And the acting head of the CFPB also ordered all workers to stop doing anything and not to bother coming into work.

The CFPB is one of those organizations that most businesses wants to halt progress on. This is very helpful for the industry I work in, honestly, but it's foolhardy to believe the CFPB shouldn't be doing something, even if you have a good-faith belief that it oversteps its authority here and there. To just shutter a consumer protection agency is terrible for consumers. But I'm sure our trade association will be rejoicing on next week's call...

I've no clue what this is but seems like the kind of act that is put in place specifically for people like Trump

I hope these morons die a slow, painful, public death while onlookers laugh and their family members weep inconsolably, and at the last second they realize there is no god and they've wasted their pathetic lives.

Otherwise, America, fuck yeah!

Just a moment...

Oh, I get it - Greenland! Har-dee-fucking-har-har!

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the state food of the newly minted Red, White and Blueland.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-...ouse-bill/1161

Little slow to the draw there, BYU ;)

I guess one of the young DOGE/Thiel boys ran an image sharing site that specialized in child porn.

Also holy shit this dude is so yoinked up on ketamine.

The dumbest people fell for it. What a shock.

Musk Just Scored More Government Cash While Pushing Education Cuts

Elon complaining about unelected bureaucrats having more power than elected representatives while currently wielding more power than any elected representative is amazing.

Also, could Trump have possibly looked weaker today? Elon standing behind the resolute desk speaking to reporters while Trump sits there like his minion waiting for orders.

The right used to lose their mind if someone was in the oval office not wearing a suit and tie.

New EO basically puts Elon in charge of staffing the entire government.

Apparently the AP has been banned from Oval Office press conferences because it refuses to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Someone posted that they got banned because they wouldn't use the Gulf's preferred pronouns. Ha!

Hindustan Times with the hard hitting stories:

Donald Trump turns away in disgust as Elon Musk's son picks his nose: Watch - Hindustan Times

I never thought I'd see the day when Mitch McConnell would be the only GOP voting with dems on anything, let alone a confirmation but that's where we're at. Tulsi confirmed 52-48.

It's crazy how insignificant he's become.

Wake me up when someone fit for the job for which they've been nominated is, uh, nominated. What a joke this has become.

Here in KY, there have been some recent developments about the next Senate race. Andy Barr, a Rep from Lexington, is throwing his hat into the race "if Mitch doesn't run." It's expected Daniel Cameron will also run. And I'll be shocked if perpetual morons Comer and Massie don't also take their shot. Some Dem has announced already as well.

I know the GOPers have to be mostly deferential to Mitch, but his continuing to take positions out of lock(goose)-step with the rest of the GOP almost certainly means he's finished. Barr would be the best of a sorry lot if a GOPer is going to replace him. But it's KY, so he's still a big Trump supporter. He does strike me as a more normal (and serious) guy who, if Trump hadn't taken over the party, would be a more level-headed centrist. But that's not gonna win anyone over in 2025.

Kentucky seems like an odd state from the outside. It really should be a purple stare that leans moderate either way, based on the national political temperature but continues to vote strongly red. Center left policies seem to be popular and play well there, they just don't vote that way.

I'm from Iowa the home of Chuck Grassley. I thought back in 2016 with his experience he should have worked to shut Trump down and was disappointed that he did not. Be it CIA bad, FBI bad, McCain bad, etc. etc. we got almost nothing. I think he floated a couple of "trial balloons" and saw where the wind was taking them, and he caved. Turns out he wanted to keep his job and power( how much do you really have when having to tow the Trump line?). He was right to keep quiet if keeping the job was the goal.

Grassley should have put country first, but he didn't. He's respected by the GOP, Mitch is not. To be clear I don't think Mitch ever put the country ahead of the party, but he finally got tired of choking on Trump's cock and tried to make a stand. Not for the country but to try regain his power in the party. He failed, pretty much the same as anyone that didn't bend the knee.

Even Mary Shelley would be surprised.

It's a holdover of the old south, but was also a free state, it just sympathized with the south during the civil war. Slaves could still be captured and repatriated even though it was not officially a slave state. Further, it's under heavy influence from appalacia in the east. Those areas are well known to be anti-government with a libertarian bent of leave me alone and I don't trust anyone. However, they are some of the most stringently conservative people around too. The bible belt rips through the southern part of the state, and the state is mostly rural and white. Being a poorer state, it was always pretty reliant on the dems to bring money into it, and they ran the state for a pretty considerable amount of time, but the southern culture wars of the past 30 years have helped push the other groups to right.

The state's most reliably dem areas are in Louisville, the largest city, which also has the largest black population. The state's history from the civil war can be seen in the impact it has on Cincinnati. The city was a free city, and safe for slaves, but you still see some of the more notorious white supremacists come from this area as well. The kid who ran over the crowd in Charlottesville was from here. We just made national news with a small pro nazi demonstration on an overpass. The undertones are all over the region.



In the end though, they don't like to be told what to do, don't want to help anyone unless it's through the church, totally don't realize they live in a 'commonwealth', and are heavily influenced by religion.



They like the national attention they get from their crazy reps, and it makes them feel pretty important nationally, and you know, after being ignored most of the time, you can see why they would hold onto them.



However, they have had times where they will break with the Rs if they threaten things that are more libertarian, and will kick out people who embarrass them ( hard to do, I know), but more and more, it's full of self righteous people who don't want to give away what little they have to support anything that seems immoral or against God. They refuse to see successful people as anything other than good and those who have their own best interests at heart, because they worked hard and were successful, and that's how they see themselves. Not as getting handouts and help.

Really focused on the important things

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025...y-center-board

Ben Folds resigned as artistic advisor in protest, good for him

Turning the Kenndy Center for the Performing Arts into something political is Nazi Germany shit. But hey, that's what MAGA obviously wants.

The House budget bill looks like it would cut Medicaid by 10-15% and SNAP by 25%.

SNAP is a bug handout to farmers, who continue to get fucked over by the man they voted for.

It should be noted that none of this is being done to reduce the deficit. It's to give billionaires tax breaks. DOGE, budget cuts, and everything else they're trying to claw back is to pay for 4.5 trillion in tax cuts for the rich.

How long until we find out that Mayor Adams gave the okay for Trump to pull 80 mil out of a private NYC bank account? He's barely made a peep about it.

That's generous from Trumpy, but I really don't think red-white-and-blueland is interested in acquiring Greenland. Maybe Luxemburg is, but I don't think we are.

lol here come the bailouts

https://newrepublic.com/post/191477/...nment-contract

We're going to end up with Cybertrucks delivering mail or some shit.

So we're moving from "why should we spend taxpayer money on humanitarian aid, we have Americans struggling here" to "let's give that same money to private equity to invest abroad" https://t.co/L5I97LUV5s pic.twitter.com/XA58lgkzuW

— Almaqah (@_Almaqah) February 12, 2025

Totally didn't see that coming!

Robin (the) Hood

The Trump administration is going to petition SCOTUS to end Humphrey's, which protects employees of independent agencies from political retribution.

Meanwhile, Fetterman has gone full Sinema and is cheering the Trump admin on and Jeffries and Schumer are acting like it's business as usual.

Hegseth sure does like to talk about how strong the Russians are.

By the end of Trump's reign, the USA will have 0 allies left. We're less than a month in, and global relations with so many countries have already been damaged.

Not true. Russia will be an excellent ally.

Israel will still be an ally of sorts which is the only country either party really cares about.

The resignation letter of the attorney in the Adams case is something. She says the attorney for Adams offered the government immigration enforcement for dropping the charges and also demanded that nobody take notes. Very The Wire.

edit: Up to six resignations now in the Public Integrity unit.

dola

Trump's MAHA EO says they will:


RFK is coming for mental health meds.

The law and order party!

It's heartwarming to see this bi-partisanship corruption.

When only idiots reproduce

Anyone Can Push Updates to the DOGE.gov Website

Striking quote from that article, DOGE can get access to anything they want, but nobody can see what they are up to? Sounds fair...........ly corrupt.

"Employees working for the agency now known as DOGE have been ordered to stop using Slack while government lawyers attempt to transition the agency to one that is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, 404 Media has learned."

There was a time when this would have mattered.

This years Kennedy Center Honors Recipients are Music: Kid Rock and Squidward, Acting: Scott Baio and Barney the Dinosaur (but that's only because he meant to choose Barney Rubble)
For art: himself for his ketchup stained wall

Good article on tariffs, easy read but thought provoking.

It goes beyond the typical "tariffs are bad, consumers get hurt" and provides a lot of context re: other countries doing it, how reciprocal tariffs may break from WTO rules, how difficult it would be to calculate, exceptions to the rules etc.

The article says its not clear if Trump is talking about country average tariffs (see graphic in article) and/or individual tariffs like on milk, cars etc. which would be very hard to calculate.

Is Trump right when he says the US faces unfair trade?

My stance on tariffs is we should be strategic & selective on tariffs to help protect emerging, incubating industries & technologies, and national security.

Trump is not selective with reciprocal tariffs; but yet to see how strategic he is in using the threats of tariffs to secure more favorable terms. So far, some countries are moving towards accommodating him, but on the other hand, we are unnecessarily pissing off other close allies like Canada and UK.

The chart in the BBC article shows that India has pretty high tariffs. Searched on what we import & export from India.

What we import from India

403 Forbidden

1) Electrical, electronic equipment $14.4B
2) Pharmaceutical products $12.73B
3) Pearls, precious stones, metals, coins $11.88B

I can see #2, but never would have thought #1 or #3.

What India imports from US, below makes sense.

GoDaddy Security - Access Denied

1) Aircraft & Aerospace equipment $8.5B
2) Medical equipment & Pharmaceuticals $5.7B
3) Defense and security equipment $4.3B
4) Oil and Petroleum products $3.8B

Much how Trump is a dumb person's idea of a rich person, tariffs are a dumb person's trade war.

Been reading how the layoffs are gutting the National Park Service, which will likely lead to a decline in services at national parks, which will likely lead to them being opened up to private control.

The National Park Service, brought to you by Carl's Jr.

I love that we have Elon meeting with world leaders and the Trump administration has no idea why or in what capacity.