Such nonsense. Maybe all such nonsenses are a loyalty test for Presidential appointees and GOP Senators and Congress members?
Reminds me of the Henry VIII court except that Trump doesn’t have the power of execution; yet.
Three years and eight months to go ….
Trump has called for several executions of some "real bad people." The only thing preventing him is the judicial system, it seems.
BTW, the reason why my family ended up in the New World, was a certain king wanted off with my forefather's head allegedly for sedition.
I am hoping Mr T will be impeached and convicted for high crimes and misdemeanors in a a couple of years. The third time is the charm, you know.
He’s instinctively despotic and has also made a pretty good job of neutering any developing or disillusioned GOP representatives. His real power rests in his large fan base.
What may produce change is if the loyalists in the electorate start to get disillusioned. That hasn’t shown much sign of happening yet, but he is both pretty crazy and a damager of global economic stability.
As previously mentioned upthread he did us in Oz a huge favour in helping to defeat the Coalition ( Liberal and National parties) in the recent Federal election and also to unseat the Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton who was unwise enough to hitch his wagon to El Trumpo’s star just before the shit hit the fan.
As I’ve opined before the Trump loyalists are a breed unto themselves but you never know until they’ve been well and truly bitten on the bum ( or hip pocket more like) by Trump’s increasingly crazy actions.
Unfortunately, unlike in Canada and Australia, here in the UK hitching their wagon to Trump hasn't reduced the popularity of Reform and Farage. Which raises the question of what is different in England compared to Canada and Australia that allows Farage to gain electoral support by following Trump?
Unfortunately, unlike in Canada and Australia, here in the UK hitching their wagon to Trump hasn't reduced the popularity of Reform and Farage. Which raises the question of what is different in England compared to Canada and Australia that allows Farage to gain electoral support by following Trump?
It’s because Farridge is a very charismatic character and has a very good press office which explains why he gets such h a disproportionate amount of publicity. I wonder where Reform would be without him. After all, UKIP collapsed after he left them
Unfortunately, unlike in Canada and Australia, here in the UK hitching their wagon to Trump hasn't reduced the popularity of Reform and Farage. Which raises the question of what is different in England compared to Canada and Australia that allows Farage to gain electoral support by following Trump?
It’s because Farridge is a very charismatic character and has a very good press office which explains why he gets such h a disproportionate amount of publicity. I wonder where Reform would be without him. After all, UKIP collapsed after he left them
One of the most striking pieces of evidence for how diverse human psychology is is that people like Farridge, Trump and Johnson are charismatic to some people. I find them - not.
There's also a disgraceful media bias. Just last night BBC Scotland had report including mention of the coming by-election here in a month, and they interviewed one candidate - the Reform one. Not even a mention of the other candidates.
There are signs the Republicans are about to turn against T. Trump has nominated Tim Waltz as UN ambassador. I do not think he will be approved. The Senate has already held up the nomination of Ed Martin as federal prosecutor for DC for 105 days. He is serving as interim now. but in two weeks the position will terminate--cannot serve more than 120 days. Once he is out, the district court will name a replacement. And a prosecutor not named by Trump can be deadly for him.
Ed Martin was one of the organizers of the Jan 9 riot four years ago.
Unfortunately, unlike in Canada and Australia, here in the UK hitching their wagon to Trump hasn't reduced the popularity of Reform and Farage. Which raises the question of what is different in England compared to Canada and Australia that allows Farage to gain electoral support by following Trump?
I think it's because the Canadian and Australian conservatives were embarrassed about being seen to be on the same side as Trump. They admitted he was wrong.
Whereas Farage leans into it and is shameless in the full-on Trump mode. The Big Lie. Never explain, never apologise.
This may or may not be the correct thread to post this comment.
I'm reading, 'How Democracies Die' by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt'. First published in 2018 it is an interesting, if really very depressing read. Trump (then I think in his first term) is discussed. The authors hope the damage to US democracies can be healed. Hmmm ......
Has any shipmate read this book? And not (yet) given up hope?
Yesterday I listened to a variety of rationalizations from my lovely RC Choir members as to why the image of Trump as Pope was merely a stunt in good humor. The gist of the reasoning was/is that because "Catholics voted for Trump," and "Trump loves Catholics," everything was alright. They also almost unanimously (there was one who gave pause) confirmed that had Governor Tim Walz done the same thing, it would have been both in poor taste, and offensive.
If applied as intended, that's gonna throw a serious monkey wrench into the film industry, including in the US itself. As exemplified by the failed symbolism of announcing the plan on May The Fourth.
And, yeah, Alcatraz. Even within the logic, such as it is, of Trump's law-and-order agenda, that really doesn't make a lotta sense. Okay, so he thinks they need to lock more people up, but why Alcatraz in particular? Why not just build a few more megaprisons?
I suspect the average MAGA yokel is just supposed to think that since Alcatraz is the most famous prison in American history, re-opening it must mean Trump is really tough on crime.
Interesting that his source of authority on what's a good prison is from movies. He just about missed out on a source of authority from personal experience.
Converting the Alcatraz museum back to a prison will cost a lot of money, and be hit to the local tourist industry. Running a new prison there will be expensive, to little if any gain in housing convicts compared to building a new purpose built prison in a more accessible location. If he's serious about cutting US Federal budgets then he'd be hard pressed to justify turning Alcatraz back into a prison.
Trump is showing his age on that one. It's notorious but wasn't open that long, only 35 years. The place was closed after a successful* escape because it was found to be in disrepair, partly due to the salty marine climate. It was also three times as expensive to run as other prisons with similar security due to its need to ferry everything in including fresh water.
Modern security thinking would rule out its use as even as an island it is far too close to a major metropolitan area and boat traffic.**
*The 1962 escapees are believed to have got out of the prison but are presumed drowned in San Francisco Bay.
**There is a theory that the 1962 escapees could or did actually escape by rendez-vousing with an arranged pleasure boat. There is a degree of plausibility in this and the close proximity of boat traffic to the prison is one reason why Alcatraz was a bad idea and closed.
Trump is showing his age on that one. It's notorious but wasn't open that long, only 35 years. The place was closed after a successful* escape because it was found to be in disrepair, partly due to the salty marine climate. It was also three times as expensive to run as other prisons with similar security due to its need to ferry everything in including fresh water.
It's also the case that, as far as popular culture goes, the only Alcatraz prisoners remembered today have a somewhat folk-heroic reputation about them, eg. America's most beloved bootlegger, and in the Eastwood movie, we were of course cheering for the escapees. So it's not like it's really associated with hardened criminals of the type Trump likes to revile as red-meat for MAGA(*).
Modern security thinking would rule out its use as even as an island it is far too close to a major metropolitan area and boat traffic.
Was that objectively less of an issue at the time the prison's construction(eg. the surrounding region was less inhabited), or did the thinking of the experts just change?
Interesting that his source of authority on what's a good prison is from movies. He just about missed out on a source of authority from personal experience.
Converting the Alcatraz museum back to a prison will cost a lot of money, and be hit to the local tourist industry. Running a new prison there will be expensive, to little if any gain in housing convicts compared to building a new purpose built prison in a more accessible location. If he's serious about cutting US Federal budgets then he'd be hard pressed to justify turning Alcatraz back into a prison.
As I said, I think it's just that for a lotta people "Alcatraz = prison". So re-opening Alcatraz drives home the message that you're sending people to jail, in a way that, say, building a new prison of equal capacity might not.
As for the local tourist industry, yeah, the effect will be less than great, and you can read this as another example of Trump, despite the "local control" rhetoric of his party, blundering over local sensibilities. Though we can probably surmise it won't make a difference, in a decidedly non-swing city like SF.
I really don't get Trump dressing as a Pope. Has no one told him the
Pope is supposed to be celibate?
True, but Trump no doubt believes that he could, nevertheless, do poping even better than anyone else, and would attract the bigliest EVER crowds of real good people to his various poping ceremonies.
Wearing the mitre means that he wouldn't have to stick his hair on every morning...
Modern security thinking would rule out its use as even as an island it is far too close to a major metropolitan area and boat traffic.
Was that objectively less of an issue at the time the prison's construction(eg. the surrounding region was less inhabited), or did the thinking of the experts just change?
It was a questionable site at its construction and in current thinking downright unsuitable. You can steer the equivalent of a tractor-trailer in the form a pleasure boat close to the prison and due to Alcatraz's location in the middle of the San Francisco Bay's shipping lanes not be able to do anything about it. Its security was deceptive and more flash than reality.
Thanks for the technical outline of the building's security issues.
Its security was deceptive and more flash than reality.
It's quite likely the most romanticized prison in American history, but often not in a way that is straightforwardly complimentary to the institution. As I observed earlier, its denizens tend to have a jaunty aura about them, and nowadays honeymooning couples have a laugh posing as the PRISONERS for souvenir photos.
If Trump is locked up in Alcatraz the tourist trade could escalate because lots of people will want to see him in such surroundings - rather like going to a zoo to see the animals.
Today, I could not help but apply the points being discussed under the Good Christian thread to Donnie, in particular the standards outlined in Matthew 25. Simply put, it is unimaginable how terrible he comes off. He may think he is the best person in the world, comparable to the recently departed Francis, even better than JC himself. There is no question, in my mind, which side of the division I would place him on if I were to do the judging. I just hope I do not find myself on the same side.
I promise. This will be my last Trump joke for tonight.
Want the Truth? Ask a 4th grader.
Donald Trump was visiting a primary school in Orlando and visited a 4th grade class. They were in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings.
The teacher asked Mr.Trump if he would like to lead the discussion on the word 'tragedy.'
So our illustrious POTUS asked the class for an example of a 'tragedy'.
One little boy stood up and offered: "If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field and a tractor runs him over and kills him, that would be a tragedy."
"No," said Trump, "that would be an accident."
A little girl raised her hand: "If a school bus carrying 50 children drove off a cliff, killing everyone, that would be a tragedy."
"I'm afraid not," explained Trump. "That's what we would call great loss."
The room went silent. No other child volunteered. Trump searched the room.
"Isn't there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?"
Finally at the back of the room, Little Johnny raised his hand. The teacher held her breath.
In a quiet voice he said: "If the plane carrying you was struck by a 'friendly fire' missile and blown to smithereens that would be a tragedy."
"Fantastic!" exclaimed Trump, "That's right. And can you tell me why that would be a tragedy?"
"Well," says Johnny, "It has to be a tragedy, because it sure as hell wouldn't be a great loss... and you can bet your sweet ass it wouldn't be an accident either!"
The teacher left the room..
The Trump Administration has
ordered the Swedish city of Stockholm to
end its DEl programs within 10 days.
This seemed so crazy I checked it out. It appears to be true.
The Trump Administration has
ordered the Swedish city of Stockholm to
end its DEl programs within 10 days.
This seemed so crazy I checked it out. It appears to be true.
The Trump Administration has
ordered the Swedish city of Stockholm to
end its DEl programs within 10 days.
This seemed so crazy I checked it out. It appears to be true.
The Trump Administration has
ordered the Swedish city of Stockholm to
end its DEl programs within 10 days.
This seemed so crazy I checked it out. It appears to be true.
Is there perhaps a town of Stockholm somewhere in the USA?
The Trump Administration has
ordered the Swedish city of Stockholm to
end its DEl programs within 10 days.
This seemed so crazy I checked it out. It appears to be true.
The Trump Administration has
ordered the Swedish city of Stockholm to
end its DEl programs within 10 days.
This seemed so crazy I checked it out. It appears to be true.
I would like to see the actual letter, to see exactly what is says. If The Guardian article linked to it, I missed it. I can find lots of articles talking about the letter, and I find lots of characterizations of what it says, but I can’t find the actual text of the letter anywhere.
The Trump Administration has
ordered the Swedish city of Stockholm to
end its DEl programs within 10 days.
This seemed so crazy I checked it out. It appears to be true.
I would like to see the actual letter, to see exactly what is says. If The Guardian article linked to it, I missed it. I can find lots of articles talking about the letter, and I find lots of characterizations of what it says, but I can’t find the actual text of the letter anywhere.
I wanted to find that too though I don't find this unbelievable. I can't find the one Stockholm got, but I'm seeing that a copy of the one that some French (companies) received was published Le Figaro. That sai my French isn't good enough to be sure I've found the letter let alone to quote it and Le Figaro has a paywall.
The Trump Administration has
ordered the Swedish city of Stockholm to
end its DEl programs within 10 days.
This seemed so crazy I checked it out. It appears to be true.
I would like to see the actual letter, to see exactly what is says. If The Guardian article linked to it, I missed it. I can find lots of articles talking about the letter, and I find lots of characterizations of what it says, but I can’t find the actual text of the letter anywhere.
I wanted to find that too though I don't find this unbelievable.
I definitely don’t find it unbelievable. But I also don’t find it unbelievable that news reports get it wrong and mischaracterize what a document says. Experience has taught me that both things are quite believable. And my antennae go up when those news reports don’t quote or provide a link to the document itself.
Comments
Miss Piggy should be SoS for Defence. Any threats to our safety would be met with a terrifying ‘Hai-YAA’!
He’s instinctively despotic and has also made a pretty good job of neutering any developing or disillusioned GOP representatives. His real power rests in his large fan base.
What may produce change is if the loyalists in the electorate start to get disillusioned. That hasn’t shown much sign of happening yet, but he is both pretty crazy and a damager of global economic stability.
But I’m not second guessing the loyalists.
As I’ve opined before the Trump loyalists are a breed unto themselves but you never know until they’ve been well and truly bitten on the bum ( or hip pocket more like) by Trump’s increasingly crazy actions.
It’s because Farridge is a very charismatic character and has a very good press office which explains why he gets such h a disproportionate amount of publicity. I wonder where Reform would be without him. After all, UKIP collapsed after he left them
One of the most striking pieces of evidence for how diverse human psychology is is that people like Farridge, Trump and Johnson are charismatic to some people. I find them - not.
Ed Martin was one of the organizers of the Jan 9 riot four years ago.
I think it's because the Canadian and Australian conservatives were embarrassed about being seen to be on the same side as Trump. They admitted he was wrong.
Whereas Farage leans into it and is shameless in the full-on Trump mode. The Big Lie. Never explain, never apologise.
I'm reading, 'How Democracies Die' by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt'. First published in 2018 it is an interesting, if really very depressing read. Trump (then I think in his first term) is discussed. The authors hope the damage to US democracies can be healed. Hmmm ......
Has any shipmate read this book? And not (yet) given up hope?
If applied as intended, that's gonna throw a serious monkey wrench into the film industry, including in the US itself. As exemplified by the failed symbolism of announcing the plan on May The Fourth.
I suspect the average MAGA yokel is just supposed to think that since Alcatraz is the most famous prison in American history, re-opening it must mean Trump is really tough on crime.
Converting the Alcatraz museum back to a prison will cost a lot of money, and be hit to the local tourist industry. Running a new prison there will be expensive, to little if any gain in housing convicts compared to building a new purpose built prison in a more accessible location. If he's serious about cutting US Federal budgets then he'd be hard pressed to justify turning Alcatraz back into a prison.
Pope is supposed to be celibate?
Trump is showing his age on that one. It's notorious but wasn't open that long, only 35 years. The place was closed after a successful* escape because it was found to be in disrepair, partly due to the salty marine climate. It was also three times as expensive to run as other prisons with similar security due to its need to ferry everything in including fresh water.
Modern security thinking would rule out its use as even as an island it is far too close to a major metropolitan area and boat traffic.**
*The 1962 escapees are believed to have got out of the prison but are presumed drowned in San Francisco Bay.
**There is a theory that the 1962 escapees could or did actually escape by rendez-vousing with an arranged pleasure boat. There is a degree of plausibility in this and the close proximity of boat traffic to the prison is one reason why Alcatraz was a bad idea and closed.
It's also the case that, as far as popular culture goes, the only Alcatraz prisoners remembered today have a somewhat folk-heroic reputation about them, eg. America's most beloved bootlegger, and in the Eastwood movie, we were of course cheering for the escapees. So it's not like it's really associated with hardened criminals of the type Trump likes to revile as red-meat for MAGA(*).
Was that objectively less of an issue at the time the prison's construction(eg. the surrounding region was less inhabited), or did the thinking of the experts just change?
As I said, I think it's just that for a lotta people "Alcatraz = prison". So re-opening Alcatraz drives home the message that you're sending people to jail, in a way that, say, building a new prison of equal capacity might not.
As for the local tourist industry, yeah, the effect will be less than great, and you can read this as another example of Trump, despite the "local control" rhetoric of his party, blundering over local sensibilities. Though we can probably surmise it won't make a difference, in a decidedly non-swing city like SF.
True, but Trump no doubt believes that he could, nevertheless, do poping even better than anyone else, and would attract the bigliest EVER crowds of real good people to his various poping ceremonies.
Wearing the mitre means that he wouldn't have to stick his hair on every morning...
Thanks for the technical outline of the building's security issues.
It's quite likely the most romanticized prison in American history, but often not in a way that is straightforwardly complimentary to the institution. As I observed earlier, its denizens tend to have a jaunty aura about them, and nowadays honeymooning couples have a laugh posing as the PRISONERS for souvenir photos.
He did not dress as a Pope. It was an AI generated image.
You can tell Canada won the War of 1812 -- they forced the US to take Detroit back.
And he has denied all responsibility for it ......... of course.
Strictly speaking popes don't have to be celebate. The only requirement is to be male and a baptised catholic ( rules out Trump, I think).
Being male and catholic I might theoretically be elected, though I'm not sure my boyfriend would fancy the move to Rome.
There's at least one occasion where a pope was the son of another pope. Also Peter was married ( the gospels mention his mother in law)
I'm not so sure .... have you read some of @Gramps49 's jokes?
Did you hear that the US bobsled team put Donald Trump's picture on the front of the sled?
Apparently, nobody else can make America go downhill faster.
Oh dear. To quote Marlowe's Satan in his play 'Dr Faustus': 'Why, this is Hell, nor are we out of it'.
Want the Truth? Ask a 4th grader.
Donald Trump was visiting a primary school in Orlando and visited a 4th grade class. They were in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings.
The teacher asked Mr.Trump if he would like to lead the discussion on the word 'tragedy.'
So our illustrious POTUS asked the class for an example of a 'tragedy'.
One little boy stood up and offered: "If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field and a tractor runs him over and kills him, that would be a tragedy."
"No," said Trump, "that would be an accident."
A little girl raised her hand: "If a school bus carrying 50 children drove off a cliff, killing everyone, that would be a tragedy."
"I'm afraid not," explained Trump. "That's what we would call great loss."
The room went silent. No other child volunteered. Trump searched the room.
"Isn't there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?"
Finally at the back of the room, Little Johnny raised his hand. The teacher held her breath.
In a quiet voice he said: "If the plane carrying you was struck by a 'friendly fire' missile and blown to smithereens that would be a tragedy."
"Fantastic!" exclaimed Trump, "That's right. And can you tell me why that would be a tragedy?"
"Well," says Johnny, "It has to be a tragedy, because it sure as hell wouldn't be a great loss... and you can bet your sweet ass it wouldn't be an accident either!"
The teacher left the room..
ordered the Swedish city of Stockholm to
end its DEl programs within 10 days.
This seemed so crazy I checked it out. It appears to be true.
Crazy indeed - do you have a safe link?
Try https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/08/stockholm-rejects-us-letter-urging-city-to-reverse-diversity-initiatives
Is there perhaps a town of Stockholm somewhere in the USA?
Does the city of Stockholm decide which contractors service the US embassy?
I wanted to find that too though I don't find this unbelievable. I can't find the one Stockholm got, but I'm seeing that a copy of the one that some French (companies) received was published Le Figaro. That sai my French isn't good enough to be sure I've found the letter let alone to quote it and Le Figaro has a paywall.