought he'd turn a profit.

More: "The Iranians measure the timeline in months for themselves, and in weeks for the Trump administration and the global economy," said Ali Vaez, the Iran project director for the International Crisis Group. "They think Trump can't tolerate the strait remaining closed for another three weeks."

"The Iranian regime only cares about its survival, not about its people suffering, and it does still see this as an existential battle with the United States," said Mr. Vaez of the International Crisis Group. "And that's why it's not going to blink, regardless of how much the Iranian people suffer."