"A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talking real money."
That famous quote, once attributed to the late Republican Sen. Everett Dirksen in the mid-20th century, is of unknown origin. But when it comes to Congress and spending, the point still holds.
For now, the judge rejected the Baptist university's arguments that its actions are exempt from federal law and that students agree to information sharing.
The appeals panel agreed with a federal judge that it could not block the executive order until its proposals have been enacted.
Border czar Tom Homan said Sunday that if allegations of violent behavior against an immigration officer prove true, the officer should have been disqualified during the vetting process. read more
Sometimes, compelling stories beat medical evidence. read more
@#6 ... Ask our farmers. ...
Good point.
But then there's this ...
Trump's $12 billion farmer bailout is a Band-Aid on a bigger wound' the American agriculture industry is still reeling from (December 2025)
fortune.com
... President Donald Trump has delivered on his promise to provide aid to U.S. farmers hit by his sweeping tariff policy, but that hasn't freed the agriculture industry from worries of tight margins and volatile markets.
On Monday, Trump, alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, and National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, announced a $12 billion farm aid program, which outlined much-needed relief for farmers who sounded the alarms about increasing input costs and fewer export opportunities amid ongoing trade tensions. Farmers will begin receiving funds by the end of February, Rollins said.
"Now we're once again in a position where a president is able to put farmers first," Trump said at a Monday roundtable of farmers and lawmakers. "But unfortunately, I'm the only president that does that."
While farmers and agricultural economists see the package as a way to move forward after a disappointing harvest season, they fear the precedent of cash bailouts does not provide systemic solutions to a beleaguered industry, and they don't believe the $12 billion gesture is enough to solve agriculture's deeper challenges.
"We're talking $12 billion, and while it is a lot of money, in the grand scheme of things, it's still going to be a Band-Aid on a bigger wound," Ryan Loy, assistant professor and extension economist for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, told Fortune. "How can we triage this situation right now, work on that longer-term solution? That's really, I think, the overall attitude toward it." ...
Oh no!
After backlash, Upstate NY school district pauses plan to add humanoid robot to classroom
www.syracuse.com
... A Western New York school district has halted its plans to place a humanoid robot in a classroom after a New York Focus report on the plan sparked fierce debate over the use of artificial intelligence in schools and backlash from local parents.
Salamanca City Central School District announced in a Facebook post Friday afternoon that its pilot project with tech company Realbotix has been put on hold as school officials "work through enhanced student data privacy agreements" with the state education agency and engage with community members.
The news comes hours after state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa sent a letter informing Salamanca Superintendent Mark Beehler that "the Department remains concerned about the effect that a humanoid robot may have within a high school classroom." According to the letter, the department met with the district to discuss the robot plan earlier this week.
"Many parents, teachers, and stakeholders are understandably concerned about the presence of artificial intelligence technology in classrooms, particularly when it involves robots that resemble humans," Rosa wrote.
The district had planned to introduce the robot to high school students this fall, along with an artificial intelligence teacher's assistant program that allowed students to interact with an avatar of the robot on laptops. The $57,590 investment was approved at a local school board meeting last month. ...
@#20 ... It is from a weird film called "The Body" and is called Give Birth To A Smile. Quite a departure ...
I have that soundtrack album. Likely because I was accumulating Pink Floyd soundtrack songs back in the day.
Music from The Body
en.wikipedia.org
... Music from The Body is the soundtrack album to Roy Battersby's 1970 documentary film The Body,[3] about human biology, narrated by Vanessa Redgrave and Frank Finlay. ...
But, yeah. Weird.
Prince & The Revolution - Purple Rain (1984)
www.youtube.com
Purple Rain (film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Rain_(film)
... Purple Rain is a 1984 American romantic rock musical drama film directed by Albert Magnoli from a screenplay co-written by Magnoli and William Blinn. It stars Prince (in his feature film debut), Apollonia Kotero, Morris Day, Olga Karlatos, and Clarence Williams III. In the film, the Kid (Prince), a rising musician, grapples with his turbulent personal life as he competes with rival local musician Morris (Day). ...
Significant water main break' impacting multiple neighborhoods in Waterbury: City officials
www.nbcconnecticut.com
Water line failure in Waterbury leaves about 100,000 without water (December 2025)
ctmirror.org
Or another from the Vietnam era ...
Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Be Not Too Hard (1974)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt ...
...
Be not too hard for life is short
And nothing is given to man
Be not too hard if he's sold or bought
For he must do the best he can
Be not too hard when he blindly dies
Fighting for things he does not own
Be not too hard when he tells lies
Or if his heart is sometimes stone
Be not too hard for soon he'll die
Often no wiser than he began
Be not too hard for life is short
And nothing is given to man
...
@#7 ... America could, in effect, pull a "Vietnam"
Speaking of then Vietnam War and our military forces in the MidEast ...
Barclay James Harvest - Child Of The Universe (1982)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt ...
...
[Verse]
I'm a child of South Africa
I'm a child of Vietnam
I'm a child of Northern Ireland
I'm a small boy with blood on his hands
[Chorus]
Yes, I'm a child of the universe
Yes, I'm a child of the universe
You can see me on the TV every night
Always there to join in someone else's fight
[Bridge]
I didn't ask to be born, and I don't ask to die
I'm an endless scream, a gene machine
That cannot reason why
...
@#10 ... "the man who is quick to borrow is always slow to pay." ...
Whoa.
So apropos.
thx.