Ding Dong the puppet is gone

[Dauphin]

From now on we can call the waters off of Mar-a-Lago the Orange Sea.

[Provost Harrison]

The Falklands are "Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)" here in Germany, so I get a warm fuzzy feeling that the USA has joined a club of only the greatest.

See in my view that's just two different names in different languages. If I were to speak English I'd say Falklands, if I were to speak Spanish I'd say Las Malvinas. Same for London and Londres, New York and Nueva York or Los Angeles and Los Ángeles...for all the people getting their knickers in a twist about not calling their place by its native name (I mean, what the heck is having to call it Türkiye all of a sudden in English, I mean the ü is not a sound in English anyway and it's not like we've called it something offensive, just an anglicisation) but I consider having a separate name in their language a great honour, a sign that it is so culturally prominent and talked about it got its own name more comfortable to pronounce for that language (did you know Manchester is called Manceinion in Welsh?).

However the yanks unilaterally deciding to rename the Gulf of Mexico in a shared language? Oh that can do one, it makes my blood boil, especially as I have spent a significant amount of time in Mexico, have Mexican friends and have a soft spot for Mexico City, feels like a second home to me

[Provost Harrison]

From now on we can call the waters off of Mar-a-Lago the Orange Sea.

The Orange Seepage more like

[N35t0r]

See in my view that's just two different names in different languages. If I were to speak English I'd say Falklands, if I were to speak Spanish I'd say Las Malvinas. Same for London and Londres, New York and Nueva York or Los Angeles and Los Ángeles...for all the people getting their knickers in a twist about not calling their place by its native name (I mean, what the heck is having to call it Türkiye all of a sudden in English, I mean the ü is not a sound in English anyway and it's not like we've called it something offensive, just an anglicisation) but I consider having a separate name in their language a great honour, a sign that it is so culturally prominent and talked about it got its own name more comfortable to pronounce for that language (did you know Manchester is called Manceinion in Welsh?).

However the yanks unilaterally deciding to rename the Gulf of Mexico in a shared language? Oh that can do one, it makes my blood boil, especially as I have spent a significant amount of time in Mexico, have Mexican friends and have a soft spot for Mexico City, feels like a second home to me

Eeh, while you're partly correct, there's a bit of a history with that name difference

It also sounds really funny to me, because I don't have the USA = America association, so to me it just sounds weird (something like renaming the English Channel to the European Channel).

[Provost Harrison]

Eeh, while you're partly correct, there's a bit of a history with that name difference

It also sounds really funny to me, because I don't have the USA = America association, so to me it just sounds weird (something like renaming the English Channel to the European Channel).

There is history, but like any history it should be for learning and not for carrying grudges. I mean I think it is a given now that we all respect the Falkland's right to self determination. Same as for Greenland.

Yeah, that America association is so in-built due to it being their default in English. But like a lot about them, it's a pretty arrogant appropriation. It's not something I ever thought about until my adventures in Latin America 😁

[Geronimo]

I predict that before Trump's second term is done, at least one American citizen will be killed by ICE or some other part of DHS during the execution of his mass deportations.

But also, a lot of people died during his first term because of his actions, so it's not a stretch to predict people will die during his second term, too. Remember his woefully bad response to the pandemic? Remember the insurrection he incited?

I agree that things are rapidly shaping up for potentially large numbers of deaths from the actions of Trump in his second term. I do *not* agree that Trump had a woefully bad response to the pandemic. In contrast to his second term, Trump responded to covid-19 by unleashing floodgates of executive support to fast track an effective vaccine which he also publicly supported and endorsed. The vaccines were the best response by far to the pandemic. He also largely opposed the lock-downs and many studies have shown that overall morbidity and mortality appears to have at least slightly increased as a result of the lock-downs.

1st Term Trump seemed to respect science. 2nd term Trump seems to treat public funding of science as his enemy.

[N35t0r]

I agree that things are rapidly shaping up for potentially large numbers of deaths from the actions of Trump in his second term. I do *not* agree that Trump had a woefully bad response to the pandemic. In contrast to his second term, Trump responded to covid-19 by unleashing floodgates of executive support to fast track an effective vaccine which he also publicly supported and endorsed. The vaccines were the best response by far to the pandemic. He also largely opposed the lock-downs and many studies have shown that overall morbidity and mortality appears to have at least slightly increased as a result of the lock-downs.

1st Term Trump seemed to respect science. 2nd term Trump seems to treat public funding of science as his enemy.

That's a really wonderful world you seemed to have lived through. In the one I did, he was constantly downplaying COVID. Claiming it wasn't as deadly as the statistics said it was. Claiming it was just as bad as the common cold. Claiming that kids are barely affected. Claiming in mid-summer 2022 that it was already going away and that any surge in cases was only because testing had gone up. Claiming that most COVID deaths were actually something else. Claiming other, non-proven medicines like hydroxychloroquine. Constantly downplaying the effectiveness of, and discouraging the use of, masks. Even when he half-assedly told people to mask up and try to minimize contacts, he was constantly holding rallies, meetings and public gatherings over the then-recommended limits and often unmasked.

Even towards the vaccine, he spent the entirety of the pandemic belittling scientists and healthcare experts. He then didn't get vaccinated publicly (like many other top politicians at the time), and his overall support for vaccination was really really tepid.

As for lockdowns, here is a study that says that Sweden could have avoided 10% of the deaths it suffered if it had put in restrictions more in line with other European nations in the period between February and September 2020:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-45934-2

[Berzerker]

Fauci was in charge of policy, he told Washington and the propaganda machine to downplay Covid early '20 and later admitted he wanted to prevent a run on protective gear. Not only did Fauci dismiss masks but at the end of February Nancy Pelosi stood in a maskless crowd inviting the world to Chinatown.

[Geronimo]

That's a really wonderful world you seemed to have lived through. In the one I did, he was constantly downplaying COVID. Claiming it wasn't as deadly as the statistics said it was. Claiming it was just as bad as the common cold. Claiming that kids are barely affected. Claiming in mid-summer 2022 that it was already going away and that any surge in cases was only because testing had gone up. Claiming that most COVID deaths were actually something else. Claiming other, non-proven medicines like hydroxychloroquine. Constantly downplaying the effectiveness of, and discouraging the use of, masks. Even when he half-assedly told people to mask up and try to minimize contacts, he was constantly holding rallies, meetings and public gatherings over the then-recommended limits and often unmasked.

Even towards the vaccine, he spent the entirety of the pandemic belittling scientists and healthcare experts. He then didn't get vaccinated publicly (like many other top politicians at the time), and his overall support for vaccination was really really tepid.

As for lockdowns, here is a study that says that Sweden could have avoided 10% of the deaths it suffered if it had put in restrictions more in line with other European nations in the period between February and September 2020:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-45934-2

yes and in your world all of that made almost no difference. The biggest difference he might have made were his own rallies in which political allies of Trump like Herman Cain caught covid-19 and died of it. That real life lesson probably did more to drive home the danger than any amount of downplaying or whacky pseudoscience and ignorance. Rushing the vaccine was the only thing that mattered in hindsight. How was Trump tepid about rushing and fast tracking the vaccine?

Also, do you believe that the lockdowns saved lives? Studies don't seem to bear that out, and in any case under both Trump and Biden lockdowns were almost entirely decided locally and if Trump had used Biden's lock down talking points there's no reason to have expected much difference in lockdowns in the US.

[Broken_Erika]

US government tries to rehire nuclear staff it fired days ago

The US government is trying to rehire nuclear safety employees it had fired on Thursday, after concerns grew that their dismissal could jeopardise national security, US media reported.

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) workers were among hundreds of employees in the energy department who received termination letters.

The department is responsible for designing, building and overseeing the US nuclear weapons stockpile.

The terminations are part of a massive effort by President Donald Trump to slash the ranks of the federal workforce, a project he began on his first day in office, less than a month ago.

US media reported that more than 300 NNSA staff were let go, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.

That number was disputed by a spokesperson for the Department of Energy, who told CNN that "less than 50 people" were dismissed from NNSA.

The Thursday layoffs included staff stationed at facilities where weapons are built, according to CNN.

The Trump administration has since tried to reverse their terminations, according to media outlets, but has reportedly struggled to reach the people that were fired after they were locked out of their federal email accounts.
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c9vmzvz9ez0t

[Aeson]

Move fast and break things. What could go wrong?

[BeBMan]

Trump Tempo

[N35t0r]

Fauci was in charge of policy, he told Washington and the propaganda machine to downplay Covid early '20 and later admitted he wanted to prevent a run on protective gear. Not only did Fauci dismiss masks but at the end of February Nancy Pelosi stood in a maskless crowd inviting the world to Chinatown.

Right. Once mask production was up, and the TB-based model for airborne transmission was proven to not apply to COVID (to the surprise of a lot of people), masking became a big priority for the scientific community.
Funny how that works, huh? Evidence-based.

Compared to Trump, who downplayed the severity and masks for the entirety of the pandemic.

What about what Pelosi did in ****ing February? In February Trump was saying that the epidemic would be gone by April.

[Geronimo]

Right. Once mask production was up, and the TB-based model for airborne transmission was proven to not apply to COVID (to the surprise of a lot of people), masking became a big priority for the scientific community.
Funny how that works, huh? Evidence-based.

Compared to Trump, who downplayed the severity and masks for the entirety of the pandemic.

What about what Pelosi did in ****ing February? In February Trump was saying that the epidemic would be gone by April.

Only N-95 masks (or better) had much impact. Even when evidence suggested those would help, Fauci downplayed it to try to protect the supply for hand picked workers. That policy was "evidence-based" in motive but not in message. That message would be what we might call "dishonesty-based. The problem wasn't that Fauci wasn't motivated by evidence. The problem was that he thought lying to the public to get a short term behavior he wanted would be a good tactical decision in the face of the pandemic. I suppose he thought he could reassure everybody later, "Oh certainly we lied earlier to protect the mask supply. I'm happy to reassure you all that we've stopped lying and you can trust us again now."

[Broken_Erika]

Trump administration trying to rehire USDA bird flu officials it fired

US President Donald Trump's administration is attempting to rehire officials with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) who worked on the government response to bird flu before being fired over the weekend, US media report.
The layoffs were a part of a cost-cutting mission across the US government by Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) leader Elon Musk.
The terminations came as the latest outbreak of the bird flu has wreaked havoc on poultry and cattle farms, causing egg prices to skyrocket and raising concerns among public health experts.
A USDA spokesperson told the BBC that although "several" officials working on bird flu were "notified of their terminations" over the weekend, "we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters".

"USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service frontline positions are considered public safety positions, and we are continuing to hire the workforce necessary to ensure the safety and adequate supply of food to fulfil our statutory mission," the spokesperson added.
Bird flu has circulated among American poultry flocks for years, but the virus found a new foothold in the US last year when it began to infect dairy cows.
Since then, dozens of humans in close contact with the animals have been infected as well, including a Louisiana patient who was the first to die from the virus in the US last month.
At the same time, the outbreak has worsened on poultry farms, forcing farmers to cull their chickens, leading to egg shortages and high prices.
Earlier this week, the US reached an agreement to buy 15,000 tonnes of liquid egg from Turkey to help plug the shortage, a Turkish trade official told the BBC.
Ibrahim Afyon, the president of the Egg Producers Central Union in Turkey, said the egg products would be sent to the US in two batches by the end of June.

• What is Doge and why is Musk cutting so many jobs?

Trump launched his mass cost-cutting programme in an effort to weed out what he sees as taxpayers' money being wasted. Polling suggests cutting government spending has widespread support.
But the USDA firings are not the first time the administration has attempted to rehire federal employees within days of laying them off.
After firing officials with the National Nuclear Security Administration last week, US media reported that the government was trying to reinstate some of those employees, but was struggling to get in contact with them.
The layoffs were in addition to an estimated 75,000 workers who have accepted buyout offers from the White House to leave voluntarily.
Several Democratic states have filed lawsuits attempting to block some of these mass government layoffs as well as the newly formed Doge's access to sensitive data.
But in a victory for Trump and Musk, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected one of these requests on Tuesday, arguing Democratic states had failed to link Trump's layoffs to "imminent harm" in their states.
Trump and Musk appeared on Fox News on Tuesday night to defend the mass cuts they are making across the government, with Musk claiming Doge is just trying to "restore the will of the people through the president".
"What we're finding is that there's an unelected bureaucracy," he said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjev24184vjo

[Geronimo]

Doge had only one job...

[Aeson]

Future headlines:

Trump administration trying to bring back illegal immigrants to pick/pack our food.

Trump administration trying to boost imports as shelves are empty.

Trump administration trying to find gullible buyer to bail out Trump Gaza Casino.

No one could have foreseen any of this.