The Official "Damned Trump" Thread: Phase II

[Deesse23]

The Trump Administration is promoting the idea of "heritage Americans," who can trace their ancestry to colonial times, as the only real Americans and true citizens--even though many GOPers, like Donald Trump, don't qualify.

What? You dont have (yet) the equivalent of one of those*? What a pity. You will learn next what "Jedem das Seine**" means.

* This is the actual Ahnenpass of my grandma
** latin: suum cuique

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

The Native Americans would like a word

Boru

[Pat Mustard]

I already said this but, realistically, get rid of the electoral college. Republicans have been playing it for years. I realize Trump won the popular vote in 2024 but it's more often than not favored Republicans. Every vote should count equally. Limit supreme court terms. This has been an outrageous clusterfuck. Both these systems are terrible and outdated. 

I'm serious about what I said about education. College educated people lean strongly democratic. Democrats are an objectively better party. It's become a bigger divide than ever. That's why this culture of anti-intellectualism pisses me off so much! People shouldn't have to decide between a college education and massive debt. College educations should be available to everyone. If you take nothing else away from this post take this. Republicans realize this. Republicans are actively trying to keep people uneducated. Republicans are actively forcing Christianity in schools. Above all else people need to be taught the scientific method. People need to learn critical thinking. We really are back in the fucking dark ages. To quote Isaac Asimov:

“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”

We're at the point where Trump can say any damn thing he wants and people believe it. This is why Republicans have an advantage. Democrats are always arguing an inconvenient truth against Republican's fear mongering. 

So when I say "democracy doesn't work" I really mean "as is". We need not only fundamental changes in the core mechanics of the government but also the mindset of society. 

And fuck anyone who doesn't take this seriously! Have people not been keeping up with the supreme court? They gave Trump a get out of jail free card for anything as long as he's president! We have a man who forcefully tried to overthrow the results of an election now in control of the government with Republicans controlling the house and senate! We have a convicted rapist and felon for president. We're in an extremely sick society. What about the environment? What about the Ukraine? Hell, what about Democracy here? When Trump tells Christian voters "you won't have to vote anymore" if he's elected, and he was, that should concern you. How dare you call me a snowflake for being informed! How dare you call me a snowflake for actively making the world a better place. The bottom line is you just can't make people care. 

But if you get rid of the electoral college, you’ll STILL have a democracy, which you’ve said doesn’t work.

I’m not asking how you would fix or modify democracy, but for you to name a form of government with which you would replace democracy.

If you meant to say ‘democracy doesn’t work as is’, why didn’t you?

I never called you a snowflake.

Boru

I would say that if you got rid of the EC, you still wouldn't have a democracy (let's not kid ourselves, the one thing the US reich wing gets right is that their country hasn't set up their government systems to be democratic, except for at the most local level), but you'd be a good leap closer than now.

[Fake Messiah]

Every Scientific Empire Comes to an End

America’s run as the premiere techno-superpower may be over.

The very best scientists are like elite basketball players: They come to America from all over the world so that they can spend their prime years working alongside top talent.

Foreign researchers have recently been made to feel unwelcome in the U.S. They have been surveilled and harassed. The Trump administration has made it more difficult for research institutions to enroll them. Top universities have been placed under federal investigation. Their accreditation and tax-exempt status have been threatened. The Trump administration has proposed severe budget cuts at the agencies that fund American science—the NSF, the NIH, and NASA, among others—and laid off staffers in large numbers. Existing research grants have been canceled or suspended en masse. Committees of expert scientists that once advised the government have been disbanded. In May, the president ordered that all federally funded research meet higher standards for rigor and reproducibility—or else be subject to correction by political appointees.

Three-fourths of American scientists who responded to a recent poll by the journal Nature said they are considering leaving the country. They don’t lack for suitors. China is aggressively recruiting them, and the European Union has set aside a €500 million slush fund to do the same. National governments in Norway, Denmark, and France—nice places to live, all—have green-lighted spending sprees on disillusioned American scientists. The Max Planck Society, Germany’s elite research organization, recently launched a poaching campaign in the U.S., and last month, France’s Aix-Marseille University held a press conference announcing the arrival of eight American “science refugees.”

The MIT scientist who is thinking about leaving the U.S. told me that the Swiss scientific powerhouse ETH Zurich had already reached out about relocating her lab to its picturesque campus with a view of the Alps. A top Canadian university had also been in touch. These institutions are salivating over American talent, and so are others. Not since Sagdeev and other elite Soviet researchers were looking to get out of Moscow has there been a mass-recruiting opportunity like this.

All is not yet lost for American science. Lawmakers have already made clear that they do not intend to approve Trump’s full requested cuts at the NIH, NSF, and NASA. Those agencies will still have access to tens of billions of dollars in federal funds next year—and blue-state attorneys general have won back some of this year’s canceled grants in court. Research institutions still have some fight left in them; some are suing the administration for executive overreach. Universities in red states are hoping that their governors will soon summon the courage to take a stand on their behalf. “Politically speaking, it’s one thing to shut down research at Harvard,” Steven Shapin, a science historian at the school, told me. “It’s another thing to shut down the University of Arkansas.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...ne/683711/

[Angrboda]

[Angrboda]

President Donald Trump on Friday fired the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, hours after the agency reported that job growth in the U.S. had slowed to a near-halt.

In a Truth Social post that also directed even more fire at Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Trump accused BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer of being a political appointee who was manipulating jobs data.

“I was just informed that our Country’s “Jobs Numbers” are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s [Harris’] chances of Victory,” Trump wrote.

“We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified,” he added.

CNBC has reached out to the BLS for comment. NBC News confirmed that McEntarfer has been fired. The BLS operated under the Department of Labor, whose commissioner, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, is a Trump appointee.

The stunning demand came the same day that the BLS reported a gain of just 73,000 nonfarm jobs in July, below market expectations. In addition, the bureau revised the two previous months down sharply, cutting a combined 258,000 from the prior counts, putting the three-month growth rate at a paltry 35,000. It was the biggest two-month downward revision since April 2020, the early days of the Covid crisis.

Trump fires commissioner of labor statistics after weaker-than-expected jobs figures slam markets

[Nanny]

He is such a whiny bitch

[Thumpalumpacus]

He is such a whiny bitch

It's always Biden's fault -- except when it's Obama's fault. Or the Woke Left™. Or the ....

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

President Donald Trump on Friday fired the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, hours after the agency reported that job growth in the U.S. had slowed to a near-halt.

In a Truth Social post that also directed even more fire at Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Trump accused BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer of being a political appointee who was manipulating jobs data.

“I was just informed that our Country’s “Jobs Numbers” are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s [Harris’] chances of Victory,” Trump wrote.

“We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified,” he added.

CNBC has reached out to the BLS for comment. NBC News confirmed that McEntarfer has been fired. The BLS operated under the Department of Labor, whose commissioner, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, is a Trump appointee.

The stunning demand came the same day that the BLS reported a gain of just 73,000 nonfarm jobs in July, below market expectations. In addition, the bureau revised the two previous months down sharply, cutting a combined 258,000 from the prior counts, putting the three-month growth rate at a paltry 35,000. It was the biggest two-month downward revision since April 2020, the early days of the Covid crisis.

Trump fires commissioner of labor statistics after weaker-than-expected jobs figures slam markets

And of course firing people who bring bad news makes the bad news go away. Everybody knows this.

Boru

[Angrboda]

Trump fires commissioner of labor statistics after weaker-than-expected jobs figures slam markets

And of course firing people who bring bad news makes the bad news go away. Everybody knows this.

Boru

Of course. We learned this during the pandemic. Stop testing so much and the numbers get better. There's always a quick fix.