Well... it's Trump... again. #47, here we go.

[Swammerdami]

I'd never even heard of The Legendary Mashed Potato Story. It was posted a year ago by Mary Trump. in part to help sell her "Taters are for Traitors" spoons. I've set the YouTube link to start at the story. Seven year-old Donald was 4th-oldest of five siblings, and his favorite pastime was tormenting his younger brother Robert. (To add confusion Mary says "Robert" once when she means "Donald.") Donald ends up humiliated by Mary's father; Mary extrapolates this to help explain Trump's personality defects 70 years later.

 

[TV and credit cards]

DUBAI, Jan 2 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to come to the aid of protesters in Iran if security forces fire on them, days into unrest that has left several dead and posed the biggest internal threat to Iranian authorities in years.
"We are locked and loaded and ready to go," he said in a social media post.

Yeah, this is your great concern, the preservation of human life wherever it may be. You should get a Nobel Peace Prize you abhorrent, hypocritical piece of shit.

 

[bilby]

DUBAI, Jan 2 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to come to the aid of protesters in Iran if security forces fire on them, days into unrest that has left several dead and posed the biggest internal threat to Iranian authorities in years.
"We are locked and loaded and ready to go," he said in a social media post.

Yeah, this is your great concern, the preservation of human life wherever it may be. You should get a Nobel Peace Prize you abhorrent, hypocritical piece of shit.

Having US backing is just about the second worst thing any Iranian opposition group could have happen to it; It will instantly corrode public support for that opposition group in a way almost nothing else could.

The only thing worse would be Israeli backing.

At least Bibi is smart enough not to shout about his support for those trying to oust the Ayatollahs. Such support needs to be kept secret, or it does more harm than good.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

DUBAI, Jan 2 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to come to the aid of protesters in Iran if security forces fire on them, days into unrest that has left several dead and posed the biggest internal threat to Iranian authorities in years.
"We are locked and loaded and ready to go," he said in a social media post.

Yeah, this is your great concern, the preservation of human life wherever it may be. You should get a Nobel Peace Prize you abhorrent, hypocritical piece of shit.

Having US backing is just about the second worst thing any Iranian opposition group could have happen to it; It will instantly corrode public support for that opposition group in a way almost nothing else could.

Third worst. "Having" America's backing is worse, much like the Czech revolt back during the Cold War.

 

[ZiprHead]

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I agree. Kennedy's presidency certainly was short (though he did have both the desegregation of schools as well as the Cuban Missile Crisis) and his stature was elevated high in large part due to his age and being assassinated while serving as President.

Now can we talk about how Trump's insistence that we elevate his own stature is grossly misplaced and misinformed?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Trump just doing whatever the hell he wants.

The Trump administration plans to halt billions of dollars in federal funding for social services programs in five states led by Democrats following allegations of fraud, a Department of Health and Human Services official said Tuesday.

The move will freeze $7 billion for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, nearly $2.4 billion for the Child Care Development Fund and roughly $870 million for social services grants that largely benefit children. The states affected are Minnesota, New York, California, Illinois and Colorado.

The New York Post was first to report that HHS would withhold the funding.

"For too long, Democrat-led states and Governors have been complicit in allowing massive amounts of fraud to occur under their watch," Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesperson, said in a statement. "Under the Trump Administration, we are ensuring that federal taxpayer dollars are being used for legitimate purposes. We will ensure these states are following the law and protecting hard-earned taxpayer money."

 

[crazyfingers]

Trump just doing whatever the hell he wants.

The Trump administration plans to halt billions of dollars in federal funding for social services programs in five states led by Democrats following allegations of fraud, a Department of Health and Human Services official said Tuesday.

The move will freeze $7 billion for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, nearly $2.4 billion for the Child Care Development Fund and roughly $870 million for social services grants that largely benefit children. The states affected are Minnesota, New York, California, Illinois and Colorado.

The New York Post was first to report that HHS would withhold the funding.

"For too long, Democrat-led states and Governors have been complicit in allowing massive amounts of fraud to occur under their watch," Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesperson, said in a statement. "Under the Trump Administration, we are ensuring that federal taxpayer dollars are being used for legitimate purposes. We will ensure these states are following the law and protecting hard-earned taxpayer money."

I'd bet he's just making it up and the states will sue.

He has zero ethics.

 

[Swammerdami]

Trump just doing whatever the hell he wants.

The Trump administration plans to halt billions of dollars in federal funding for social services programs in five states led by Democrats following allegations of fraud, a Department of Health and Human Services official said Tuesday.

The move will freeze $7 billion for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, nearly $2.4 billion for the Child Care Development Fund and roughly $870 million for social services grants that largely benefit children. The states affected are Minnesota, New York, California, Illinois and Colorado.

The New York Post was first to report that HHS would withhold the funding.

"For too long, Democrat-led states and Governors have been complicit in allowing massive amounts of fraud to occur under their watch," Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesperson, said in a statement. "Under the Trump Administration, we are ensuring that federal taxpayer dollars are being used for legitimate purposes. We will ensure these states are following the law and protecting hard-earned taxpayer money."

I noticed this story on my phone today, via CBS's "Trump administration halting $10 billion in social service funding to 5 Democratic states". This strikes me as especially criminal and despicable, yet has attracted little attention. The story is missing from several news sources' home pages, including CBS's. Too much other Trumpist criminality and despicableness to make room for this crime?

If I were the Governor of one of the five states, I'd be exploring Civil War options now.

BTW, your Yahoo link, citing CBS, presents me with "Unfortunately, this video is not available in your region." (I've wondered about such "misfortunes." Is Yahoo just worried about the micropennies it would waste informing foreigners without an ad to click?)

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Trump wants to increase Military budget by 50% in 2027.

Trump said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday that he had decided to raise the US's military budget in 2027 from $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion.

...

He said that the larger budget would be financed by the tariffs he has imposed on almost all countries, and would secure the US during "very troubled and dangerous times."

Trump said in the post that tariff income was so "tremendous" that even after allocating $1.5 trillion to the military budget, the US would still be able to pay off its debts and pay dividends to "moderate income" Americans.

So, tariffs apparently will be used to pay for everything, though it might take counting the tariffs at a multiplier to do so. I can't see the GOP doing this as the math simply doesn't work. But this GOP, who knows. And of course, 2027 is next year and this Congress hasn't passed anything for this year yet.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Trump wants to increase Military budget by 50% in 2027.

Trump said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday that he had decided to raise the US's military budget in 2027 from $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion.

...

He said that the larger budget would be financed by the tariffs he has imposed on almost all countries, and would secure the US during "very troubled and dangerous times."

Trump said in the post that tariff income was so "tremendous" that even after allocating $1.5 trillion to the military budget, the US would still be able to pay off its debts and pay dividends to "moderate income" Americans.

So, tariffs apparently will be used to pay for everything, though it might take counting the tariffs at a multiplier to do so. I can't see the GOP doing this as the math simply doesn't work. But this GOP, who knows. And of course, 2027 is next year and this Congress hasn't passed anything for this year yet.

The defense budget is the last bastion of congressional bipartisanship. So never say never. And since when does math have anything to do with the defense budget? It's the one place where you absolutely do not show your work.

 

[Swammerdami]

I've watched hundreds of movies, but missed some of the greatest and most famous. I don't think I've ever watched a Charlie Chaplin movie in its entirety. Today Robert Reich cited Chaplin's famous anti-fascist speech from The Great Dictator, his first movie with significant spoken dialogue.

That speech is also available on YouTube. With the sickening rise of fascism in the USA, I think Reich was right to call attention to Chaplin's speech. It's only 4 minutes long: I wish there were a way to blare it into every loudspeaker in America.

 

[aupmanyav]

Well... it's Trump... again.

Howard Lutnick said that US was ready with India deal, but Modi did not call Trump.
And Modi will not call for a deal* even if Trump imposes a 500% tariff.
It may dent Indian economy a little, but it would not be able to destroy it.
* Modi has talked with Trump eight times in 2025, but not for any deal.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Trump makes Modi look qualfied as a leader. Thankfully all of the tariffs have cleared out the US debt and we are the richest country ever.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Trump makes Modi look qualfied as a leader. Thankfully all of the tariffs have cleared out the US debt and we are the richest country ever.

Art of the deal, baby!!

 

[Elixir]

* Modi has talked with Trump eight times in 2025, but not for any deal.

Of course Trump is interested in a pool of a billion and a half potential laborers with average incomes of less than $2500, and median incomes not much higher than that.
Exploitation, baby! India smells like money to Trump.

 

[robnisch]

* Modi has talked with Trump eight times in 2025, but not for any deal.

Of course Trump is interested in a pool of a billion and a half potential laborers with average incomes of less than $2500, and median incomes not much higher than that.
Exploitation, baby! India smells like money to Trump.

'Neo-royalism': Expert reveals what’s driving Trump’s 'violence and corruption'

President Donald Trump invaded Venezuela to capture leader Nicolás Maduro and has spent the better part of the week threatening the remaining leaders in the Maduro administration. The aftermath has brought comments about a $100 billion U.S. investment into Venezuela infrastructure and a possible...

www.alternet.org

 

[aupmanyav]

Of course Trump is interested in a pool of a billion and a half potential laborers with average incomes of less than $2500, and median incomes not much higher than that.
Exploitation, baby! India smells like money to Trump.

Situation I think is exactly the opposite. He does not want Indians (IT people or students) to come to US. No problem, we will manage and perhaps save money. It may be a blessing in disguise. Indian students, the most among foreign students numbering about 363,000 spend something like USD 21 billion every year for studies in US.

 

[aupmanyav]

'Neo-royalism': Expert reveals what’s driving Trump’s 'violence and corruption'

President Donald Trump invaded Venezuela to capture leader Nicolás Maduro and has spent the better part of the week threatening the remaining leaders in the Maduro administration. The aftermath has brought comments about a $100 billion U.S. investment into Venezuela infrastructure and a possible...

www.alternet.org

Too long a report to be read about Trumps medical condition and its cure (if there is any).

 

[TV and credit cards]

'Neo-royalism': Expert reveals what’s driving Trump’s 'violence and corruption'

President Donald Trump invaded Venezuela to capture leader Nicolás Maduro and has spent the better part of the week threatening the remaining leaders in the Maduro administration. The aftermath has brought comments about a $100 billion U.S. investment into Venezuela infrastructure and a possible...

www.alternet.org

Too long a report to be read about Trumps medical condition and its cure (if there is any).

Medical condition?

Anyways, the article it draws from at Mother Jones is pretty good.

A new theory explains why Trump keeps threatening global takeovers

Neo-royalism challenges us to look beyond a century-old paradigm and see the hierarchical lens through which Trump justifies domination.

www.motherjones.com

It tracks, that's for sure and for now it can be sold to the rest of us as securing America's future, the need for energy and rare earths.