Drudge Retort: The Other Side of the News

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Monday, February 03, 2025

Space constraints and court orders have led ICE to release migrants on monitoring programs after they're arrested. read more


Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo issued a "read-out" of her call with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday -- but her list of what the two leaders agreed to is different from his in one major respect: guns. read more


Those outside the federal government might not understand the gravity of this situation. Think of OPM and the Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service as the valet sheds of the federal government. They're not flashy or big, but they hold all the keys. OPM maintains the private information of federal civil servants"bank codes, addresses, insurance information, retirement accounts, employment records. The Treasury's system processes every payment to everyone from grandmothers waiting for their Social Security check to cancer researchers working to crack the cure. Now there's a ham-fisted goon in an ill-fitting valet attendant's coat rummaging in broad daylight through all of the keys"all of that private information, previously given in trust, handled with care, and regulated by law.


Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford is "ripping up" Ontario's nearly $100 million contract with Elon Musk's Starlink ... read more


Friday, January 31, 2025

Former North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson announced via social media on Friday, Jan. 31 that he is dropping his defamation lawsuit against CNN and indefinitely retiring from politics. read more


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More: A preliminary report on Wednesday night's plane and helicopter collision near Washington, D.C. contradicts Donald Trump's favorite DEI scapegoat.

An internal report from the Federal Aviation Administration found that in reality, the tower's staffing at Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) was "not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic," according to The New York Times. There was only one air traffic controller to handle both helicopters and planes in the airport's vicinity, a job usually assigned to two people.

Having to handle both types of air traffic can be complicated, the Times report states, because air traffic controllers can use different radio frequencies for helicopter and airplane pilots. In such cases, while the controller is communicating with pilots of both kinds of aircraft, the pilots may not be able to talk to one another.

Staffing levels at the airport's control tower have been below adequate levels for years, like many of the U.S.'s other airports. DCA's tower only had 19 fully certified controllers as of September 2023, according to congressional reports. This is well below the FAA and air traffic controller union's preferred number of 30, and is due to employee turnover and budget cuts, according to the Times.

As a result, many air controllers at the airport work up to 10 hours a day and six days a week. Those levels probably have not been helped by Donald Trump's federal hiring freeze, his gutting of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, and the FAA chief's resignation at Elon Musk's behest. As much as Trump and the right might try to blame DEI or something else ludicrous, perhaps they should look in the mirror.

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