@#3

What's the saying?

Is it something along the lines of ...

When someone tells you what they plan to do, believe them.

@#19

So, more grift from Trump Inc, taking advantage of the occupancy of the Oval Office?

@#17 ... Donald Trump, Jr. new startup company called Venture Capital. who, aside from investors, just got a $620 Million contract from the Pentagon ...

@#16 ... Youtube video says Mexico will take back their oil from the US. ...

Youtube videos say a lot of things.

...

... the law makes an exception for documents that "would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution, provided that such withholding is narrowly tailored and temporary." ...

Is that why AG Bondi started a new investigation recently?

@#12 ... Lamp getting po'd ...

I was getting po'd? (aside from the made-up attribution in your comment)

Where?

My visits to this site are quite serene.

I do not remember any visit, or posting that I have done, where I was po'd.

I will say, however, that if visiting this site results in me becoming po'd, then my first reaction would be along the lines of not visiting the site.

:)

@#13 ... I'm not so sure Trump's end game in Venezuela is primarily about oil. ...

I do not disagree.

But that is my concern ...

Pres Trump has not yet stated why he has committed the supremely extensive military resources against Venezuela.

And now, that the second boat strike unreleased video seems to be a talking point, I have a concern about what Pres Trump may do to try to distract away from a possible crime that may have been committed.

But, through the fog of all that, the question remains ...

Why has the US Military established such a presence there?

@#1 ... Disguised as charity work, the monastery spreads Kremlin propaganda and runs militarized training programs for children. ...

OK, I wrote a comment, which I deleted before I previewed it because I thought it was off-topic.

So, trying to stay on-topic ...

Wait, what ...

WTF, Nuns camouflaging themselves as religious people but putting forth political propaganda?

To children?!?!?

@#10 ... what "land" did Venezuela steal from the US? ...

Isn't the oil in the ground "land?"

And doesn't Pres Trump think he is entitled to that "land?"

A musical representation of Mr Musk's DOGE?

More from the article ...

... The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Monday announced the establishment of the US Tech Force, an initiative it describes as a "cross-government program to recruit top technologists to modernize the federal government."

If that sounds a lot like the US Digital Service, which before being transformed into the now-dissolved Department of Government Efficiency was designed to pair private sector tech skills with public-sector agencies to help modernize them, or the General Services Administration's 18F team, designed to help federal agencies modernize their tech stack before DOGE shut them down, you're not alone in thinking that, but the Trump administration swears this time it'll be different.

The Tech Force "is distinct from other technology initiatives within government, including the United States DOGE Service and programs managed by GSA," the program's website states. "These programs differ in their mandates, structure, required skill sets, and ability to convert to the competitive service."

Those tech modernization initiatives are mostly gone thanks to Elon Musk's DOGE, which the billionaire recently admitted was only "somewhat successful" and not something he'd do again, as are many of the career tech professionals that worked at those agencies, and on now-stalled modernization projects that may not be continued under new management.

...

The Social Security Administration also closed its tech modernization office in February, with then-acting social security administrator Lee Dudek calling it wasteful.

As opposed to those measures, the Tech Force, OPM director Scott Kupor said in a memo [PDF] released alongside the announcement, will operate at a scale that gives it "the critical mass and range of skills the previous initiatives lacked and ensure the program can deploy sufficiently large teams to participating agencies."

Tech pros chosen to be part of the Tech Force don't need a traditional degree or a minimum amount of work experience, according to the initiative's website. "Fellows," as the program is calling its participants, will serve two-year stints at one of a handful of government agencies participating in the program, where they'll be working on "high-impact technology initiatives including AI implementation, application development, data modernization, and digital service delivery."

One of the major differences between the Tech Force and prior initiatives, in true Trump administration fashion, is the incredibly close ties with the private tech sector. The Tech Force has a goal of providing career inroads to 1,000 entry-level professionals a year, and intends to pull management from Silicon Valley firms, where partner companies are expected to put staff on leave to lend them to the federal government to run teams at various federal agencies.

Companies participating in the Tech Force include Anduril, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Palantir, xAI, and others. Once Tech Force recruits finish up their term, the Trump administration is asking participating private companies to consider hiring them.

In short, with the federal government's tech workforce decimated, it's falling to the private sector to get things running in line with what's likely to be their own personal visions, and likely their own products, too.

We reached out to the OPM and the Tech Force team with plenty of questions about how this new initiative is actually going to be any different or more effective than those that preceded it.

We didn't get any answers. ...

Another view ...

fwiw, Russia has denied that it had occurred.

That could be the result of one or two (or maybe more) things ...

1) it did occur and Russia is embarrassed to admit.

2) it actually did not occur, and Ukraine is lying.

For me, I'm leaning towards #1.

@#6 ... Smells of more socialism... ...

Shhhhh... you can use that word here. There are Republicans around who will criticize you for doing so.

Wait, where are they this evening?

They all seemed to have disappeared at once? Almost like a troll farm shutting down for an evening ....

imo, a bad trend for the use of technology.

More from the article ...

... Police around the country routinely use facial recognition after a crime, to speed up the identification of suspects caught on camera. But live facial recognition, which can name and track a person moving around a city in real time, has been slower to catch on in the U.S. Aside from isolated experiments, police departments have shied away from the technology, fearing a backlash over privacy.

In New Orleans, the technology was introduced by a private non-profit organization, Project NOLA, founded in 2009 by a former police officer named Bryan Lagarde.

"I was one of the people sitting in the hot car many years ago, taking pictures and videos of gangsters," he says. In the years after Hurricane Katrina, when the police department was severely under-staffed, he says it became obvious to him that the city needed more cameras. "I recognized early on that it can act as a force multiplier. A wonderful force multiplier."

He says Project NOLA acts as a kind of clearinghouse for video feeds from over 5,000 cameras that are mounted on the private property of "volunteers," who pay annual connection fees.

It's a massive amount of video, so in 2022 he added live facial recognition abilities.

"We're able to process more needle-in-a-haystack requests and see very successful results a lot faster," he says. "And we're less likely to miss something." ...

@#5 ... Clearly its about oil. ...

That is the way it seems to be looking of late. The drug-trafficking emphasis seems to be diminishing and now looks like more of a distraction, with the possible murdering of ship-wrecked people. The latter will be lingering for a while like an unclaimed air-biscuit, as it is beginning to look like yet another Trump admin cover-up to me.

OK, let's go with the "it's about oil aspect."

Does that justify the expense of the military force that Pres Trump has deployed?

Does that even justify his actions off the coast of Venezuela?

... and ...

@#3 ... How bout them beef prices?? ...

More from the article ...

... The letter, led by two Californians"Senator Adam Schiff and Representative Dave Min"said there had been a number of decisions that raised concerns that there were not enough barriers in place to keep the attorney general away from Brad Bondi's cases.

"Viewed collectively, these actions raise significant broader ethical concerns," the 11 Democrats wrote. "The repetition and timing of these interventions suggest coordinated decision-making rather than routine prosecutorial discretion."

Newsweek reached out to the DOJ via contact form and Brad Bondi via email for comment on Tuesday morning.

Why It Matters

The DOJ and wider federal government have rules and regulations in place meant to keep family members from benefiting from their relative's position, in this case, the attorney general. As part of that, the attorney general is supposed to remove themselves from any cases where there may be a conflict of interest. The Democrats behind the letter want to know if these processes were adhered to. ...

@#5 ... That fat duck will have a stroke on live TV ...

At this point, I am just wondering if his advisors can convince him to stay on-topic, and not wander off to talking about sharks or South American snakes ...

... and as I look at my comment in the preview (yeah, I'm paying more attention to preview now), I ask myself, am I really talking about the President of the United States?

@#15 ... You know what the VA does? It does research studies. It helps veterans. ...

Yup.

It helps Veterans.

With a major emphasis on "it helps Veterans."

So, why does Pres Trump seem to be determined to stifle such a vital resource that helps the Veterans who have served the Country?

About time for that to occur.

Marijuana is not in the same league as the other things in the category it has been classified to.

@#37 ... We need many, many more convincing people ...

Agreed.

But Mr Mangione's approach is The Wrong Way to resolve the problem.