Trump's job approval - 42% of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of how Donald Trump is handling his job as president, and 54% disapprove. The Epstein investigation - A majority of Americans think Trump knew some (27%) or a lot (44%) about the sex crimes committed by Epstein against underage girls before investigations into Epstein began; only 8% say he knew nothing about them.
A Texas judge has ordered Alex Jones' broadcast and merchandising business Infowars be sold to pay Sandy Hook families a token of the $1.5 billion he owes them for defamation. read more
The Trump administration's claim that it is saving billions of dollars through DOGE-related cuts to federal contracts is drastically exaggerated, according to a new POLITICO analysis ... read more
Boar's Head plans to reopen the Jarratt, Virginia, facility at the center of a deadly Listeria outbreak last year despite federal inspections continuing to find sanitation violations at three of the food company's other facilities, according to federal records obtained by The Associated Press. read more
The location allows Putin to evade an ICC arrest warrant over war crimes associated with Russia's actions in Ukraine. read more
@#8 ... Lack of choice is a great motivator. ...
Yup.
At least, here in CT, I can choose among various electric suppliers.
www.eversource.com
For now, that capability seems to be helping.
@#118 ... more likely they never cared about inflation before Trump was elected. ...
Then why was a major aspect of the Trump campaign to reduce prices on Day 1?
Trump promised lower grocery prices on Day One.' Here's what happened
thehill.com
... Campaigning for office a year ago, standing in front of a table loaded up with bags of flour, cartons of eggs and gallons of milk, President Donald Trump told voters, "When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One."
Unfortunately for him -- and money-strapped Americans -- it hasn't worked out that way. ...
@#3 ... Utilities have been stockpiling transformers to ensure they have adequate supply, but are seeing long lead times for some equipment, sometimes forced to place orders three or four years ahead of time, Boucher said. ...
What effect might this shortage of transformers have upon the cost of those transformers and, subsequently, the cost of the electricity delivered to our homes?
AI power needs seem to already having an effect upon residential electric prices.
AI data centers are using more power. Regular customers are footing the bill
www.sctimes.com
... Between 2024 and 2025, data center power usage accounted for $9 billion, or 174%, of increased power costs. ...
Why should residential customers fund the costs to provide power to the AI data centers?
A fun cover tune ...
At least, I hope it was done for fun ...
Dinosaur Jr. - Show Me The Way (1987)
www.youtube.com
imo, Dinosaur, Jr. is like the Onion of music...
@#6
I may choose to use different words, but my view does agree with the sentiment your comment expresses.
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
en.wikipedia.org
... On December 14, 2012, a mass shooting occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, United States. The perpetrator, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, shot and killed 26 people. The victims were 20 children between six and seven years old, and 6 adult staff members. Earlier that day, before driving to the school, Lanza fatally shot his mother at their Newtown home. ...
I was over in Newtown a couple days ago. When I was there, I saw, and admired this flagpole that the great residents have fought to keep in place. Right in the middle of an intersection of a state highway ...
Newtown, Connecticut Flagpole
en.wikipedia.org
... The Newtown, Connecticut Flagpole stands in the middle of the intersection of Main Street, West Street, and Church Hill Road. The pole itself is 100 ft tall and made of steel, with a seasonally rotating American flag. The summer flag is 20 ft x 30 ft, costing an average $700, and the winter flag is 18 ft x 24 ft, costing an average of $375..[1] [2] The landmark is popular with and loved by the locals of Newtown, landing itself a place on the National Register of Historic Places, status as a state-sanctioned landmark, [1] and a sandwich named in its honor at the Newtown General Store. [3]
History
From 1709-1792, the Congressional Meeting House stood in the current location of the flagpole. The Meeting House was lifted by men onto logs and rolled by men and horses 132 ft to its current location in the middle of West Street.[4] During the 19th century, patriotism and passion for the American flag were quickly growing.[5] In Newtown, the first pole was erected in 1876 at the centennial celebration, and was, by tradition, cut by Lawrence Mitchell, who brought the 70 ft original pole to Main Street by oxen.[6] ...
An interesting cover of the Pink Floyd tune ...
Luther Wright & The Wrongs - In the Flesh (2001)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt ...
genius.com
...
[Verse]
So ya thought ya might like to go to the show
To feel the warm thrill of confusion, that space cadet glow
Tell me is something eluding you, sunshine?
Is this not what you expected to see?
If you wanna find out what's behind these cold eyes
You'll just have to claw your way through the disguise
...
Russia and Ukraine Agree: A Trump Summit Is a Big Win for Putin
www.nytimes.com
... The talks on Friday in Alaska pull the Russian leader out of diplomatic isolation from the West, and Ukrainian and European leaders fear it gives him an opening to sway the American president. ...
President Trump has spent the week setting the bar extremely low for his high-stakes U.S.-Russian summit on Friday in Alaska. Hardly anyone expects him to make much progress in halting the fighting between Russia and Ukraine, given how far apart their views of the conflict are.
But those two warring countries do seem to agree on at least one thing. Merely meeting with Mr. Trump is a big win for President Vladimir V. Putin, bringing the Russian leader out of a diplomatic deep freeze and giving him a chance to cajole the American president face to face.
"Putin's visit to the U.S.A. means the total collapse of the whole concept of isolating Russia. Total collapse," Kremlin-controlled television crowed after news of the hastily arranged summit broke last weekend.
For Russia, "this is a breakthrough even if they don't agree on much," said Sergei Mikheyev, a pro-war Russian political scientist who is a mainstay of state television. ...
Solomon Burke - Flesh And Blood (2002)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt ...
...
Come sit beside me
That'll do for now
The night has come and left me
Just the light that you allow
Come speak my name
Fill my head with all such foolish dreams
My flesh and blood
Is no more real to me
Than what it seems
My love for you is burning
Like a spark along a fuse
I feel your mark upon me now
As surely as the hand that leaves the bruise
Life is for the living
And life comes hard for some
The rest of us with flesh and blood
Make it hard all along
All I ever wanted
Was the freedom to refuse
Or something of my own to love enough
To hate, to lose
The fever in my brain
Is leaving smoke behind my eyes
But the part of me that wants to change
Fights the part of me that tries
...
Grindr CEO confirms significant' user spike during RNC (July 2025)
unherd.com
... Grindr's CEO has acknowledged that the app had a "significant spike in usage" during last year's Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. In a new interview with UnHerd's Freddie Sayers, George Arison dismissed rumors that traffic had caused servers to crash, but confirmed there had been a surge in users as supporters celebrated Trump's confirmation as the Republican candidate. ...
@#21 ... How come GRINDR usage spikes when there's a republican convention in town ...
Whoa, I thought you were just trying to be funny.
Then I found this ...
Grindr Dating App Crashes in Milwaukee During RNC: Everything We Know (July 2024)
www.newsweek.com
... Love " or at least a spike of users on the gay dating app Grindr " was reportedly in the Milwaukee air this week while the Republican National Convention was in town.
Over 1,000 users reported a Grindr outage in the Milwaukee area around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, according to Downdetector, a website that collects online service status information.
The Grindr app also allegedly experienced problems in the Cream City on Thursday" the fourth and final day of the RNC " as well as in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. However, Grindr's official status updates show there hasn't been an outage since May.
Nevertheless, a Grindr user who did not want to be identified told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he noticed an influx of anonymous users this week. ...
@#60 ... No tax cut for you. ...
OK, so now please explain the huge tax cut you say Social Security recipients will be receiving.
thx.