That’s the point. You just gotta kinda pick what you are most interested in and care about, and focus on that as best you can. Example: I care about Ukraine, rule of law/independent judiciary, and LGBTQ+ issues, and I sort of stay on the edge of cybersecurity stuff mainly to stay safe. You have to maintain your sanity and your ability to keep living, while figuring out how to fight back if that is your choice. Do I sometime check in other things? Yeah. I usually stay out of this channel, actually, because it can be really overwhelming to see it all together.
#Trump Containment Zone
deft acorn
wary scroll
An interesting thing from the interview, I will keep it in the Trump zone rather than derail the Ukraine chat with it.
A Polish reporter asked if Trump remains commited to the Eastern flank namely Poland and the Baltics to which he responds
"I am very commited to Poland, tough neighbourhood."
"What about the Baltics?"
"The Baltics? Eeh uuuh eeeeeeh meeeh, they're in a tough neighbourhood too."
The stark contrast between Trump immediately answering about his commitment to Poland and the hesitation about the Baltics.
It gives me the feeling that he's already sold the Baltics out and if anything happens, we'll be alone.
tawny horizon
I'm a Pole and I'm quite sure he will sell us on first opportunity.
grizzled ingot
It gives me the feeling that he's already sold the Baltics out and if anything h...
if he knows what the baltics mean.
grizzled ingot
I'm a Pole and I'm quite sure he will sell us on first opportunity.
first we take poland, than we take berlin
wary scroll
if he knows what the baltics mean.
To be honest, that was a possibility I was thinking too because it looked like he was trying to remember what countries are the Baltics.
elfin olive
It gives me the feeling that he's already sold the Baltics out and if anything h...
Trump has sold out Europe, if anything happens he will not do anything.
With how the current cuts are going, and with leadership eyeing Canada and Mexico, it's likely that even if he wanted to do something, the US will soon be in a state where they simply can't.
elfin olive
https://bsky.app/profile/jacobbogage.bsky.social/post/3ljc2oduenc25
It seems like they are starting to weaponizing their new Control soon.
grizzled ingot
tribal ivy
Of course
plain prawn
It is of course safe to say that none of the likely candidates to take over in case Zelenskyj leaves will give in to Trump.
trim dust
Hi, I'm deleting this because it strays too far into meme territory.
If you wanted to discuss the state of the technology and its applications, you could consider whether it fits in a channel like #1089154093810978866
elfin olive
It is of course safe to say that none of the likely candidates to take over in c...
Zelensky offered his resignation in exchange for Security guarantees and Trump/US rejected it. He is not leaving.
crystal citrus
I don’t know if they think that Zaluzhny would be more open to concessions to Russia, or they plan to intervene and install a pro-Russian candidate somehow, or they just don’t think about anything at all that is one step beyond “Zelenskyy is too difficult, so he must leave”
crystal citrus
Zelensky offered his resignation in exchange for Security guarantees and Trump/U...
I don’t think it was a serious offer, afaik he just mentioned it as a hypothetical during a press conference
plain prawn
Zelensky offered his resignation in exchange for Security guarantees and Trump/U...
My guess is that Zelenskyj will leave as soon as he can (as soon as they can hold an election) regardless of what anyone else says to him.
plain prawn
I don’t know if they think that Zaluzhny would be more open to concessions to Ru...
I think, like Puck Nielsen in the video, that the problem is that the plan was to force Ukraine to surrender, get all the minerals and walk away like winners. And the tantrum was simly the result of them starting to realize that it wont work. I guess that Trump really believed that it was all about the US and that Ukraine cannot fight without US support.
elfin olive
I think, like Puck Nielsen in the video, that the problem is that the plan was t...
which is what Putin also believes
plain prawn
which is what Putin also believes
Hopes for atleast. His plan for the war seems to be throwing everything he can at Ukraine and hope he can endure longer than Ukraine.
deft acorn
somber bone
grizzled ingot
vital shore
https://bsky.app/profile/nycsouthpaw.bsky.social/post/3ljg2gmipfk2f
Interesting that it was found and reposted— what do you think is going on— is this another musk clone?
coral topaz
Post originated with this Facebook user. https://www.facebook.com/michael.mccune.81
grizzled ingot
Interesting that it was found and reposted— what do you think is going on— is th...
No, I think they have a social media team trollfarm
sage salmon
somber bone
loud coyote
Paid “troublemakers” are attending Republican Town Hall Meetings. It is all part of the game for the Democrats, but just like our big LANDSLIDE ELECTION, it’s not going to work for them! https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/114099009721475492
pulsar monolith
We also need to start putting export tariffs on agricultural exports because, USA Juche? https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114099930171583950
somber bone
grizzled ingot
they lie so easily. https://bsky.app/profile/newseye.bsky.social/post/3ljk3ly6iuk2g
marble plover
I think by "illegal protests" he means "all protests" because protesting is by definition not illegal
grizzled ingot
The slowly killing of democracy goes really fast this time
rugged dew
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114104167452161158
It's amazing to me that he actually has the ability to do this because he placed his people in control of the funding. No protest is illegal, but apparentl he canfreeze the funds of whomever he likes with a legal reason or without one. Are all capitalist/liberal democracies vulnerable like this or is this specifically a us pres + executive order situation?
shadow raven
I think it can only be possible in a country, where a single party controls the nominations of government positions
or rather, the confirming of those nominations
candid briar
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114104167452161158
I wonder if "NO MASKS" mandate also applies to the neo-nazi/fascist/far-right agitators we see? I ask semi-facetiously.
midnight oar
It's amazing to me that he actually has the ability to do this because he placed...
Democracies by definition have a solid executive/justice/legislative separation.
Right now we see the result of congress at his boot and judges either nominated by him or paid for by generous donations.
I dont know if we've ever seen such brutal assaults against free speech.
somber bone
midnight oar
https://www.wired.com/story/people-paying-millions-donald-trump-mar-a-lago/
The boxes of classified documents are back at Mar-a-Lago.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/feb/28/fbi-returns-property-seized-trump-mar-lago-raids/
lilac sluice
“Evidence of commingling personal effects with documents bearing classification markings is relevant evidence of the statutory offenses under investigation,” Justice Department prosecutors wrote in a 2022 court filing.
...
It’s not clear if Mr. Trump is also receiving the documents back, or just the personal items.```So is there confirmation anywhere that it is or is not just the personal items?
covert flume
I’ve not seen any confirmation. Habba was asked directly and didn’t answer directly: https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/amp/shows/top-stories/blog/rcna194333
grizzled ingot
somber bone
azure rain
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-ukraine-prepare-sign-minerals-deal-tuesday-sources-say-2025-03-04/ attempt #2 President Donald Trump has told his advisers that he wants to announce the agreement in his address to Congress Tuesday evening, three of the sources said, cautioning that the deal had yet to be signed and the situation could change.
somber bone
somber bone
grizzled ingot
azure rain
https://time.com/7264693/fact-check-trump-congress-speech-immigration-social-security-ev-mandateTime magazine bringing the receipts
rugged dew
Not sure if shared (can't find it) https://newrepublic.com/article/192318/trump-immigrant-deportations-low-rage-unnerving
west kettle
DC's Homerule (also under threat) instead of statehood makes it particularly vulnerable. This move gave the mayor the most control possible but, sadly, will likely be a minor attack in the long run. Small beginning...but not insignificant
somber bone
deft acorn
“The National Institutes of Health won’t be able to implement an across-the-board cap on how much it pays research universities and medical schools for indirect costs, under a federal court order released Wednesday in cases brought by Democratic attorneys general and university associations.
Judge Angel Kelley of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts granted a nationwide preliminary injunction in the case, blocking the proposed 15% cap on Facilities and Administrative fees from taking effect while three lawsuits advance.”
marble plover
somber bone
elder igloo
Senate Dems attempting to open an inquiry into Edward Martin https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2025-03-06 SJC Bar Complaint re Martin.pdf
azure rain
`President Donald Trump convened his Cabinet in person on Thursday to deliver a message: You’re in charge of your departments, not Elon Musk.
According to two administration officials, Trump told top members of his administration that Musk was empowered to make recommendations to the departments but not to issue unilateral decisions on staffing and policy. Musk was also in the room.`
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/06/trump-cabinet-musk-025093
So a cover your ass move or something pointing towards actually limiting musks power grab
coral topaz
Cringeworthy. "Maybe they'll love each other, I don't know. But they've been left up there. Think of it. And I see the woman with the wild hair. Good solid head of hair she's got. There's no kidding. There's no games with her hair." https://x.com/atrupar/status/1897757240230121907
X
marble plover
That's so gross
Literally schoolyard "No dude, I said I'd pay you 10 doll-hairs for your pogs, not 10 dollars"
tawny horizon
Toy Yoda, not Toyota!
azure rain
It does fit with the general feel of this administration
midnight oar
I had hopes that as a 80yo lieutenant general he'd have a cold war mentality instead of yet another Russian asset among Trump's lackeys.
azure rain
It's been proven that people with age and certain mental conditions return to childlike behaviour. Could be an early warning sign
dusky star
I had hopes that as a 80yo lieutenant general he'd have a cold war mentality ins...
I think, for gentlemen like him, it's worth considering they're in a really weird spot when asked about specifics like that. If he talks against the grain he gets in hot water over it. Could he have weird views? Yes, although responses like this are about what you could expect from someone trying to answer that without risking their new job.
Pretty much anything else you get into insinuating or saying it was a lie or wrong - or alternatively you lie and say it was truthful with it, being patently the opposite.
midnight oar
He could have just thrown "Both sides of the conflict have been difficult to work with"
dusky star
He could have just thrown "Both sides of the conflict have been difficult to wor...
It's worth watching the actual full video he does lol (doesnt as explicitly degrade our end tho)
He is definitely pro-Trump politically that's not in doubt but, he actually does take quite a bit of time to reason things realistically and absolutely drops comments that are both-sided but not explicitly said (which could get him in trouble)
Like he makes a reference towards how doing diplo negotiations in public is a dumb idea while talking about the WH meeting - he does do the thing where he abdicates Trumps responsibility in the discourse but kind of leaves the meeting point ambigious while stressing that, that was initiated by their end not Ukraines
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tipjih-eBg this has the entire event I'm p sure
The part where he makes the snippet above is a response to a question that starts at 46:17, it's about a 4 minute response and that is used half way in as a sort of example on negotiating (not that it is a good example or anything at all). The fuller piece for that specific part would be
"And I think we've got a preliminary, we kind of know where they're coming from and knowing what they want to do. We kind of know the same from the Ukrainians, and then you kind of put them together and say to the President or President, okay Mr President this is what it looks like right now, this is what the picture looks like. Now this is where we think, as a team, this is where we think that you could give and take and where you want to go. So, are we down to the absolute end state? No, but remember what President Trump said. He actually talked about the potential of getting territory back from the Russians, that's a public comment from him, so..."
(interviewer asks what territory)
"Well he didn't say, it's almost like, you know, the President said he was going to end the war in 24 hours, we didn't say what day, what year."
this dude rants and has a lot of filler sounds so, give or take transcript tid bits to shorten that from random word repeats and "uhs" lol.
plain prawn
Ok hold your horses now... The "transgender mice" thing is really about "transgenic mice"...?
somber bone
elder igloo
https://breakingdefense.com/2025/03/hegseth-signs-memo-pushing-forward-software-...
hmm I think this is maybe the first time I've agreed with the administration on a topic. Which makes me skeptical about what it'll look like in practice because this almost makes too much sense. iirc SWP was in the last couple months of Trump I so I guess it makes sense for him to go all in on it. Still feels weird to go back to it after expressing a desire to get rid of the F-35 and other "high tech boondoggles." What exactly would you need SWP for if not for things like the F-35?
deft acorn
Still looking for the EO doing this https://apnews.com/article/public-service-student-loan-forgiveness-trump-457a24f8dba3c52dfe58f1e72ba61fa4
rugged dew
Still looking for the EO doing this https://apnews.com/article/public-service-st...
Just to follow up, NYT here: https://archive.ph/Nqn7Q
So 'later today' depending on which time zone?
This overuse of the word 'illegal' is one of my million annoyances..
deft acorn
This overuse of the word 'illegal' is one of my million annoyances..
Yup. Overbroad. “Illegal” could be anything with these people.
shadow raven
it's not related but personally I think it's funny that English-speakers tend to use the word "illegal" also to mean "against the rules" in sports
loud coyote
rugged dew
https://theintercept.com/2025/03/06/elon-musk-doge-email-address-foia/?utm_campa...
The entire list of email addresses was leaked on bsky yesterday (can't share here because doxx) list is pinned on profile @esqueer.net
Whole discussion below it too on why using the doge.eop.gov subdomain is totally sus as well
(and why musks email address follows a nonstandard format, e.g. not firstname,surname and whitehouse etc
sage salmon
This isn’t encouraging… https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/07/us/trump-federal-agencies-websites-words-dei.html?smid=url-share
grizzled ingot
Bluesky
dull mesa
This isn’t encouraging… https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/07/us/trump-...
Reminds me of the beginning of the end credits of Costa Gavras' Z, listing the things forbidden by the Greek military junta.
inner girder
This isn’t encouraging… https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/07/us/trump-...
So the justice department can't use the words injustice, prejudice or victim lol
fading pine
direct targeting of large law firm by the administration https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/addressing-risks-from-perkins-coie-llp/
(archived https://archive.ph/4v4PX)
dusky star
If anyone comes across information about specific actions or materials put out by the new White House Faith Office or (official correspondence from) its head Paula White, could ya shoot a dm with a link to it/tag here?
Not looking for media reporting already out there but new items (nor opinion pieces, actual WHFO actions/materials).
somber bone
trim dust
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/07/us/trump-federal-agencies-website...
Is that an updated version of this one? #1330709161385922650 message
somber bone
Ah same one but with unlock code (search failed me sorry)
marble plover
Bluesky
grizzled ingot
tawny horizon
deft acorn
While I’m certainly not a fan of Massie, this is further in line with Trump’s autocrat mentality https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2025/03/11/why-trump-wants-thomas-massie-out-of-office/82262221007/
deft acorn
Just to follow up, NYT here: https://archive.ph/Nqn7Q
This is the order
Would help if I actually included the link. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/restoring-public-service-loan-forgiveness/
deft acorn
deft acorn
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/nominations-sent-to-the-...
“Edward Martin, of the District of Columbia, to be United States Attorney for the District of Columbia for the term of four years.”
somber bone
midnight oar
Fun fact : The number of illegal border crossings was officially negative before the daily self-congratulating blog note was edited.
Crossings are now down by "only" 94% according to the WH blog
https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/03/50-wins-in-50-days-president-trump-delivers-for-americans/
azure rain
when I see numbers like that i'm thinking "so, how many people snuck out then to make it more than 100%"
deft acorn
Hope this works. It’s a video explaining the seriousness of Trump’s proposals to take over Canada and Greenland.
deft acorn
https://www.instagram.com/share/_l3azFDX8
This is one of the analyses mentioned https://malcolmnance.substack.com/p/urgent-warning-trump-is-planning
deft acorn
https://www.instagram.com/share/_l3azFDX8
This appears to be the other article - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/world/canada/trump-trudeau-canada-51st-state.html
vital shore
Anecdotally I have seen comments by Canadians on Twitter about them making plans with go bags in case of invasion and of not posting troop movements for opsec. The mood has shifted for some. Which is insane to consider!
deft acorn
Anecdotally I have seen comments by Canadians on Twitter about them making plans...
People forget that Canada is one reason the Geneva Conventions exist 😬
rugged dew
People forget that Canada is one reason the Geneva Conventions exist 😬
What are you referring to here precisely?
plain prawn
I think the story is that Canadians were not particularly nice during ww1 and that it led to the creation of the Conventions. Which is more of a meme than historical truth.
rugged dew
I think the story is that Canadians were not particularly nice during ww1 and th...
Ah, I was unaware of this particular concept
plain prawn
Ah, I was unaware of this particular concept
Here is an article on the subject (CW, footage from ww1 with dead bodies in it)
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-forgotten-ferocity-of-canadas-soldiers-in-the-great-war
rugged dew
Here is an article on the subject (CW, footage from ww1 with dead bodies in it)
...
Ta.
Wait, 1915? werent the first conventions earlier? Like 18sommat?
pulsar monolith
Yeah, after a battle where thousands of wounded were basically left to die. I forget the battle but it was in Italy
Sodona, maybe?
rugged dew
wikipedia says Battle of Solferino
pulsar monolith
Solferino, I was close
pulsar monolith
Scratch that thought its speculation and fear
plain prawn
Correct, hence the remark that its more of a meme than truth
rugged dew
Ehhh.. I swear no annual bingo card of mine has ever required this many revisions 
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lk7377cm2i2r
tribal meadow
This is one of the analyses mentioned https://malcolmnance.substack.com/p/urgent...
This is an analysis if the military decide to go through it.
deft acorn
This is an analysis if the military decide to go through it.
Yes. I shared it bc it was reported on in the video, and the analysis is from Malcolm Nance.
I am often asked to share the sources being cited in the video or other articles, so I did.
marble plover
Yes, always share links please (as long as they conform to the #rules )
grizzled ingot
Yes. I shared it bc it was reported on in the video, and the analysis is from M...
Thats more bad than good tbh
dusky star
This is an analysis if the military decide to go through it.
I'd be cautious with anything from Malcom. Not to degrade him but he has been called out hundreds of times over the years for lying about his past, lying about things he's involved in and speaking very incorrectly about certain things but using his intelligence experience to try and counter, counters to himself.
deft acorn
I'd be cautious with anything from Malcom. Not to degrade him but he has been ca...
Thank you. I wasn’t aware. Shall I delete the link?
azure rain
So I missed this one: https://www.timesnownews.com/world/us/us-news/donald-trump-posts-anti-lgbtq-pink-triangle-what-nazi-symbol-means-article-118867770
dusky star
Thank you. I wasn’t aware. Shall I delete the link?
Eh he's not a like fully bad source so I wouldn't sweat deleting it specifically, just good to know the sources and background in relation to their potential analytical-esque conclusions
mellow dirge
So I missed this one: https://www.timesnownews.com/world/us/us-news/donald-trump...
Trump posted a link to a washington post article which uses that graphic with a crossed out pink triangle as a thumbnail. So he didn'r went out to specifically use this symbol. I don't think he is aware or cares about the historical implications of that symbol.
midnight oar
The WaPo article denounces the use of the Third-Reich era homophobic graphics by Trump administration.
The neonazis using it know exactly what they are doing.
azure rain
Seeing as Trumps account is mostly retruthing a certain kind of posts on news websites, I would argue he should know what he's retruthing. I still think it's newsworthy in the current scope of affairs happening within trumps circle.
Original article https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/feb/19/army-recruitment-ads-look-quite-different-trump/ is an opinion piece which celebrates the return to hard commercials and the only lgbtqia mention is how during Biden there was an ad running with an army officer running in a pride parade. The inclusion of that illustration to me seems like a whole different kind of dog whistle against what is said in the piece itself.
grizzled ingot
Bluesky
loud coyote
coral topaz
Trump posted a link to a washington post article which uses that graphic with a ...
This was a Washington Times article Jeremy Hunt. It is not a Washington Post article. The image was created by Linas Garsys, a graphic designer employed with the Washington Times. It carried with is a description stating "Military recruitment ads illustration." I have found no reference to this image being used by the US military elsewhere. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/feb/19/army-recruitment-ads-look-quite-different-trump/
rugged dew
From the NYT "Climate Group Funded by Bill Gates Slashes Staff in Major Retreat" https://archive.ph/iCoqt https://nytimes.com/2025/03/12/climate/bill-gates-breakthrough-energy-cuts.html
somber bone
trim dust
Hi everyone, I would like to remind you that this channel is not meant for opinion, discussion or commentary. It is only separate based on the subject matter, regular rules for this server still apply.
deft acorn
Sorry. Deleted my comment.
loud coyote
vale token
dusky star
Seeing as Trumps account is mostly retruthing a certain kind of posts on news we...
The new recruitment media style isn't a solely Trump thing
That all started under Biden, afaik Trump (or Hegseth etc) haven't actually altered that at all. Does look like they potentially sped up approvals for it becoming the main idea though
If you remember/saw the whole "Ghost in The Machine" ad everyone freaked out about, that was the first release part of all that
Kind of crappy too cause I feel like that'll end up being forgotten, Bidens admin got a lot of shit for other styles of ads but to be honest they are kinda responsible for the all-around updating of their recruitment comms. Right wing folks have liked the new ones quite a bit but, yeah they're kinda crediting it to Trump which isn't finely accurate on their end either.
grizzled ingot
rugged dew
Leo Terrel retweeting former identity evropa leader Patrick Casey https://www.rawstory.com/raw-investigates/leo-terrell/
tawny horizon
loud coyote
steel sequoia
vital shore
https://bsky.app/profile/davidenrich.bsky.social/post/3lkgdruwdf22l
https://bsky.app/profile/newsguy.bsky.social/post/3lkh2g7hzbk2b
letter from VOA head in response
somber bone
midnight oar
He's not stopping at AP, VOA, or Radio Free Europe.
https://www.c-span.org/program/white-house-event/president-trump-delivers-remarks-at-justice-department/657237
The president also said television channels CNN and MSNBC were "illegal" for their coverage of him.
sharp berry
“the hard truth for those looking to the courts to rein in the Trump administration is that the Constitution gives judges no power to compel compliance with their rulings — it is the executive branch that ultimately enforces judicial orders.”
https://www.democracydocket.com/opinion/if-the-marshals-go-rogue-courts-have-other-ways-to-enforce-their-orders/
high grove
grizzled ingot
trim dust
In Dutch. Link: https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/03/14/nederlandse-wetenschappers-ontvangen-per-e-mail-indringende-vragenlijst-van-amerikaanse-overheid-a4886450
archived link just in case: https://archive.ph/q4cnF
coral topaz
Lowe is a citizen of the Navajo Nation and grew up on the Navajo Reservation in Ganado, Arizona. From 2015 to 2021 she served as a member of the National Council on the Humanities, the 26-member advisory body to NEH, an appointment she received from President Obama.
Lowe’s career in higher education included roles as Executive Director of the Harvard University Native American Program, Assistant Dean in the Yale College Dean’s Office, and Director of the Native American Cultural Center at Yale University. Prior to these positions, she spent six years as the Graduate Education Program Facilitator for the American Indian Studies Programs at the University of Arizona.
narrow jewel
https://bskye.app/profile/sustainable2050.bsky.social/post/3lkiwrp43zc2v
this kind of thing, obviously awful here, would be devastating if it was extended to international wildfire cooperation
rugged dew
https://bskye.app/profile/sustainable2050.bsky.social/post/3lkiwrp43zc2v
Can you xpost this to #1199853259742003300 ?
unique aspen
narrow jewel
Notably Republicans hold a minority in the state Senate, so the bill isn't at risk of passing
not to mention an even split in the house and a Democratic governor
vital shore
Judicial iceberg dead ahead. Bondi and DOJ push back on judge over deportations to El Salvador https://www.threads.net/@thetnholler/post/DHUBm63PC5F
fading pine
Judicial iceberg dead ahead. Bondi and DOJ push back on judge over deportations ...
context of hearings https://bskye.app/profile/chrisgeidner.bsky.social/post/3lkleyburtc2a
fading pine
context of hearings https://bskye.app/profile/chrisgeidner.bsky.social/post/3lkl...
DOJ response before the hearing https://bskye.app/profile/chrisgeidner.bsky.social/post/3lklvquwhzs2o
(full filing https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436.24.0_1.pdf)
fading pine
DOJ response before the hearing https://bskye.app/profile/chrisgeidner.bsky.soci...
their r/q to cancel the hearing having been denied, DOJ then goes over that court's head to the D.C. circuit https://bskye.app/profile/chrisgeidner.bsky.social/post/3lklxrirqis2o
(full filing https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cadc.41844/gov.uscourts.cadc.41844.01208720727.1.pdf)
fading pine
their r/q to cancel the hearing having been denied, DOJ then goes over that cour...
hearing started just now, at 5pm eastern
somber bone
midnight oar
fading pine
summary thread of the 5pm Mar 17 2025 hearing under Judge Boasberg
Boasberg: So the president's foreign-affairs power exists once the plane crosses [into international airspace] but not before that?
US: That's when his power is at its strongest
Boasberg: The president has extra powers over a plane once it's crossed into international territory?
https://bskye.app/profile/joshuajfriedman.com/post/3lklzvhdqhc27
rare geyser
It looks like the next hearing is at noon Eastern tomorrow
balmy dock
Navajo Code Talkers disappear from military websites after Trump DEI order
https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2025/03/17/navajo-code-talkers-trump-dei-military-websites-wwii
slow spindle
summary thread of the 5pm Mar 17 2025 hearing under Judge Boasberg
> Boasberg: S...
I think it's difficult to understate just how poor the State position is here, especially asking a superior court to remove him from the case based on unspecified procedural grounds
somber bone
somber bone
somber bone
X
vital shore
The “entrenchment” phase of Higgins’ institutional capture. Happening in OK
https://truthout.org/articles/new-oklahoma-school-curriculum-requires-students-to-learn-the-big-lie/
elder igloo
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lklgjbbqio2w
this bellicose attitude probably goes a decent way to explaining this. https://bsky.app/profile/adambonica.bsky.social/post/3lkommsirqk2q
yes, Trump's EOs and orders are blatantly bullshit. But it still stands out just how little good faith conservative judges are willing to extend the administration.
dusky star
I don't have it on hand but someone in another community reasoned this very well before. When talking about federal judges, it's not really helpful to view them as liberal/centirst/conservative rather than as textualists or etc towards law itself. That'll do far more to dictate their decisions than explicit politics and could be used to predict their decisions with a bit more robustness.
elder igloo
I'm no legal scholar but, I thought textualism was just how everyone did things today. With originalism being the more fringe idea that people will often sideeye.
west kettle
Justices Thomas and Gorsuch favor originalism and Alito, Roberts, and Kavanaugh will at times Incorporate it into their opinions. While I don't know if that would make it the dominant opinion it is certainly not fringe anymore (though I remember when it was looked at just as you describe)
midnight oar
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lkloywnscf2b
The cruelty is a feature, it's now official.
vital shore
marble plover
Bluesky
dusky star
https://bsky.app/profile/nanoporous.net/post/3lkqpx2fj4k2k
IMO we'll probably see incidents with french folks in this regard in higher quantity than a lot of other euros
US and France definitely compete in quite a few areas and it's not widely recognized so, add Trump into the mix and perfect mix for those incidents to happen a lot more than once.
elder igloo
the MPD's official statement on what happened at USIP https://www.popville.com/2025/03/mpd-response-united-states-institute-of-peace/
river marten
https://youtu.be/vK6fALsenmw
There are several points in the video where she is not accurate e.g. differences between fascism and communism. (Yes they each attack different parts of the political spectrum but the differences are much deeper than just that).
grizzled ingot
There are several points in the video where she is not accurate e.g. differences...
the answer is correct for an average question of an average audiance. not everyone is deep into this. the format also wouldnt allow long answers.
shadow raven
"I agree with Trump on everything except when it negatively affects me or my family"
tepid roost
There are several points in the video where she is not accurate e.g. differences...
Id have to watch, but it sounds like she's pulling very closely from Hannah Arendts own mutual handling of the two in Origins of Totalitarianism, which i would expect to inform at least some of that immediate equivocation.
For what it's worth, that's probably just as telling that she, like arendt, will have a difficult time separating the stated ideological aims from the actual mechanics of parties in power. She's attempting a center-right argument, definetly not center-left.
hallow badge
Is there a channel/thread for people working on OCR for the Kennedy assassination papers? - imho It looks more like a waste paper bin than related docs so far. - But I have no background on the topic so I could be wrong.
midnight oar
river marten
For what it's worth, that's probably just as telling that she, like arendt, will...
That is fair. What bothes me is that any Trump supporter and most people on the right will read this as "so it will not impact me, so I should not care". Which is very much not true. They will absolutely be impacted and they should really really care.
tepid roost
I also see it from the angle of "you won't be affected, and you should still care."
Idk, the same way that giving in too much to incentivization rhetoric makes it seem like one should only act if incentivized, never otherwise or without.
Because plenty of people will benefit, and push their frame of reference away from acknowledgement of complicity or cooperation.
But yeah, wcyd. This coverage is always meant to be centrist, and center-right sympathetic to that extent.
covert flume
This took even less time than I had hoped:
azure rain
the Elbows Up call has been answered
grizzled ingot
dusky star
To note on the JTTF part there, JTTF has always had responsibilities to support ICE in related investigations, that didn't really change at all they just made it seem like they were doing something new for the attention.
That memo also specifically references the JTTF providing temporary expanded support until the HSTFs are established, which they now have been (the memo for reference since Reuters didnt provide it - https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25501043-memorandum-from-the-acting-deputy-attorney-general-01/)
Same vice versa too ICE has a lot of people on the JTTF and is one of the heaviest producer agencies in it.
I'm curious where folks got moved around the DTOS too. They reference it there with the employee count but the DTOS is quite large since it's administrative, there's over a dozen units under it - a lot of which handle hyper-specialized functions.
Another thing with that too in re the "tagging". Those are "threat tags" they are talking about & are used for intelligence products, not investigations. They explicitly do not class investigations that way.
vital shore
@dusky star pics from faith office meeting https://www.threads.net/@rightwingwatchdotorg/post/DHbM8GZRC4k
dusky star
<@1039230174232838155> pics from faith office meeting https://www.threads.net/@...
Much love and thank you for remembering that!
Lol dear lord barton was there
vital shore
Lol dear lord barton was there
William Wolfe is particularly egregious
dusky star
William Wolfe is particularly egregious
Do you know much in depth about any of the folks there besides Jeffress, Garlow, and Barton?
TLDR reason for all that I'm trying to map out that network(s) there, NAR/NAR-aligned folks definitely make up a relevant faction around the faith office but pretty sure they're not the only refined one surrounding it
Most do seem to be evangelicals in some shape or form though
vital shore
I have some awareness of some of the names—Gary Bauer involved in past with Family Research Council and Focus on Family — now heads American Values https://www.ouramericanvalues.org
dusky star
Thank ya, I only really knew those three beyond just the names.
tepid roost
William Wolfe is the Excutive director for the Center for Baptist Leadership.
Samuel Rodriguez is the President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, but also executive produced a Fox Searchlight film about the creation of Flamin' Hot Cheetos.
This coverage has a more exhaustive list, with a mix of what organizations these people have led or what "controversy" they had caused.
Some absent from the tweet: "Jenny Korn, also a leader in the White House faith office; Travis Johnson, pastor of Pathway Church in Mobile, Ala.; Owen Strachan, senior director of the Dobson Culture Center; ... Brad Knight, pastor of StoryLife Church in Apopka, Fla.; Jeff Schwarzentraub, pastor of BRAVE Church in Englewood, Colo."
Still not all 17 accounted for, I think.
true abyss
https://brainwormsusa.substack.com/p/lying-to-us-is-lying-for-us Trump doesn’t explain policies in detail—he tells stories. Instead of addressing the complexity of an issue, he flattens it into a fable. The fog of statistics, demographics, and legal complexities solidifies into something graspable: a character performing an action.
His abortion stance wasn’t a discussion of legal precedent or reproductive rights. It was a story: in West Virginia, a baby is born, and the Democratic governor personally decides whether to execute it. His approach to foreign policy? He sent the Taliban a picture of their leader’s house, and that solved everything. Immigration? Migrants are eating your pets.
grizzled ingot
somber bone
grizzled ingot
vital shore
https://bsky.app/profile/newsguy.bsky.social/post/3lkxnaov4fv2u
Most of these people don’t even have a security clearance. More “show” of power than substance. Kinzinger is ridiculing MAGA over it.
dusky star
Most of these people don’t even have a security clearance. More “show” of power ...
Er yes/no on the show than substance part, definitely for show but there's plenty of substance too
This is the actual notice for it, it has "and access to classified information" which you don't necessarily need a clearance for. It's the same thing Biden did to Trump when he rescinded his access to classified information.
Given the, wideness of this one though, I presume some other things would be considered since some of those folks have access to random things through their prior jobs. Not like any of them can go into old databases or etc the stuff they can access post-employment/appointment is a lot more restricted. Like the former presidents get intel briefs on certain things that most of the list there probably doesn't.
somber bone
grizzled ingot
rugged dew
So much for free speech https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-green-card-applicants-social-media-b2720180.html
vital shore
Jaw dropping ineptitude and serious national security danger https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/trump-administration-accidentally-texted-me-its-war-plans/682151/
wide tangle
This story is insane. I still don't know if I believe it's real.
wide tangle
Jaw dropping ineptitude and serious national security danger https://www.theatla...
To be clear, I said "I still don't know if I believe it's real" - it is confirmed in the article by the administration that it is real.
red dock
that is incredible
somber bone
somber bone
rugged dew
somber bone
west kettle
I wonder if Trump or any of his Administration or advisors has actually read the South African Expropriation Act of 2024 considering they are basing these applications for refugees on it. I also wonder what kind of vetting these refugee applicants will go through if they are actually accepted as such. It will be interesting to see if any information comes out about that
rugged dew
I wonder if Trump or any of his Administration or advisors has actually read the...
tbh I think that they think separatist white supremacists from SA are going to be good soldiers in their attempts to re-segregate.
west kettle
tbh I think that they think separatist white supremacists from SA are going to b...
No Doubt that's the Administrations focus, but it will be interesting to see what role, if any, the facts will play in how everything works out.
rugged dew
It hasn't really mattered so far for this administration?
west kettle
It hasn't really mattered so far for this administration?
Sad...but true. Still, I wonder
dusky star
So much for free speech https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-po...
Err tiny important note there, this already happens. What they're doing is moving from passive to proactive monitoring. In the free speech regard their passive form was just as issued tbf.
I'd be more curious to see how the dynamic changes in quantity after the fact
Usually what happens right now is, CBP already can legally take your phone and get your social handles etc whenever you enter the US. For immigrants, this is already documented with CBP, so USCIS sees it and it is documented with them based off CBPs materials. This would change it to where USCIS itself also does it directly rather than referencing the others (or the rarer cases they get it themselves passively). There is a decent chance it doesn't impact overall quantity much and instead more results in repeat documentation of the same thing from CBP and USCIS.
Last thing but it's also asked on related forms also, here's an example from the updated DS-160. Not sure if it was the first trump admin or biden admin who did these but it's been on there for a while now (difference is now you could be punished for not listing it, technically optional now on these docus)
somber bone
tender horizon
Gift link: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/trump-administra...
The whole article is a goddamn trip of a read, but this closing paragraph...
All along, members of the Signal group were aware of the need for secrecy and operations security. In his text detailing aspects of the forthcoming attack on Houthi targets, Hegseth wrote to the group—which, at the time, included me—“We are currently clean on OPSEC.”
dusky star
One could debate they were clean of opsec. Clean as in clean slate, not having a plan at all 🤣.
slow spindle
Hey, it's easy to confuse a SCIF with a phone messaging app!
fading pine
I think it's difficult to understate just how poor the State position is here, e...
The Executive Branch hereby notifies the Court that no further information will be provided in response to the Court’s March 18, 2025 Minute Order based on the state secrets privilege and the concurrently filed declarations of the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436.56.0.pdf
dusky star
this is a really interesting semantic note from that
"The President of the United States is a party to this lawsuit. President Trump is “the only
person who alone composes a branch of government.”
This is a very, very odd way to use the defense they're getting at there
It's basically framing Trump, basically indefinitely, as a branch of government himself. The uh, proper way of wording that defense would look very very different. Think like "According to Trump v Mazards the President is "the only person who alone composes a branch of government" (paraphrased but it should be based on and framed around the office, not trump as an individual)
slow spindle
> The Executive Branch hereby notifies the Court that no further information wil...
Nevermine mixed up two different cases in front of DC district court.
(Unless I'm mixing up the Boebert case with the class action that was argued today)
... The information sought by the Court is irrelevant to plaintiffs’ claims and to the Executive Branch’s compliance with the Court’s operative order.
I, uh, think that's for the court to decide in something like a in Camera hearing.
dusky star
> **... The information sought by the Court is irrelevant to plaintiffs’ claims*...
the in camera thing isnt referencing hearings
you cant record federal proceedings like that at all
idk why it ever got termed that way it makes the term really weird
slow spindle
In Camera as in in the judges chamber with only counsel present
dusky star
Yeah there's a bunch of things it covers not just that
Theoretically a judge could use that to do it alone too w/o counsel present
slow spindle
IIRC the Judge has even served on the FISA court so the purported sensitivity regarding such a hearing is... Interesting.
dusky star
Well it's also not a hard thing
Technically judges dont have an inherent right to order it in every single case
The claim itself the admin is making there is legit with that, just, we have a fairer debate about whether or not they're using that in its like true good faith or, well, yeah, the issued form. I'm not sure if thats actually been tested before so not sure if there's any legal counters to it.
This is one of the same things the govt uses to not release other sensitive documents in all sorts of cases ala people who commit espionage for a foreign nation. In that more, proper form, it's relevant because ordering further release of more classified documents could just be furthering their espionage (noting this absolutely is not a relevant case for that just an example for framing how it was kind of meant to be used)
slow spindle
I think he's only required what, the time when the plane departed and similar basic information for the purposes of evaluating whether the order was violated? One would think if this really was some super secret squirrel stuff you wouldn't have multiple media teams awaiting the arrival of the planes at the destination in El Salvador with a bunch of performative police presence but what do I know?
dusky star
Yup no I agree there fully
I offered the framing above because there's no like
That claim they pulled out is soo tricky
I'm literally not sure the court can push back on it at all because of what that is - that doesn't mean its not being exploited, just important to understand the judge in this case doesn't have an inherent right to order it like say a motion to appear or etc.
The way its built right now hasn't really been tested in this form so there's not much standing to account for it (we could probably debate other uses cases still but, I think we could agree its probably not this sort of exploitative)
grizzled ingot
I think she checked it first, saw some bigger accounts later without crediting her https://x.com/OlgaNYC1211/status/1904344536521797806?t=Iu88lMVZP7PX20wnjkcbPw&s=19
X
dusky star
I think she checked it first, saw some bigger accounts later without crediting h...
Yeah she was the first one I saw covering that angle of it
I would note, this comment in the thread is the important focus though
X
People love throwing asset around without actually considering what it means or how people see things. For example, Russia in their typology considers a thing called "contacts" - that are NOT assets in their verbiage. Nor are they comparable to what we consider "assets" because we do not consider what "contacts" are at all. Calling them an "asset" in said case would basically be a civilian creation misaligned with any actual practice (and our adversaries absolutely play on our missteps there, not for the less because it helps create confusion about their own techniques thus making people less capable of defending against it and also recognizing it).
candid briar
🤨 https://apnews.com/article/trump-white-refugee-afrikaner-south-africa-0fbca...
This is interesting as a South African. 67k out of 2.7m equates to around 2.48% of the Afrikaner population. One would think if there were an actual genocide or land expropriation without compensation from the wealthiest minority group in the country there would be far more people interested.
Hadn't heard of the organisation the SA Chamber of Commerce in the US before. I see it is headed by Robert Gumede (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Gumede) who has a history of corruption affiliated activities. And not sure why this specific organisation would be collating or be the point of contact for wannabe refugees.
I also don't think that most of these people indicating interest in refugee status realise they will be persona non grata in South Africa if they were to take up the application. I know this is word-of-mouth, I had a friend indicate to me that they had applied for the status (as they do a lot of work in the US already and a US partner), but they didn't realise they wouldn't be able to return home to SA or have to lose their SA passport. They thought it would be more like a great long-term visa option, but when you become a refugee you enter into a legal grey zone internationally.
somber bone
rugged dew
Err tiny important note there, this already happens. What they're doing is movin...
Afaik it already happened for new applicants, not for people who have had their greencards for a long time
somber bone
if reporting is to be believed, then the scope or range seems to have increased
wonder how this impacts FOIA or disclosure of the contents of this chat
dusky star
wonder how this impacts FOIA or disclosure of the contents of this chat
https:/...
Signal chats technically are FOIAble but the author did a good job noting how eg if they set it to disappear, there may not actually be records of X chat and its contents
dusky star
Her simply saying something isn't classified doesn't matter also, she's not the Executive, she does not have declass authority for other agencies (much less those outside ODNI remit ala DoD) either and a lot of the sensitive stuff specifically noted to us would've likely been from DoD.
dusky star
which in theory violates govt retention policy
Yeah absolutely them being set to auto delete in an official discussion is absolutely a breach of retention policy
There's no wiggle room there about it being a private chat or etc (its the same reason you can FOIA those funny chatlogs from private intranet casual chatrooms).
somber bone
slow spindle
Her simply saying something isn't classified doesn't matter also, she's not *the...
I think it's a really interesting statement(which she probably didn't realize at the moment she said it) since it's either true or not true, and if it's true someone would have to make that determination. If it's not true, she has at least mislead the committee. I guess in normal circumstances this would matter at least somewhat, but I doubt it will in these abnormal times.
dusky star
I think it's a really interesting statement(which she probably didn't realize at...
An important reason why people in such roles should have related experience 😭
The only wiggle room there is that is weird there is, while the author did claim it, we don't actually know what the potentially sensitive stuff was (outside descriptions).
There is a potential debate around it that they didn't share classified info within it - although that appears likely. Either way Gabbard was kind of just talking out of her ass cause her framing for that was entirely inaccurate.
Plus from what we know the potentially classified materials were DoD originated thus the ODNI wouldn't actually be able to make any decisions over it like that.
dusky star
So I'd note there that, that's very unfairly casted.
You cannot check who is in a Signal group chat. There's no way he could've known that. Even the author of the article identified he could not see all that himself nor did he know who else was in there because of that, besides those who posted. He also did not post himself.
Doesn't negate the underlying issue but the specific points brought up wrt Johns participation aren't really, properly aligned.
west kettle
So I'd note there that, that's very unfairly casted.
You cannot check who is in ...
Owners could see all members in the group the last time I ran a signal group. I couldn't tell who was actively participating but I would have recognized if there was an extra person in the group of those allowed to participate who I didn't recognize
dusky star
Owners could see all members in the group the last time I ran a signal group. I ...
The article does not identify who the owner of the signal chat was
I don't think Ratcliffe would've been the owner either
But yah owners can see
There's also tiny workarounds once you're in the GC but it's not an end all. Like, depending on the users settings, you might just see their number and not a name. You can @ people too but idk if it still shows up as a full list when you do the @ command or if you have to write out the names manually/in part now.
final eagle
Ratcliffe also didn't ask who JG was when highly sensitive info was being discussed, let alone question why they were flaunting security protocols in a manner that would get any soldier or intel officer fired.
west kettle
Someone can and should be held accountable for not noticing (or for setting it up to begin with)
dusky star
Ratcliffe also didn't ask who JG was when highly sensitive info was being discus...
Yeah though since he didn't make the group, it's entirely fair to take the presumption that Waltz added the "proper" person ala the theory he meant to add someone else (from Ratcliffes frame).
dusky star
Someone can and should be held accountable for not noticing (or for setting it u...
And yup I agree just think we have to view tid bit of it realistically
west kettle
Yeah though since he didn't make the group, it's entirely fair to take the presu...
That sounds like a viable explanation but not much of a defense to me
dusky star
That sounds like a viable explanation but not much of a defense to me
Yup I agree, hence my point that the points there were miscasted and the problem itself still remains.
There's absolutely wiggle room that Ratcliffe may not have known unless he basically ordered illegal surveillance of government officials or journalists - we do not have the specifics to that extent though unfortunately.
I think some better questions to ask Ratcliffe would be oriented for example, is it policy or at least common for these sorts of groups to be made? If so, what's the usual dynamic of them being created and ran? etc
final eagle
Sorry to add speculation to this discussion, but if nobody in a group of top national security folks has questions about why they're not following protocol - perhaps one can deduce that one plausible explanation is because they have been engaging in these signal groupchats already.
dusky star
That also tells us more about Ratcliffes decision making too
dusky star
Sorry to add speculation to this discussion, but if nobody in a group of top nat...
Yes I noted that above, really unfortunate that Q didnt get popped to form
Hopefully they're asking about that privately because there's undoubtedly a decent chance other issues took place we just hadn't heard about
I do think based off that article alone we can make a conclusion this probably is not the only time at least, a similar group has been made, even if not about the same types of topics.
somber bone
So I'd note there that, that's very unfairly casted.
You cannot check who is in ...
pretty sure you can, i just double checked it on groups i am not an owner in
dusky star
pretty sure you can, i just double checked it on groups i am not an owner in
What do you see though?
somber bone
you can see usernames/handles
dusky star
Last time I was in a Signal GC was a while ago and you just saw that yah the usernames/handles
final eagle
you can see usernames/handles
I think that's only users who signed up before they dropped th erequirement to use a phone number?
dusky star
If what the author wrote about, them potentially meaning to add someone else with the "JG" initial, if Waltz (who should be practicing that anyways) fucked up there it's humanly reasonable that Ratcliffe would've trusted Waltz and just saw that the initials overlapped properly.
somber bone
i dunno if there's a distinction, id have to dig in further
and i think there's more questions around the CIA director implicitly trusting Waltz given the current activities of the admin *vaguely gestures* across the board
regardless of personal political affiliation
dusky star
You'd be surprised
There's a lot of directors who, much like Ratcliffe, are not actual experienced intelligence officers or analysts or anything related. Ratcliffe was also chosen as a political patsy not cause he's, from any of that - fair point you made but this hilariously may be an actual case where that's relevant. He may not actually care about what the rest of the admin is doing, or support it, etc.
You can definitely catch problems like this related to it but of course, not uh, not this level of issue lol.
Some of the ideas of best practices in that regard are something people pick up over time and are conditioned into. Folks w/o the experience have to conciously manage that and are far more prone to "simple" mistakes.
I haven't seen this mentioned yet but another super interesting point this all raises is about the first admin. Signal was around back then too - I really wonder if this practice is something they did then also. That raises waaay more questions about improper retention from the first admin too.
somber bone
I can imagine it was. Whatsapp, while less private, uses the same E2EE protocols was used by the previous UK govt to conduct unofficial comms that they didn't want on the books during COVID lockdowns
and there were a few discoveries from said whatsapp groups during the investigations
dusky star
Yeah should've widened to say encrypted apps in general, not just Signal
Also for anyone who is curious on why I take the angle I do there, this is a bit outdated but a great read
https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/801246
Some folks may have heard of "Human Factors Analysis" before in relation to aviation incidents, but it's also used across the govt for other things such as classified information, cybersecurity, etc. Understanding the human factors that enable breaches or spillage of classified info is important since more often than not it's going to be human factors. Just hitting at it instead of taking time to understand it won't actually help enable prevention.
What any given individual is vulnerable too and why etc differs but we are all prone to some form of this, there is no full end or perfect fix to it since we're all humans.
somber bone
in cybersec, that would fall under the domain of 'authorisation'/access controls. Which is a combination of human and automated protocols to control access to information & systems
crystal citrus
pretty sure you can, i just double checked it on groups i am not an owner in
Just checked as well, I can see the names of people in group chats where I am not the owner. You have to actively check though, so if you just trust that the owner does due diligence, it’s not surprising that you miss people that shouldn’t be there.
crystal citrus
You do, however, see messages “X joined/was added to the group”, so people who were in the group chat before Goldberg should have noticed.
coral topaz
Owners could see all members in the group the last time I ran a signal group. I ...
Agreed.
Everyone in the group chat will see the group member's contact name as it is stored in their own phones. If the member is not saved as a contact, they will see the member's profile name as it was registered in Signal. Also from a security standpoint....no one should ever just start chatting in a Signal group without verifying the names/numbers of the others in the group. That's security due diligence.
slow spindle
There *is* a potential debate around it that they didn't share classified info w...
I just can't imagine a situation where one can credibly claim imminent kinetic action abroad and specific operational details such as strike sequencing and time on target would not be presumptively classified under any of the various levels.
dusky star
I just can't imagine a situation where one can credibly claim imminent kinetic ...
Yeah it's very likely not the case but gets into the weeds of some of those odder details we don't know.
The reason that potential wiggle room is there is since, per what's in the article, the "operational details" Goldberg references were supposedly actually written by Hegseth - not a shared document (at least not referenced that way). That's an important detail because the actual plans for those things tend to be 300-600 pages. Theoretically some of that can be spoken about in certain forms without passing the issued line (which gets into a major ? area for us we don't have the details for that).
I don't think that's super likely though tbh just a potential
here's the tidbit where he describes that part in more detail
So for example wrt targets here, actual target packages would be classified, I've never heard of any that aren't. Referencing details from it though may not necessarily be classified but ropes back into the things we don't know about.
slow spindle
I think that's certainly some sort of potential defense, but since it reportedly included dates and times(at least according to one interview I believe) I don't think it would be very persuasive.
dusky star
Yeah like I said I think there's a decent chance it was, just recognizing the potential they could try and swing that debate but it goes into details we don't have.
Most of the planning docus like that we have public are kinda outdated but, do you see how other operational documents when they get FOIAd will like, each paragraph has a classification marking? Like (U/FOUO) before the CUI switch (some places still lagging there) and (S) (TS) etc.
These sorts of plans have that also
coral topaz
So for example wrt targets here, actual target packages would be classified, I'v...
Shane Harris the journalist covering national security and intelligence at the Atlantic in this interview article talks about the level of detail in the Signal thread conversations that he believes crosses the "classified" line with regards to the Yemen strikes. Talking point is about halfway down in this interview article. ://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2025/03/jeffrey-goldberg-group-chat-broke-internet/682161/
dusky star
Shane Harris the journalist covering national security and intelligence at the A...
Indeed like I said I do believe it would, just they (in re the govt participants) may be able to make debates based off details we don't know and Goldberg and co might not either.
How those plans are structured in re classified materials is actually really confusing I'll try to find an example to link but it'll likely be pretty old those don't get declassed very often.
Here's an annex to one - https://www.governmentattic.org/38docs/USSTRATCOMannexcOPLAN8044_2001.pdf
You can see here how there's a lot of related references where, for example based off this one, you could totally say "Bomber Aircraft", "ICBM" and "SLBM" in relation to weapons allocations. Although the specifics are classified in this one.
river marten
Owners could see all members in the group the last time I ran a signal group. I ...
This is still the case
river marten
But yah owners can see
Everyone in a Signal group can see who is in that group. Not just the owner/s
tender horizon
Anybody have a gift link
The Atlantic followed up and delivered receipts
tender horizon
archive.is
Was about to do that, on mobile and it causes the captcha from archive.is to be a pain
azure rain
jup it is :)
tender horizon
And Yep, the Atlantic brought the goddamn receipts with this one
tender horizon
Are there any mods available, want to verify if posting screenshots with timeline details of the strike is against the rules or not, it's from the Atlantic Article I just linked earlier
azure rain
ping modmail or dm that
tender horizon
ping modmail or dm that
Yeah, want to make sure before I post them, IMO this is calvinball levels of uncharted territory in terms of server rules with this stuff.
azure rain
yeah good shout to have it cleared
somber bone
what a weird time
rare geyser
Hello, I just asked for guidance and it's fine to post
magic salmon
tender horizon
There is more pics in here, but things of most importance
And the Clean on OPSEC line by Pete Hegseth, gets even more ironic with context
dusky star
After browsing these, while still issued, I think the content here may actually be/have been Sensitive But Unclassified/SBU (doesn't negate the issue at hand but wouldn't make them lying about the unclass part).
Curious if this was a different Signal GC or a proper principle committee meeting
somber bone
how would that determination be made?
dusky star
how would that determination be made?
In what the SBU part?
somber bone
what's considered SBU vs another sensitivity label
tender horizon
We got a response and yep, these the spin
FixupX
midnight oar
He got the trumper phases of denial wrong. You are supposed to pull the "It didnt happened" before the "It wasnt classified".
Beside they named the target as they cheered on his elimination. #usa-canada message
tender horizon
what's considered SBU vs another sensitivity label
Ah yes, the War Thunder Forums conundrum
inner girder
We got a response and yep, these the spin
https://fixupx.com/PeteHegseth/status...
"f18s will be launched at this time against the target at his usual location"
dusky star
what's considered SBU vs another sensitivity label
Whenever you see FOUO for exampled that's unclassified - this may also be designated as Sensitive but Unclassified (or depending on some things the new CUI should be used instead but some places lag on those updates and still use the old acronyms).
That is very common to see in policy level discussions like this is, because of how exactly the information passes
somber bone
Caveat is that Ken Klippenstein isn't always reliable and has his own partisan spin on things https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/fbi-becomes-rent-a-cops-for-ceos
dusky star
Caveat is that Ken Klippenstein isn't always reliable and has his own partisan s...
So as a side note I love Ken because he is a peak troll but yeah this is spun heavily
This is entirely something that would've been happening pre-Trump
Calling it mass surveillance and etc in support of corporate execs is, not really right either. Sometimes they work with people directly if a threat is present but it'd largely be in the same context as us.
All that monitoring for example is entirely distinct from corporate types. They don't direct it nor is the monitoring giving products to them. Instead they use it to spawn reports like the above and to help direct the actual liaison programs for things like critical infrastructure and etc.
This is also an intelligence program, not investigative, so some of the points Ken makes that orient more towards investigative procedures and related legalities isn't as relevant (eg prosecution criteria isnt really relevant since its an intelligence program).
heres an example of a diff older one (they cover all sorts of stuff too you can find them about burglaries and robberies, phishing, etc).
dusky star
They just need to take away Waltz tech capability and entirely have an aide handle it for him
vital shore
https://www.wired.com/story/michael-waltz-left-his-venmo-public/
I fully believe that none of these people received any actually training or onboarding to prep for their jobs.
dusky star
I fully believe that none of these people received any actually training or onbo...
This is a major pain with political appointees too since, I mentioned the other day but some of those good practices are conditioned. Political appointees like this generally have less stress pushing that conditioning so we can see more slip ups like this. It is actually not uncommon to have aides granted or ordered to deal with this because newer political appointees cannot keep up with it.
Irrelated to politics but just as an example Biden had that happen under the Obama admin the first few months he was in office due to some practices he had from his time as a Senator that didn't exactly, flow over properly in the retention context. Hope they do it but also fair doubt this admin would.
grizzled ingot
somber bone
somber bone
slow spindle
I fully believe that none of these people received any actually training or onbo...
I think it's moreso that there's little risk of punitive consequences when seemingly inconsequential risks are taken and it's easy(dare I say perfectly human, and Owl touched on this a couple days ago) that one begins to relax the security focused mindset and convenience starts taking over. For example, when CIA employees accidentally bring their phones to work at Langely, security comes find you and you get to do the "walk of shame" back to your car in the very big parking lot, do it too many times or frequently and it can become cause for employment action which is a risk that political appointment don't really have.
dusky star
I think it's moreso that there's little risk of punitive consequences when seemi...
Yeah and an important note with the above view, it's just as much of an issue all the same - it's just taking up a different frame to understand what specific failures take place. We could fairly debate that view isn't as relevant to us as onlookers but imo I find it a very important exercise in critical thinking vs immediate emotive responses.
This level of people too they're not really subject to those notorious powerpoint trainings or anything like that, usually they're face to face meetings between relevant staff directing/covering those matters. They might get paper docus for that stuff but X if any actually read it (and that wouldn't be unique to this admin or etc).
somber bone
somber bone
dusky star
Err I would be careful on casting some of those individuals certain ways in decision making. They're largely constrained by politicians too.
There was an absolutely massive program targeting Hezbollah for example that got iced for political reasons and immensely degraded like, actual serious efficient work. Instead they had to go back to willy nilly strikes because politicial decision making basically killed most of the related asset networks globally overnight (and also killed the ability to do things like criminal enforcement against funding mechanisms or arms trafficking networks supporting them etc).
sharp berry
SignalGate: A highly explosive assessment!
https://thewestpointhistoryprofessor.substack.com/p/a-powerful-cell-is-operating-the?r=1u4wms&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
final cedar
I really hope this guys not an actual professor
dusky star
I really hope this guys not an actual professor
not anymore I dont think just alumni and a fellow at places
dusky star
numbering makes no sense
and yeah thats like, straight up conspiracism lol
there's definitely things going on that aren't getting reported at all but most of that aint it
the only thing he might be remotely even close to accurate on is the musk threat briefing being tipped off, though, I think that was more a case of the source fibbing some details they didn't know than some complex set up to ensnare Musk and Hegseth
his whole framing for the atlanic story from goldberg makes no sense, the only way that'd work is if Waltz himself was the person they're claiming has that intent but they seemed to explicitly avoid insinuating or referencing that
somber bone
grizzled ingot
dusky star
An important note with that, DOJ and the indictment itself explicitly lay out the fact Poole did not and was unlikely to know about that part. That is also how everyone found out and the entire chain of sourcing for it, so, there's not really any sourcing that indicating more issued framing there at all.
That sort of tertiary laundering also heavily rests on psychographic factors that lead folks to believe they have more will and are less vulnerable to these issues than others. If we think we're in that box ourselves, we're just as, if not more vulnerable than others who get got by it.
Assets and contacts who are actually directly favorable to those objectives are directly approached, there is 0 need to launder things to them, let alone on a tertiary level. There's recruitment cycles for all that too same as for intelligence cycles and they're very similar. People tend to confuse CPA activities like that with direct mass media comparatives - not the same thing, the above was a case of CPA.
somber bone
somber bone
coral topaz
First they came for the Kennedy Center... https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/restoring-truth-and-sanity-to-american-history/
grizzled ingot
somber bone
somber bone
coral topaz
I deeply enjoyed this WAPO op-ed's circuitous way of listing all the criticisms another newspaper, the WSJ, has made of Trump as a way to circumvent the Bezos gag order. https://archive.ph/FHZwZ
somber bone
somber bone
loud coyote
somber bone
vital shore
dusky star
This is a great list but some of it is, definitely emotive and not really reasonable.
Eg the Chicago incident with USSS showing up to try and question a student. It is wholly inaccurate to code this as "White Supremacy, Racism, Misogyny, Homophobia, Transphobia, and/or Xenophobia" - the child posted an explicit threat towards the president, USSS showing up to do an interview for a threat assessment is by no means any of that, and it is something USSS would've done under any administration for the past few decades.
Pretty decent by and large but there's deffo some tinier listings like that which are, entirely emotive and not really tagged accurately
rugged dew
somber bone
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/federal-funding-cuts-ripple-through-heart-trump-country-2025-03-29/
grizzled ingot
somber bone
vital shore
The current state of affairs. Official House Foregn Affairs GOP social posting memes celebrating the death of USAID https://www.threads.net/@koosemar/post/DH3Q_nItoGr
coral topaz
The current state of affairs. Official House Foregn Affairs GOP social posting m...
Given the fact with this recent earthquake they are dragging out bodies, this is particularly distasteful.
somber bone
somber bone
coral topaz
Jeffrey Goldberg will join Ashley Parker to discuss breaking the Signalgate story, It is an Atlantic subscriber-only event this Thursday, April 3, at 11:30 a.m. ET. if anyone is interested. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/04/big-story-fallout-from-the-signal-controversy-jeffrey-goldberg/682253/
somber bone
marble plover
pulsar monolith
Is work being done to figure out where Trump got his numbers for the tariffs?
inner girder
Is work being done to figure out where Trump got his numbers for the tariffs?
It seems like it's just the % balance in the trade of goods.
X
I've not personally done the maths on it, so please check.
midnight oar
His chart pretends EU is a single country and doesnt include Belarus or Russia. I wouldnt waste time on it.
vale token
His chart pretends EU is a single country and doesnt include Belarus or Russia. ...
Taiwan and Kosovo are countries now as well which is cool I guess
pulsar monolith
And he recognizes the independence of the Faulkland Islands
inner girder
He's also levied tarrifs on an uninhabited island
And the highest tarrifs in the world go to.... St Pierre and Miquelon
trim dust
His chart pretends EU is a single country and doesnt include Belarus or Russia. ...
For the purposes of external trade?
inner girder
For the purposes of external trade?
Yer there's really no issue with using the EU as a trading block because that's literally what it is.
But the fact Jan Mayan is on it, but not Belarus or Russia is very very strange
midnight oar
Then why separating Gibraltar and the countless islands ?
Looks like a chart a DOGE teen would put together in one hour.
inner girder
Then why separating Gibraltar and the countless islands ?
Looks like a chart a D...
They are overseas territories.
vale token
https://bsky.app/profile/jbensnyder.bsky.social/post/3llufjxoikk27
Bluesky posts from random users but these might explain how they made the list
balmy dock
Good thing Trump put tariffs on an uninhabited islands too…
https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2025/04/02/trump-imposes-tariffs-on-uninhabited-heard-and-mcdonald-islands-remotest-places-on-earth/
vital shore
https://www.threads.net/@tomgara/post/DH9yED_vsyF?xmt=AQGzmUhbl38H9PFW68EOnFiGwzqDFSpjxgeM4NHDxs90Bg
fading pine
grizzled ingot
I bet they just asked Grok
dusky star
For the purposes of external trade?
Yeah I wonder if that specifically was trying to talk about the actual EU tariff thing, not sure how that system works. Really weird to focus reciprocals on that though lol.
west kettle
I bet they just asked Grok
As I've watched this unfold, the thing that came to mind was how I often use AI (not Grok, a competent AI) to learn a difficult subject that's new to me. "AI explain it to me like I'm 5" "... like I'm 10" "...like I'm 15" "...like I'm 25" then just "explain the topic to me". It seems like Trump's view of tariffs and trade deficits are at the "explain it to me like I'm 10" level at best
grizzled ingot
As I've watched this unfold, the thing that came to mind was how I often use AI ...
The problem is, no one checks AI. A new religion.
fading pine
plain prawn
sharp berry
Now the penguins are also being held accountable for their unfair treatment of Donald Trump! After all, they're cheekily settling on an island group named after him without paying rent!
https://bsky.app/profile/maks23.bsky.social/post/3llugnnmr3s2u
silk rivet
I'm not sure if this is the kind of content we like to see on this server, even if this channel is already the bottom of the barrel...
rugged dew
I'm not sure if this is the kind of content we like to see on this server, even ...
Referring to the penguins?
Or the tariffs more generally?
silk rivet
The crossposting of bsky posts for more humorous stuff, so the penguins.
I'm personally memeing a lot about them at other places, but I don't think this is very "research"
plain prawn
The crossposting of bsky posts for more humorous stuff, so the penguins.
I'm p...
At this point its a very fine line between informative posts and pure memes..
silk rivet
Yes, but what I mean is the use of the language and how it is being presented, rather than contributing, especially when it was mentioned already a few lines above
azure rain
on one hand yes, it comes close to meme territory. On the other hand it is what is happening and highlights the absudrity of the situation and the US government in it's current form
silk rivet
What I say is that I'd say it's ok to post news that are kind of a meme at this point, I have no issue with how dainomite shared about it before.
What is an issue, imo, is reposting content from aggregators that add nothing new to what has been already mentioned a bit above. To me it looks like wanting to gain Internet points
azure rain
got ya on that end
rugged dew
My 2ct on the Penguins. If the post is about the fact that large letters in google maps increased the chance of being hit by tariffs, rather than 'actual country that exists', then perhaps it should be included here. But this post is not such an analysis, so am tentatively siding with @silk rivet
slow spindle
Yeah I wonder if that specifically was trying to talk about the actual EU tariff...
I mean it's pretty clear those who set these tariffs are completely out of their depth when it comes to trade like treating Svalbard independently from Norway(who is apart of the E.U single market) like it's a sovereign nation, or the already mentioned islands with no permanent human habitation being explicitly mentioned.
west kettle
I mean it's pretty clear those who set these tariffs are completely out of their...
But sadly, many American voters, who understand more about sports or celebrities than economics, will likely buy into the Administration's explanation of how these tariffs are necessary because the trade deficits show that these countries have been 'ripping off America' for years
dusky star
I mean it's pretty clear those who set these tariffs are completely out of their...
Oh yeah I agree there why I noted it was dumb anyways. Just they may have actually come to that conclusion based off seeing references to the actual EU tariff thing and not actually understanding what it is rather than just willy nilly listing the EU itself over the specific countries.
I think it'd be fair to say most Americans probably have no idea how that EU wide system works, I think I get part of it but tbh I don't fully get it either. If anyone knows about that actually would love to ask some Qs in dm.
vital shore
But sadly, many American voters, who understand more about sports or celebrities...
I just had a redditor comment “did you see the chart of what these countries are charging us”? SMH
rugged dew
feral crane
somber bone
balmy dock
Trump Fires 6 National Security Council Officials After Oval Office Meeting With Laura Loomer
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/03/us/politics/trump-meeting-laura-loomer.html
(https://archive.is/NbBRF)
vital shore
This makes a lot of sense given the other steps he is taking to redefine our nations democracy. See full thread for screenshots or original in X https://www.threads.net/@jefflocker/post/DH_93IQBhfw
somber bone
rugged dew
From yesterday, techdirst with references to the uninhabited islands that have been tariffed https://www.techdirt.com/2025/04/03/trump-declares-a-trade-war-on-uninhabited-islands-us-military-and-economic-logic/
(ultimately, my favourite is Chagos "Let that sink in for a moment: Donald Trump just imposed tariffs on our own military base. On territory we lease. Where the only residents are US military personnel.")
unique aspen
X
somber bone
graceful jackal
Very interesting video! I just wonder to what extent Bessent is in charge. Looks like rationalization for Trump’s and Lutnick’s simpler way of thinking.
fluid eagle
isn't this just the same sane-washing we've been hearing all along
graceful jackal
Imho it is sane-washing from Bessent, but more sophisticated. Getting to all reasons why that « plan » is likely to backfire is impossible on Discord / with little time.
vital shore
Regarding the post from Trump about his crashing the economy on purpose, Buffett responds https://www.threads.net/@huffpost/post/DICVPD-yG6H?xmt=AQGzSET_oVpWxtXsU0niILcUEC0RJiLHWAmyUBOnDOLUcQ
grizzled ingot
somber bone
https://fixupx.com/kfaulders/status/1908630184015646923
https://fixupx.com/kyledcheney/status/1908630987061240083
somber bone
somber bone
fading pine
(moved here from #usa-canada message) https://bskye.app/profile/thetnholler.bsky.social/post/3llzmk23gu22e
somber bone
FixupX
fading pine
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2025/04/06/national-park-service-underground-railroad-history-slavery/
(archived https://archive.ph/op9bx)
somber bone
somber bone
arctic mirage
Hachyderm.io
elder igloo
I think at this point everyone is familiar with the ways in which the Trump tariffs are... weird. Here's youtuber stand-up maths breaking down the math, how weird the math and how inconsistently it's applied. Last four minutes are mostly him just whinging about how insane it is to demand total trade parity in all fields, so it's really only about 14 minutes of information. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j04IAbWCszg
grizzled ingot
slow spindle
He(Trump) did manage to get Chinese, Japanese and South Korean delegates in the same room at once. Which is impressive.
trim dust
He(Trump) did manage to get Chinese, Japanese and South Korean delegates in the ...
I think this was mentioned before, but with a source.
somber bone
somber bone
somber bone
red dock
https://www.threads.net/@kathmschmidt/post/DH_Z3pOAH6s/georgetown-university-law...
Is there any way to verify this is, in fact, from Georgetown U students?
pulsar monolith
This is a good overview of the Trump trade wars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVZ1lcw2bVU
fading pine
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/business/stock-market-plunge-investment-bank-impact.html?unlocked_article_code=1.9k4.thee.Qx6AABTI3Kyw
(archived https://archive.ph/8IqKy)
grizzled ingot
vital shore
arctic mirage
[email protected] - "the Trump regime is starting to have a chilling effect on what and how Americans communicate with each another. It is beginning to create mass paranoia, which is exactly what Trump intends.
The chill affects the four pillars of civil society — universities, science, the media, and the law."
trim dust
https://bsky.app/profile/davidgilbert.bsky.social/post/3lmcffzpl5k2q
Looks like the account is already gone.
fading pine
from last week, feels pretty new for NYT ed-ops to say stuff like this
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/opinion/trump-ice-immigrants.html
(archived https://archive.ph/aH4jg)
fading pine
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/trump-admin-revokes-legal-status-migrants-entered-us-biden-era-cbp-one-rcna200177
(archived https://archive.ph/nzw2l)
More than 900,000 people were allowed in the country using the CBP One app since January 2023 … “Canceling these paroles is a promise kept to the American people to secure our borders and protect national security,” the Department of Homeland Security media affairs unit said in response to questions.
…
“It’s time for you to abandon the United States,” the Department of Homeland Security wrote to a Honduran family that entered the U.S. at the end of last year. The Associated Press reviewed the email received Sunday.
Others shared the same email on social media platforms.
fading pine
In a brief, unsigned order, the court said the nine labor unions and nonprofit groups that had challenged the firings lacked standing in the matter. The groups' "allegations [of harm] are presently insufficient to support the organizations' standing," the order read.
…
"Because probationary employees include not only those new to the government but also those recently promoted, agencies lost experienced individuals and directors of programs and were left with arbitrary and unexpected gaps in critical functions," [the unions] wrote in their brief. "The reverberations throughout agencies and impacts on services were dramatic and immediate."
somber bone
Disclaimer: National Review is very right wing
https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/why-team-trump-is-so-gung-ho-about-tariffs/
high grove
X
somber bone
https://bsky.app/profile/wired.com/post/3lmdci2uf4k2i
https://www.wired.com/story/dr-oz-ai-health-care-medicare-cms-town-hall/
Bluesky
rotund escarp
Okay, I have a bit of an abstruse question that may be answerable through open source research: where did Trump get his whole obsession with the Gilded Age and McKinley in particular?
Obviously he likes the precedent of high tariffs, no income tax, and the territorial expansion of the US (although it's the McKinley admin that took Puerto Rico, which Trump wants to sell off).
These reasons for Trump to like McKinley are clear enough, and there are many stories explaining that, e.g.:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/sweeping-tariffs-why-does-trump-keep-pointing-to-william-mckinley/ar-AA1CdFq5
https://www.npr.org/2025/02/03/nx-s1-5272753/why-trump-loves-former-president-mckinley-so-much
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/12/business/trump-william-mckinley-tariffs/index.html
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2025/01/20/who-is-william-mckinley-and-why-does-donald-trump-admire-him/77838559007/
https://www.barrons.com/articles/mckinley-trump-tariffs-1d45020b
My question, however, is not why he likes McKinley so much, but rather, where the hell did he get the notion? Surely he did not independently research this topic. Some right-wing pundit must have put this in his ear at some point. Did he get it from Steve Bannon? Stephen Miller? Roger Stone?
The only clue I have found so far is that his first-term US Trade Rep, Robert Lighthizer, is apparently also pro-McKinley, as mentioned here:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/why-donald-trump-talks-so-much-about-william-mckinley/ar-AA1rMCpx
tepid roost
This popped up at least as early as September 2024 on the campaign trail, at a town hall in Michigan.
However, in effectively the same breath, he also spoke about the culture war point of Mount McKinley/Denali.
"We had a president, you know McKinley? Remember Mount McKinley? He was a very good businessman, and he took in billions of dollars at the time."
I don't think he know President McKinleys first name at this juncture. I mean I don't either, I'm terrible at parties too, I get it. But this doesn't seem comparable to Trumps historic fascination with Mussolini.
somber bone
X
X
fading pine
executive order targeting state-level climate policies
Many States have enacted, or are in the process of enacting, burdensome and ideologically motivated “climate change” or energy policies … New York, for example, enacted a “climate change” extortion law that seeks to retroactively impose billions in fines (erroneously labelled “compensatory payments”) on traditional energy producers for their purported past contributions to greenhouse gas emissions not only in New York but also anywhere … California … punishes carbon use by adopting impossible caps on the amount of carbon businesses may use, all but forcing businesses to pay large sums to “trade” carbon credits to meet California’s radical requirements.
…
The Attorney General shall prioritize the identification of any such State laws purporting to address “climate change” or involving “environmental, social, and governance” initiatives, “environmental justice,” carbon or “greenhouse gas” emissions, and funds to collect carbon penalties or carbon taxes … [and] shall expeditiously take all appropriate action to stop the enforcement of State laws and continuation of civil actions … [that he] determines to be illegal … [and] shall also recommend any additional Presidential or legislative action necessary to stop the enforcement of [those] State laws…
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/protecting-american-energy-from-state-overreach/
(archived https://archive.ph/O11UP)
magic salmon
fading pine
"activity that officials think indicates support for antisemitism" does not necessarily have to have anything to do with actual antisemitism or even palestine/gaza/israel
feral crane
river marten
That number is probably a lie considering we went from 50 to 75
inner girder
That number is probably a lie considering we went from 50 to 75
Sorry what is a lie and based on what?
river marten
Sorry what is a lie and based on what?
The number of countries he claims.
inner girder
The number of countries he claims.
You're saying its a lie that of the ~200 countries who just had ridiculous tarrifs slapped on them by the biggest economy in the world, 75 of them have had members of their government talk to members of the US government about not doing that.
fading pine
this is not a joke, this is an actual executive order from today
https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-makes-americas-showers-great-again/
(archived https://archive.ph/xE3Nq)
trim dust
That number is probably a lie considering we went from 50 to 75
We’re going to need some proof for that.
It seems like a hard thing to (dis)prove, so - besides it being the rule on this server that claims need to be substantiated - I am personally intrigued by your sources.
dusky star
this is not a joke, this is an actual executive order from today
https://www.whi...
At least we're winning at hilariously named policy efforts
Does anyone know what the "13,000 word definition" they're talking about is? They've got to be referencing some like actual entire regulatory document there not just its definition in it.
trim dust
I haven't done a word count, but this links to a draft document overturning the previous Trump changes, I think. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/563375-biden-steps-toward-reversing-trump-showerhead-rule/
vital shore
New EO targeting Chris Krebs and Miles Taylor but UPenn security clearance caught in crossfire https://bsky.app/profile/reichlinmelnick.bsky.social/post/3lmg7h22cws22
dusky star
Yeah the Taylor one is, a very unfortunate case. Some things the admin was rebuilding but not putting much attention into basically got the golden ticket last night/this morning and all the attention they need now.
fading pine
CW: asylum seeker violently abducted from her car by ICE agents (after they weren't let into the house where she lived)
||https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/local-news/video-ice-arrest-wesminster-elsy-noemi-berrios-QJ7CIME76ZGPZEBW5C3REEPZ6E/
(archived https://archive.ph/v8nN5 )||
sharp berry
Insider trading is the best! 👇
https://bsky.app/profile/unusualwhales.bsky.social/post/3lmfm5ycbjk2x
grizzled ingot
Insider trading is the best! 👇
https://bsky.app/profile/unusualwhales.bsky.soc...
Looks like it, also saw an AOC post so they're aware
river marten
It seems like a hard thing to (dis)prove, so - besides it being the rule on thi...
It is not based on sources but on the following:
-
The history of Trump's actions
He is a compulsive lier who seems incapable of telling the truth even when he has no need to lie and who has a history of inflating numbers (if people need proof of that I can post articles about it but I think we all know what he has done so far. But if someone wants to, ask me and I will.) -
The psychology of abusive people (and he most definitely is an abuser).
They gaslight their victims at every opportunity and will do everything to maintain power over them. (Tell me if you want sources on that). So nothing they say can be trusted. -
The actions of the EU, China, Korea, Japan, Mexico, Canada (at least and maybe there are more I am not aware of) lately.
They started talking to each other soon after Trump imposed the first tarrifs and trying to replace the US for imports and exports because Trump cannot be trusted to keep any of his promises (see the flurry of announcements of cooperation s between the EU and Canada, Canada and Mexico, between China, Korea and Japan and the latest UK-India one which had been languishing since a year after Brexit). So if they are talking to each other and banding together, it is logical that the rest of the countries would too. The majority of world leaders are not utter fools and they do have reasonable advisors. -
Logic
If you have to deal with an abusive madman, who if you gave an inch would take a mile, would you be talking to him or talking to everyone else and focus on isolating him, cutting as many ties with him as possible, creating alliances with everyone else to protect yourself? There is currently an export agreement between Mexico and Canada regarding fresh vegetables that bypasses the US. I cannot imagine the rest of the world seeing that and thinking, no we should go talk to Trump instead.
trim dust
It is not based on sources but on the following:
1. **The history of Trump's ac...
Thank you for your reply. However, this is not the kind of server for that. Unless you can show us actual open source material that shows x number of countries contacted the Americans, it is an opinion piece.
There are so many options (blogs and vlogs and social media) where people can spout all their opinions already, that in here we like to stick with verifiable facts.
So when you claim something like that, we expect a link to a source that others can follow and see the same that you saw. That’s why I said it would be a hard thing to prove because even if you could find evidence for x countries who did contact them, how do you prove there wasn’t an x+1th who got in touch with a government official somehow?
river marten
Noted
river marten
According to the official announcements from various countries there are currently 13 + EU (13 + 27 = 40) according to this Forbes article:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2025/04/09/will-trump-negotiate-tariffs-president-touts-talks-with-other-countries-but-unclear-how-long-theyll-take/
trim dust
According to the official announcements from various countries there are current...
Okay, but how many have done so not publicly?
river marten
Okay, but how many have done so *not* publicly?
That is not possible to say
trim dust
That is not possible to say
Exactly!
trim dust
That is not possible to say
What I'm trying to show you is that it is no use trying to debate the number, especially not here, because there is no way to show how many countries have contacted the US with open sources.
And I am now kindly asking you not to continue this any further. This server is not the place for it.
rugged dew
Not sure if this is true, because I don't know where boingboing are these days (not checked them in a long time) but here's a loyalty pin story https://boingboing.net/2025/04/09/trumps-new-loyalty-test-golden-trump-bust-lapel-pins.html
marble plover
Not sure if this is true, because I don't know where boingboing are these days (...
I looked into this quickly, there was a news article on MSN news about the FCC chair wearing that pin
But I didn't find anyone else reporting the same thing that boingboing is reporting
rugged dew
But I didn't find anyone else reporting the same thing that boingboing is report...
Yeah, I only saw the bluesky post. I have found stores that sell them (I think maybe even amazon but didn't click to see whether they were the same)
Nothing about 'instruction'. Maybe this one guy is just a superfan
trim dust
First question: is more than one person actually wearing it?
rugged dew
trim dust
First question: is more than one person actually wearing it?
Seems to me there's no need to pay attention to further theories until we know that part.
rugged dew
Might just move it to mis/disinfo. Dean Blundell wrote a substack about it. I think only boingboing are suggesting people are 'being instructed' though
dusky star
Might just move it to mis/disinfo. Dean Blundell wrote a substack about it. I th...
Yeah it might not be well known in this regard but boingboings reliability is like, far into the dumps. Most of their issues pre-date the emergence of the CMI field but they are/were a major purveyor of mdm.
They basically for all intents and purposes are no different than actual propaganda outlets, just more dubious on the behind the scenes info there.
rugged dew
Yeah it might not be well known in this regard but boingboings reliability is li...
mdm? Not sure I am aware of this acronym?
trim dust
Misinformation
Disinformation
Malinformation
rugged dew
They basically for all intents and purposes are no different than actual propaga...
Yeah, I dunno, I think I remember them from like, back in 2006? No idea what happened to them since, think I went off them for some reason, but do not remember what. I mean, that's 100 years ago in internet years..
dusky star
Yeah, I dunno, I think I remember them from like, back in 2006? No idea what hap...
I don't think died off would be accurate but that's around the time they lost a lot of traction due to other sm developments and got into controversies over censorship and lost some extra participation then.
sharp berry
I think it's starting again. Trump's entourage isn't fed up! 👇
https://bsky.app/profile/newseye.bsky.social/post/3lmhqmgqfjs2u
dusky star
Since about that period though wrt their in house writers, their coverage is nearly all one sided in the most literal context, just look at Jasons most recent 500 articles. Dem = inherently good, anything not dem = inherently bad. This isn't just framed alone but both ends are respectively positively/negatively exaggerated to very evident extents. This is also nearly the entirety of their coverage. More dubious claims are also, quite frequent.
fading pine
https://www.axios.com/2025/04/09/kristi-noem-migrants-trump-ice-prison
"We're confident that people that are [imprisoned in El Salvador] should be there, and they should stay there for the rest of their lives," Noem said after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) event.
She said her assessment was based on intelligence work by ICE and other agencies, including the State Department.
sharp berry
Bluesky
marble plover
azure rain
I know it goes against the server, but why does this sound like a passage from the Godfather...
dusky star
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lmhxuqnydv2b
(???)
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4150935/hegseth-says-us-partnering-with-panama-to-secure-canal-deter-china/ they're just reiterating the stuff that happened backing this
I'm curious how many they moved to Panama though, we technically already do have troops there cause of the training facilities
somber bone
somber bone
somber bone
somber bone
somber bone
fading pine
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/us/politics/naval-academy-banned-books.html
(archived https://archive.ph/Igza0)
fading pine
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/04/10/trump-endangered-s...
immediate context, #environment-wildlife message
magic salmon
Bluesky
fading pine
Immigration judges are employees of the executive branch, not the judiciary, and often approve the Homeland Security Department’s deportation efforts. It would be unusual for such a judge, serving the U.S. attorney general, to grapple with the constitutional questions raised by Mr. Khalil’s case. She would also run the risk of being fired by an administration that has targeted dissenters.
“This court is without jurisdiction to entertain challenges to the validity of this law under the Constitution,” Judge Comans said as she delivered her ruling. She denied requests from Mr. Khalil’s lawyers, who had asked to cross-examine or depose Mr. Rubio so that he could elaborate on his claims.
At the end of the hearing, Mr. Khalil, who was otherwise silent, criticized the judge harshly.
“I would like to quote what you said last time that there’s nothing that’s more important to this court than due process rights and fundamental fairness,” he said. “Clearly, what we witnessed today, neither of these principles were present today or in this whole process. This is exactly why the Trump administration has sent me to this court, 1,000 miles away from my family.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/nyregion/khalil-jena-deportation-ruling.html?rsrc=ss&unlocked_article_code=1.-04.ozri.D21rvy1-sfI3&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
(archived https://archive.ph/Ll7n6)
somber bone
somber bone
elder igloo
https://vxtwitter.com/billmaher/status/1910900483709096262
not sure why this is important or relevant
fading pine
a bunch of this stuff is not new, but the new rule goes into effect April 11
• Foreign nationals of all ages who are present in the United States for more than 30 days must comply with the registration requirement. Parents or legal guardians must ensure that children under age 14 are registered.
• Parents and legal guardians must ensure that their children are registered and fingerprinted with the government within 30 days of their turning 14, whether previously registered or not.
• All foreign nationals registered with the government who are 18 years or older must carry proof of registration with them at all times.
• Foreign nationals who are required under the INA to be registered with the government must notify DHS in writing of each change of address within ten days of moving.
(emphasis in original)
https://www.mintz.com/insights-center/viewpoints/2806/2025-03-24-alien-registration-rule-and-evidence-registration
The INA requires that, with limited exceptions, all aliens 14 years of age or older who were not registered and fingerprinted (if required) when applying for a U.S. visa and who remain in the United States for 30 days or longer, must apply for registration and fingerprinting.
…
Once an alien has registered and appeared for fingerprinting (unless waived), DHS will issue evidence of registration, which aliens over the age of 18 must carry and keep in their personal possession at all times.
(emphasis in original)
https://www.uscis.gov/alienregistration
(archived https://archive.ph/LMMLM)
arctic mirage
grizzled ingot
fading pine
related to #usa-canada message
direct condemnation of the continued Garcia detention from North America’s Building Trade Unions https://www.tiktok.com/@moreperfectunion/video/7492200864522702111
vital shore
The biggest concern here is a complete uncertainty of the actual end-game of the Trump administration,” he said. “No one will consider massive investments in U.S. production if tariffs are merely a ploy to negotiate better trade deals. If the administration is actually pursuing a goal of U.S. reindustrialization, then the long-term plan for tariffs has to be clear, and less talk of ‘4D chess’ and ‘Art of the Deal,’” he said. “The Yo-yo tactic of changing tariff rates on a daily basis does nothing but create uncertainty,” he added.
pulsar monolith
Maddow, quoting Vanity Fair, reveals that Trump got his trade ideas from Navarro because Navarro had a book title that Jared Kushner liked. Navarro also invented his sources for why his economic ideas were good.
fading pine
somber bone
vital shore
https://bsky.app/profile/ashtonpittman.bsky.social/post/3lmpojri4kk2f
Just coming to post this— the thread contains a link to a PDF version if anyone wants to save a copy.
somber bone
somber bone
river marten
https://www.wcvb.com/article/nicole-micheroni-dhs-self-deport-letter-massachuset...
The article is region locked for Europe. Here is the archived version:
https://archive.ph/uGjT2
grizzled ingot
X
trim dust
https://x.com/nickschifrin/status/1911606579788468540?t=mPg6qzdHWJLrnnlVu-k07A&s...
I can’t tell whether this is real or satire.
grizzled ingot
I can’t tell whether this is real or satire.
its on video, the biden part is not a correct in that video, he said that would have never happened "if i was pres! random account https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1911625307943035231
X
shadow raven
The article is region locked for Europe. Here is the archived version:
https://a...
https://www.wired.com/story/homeland-security-email-tells-a-us-citizen-to-immediately-self-deport/ This is longer and better sourced article about the same person, including comments from her
fading pine
candid briar
Not sure if this is the right channel for this kind of question, but how does the community in general deal with "Trump fatigue"? Especially as a non-American, the news takes over everything and we can lose sight of a) what's actually happening b) other equally important news.
It is important to stay informed and aware, but equally important to give our attention to other areas of life/news. It just feels at times lately that the US is all encompassing and we can't avoid the news which they generate.
marble plover
whenenver I hit that zone I try to focus just on the stuff that's likely to impact me and my family directly
I live in Canada so I'll just read local Canadian news because they're more likely to just show me more relevant stuff
candid briar
Thanks, yeah will focus on more localised news now. I often go through these threads and just got to a point today where my mind was fed up. Possibly Monday vibes, but also already tired of it all, and there's 4 years to go.
marble plover
ya Mondays are also rough for me
I just stay off social media as much as possible and only check local news
stone chasm
much more curated sources (eg WTFJHT) and conscious attempts to limit exposure to the flood in the zone
plain prawn
its on video, the biden part is not a correct in that video, he said that would...
It is interesting to watch him revert to default. He felt threatened by the questions so he he goes into "blame someone else"-mode. It is literally "it looked like this when i came here".
unique aspen
somber bone
dusky star
https://fixupx.com/ColbyBadhwar/status/1911880903447445602
Tiny key in this towards Somalia and some of the others, when they specifically reference "working with the interagency" to reduce States work itself, that's basically fancy speak for shifting work around, not necessarily closing it.
fading pine
glad fox
Not sure if this is the right channel for this kind of question, but how does th...
Unless your paid job is to track the news for any reason, your best bet is to go on a news diet and only focus on what you can control. You can’t control what Trump says, or what the economy does, or what happens in Ukraine or anywhere else, but you can control your phone and can delete discord, news apps, etc. for long enough to give your mental health a reset
vital shore
Chinks in the armor?
https://bsky.app/profile/murshedz.bsky.social/post/3lmsqfw6i2k2j
modest mantle
Chinks in the armor?
https://bsky.app/profile/murshedz.bsky.social/post/3lmsqf...
eh, just one poll, from april 9th. Heres another one, from yesterday, https://x.com/admcrlsn/status/1911615768489324844
X
somber bone
sharp berry
👇 👀
"In his meeting with President Nayib Bukele today in the White House, President Donald Trump told his Salvadoran counterpart that “home-growns are next” and that El Salvador would “need to be build about five more places” to hold American citizens.
So the president of the United States proposes, on camera, to deport Americans to foreign concentration camps."
https://snyder.substack.com/p/trump-home-growns-are-next?r=7g2f&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true
west kettle
👇 👀
"In his meeting with President Nayib Bukele today in the White House, Pr...
When I heard this I wondered if this is a reference to children of immigrants (legal or illegal) who are citizens by Birthright citizenship. Based on how he has proceeded so far, this would be consistent with his relying on his executive order ending Birthright citizenship
sharp berry
We'll see, it refers to all Americans who stand in the way of his power politics and fight against it.
sharp berry
arctic mirage
social.freedom.press
vital shore
This is a good daily rundown of headlines in the Trump admin. Subscribe to get in inbox https://gbounacos.substack.com/what-happened-today-74
marble plover
dusky star
#1357318195412865158 message
Cross-posting down here due to relevancy w/ deportation matters and issued claims surrounding them.
somber bone
Bluesky
somber bone
glad fox
Interesting just how many folks across multiple discords are building listicles of trumpenings. It's booming biz
vital shore
Interesting just how many folks across multiple discords are building listicles ...
There’s so much going on it’s like a fire hydrant.
glad fox
This is a good daily rundown of headlines in the Trump admin. Subscribe to get i...
https://gbounacos.substack.com/feed works well for feed readers like Inoreader or Feedly
https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/ has been a good one since the first term
vital shore
inner girder
https://bsky.app/profile/mollyjongfast.bsky.social/post/3lmveqbbyic2y
Be interesting to see how this would change if you changed "concerned" to "likely"
rare geyser
https://bsky.app/profile/mollyjongfast.bsky.social/post/3lmveqbbyic2y
This question should have been two
"Do you believe that Trump will jail people because of their political views"
"If Trump jails people because of their political views, will that concern you"
Right now you can attribute a lot of the "not concerned" to people who are like, "he's not actually gonna do that"
midnight oar
The five stages of denial of the MAGA cheerleader...
somber bone
true abyss
somber bone
vital shore
https://fixupx.com/secrubio/status/1912530586473808049
Do you think he even sees the cruel irony of his statement about people being fired charged and jailed for voicing their opinions?
somber bone
magic salmon
azure rain
If it's public, it should be here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/ But leaks are harder to get and verify.
reef moon
Has anyone seen anything about the mega prison in El Salvador not being visible on google maps anymore?
obtuse horizon
Still there:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Centro+de+Confinamiento+del+Terrorismo+(CECOT)/@13.5335768,-88.8051104,1483m
Google appears to have shut off the customer review option, not sure if that's recent.
vital shore
fading pine
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/04/16/hhs-budget-cut-trump/
(archived https://archive.ph/24I3y)
feral crane
reef moon
Trying to find any other sources from today. There’s stuff from yesterday saying he’s planning to
west kettle
The only thing I've seen published yesterday is the Memorandum of Opinion mentioned in this article (I haven't read the 40+ page Memorandum)
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/3383153/trump-doj-appeals-court-review-boasberg-contempt/
[The Washington Examiner leans politically conservative]
arctic mirage
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski says every Republican Senator is AFRAID of Trump: “I'm oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real.”
obtuse horizon
The only thing I've seen published yesterday is the Memorandum of Opinion mentio...
Appeals court already denied the appeal. https://bsky.app/profile/joshuajfriedman.com/post/3lmzrigq6xs2r
west kettle
Appeals court already denied the appeal. https://bsky.app/profile/joshuajfriedma...
My understanding is that this is a separate case from the case that Judge Boasberg is presiding over. Judge Boasberg's case involved him ordering any planes in the air to turn around and Judge Xinix's case involved the order to return a particular individual wrongfully deported on those flights
obtuse horizon
Ah, yes, you're right, apologies for missing the distinction. There's a lot going around right now.
west kettle
Ah, yes, you're right, apologies for missing the distinction. There's a lot goin...
No worries. Confusing times. This Discord group may be the most sane and organized place I know right now and even it's going to have its moments
trim dust
@noble crystal I cleared up your messages. Please get in touch via @rotund sigil . (Anyone who got pings for this channel, that's why.)
magic salmon
X
arctic mirage
Cowards: NATO downplays climate and gender language to appease Trump
https://www.politico.eu/article/nato-downplays-climate-and-gender-language-to-appease-trump
vital shore
They are turning on each other like late stage Reign of Terror. Who will survive to face the wrath of the people? https://bsky.app/profile/noahbarkin.bsky.social/post/3ln4cvrtgrs2x
dusky star
Funny part to that also I covered it a bit in the original post in US LE/Corrections/Crime. So, the part of Mara Salvatrucha thats worked with the El Salvadoran government is the MS groups aligned to the Ranfla Nacional (not ms-13, those loyal to eme here in the US). They're pretty much at war with all the other MS groups, and that whole situ is actually one of the things that caused MS503 to split away and oppose the Ranfla Nacional.
I think most of the people they've deported recently have been part of the RN-aligned groupings here in the US
fading pine
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/18/business/trump-harvard-letter-mistake.html
(archived https://archive.ph/bUrw6)
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-tariff-pause-navarro-bessent-lutnick-b9e864fb
(archived https://archive.ph/x6EOw)
azure rain
https://bsky.app/profile/chrisgeidner.bsky.social/post/3ln5eyxapfk2m
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25902119/24a1007-order-41925.pdf for the direct link, as short as it may be
coral topaz
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/18/business/trump-harvard-letter-mistake.html
(a...
Guess they meant to send that letter to Princeton?
somber bone
https://bsky.app/profile/waldo.net/post/3ln6bn5yhy22o
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/18/defense-secretary-chief-of-staff-joe-kasper-departure-00299508
Bluesky
dusky star
Tiny important note on that, those people are not being removed for simply leaking embarassing info, they are being removed for actual unauthorized disclosures of controlled information, those investigations aren't about leaks about Hegseth as a person.
Funny side story related to that and one of the actual investigations related to that, that, got entirely skipped over. Unlike the Atlantic article, Ken Klippenstein actually got sent literal "war plans", as in, someone sent him all 4 levels of planning documents, the full plans, and some related documents to them. That's well over 1,000 pages of classified materials that, unlike the Atlanic story, actually literally included the 300+ page OPLAN they had wrt Iran.
pulsar monolith
Wait, huh? Where can I find more info on that?
dusky star
Wait, huh? Where can I find more info on that?
pulsar monolith
Thank you
dusky star
I'm surprised it hasn't been picked up more still. Fair tid bit he may not have actually gotten all the related documents but he definitely got a lot of the critical ones needed to define quite a bit of stuff.
tepid roost
And I need more of you guys to become paid subscribers so I can keep reporting on our alarmingly quiet march to war.
Remarkably unattractive
dusky star
Ken is a golden nugget in his own regard lol
He's made some other references to the same things on his twitter and here for example https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/the-nuclear-war-plan-for-iran
mellow dirge
somber bone
mental zealot
somber bone
https://bsky.app/profile/maxtani.bsky.social/post/3lnda5xzi4s2r
https://www.semafor.com/article/04/20/2025/how-nexstar-dodged-a-trump-lawsuit
somber bone
tepid moon
high grove
Trend of podcaster/influencer access continues
https://vxtwitter.com/Acyn/status/1914732014970015818?t=4ko6fiePT8f8IgIMejhIxg&s=19
grizzled ingot
agile saffron
somber bone
feral crane
somber bone
somber bone
west kettle
Wasn't this also where the Pennsylvania shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was erroneously thought to have been a one time donor?
dusky star
Wasn't this also where the Pennsylvania shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was erro...
Yeah though both ends reported on that pretty odd, pretty sure what happened is since Progressive Turnout (the org he actually donated too) uses ActBlue to host their donation page that either got mixed up or intentionlly miscast. Money still goes/went too Progressive Turnout tho just uses ActBlues infrastructure, so not purely as fine as he didn't interact with it.
west kettle
Yeah though both ends reported on that pretty odd, pretty sure what happened is ...
I wasn't thinking in terms of where the money actually went but more in terms of the fact this Administration loves conspiracy theories and that one was connected to the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania
dusky star
They've had issues with ActBlue for a while don't think they're trying to connect it that way at all
Pre-2024 (its fixed now) some of ActBlues infrastructure did allow you to make donations with kinda whatever, you could just drop in a fake US address and do your thing. As far as I know though they entirely fixed that issue so it's not possible anymore. The more MAGA oriented repubs have stayed pretty steady on it since around election seasons end/after though.
Trying to find a more unbiased article for ya, a lot of the coverage of their stuff over it came from more right oriented outlets
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4962581-republicans-subpoena-d-actblue/
(Gov sources but yeah skews to em)
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/investigation-actblue-attorney-general-ken-paxton-uncovers-large-number-suspicious-donations-made
https://republicans-cha.house.gov/2024/12/chairman-steil-releases-findings-from-subpoena-of-actblue
https://oversight.house.gov/release/fraud-on-actblue-new-report-details-potential-illegal-activity-on-the-democrat-platform/ this recently too from the oversight committee
balmy dock
balmy dock
Hegseth had an unsecured internet line set up in his office to connect to Signal, AP sources say
https://apnews.com/article/hegseth-signal-chat-dirty-internet-line-6a64707f10ca553eb905e5a70e10bd9d
somber bone
dusky star
Very important note on that, that is not a training-training program. It is a yearly national conference. Some "training" happens but it's more knowledge sharing of emerging techniques. The conference is also pretty small, like, a couple dozen people. Usually only a dozen in any of the labs. This is does not impact any of ICACs actual training programs.
https://www.icactaskforce.org/search-results?sort=Alphabetical&content=Conferences
Looks like the other two are still slated to happen also (both do the same sort of thing just more regionally aligned)
Curious if the national one got nixed because of the colleges that have grants to help it
slow spindle
coral topaz
We know less about the deep sea that about the cosmos and Donald Trump's signing of a controversial executive order aimed at stepping up deep-sea mining within US and in international waters is troubling. The USA has never been a member of the International Seabed Authority, an international organisation based in Kingston, Jamaica, in charge of protecting the international seabed. It's intriguing to see China as a defender of international law architecture that is currently being developed at ISA to guide potential future deep sea mining concessions in line with other international and environmental law obligations. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2v37z333lo
vital shore
somber bone
somber bone
dusky star
In re the FBI agent writing the affidavit, they're not working on the removal operation, they're part of the case team on the case against the judge.
The poster kinda leaves out the paragraph right under that explaining it
somber bone
don't they have protocols to not follow illegal orders?
dusky star
The ones in the indictment though "A" and "B" that were involved, they don't say where they were assigned though
dusky star
don't they have protocols to not follow illegal orders?
Not any more or less than anyone else. Just clarifying that because it'd be mdm to state that based off the affidavit. The two FBI agents involved, "A" and "B", they didn't say what Squad they were part of. This person is referencing the affidavit written by one of the SAs working the case against the judge. The WCS would end up handling the investigation on the judge since it'd be a "color of law" matter since they were acting in their official capacity.
It's not a conspiracy or enterprise case either so it'd be more of a flag if it was handled by a different squad instead of them. The SA would have to investigate it anyways or ask to be reassigned and someone else would pick it up in the same squad anyways.
somber bone
somber bone
sharp berry
I think it's dementia that he also applied these lies to the EU. No new ideas. 👇
https://www.threads.com/@christina_gerstacker/post/DIgCbM9IjN_/eu-standards-and-safety-tests-are-not-about-bowling-balls-dropped-on-cars-and-th
vital shore
@dusky star another WH faith “meeting” Sean Feucht, Paula White but too many to id. You can explore more at the original Insta post https://www.threads.com/@riseabovejusticemovement/post/DI64TQkxins
dusky star
Thank ya
somber bone
dusky star
Just on this bit specifically since they focus a lot on it and it's not really baseless in itself
"In a particularly outrageous escalation, Miller also claimed, without providing evidence, that birthright citizenship was a “major national security threat” that had been “used by foreign governments to conduct espionage against the United States.”
This has been a well known thing since the cold war. Most famously brought to light through the KGB illegals program explicitly ordering their tandem couples to have children in the US. This is a practice they still do in hopes of exploiting vulnerabilities related to it later on regardless of the (formerly) childs interest & we dunno if SVR continued it but there's been some reported cases of it happening. It's not a very feasible technique though so yeah he's speaking about in a pretty unrealistic manner.
Tim Foley is an example of this, his parents had already started giving him operational training before they got busted in the big illegals case (Tim being a case where the child was interested in participating in it so they told them and etc).
Priorly, there's the Koral case too - while recruited assets instead of officers, their son who was born in the US was recruited eventually too. His handler was even ordering him which specific colleges to go too and wrote about having assessed him for "years" throughout his youth.
somber bone
azure rain
New executive order: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/restoring-equality-of-opportunity-and-meritocracy/
Seems an awful lot like removing civil rights protections
glad fox
Seems an awful lot like removing civil rights protections
Disparate impact is a legal principle allowing challenges to policies that, while neutral on their face, disproportionately affect protected groups (such as racial minorities, women, or individuals with disabilities) without requiring proof of intentional discrimination. This doctrine has been instrumental in enforcing civil rights in areas like employment, housing, education, and criminal justice. The removal of disparate-impact liability limits the federal government’s ability to address systemic discrimination that arises from neutral policies resulting in unequal outcomes.
somber bone
dusky star
They do reference SIPRNet a bit inaccurately not horrible though. The DoE stuff on SIPRNet is inevitably very very tiny compared to everything else. Also they may have just worded this part odd but SIPRNet does not "normally" require a Q Clearance, you'd only need that for whatever specific parts of it deal with those materials. Most access to SIPRNet wouldn't need or have this at all.
Does raise a fair question if the SIPRNet part specifically is just, them having accounts on it (undefined) vs having access to the actual parts dealing with nuclear secrets (article doesn't seem to indicate this and only pairs from the tid bit above)
vital shore
Interesting observations by Atlantic reporters about Trumps nature. https://www.threads.com/@theatlantic/post/DJAm767owqb?xmt=AQGzUEJimy4YfbUbMyYjlVdlQ-EKkAiR6fKOhh6Gclzazw
somber bone
https://www.axios.com/2025/04/29/walmart-prices-amazon-tariffs https://fixupx.com/nathanbomey/status/1917321304148975847
FixupX
dusky star
Walmart's definitely double speaking there, they're already having pretty widespread price increases across a significant amount of goods.
I'd caution that the next few months too, a lot of these bigger companies are going to raise costs anyways and are absolutely going to try and PR-ify it for reputational purposes & also to compete with other companies.
Some of that stuff they said is iffy on its own too like
"More than two-thirds of products sold in Walmart U.S. stores are "made, grown or assembled" in the country, company CFO John David Rainey said at the company's investment community meeting earlier this month.
"The third that we import comes from all over the world, but China and Mexico are the most significant," Rainey said."
This is only ever stated by Walmart C-Suites when PR'ing about economic impact from overseas imports. Pretty much every other research article and reference to it identifies basically the exact opposite in that most of Walmarts goods are imported, not a third, with the third being domestically produced (that third largely being groceries). It's the same reputational crisis that made them make their whole "made in america" pledge that they've provided 0 data to support any effort towards (they mislead about it before then too).
vital shore
I thought this was a parody. It’s not https://x.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1917331380297478530
X
west kettle
Some of that stuff they said is iffy on its own too like
"More than two-thirds o...
If they sell an item with assembly required made in China and the customer assembles it here are they counting that as 'assembled in the USA'? Sounds like a joke but I'm seriously wondering if this is how they categorize some of their items
dusky star
If they sell an item with assembly required made in China and the customer assem...
Yes that's exactly what happens in a lot of cases 🤣 , AAM wrote a lot about it back in 2015-2016ish when the whole american manufacturing pledge happened
They're just ways of using specific words to alter perceptions of the exact thing happening
For example no, Walmart is not doing tariff surcharges (the article is fully accurate in that), they are comparably raising the sale price of the item itself
somber bone
midnight oar
That is the dumbest thing I've listened at this year.
He's pretending the numbers on that photo arent photoshopped https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:acm2yz57z6weqbdbw5lpluu3/bafkreibyrvwpzuqrnoeynscuoavha5nfngbcsjdxrao6n42iryfx6msaha@jpeg
He's bullying a journalist to "say yes" on something unseen since the sharpiegate.
dusky star
Also a potential on this. We have seen countless cases where Trumps advisors straight up just lied to him openly and he head bobs along. There's a fair case someone just showed him this in passing and took it as legit rather than intentionally lying.
somber bone
That is the dumbest thing I've listened at this year.
He's pretending the number...
Standard authoritarian play
https://bsky.app/profile/iwriteok.bsky.social/post/3lnyp6t6tes2e
true abyss
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/30/opinion/musk-doge-data-ai.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Dk8.lzc4.DBAR8L6qNDOp In 2009 the Georgetown law professor Paul Ohm envisioned the assemblage of a DOGE-like amount of data and called it the “database of ruin.” “Almost every person in the developed world can be linked to at least one fact in a computer database that an adversary could use for blackmail, discrimination, harassment or financial or identity theft,” he wrote.
coral topaz
The Trump administration has begun firing newly appointed members of the board that oversees the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, including Douglas Emhoff, the (husband of former Vice President Kamala Harris) and other senior Biden White House officials, Ron Klain, Tom Perez, Susan Rice, and Anthony Bernal. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/us/politics/trump-doug-emhoff-holocaust-museum-biden.html
somber bone
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/05/01/waltz-signal-app-photo-cabinet/
https://www.telemessage.com/mobile-archiver/state-and-local-agencies/
dusky star
The religious liberty commission contains a whopping like 3 people with religion related careers 😭 (leaving out the people that simply wrote books on religion in isolation but lack related careers or education).
By categorical quantity seems most named participants are from think tanks surrounding conservative ethics and etc
Interesting to see Prejean on there too, really curious how she secured that spot (she does know Trump but didn't think they were that close), her claim to fame in politics is writing a book about her experiences as a pagent queen, where she was kicked out of the circuit for violating moral obligations in contracts by producing pornography. In definitely one of the weirder conservative feats of recent times, she's very pro-porn and casts attacks on pornography as coming from the left (statistically inaccurate).
In a funny side part of its own also for anyone who would get a chuckle out of it, if Prejean didn't self-hype being conservative she would be a perfect example of a lot of things young conservative men talk about as issues. Very interesting and confusing to see her on this.
west kettle
In a funny side part of its own also for anyone who would get a chuckle out of i...
Her involvement with Outreach in the right wing Evangelical mega church movement before converting to Catholicism makes her a fit on this list in my opinion. Paula White, another mega church right wing Fundamentalist has long been an advisor to Donald Trump and he has surrounded himself with many in this group who comprised a large portion of the MAGA base. She isn't exactly typical but she has a background working with young people
dusky star
Oh yeah I agree on that front was more just curious on the specific why, getting places on these commissions is usually backed by a fair level of personal relation and lobbying (not just from yourself but your supporters)
From what I knew beforehand she knew Trump but not like, that level, just rudimentary through the pagents. X on other folks speaking on her behalf in the admin not sure if anyone else surrounding Trump currently or others on the new commission know her super well (Bishop Barron might in re the mega church movement part).
somber bone
somber bone
mellow dirge
somber bone
grizzled ingot
X
dusky star
Someone needs to give Grok PR training 😭
The Star Wars bit there contradicts itself quite hard too
slow spindle
Is the WH Twitter account run by one person? You'd think in whatever procedure is done before a tweet is made at least one person would be involved would be even tangentially familiar with Star Wars and recognize how bad of an idea this would be to post.
dusky star
Is the WH Twitter account run by one person? You'd think in whatever procedure i...
Unknown but I'd say likely more than one. Technically a team is responsible for it but we dunno if they have one person only do it, let multiple, or it's just a whoever on the team that can do the thing then. Differs for every President.
grizzled ingot
Billy McLaughlin. He now will have a team.
grizzled ingot
Trump wants to recreate Alcatraz. Of course he didnt read Papillon.
An alternative name for this channel would be endless screaming.
sharp berry
deft acorn
O.m.g.https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1919053040734072844?t=7SarIykw-QyF9VjkdkEs...
That is a Sith lightsaber
How dumb are they
marble plover
I think they know 
grizzled ingot
Ad an H to the Lord's saber
inner girder
How dumb are they
Appropriating anti facist symbols is pretty common on the far right
somber bone
obtuse horizon
(Also on Bluesky in case you'd rather link to there)
https://bsky.app/profile/chrismurphyct.bsky.social/post/3loff5weuvc2f
dusky star
Not helping the overlapping claims surrounding things involving this lol
Apparently DOJ will be investigating Washington for requiring Catholic priests to report child abuse
The DOJ press release here also inaccurately claims that confessions could be used, the approved bill explicitly considers confessions as privileged communications that do not require mandatory reporting
"A member of the clergy, a Christian Science practitioner listed in the Christian Science Journal, or a priest shall not, without the consent of the person making the confession or sacred confidence, be
examined as to any confession or sacred confidence made to him or her in their professional
character, in the course of discipline enjoined by the church to which he or she belongs."
Interestingly, this is worded a bit ambigiously but would seemingly include all religions, or at least abrahamic ones?
"Clergy" means any regularly licensed, accredited, or ordained minister, priest, or rabbi of any church or religious denomination, whether acting in an individual capacity or as an employee or agent."
Either way it explicitly lays out other-than-Catholics too, which basically means DOJs stance here is that it's only a first amendment violation to require catholics to report child abuse, not anyone else.
somber bone
somber bone
https://bsky.app/profile/waldo.net/post/3lohq3mm55c2o
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/us/politics/pete-hegseth-military-cuts.html?smtyp=cur
Bluesky
dusky star
In the announcement for that too Hegseth made a really weird stat comment, he said something like there is/was like 1 general for every 4,000 troops which is?? For that to be anywhere near remotely accurate the Army alone would have to have like 4,000 generals.
https://x.com/i/status/1919499390370066650
"It use to be a ratio of 1 general to 6,000 troops, today it's one general to 1,400."
Nevermind was even narrower than I put, this would mean the Army alone would need somewhere like 10,000 generals for this statistic to be accurate at 440,000+ people.
The more proper number (for all services) would be somewhere around 40k troops per general (2,070,000 divided by 44)
X
grizzled ingot
hard to believe they didnt know the history of palantir https://bsky.app/profile/bobbyallyn.bsky.social/post/3lohbj3zqs22g
dusky star
X
The claim here about readmitteding servicemembers terminated over the vaccine ordeal is not corroborated what so ever. None of the people that are known to have been terminated to the public have said they were readmitted, in fact they're still publically debating to be reinstated. Plenty of other folks with access to that documentation questioning who exactly got reinstated cause they're not aware of anyone who did.
somber bone
somber bone
dusky star
https://www.wsj.com/world/greenland-spying-us-intelligence-809c4ef2
The boys running SDRs in a town with 3 whole blocks
The random influx of attachees totally wont be suspicious in, Greenland 🤣
I wonder how many American staff the embassy there even has I don't expect its very large
somber bone
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/us/politics/doe-kills-grant-pbs-childrens-shows.html
https://bsky.app/profile/jamellebouie.net/post/3lok6z2vcak2w
slow spindle
The random influx of attachees totally wont be suspicious in, Greenland 🤣
I don't know which is dumber, the directive itself or that Gabbard seemed to acknowledge(or at least can be read to acknowledge) in an official statement that the directive was actually sent.
dusky star
Honestly it's dumb but probably not as bad as we expect
It's pretty easy to spot folks in official cover if you know what you're doing, pretty easy for a lot of nation state actors
They're not widely recognized but there are some pocket strategies for doing that, that do work in some cases (not that it would here). Basically what you do in those cases though is frame a problem to the public in whatever nation you're targeting & by trying to get those TAs to unify around the problem than the actor, you can better influence them in favorable directions (for example, its not about battling X government, it's about combatting a shared problem - "shared" not meaning in impact but in re a more holistic type of involvement. Say in the economic sense, competing nations products, the other end may not be negatively impacted, but negative impact is created for you that will inevitably cause problems for them too. Or you can message cutting it at the root basically)
As a side to it also this (not completely tho) allows more personal agency and knowledge amongst the populace the actions or products would be released in/targeted towards. This doesn't necessarily make it not-malign but it definitely mitigates some of the ways we categorize it. eg malign influence inherently does not consider personal agency, which is why everyone takes problem with it, even those that do it get upset when targeted - so by announcing you're doing it, you do give an air of personal agency. By doing that, with their knowledge and consent, they choose to participate/not participate in what you're doing rather than not knowing and acting based off that.
somber bone
west kettle
This makes sense because I remember reading an article from the time of the hearings where Elise Stefanik saying the purpose of the hearings was to get rid of woke University presidents.
somber bone
Worth also keeping in mind Stefanik has endorsed far right ideas like 'the great replacement' which does have deep ties to antisemitism
somber bone
dusky star
Totally not like you can't already do that
It seems the issue is more being lazy and not reaching to farmers to ask
magic salmon
vital shore
Just in Time for hurricane season https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/08/fema-chief-fired-cameron-hamilton-00335840
vital shore
somber bone
X
vital shore
sharp berry
somber bone
somber bone
plain prawn
A bit funny since the effort to convert the 747-8 to Air force one has been ongoing for several years. So even if he gets one it wont be able to function as air force one before its converted, and i doubt that they want to put all the secret stuff in a private plane..
coral topaz
Some people are speaking out about the crypto bill and its potential conflict of interest. https://theintercept.com/2025/05/08/democrats-trump-crypto-stablecoin-maxine-waters/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=The Intercept Newsletter
somber bone
feral crane
vital shore
Doug Wilson (CREC) dominionist plans church plant blocks from White House https://www.threads.com/@mburtwrites/post/DJlMX7MOcMQ
feral crane
rugged dew
Might be of interest to some (Proj2025/HF connection & law enforcement plans therein) https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/secret-project-2025-plan-to-give-trump-command-of-us-police-21744518
dusky star
Tiny important note on that, a lot of the people involved in that subgroup did interact with HF heavily but are not part of their network, most of them are in others or part of Trumps directly. The reporting says they weren't able to identify but yes this team had direct ins with the Trump administration and is an example of it being somewhat accurate there was a distinction between P2025 and Agenda 47. Trumps Agenda 47 references towards these subjects was largely oriented to what the subgroup here was able to get into circulation directly surrounding Trumps team.
Also they do grandsize a bit, there's a few groups like this that exist around LE matters. None focus on LE overall so it's a bit incorrect to reference it as fully giving him command or etc. It's more the people not the groups, for example, there's some folks at the DAT for FBI that were part of multiple of these subgroups and have direct ins with Trumps team, they ended up writing or interacting with multiple of these groups not just this one. These individuals, themselves, have their unique interests that presents in their work across all the groups - so certain broader references are usually more relevant to those persons than the overall thing, and it'll present across others too (eg the pre-DAT establishment team has folks who've touched on this reforming LE stuff across multiple groups, so you can find their writings across all these groups referencing their personal grander aims like how they reference militarizing law enforcement more).
"But if there has been coordination between the administration and the authors," this part though is mostly accurate, the group of people that comprised that group (that worked across many distinct groups like this) did have actual coordination, so they're on proper track there. Hopefully they got enough materials to dive into that in their further reporting cause it's deffo available.
The last thing I would say since the article is mostly great, they hit on the communications angle and the terms used, but I'd red flag that for the reason that's literally just normal communications speak. Every US administration since the 1970s has used the term strategic communications, "target audience" is the proper reference for that in all related communication and communications fields - including academia.
The reference "propaganda" is not inclusive or exclusive with these, specific content could be propaganda or not. Strategic Communications for example cannot itself be propaganda, because it's a communication process that strategically integrates other communication functions, it could direct content creation or not. The points they make about what its regarding may be accurate but putting these terms in more framed quotes or etc isn't really proper as even if it it did include malign content, those terms would still be accurate to apply.
green fable
dusky star
If anyone sees that new event going around with the Secret Service and co whining over Comeys posts - folks presenting that as some secret "hit" meaning are entirely making things up. They near all entirely rest on "86" being some widespread code amongst gang members for murders, I have never once heard in the dozens of terms for this I've heard this interviewing or being anywhere across the US, I can't even find references to it searching it up outside this event and it now being filtered into AI results not sourcing anything.
If the "86" is slang for killing or hits etc, it is bound to be an intimately small piece of slang that contrary to everyones claim is very unreasonable for the average cop to know even, let alone a federal agency director.
slow spindle
If anyone sees that new event going around with the Secret Service and co whinin...
Does this claim originate from the dictionary meaning of "86" as seen in many articles in major publications?
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70nqk9rlxpo
The number 86 is a slang term whose definitions include 'to reject' or 'to get rid of', according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, which also notes that it has more recently been used as a term meaning 'to kill'.
dusky star
Digging into that more since this threw me off a bit, so, the 86 thing there where it comes from is actually a bit debated. Gonig through all the distinct forms, it appears it came about at the end of the 1800s-early 1900s either through, yeah, the restrauaunt industry definitions early period, and/or referencing slang in the military because rotary phone letters T and O (throw out) would be the numbers 8-6 (some also debate this is what caused it to go into the resturaunt industry)
west kettle
Does this claim originate from the dictionary meaning of "86" as seen in many ar...
The BBC was selective in their quoting of Merriam Webster which also includes the following: Among the most recent senses adopted is a logical extension of the previous ones, with the meaning of “to kill.” We do not enter this sense, due to its relative recency and sparseness of use.
Considering how often movies and TV seem to be quoted as fact by this Administration I'm curious as to where 86 has appeared meaning 'to kill' in movies and TV in recent years
dusky star
There are some old dictionaries, that without sourcing, just present the definitions and not where its from. I can find absolutely 0 sourcing this has ever organically existed within any sort of underworld or crime culture etc. The only references to such besides now, are people referencing it that way but still from the restaraunt context - and not gang members but like your average person.
The "to kill" does not appear to be a thing even, that angle of the definition appears to be about say removing or etc, firing a coworker, it still extends from the restraunt definition and/or some (though less detailing than the rotary phone specifically claim) extent to folks who passed away serving in at least for the US I think just ww1
slow spindle
The BBC was selective in their quoting of Merriam Webster which also includes th...
Every article from reputable outlets like NYT , Axios, WaPo seems to cite the Merriam-Webster definition as source for the meaning.
dusky star
It is technically in the definition but not in the way being framed
They're trying to frame it as an actual common slang for gang members, which I don't think is true at all whatsoever. The definition is in the slang yes, but that bit of slang I cannot find nor have ever heard being used by the types they claim.
The absolute only connections you can even find between these two elements are a) really really old crime fiction using it, in references to the resturaunt industry and b) prohibition era restaraunts which may have been owned by the mob, where they used "86" as "8 feet wide, 6 feet under" - this is not corroborated anywhere else though and is debated if it actually meant that or if it just so happened to be referencing a mobster using actual restauraunt slang while running a restauraunt.
slow spindle
It is technically in the definition but not in the way being framed
The framing is what I find odd and that every reputable outlet seems to buy into it for whatever reason.
dusky star
The framing is what I find odd and that every reputable outlet seems to buy into...
Yeah I'm very much wagering the miscasting there is intentional too, this is so obscure there's no way you randomly pull it out lol