Members phkrause Posted February 10 Author Members Posted February 10 In the Arctic, the major climate threat of black carbon is overshadowed by geopolitical tensions As rising global temperatures speed up the melting of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, it’s set off a boom of ships taking routes that previously were frozen and not traversable. The increase in marine Arctic traffic, which received increased attention as President Donald Trump pushed for the United States to take over Greenland, has come with a heavy environmental cost: black carbon, or soot, that spews from ships and makes the ice melt even faster. Read more. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Canada and France open consulates in Greenland following tensions over US push for control Apps to boycott US goods gained traction in crisis over Greenland As global warming melts glaciers, a novel sanctuary in Antarctica is opening to preserve ice samples Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 10 Author Members Posted February 10 🌐 Epstein rocks Europe Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty Images Fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal is sweeping Europe — while in the U.S., many powerful people have skated, Axios' Avery Lotz reports. 🇬🇧 U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's director of communications and chief of staff departed amid a firestorm over Peter Mandelson, who was dismissed as U.K. ambassador to the U.S. due to his Epstein links. Starmer is now fighting for his political life, despite never having met Epstein himself. British police are also assessing claims that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (formerly Prince Andrew) emailed confidential trade visit reports to Epstein. 🇳🇴 In Norway, a former prime minister is under investigation, an ambassador resigned and the crown princess has apologized for her friendship with Epstein. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer speaks to reporters today. Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images 🏛️ In Washington today, Ghislaine Maxwell declined to answer questions during a closed-door, virtual deposition with the House Oversight Committee as part of its probe into Epstein, Axios' Kate Santaliz reports. Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) told reporters afterward: "Unfortunately, she had an opportunity today to answer questions that every American has — questions that would be very important in this investigation — and she chose to invoke her Fifth Amendment." Maxwell was sentenced to prison in 2022 after a federal jury found her guilty of helping Epstein traffic teenage girls. She has denied abusing anyone and says she was scapegoated after Epstein died in prison in 2019. Prosecutors denied that. 🔍 What's next: Members of Congress can access millions of uncensored Epstein records starting today. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), on X: "We will not rest until the Epstein class is brought to justice." Go deeper. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 10 Author Members Posted February 10 E Pluribus Unum (Kevin Mazur / Getty) View in browser Last night, during Super Bowl halftime, I watched a mustachioed entertainer put on a show that celebrated working-class values, the pleasures of a good party, and the virtues of marriage, with a side serving of grievance against elites. This wasn’t Bad Bunny’s performance—it was the alternative performance put on by Turning Point USA, led by Kid Rock. Despite the best efforts of the organizers to stoke controversy, I couldn’t help but notice how much overlap there was between its message and the one the Puerto Rican superstar delivered in Santa Clara. As my colleague Spencer Kornhaber writes, Bad Bunny’s show was unifying rather than divisive, but it did have a political message: that working hard, playing hard, and loving America aren’t values that belong to any political group or linguistic heritage. Although Turning Point’s show was intended to offer a radical contrast, the many thematic convergences only strengthened that argument. Above all, the Turning Point show was boring and dour. It kicked off with a distorted-electric-guitar rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” a Jimi Hendrix pastiche shorn of all the irony and pathos of the famous version at Woodstock. Brantley Gilbert played “Real American,” a bland piece of nu-metal/country patriotic kitsch, and “Dirt Road Anthem,” a paean to drunk driving. Gabby Barrett, a former American Idol third-place winner, sang a kiss-off to a cheater and then a love song to “one of the good ones.” More overtly political, at least in theory, was Lee Brice’s “Drinking Class.” “I’m a member of a blue-collar crowd / They can never, no, they can’t keep us down,” he sang. “Monday through Friday, man, we bust our backs.” This is a common sentiment in contemporary country music, but it is not, despite what Brice might believe, unique to white conservatives. The New York Times wrote that Bad Bunny “was summoning a Latin heritage across generations, one that recognized hard work—cane-cutting, electric-grid repairs—alongside the good times workers sweated to earn.” These kinds of echoes were all over the two shows. Kid Rock extolled marriage, singing, “You can always put a diamond on her hand / ’til you can’t,” and Charlie Kirk, the assassinated founder of Turning Point, was heard encouraging marriage in an old audio clip; Bad Bunny hosted an actual wedding during his performance. Both shows used “real” instruments as signifiers of authenticity—workmanlike performances on guitars and drum kits for the Turning Point set (except from Kid Rock, who appeared to be lip-synching his 1999 hit “Bawitdaba”); a brass salsa band and the characteristic Puerto Rican cuatro during Bad Bunny’s. “We fly that red, white, blue, high, waving all across the land,” Gilbert sang. Bad Bunny flew that red, white, and blue too, along with flags from Puerto Rico and other countries in North and South America, declaring, “God bless America.” The fact that the patriotism he displayed was more complicated and nuanced that Gilbert’s does not make it any less genuine. Bad Bunny even danced on top of a pickup truck, a visual that would have worked perfectly for any of the Turning Point performers if they hadn’t been playing on a darkened, austere soundstage. Each show also had its complaints about mistreatment by elites, but not all grievances are equally legitimate. During “El Apagón,” Bad Bunny performed atop imitation power poles topped with sparking transformers—a symbol of Puerto Rico’s fragile power grid, and of the political corruption and imperial neglect that let it get that way. But whereas the Jumbotron behind Bad Bunny at Levi’s Stadium declared “The only thing more powerful than hate is love,” Brice delivered swipes at liberals and trans people in a new song called “Country Nowadays,” which nevertheless complained that “because I have my morals and my small-town point of view / You assume that you don’t like me means that I don’t like you too.” Could that be because of your lyrics? This unearned sense of grievance is what animated the backlash to Bad Bunny’s performance and inspired Turning Point’s alternative show. Right-wing pundits charged that Bad Bunny’s message would be divisive (it wasn’t) or that he was an immigrant (he’s not). President Trump ranted about the show on Truth Social, writing that it was “absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER! It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America,” adding that “Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting.” Laura Loomer was more straightforward in her condemnation: “This isn’t White enough for me,” she posted on X. If the people participating in the Bad Bunny backlash slowed down and looked a little closer, they might find that they actually have a great many values in common with him. (Well, maybe not Loomer. Some Bad Bunny critics are just bigoted.) This might provide the grounds for just the sort of understanding and reconciliation that Brice claims to want. Other Americans will notice, however, how familiar and relatable Bad Bunny’s ethos was, even if they couldn’t understand his Spanish-language lyrics. Almost as important as the message of Bad Bunny’s show was the exuberance with which he conveyed it: Living these American values could be joyful, he suggested. It was, as Spencer wrote, a performance “rooted in the good old-fashioned pleasure principle.” Meanwhile, the Turning Point musicians sang about having a good time, but they didn’t appear to be having a good time. If right-wing leaders wonder why MAGA has struggled to overtake the country’s cultural establishment, they might start with the very different ways the two shows framed shared values. Related: Trump’s golden age of culture seems pretty sad so far. How Bad Bunny did it Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 10 Author Members Posted February 10 🍁 Trump's Canada threat Via Truth Social President Trump threatened to block the opening of a new Canadian-built bridge across the Detroit River yesterday, demanding that Canada turn over at least half of the ownership of the bridge and agree to other unspecified demands. Trump accused Prime Minister Mark Carney of pursuing a trade deal with China. In a 296-word Truth Social post, Trump says: "Canada has treated the United States very unfairly for decades" and that China would "terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada." The Gordie Howe International Bridge cost $6.4 billion — "entirely funded by Canada's government, but the bridge is under the public joint ownership of Canada and the state of Michigan," the CBC writes. Go deeper. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 11 Author Members Posted February 11 Republican Rebel Calls Out Keystone Kash Over Epstein Files Bombshell Thomas Massie says unredacted documents show evidence of other sex traffickers after Patel told Congress there was none. Republican Rep. Thomas Massie has called out FBI Director Kash Patel after newly released Justice Department documents called his testimony on Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking conspiracy into question. “Kash Patel testified to Congress that FBI had no evidence of other sex traffickers,” Massie wrote in an X post late Monday night. “This is FBI’s own 2019 document listing [Leslie] Wexner as coconspirator in child sex trafficking.” Wexner’s name had initially been redacted in the document but was unredacted after Massie publicly questioned the decision to keep the identity of the “well known retired CEO” under wraps. It is unclear if Patel, dubbed ‘Keystone Kash’ after the cops of silent movie fame for his bungled handling of several high-profile investigations, knew of that particular document’s existence when he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 16. “There is no credible information, none, if there were I would bring the case yesterday, that he trafficked to other individuals, and the information we have, again, is limited,” Patel said at that time. Wexner, the billionaire founder of L Brands, which owns Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works, was allegedly one of Epstein’s most powerful patrons and financial benefactors. He denies enabling Epstein by giving him money, access, and legitimacy over the course of their decades-long friendship. He has also denied allegations that he turned a blind eye or failed to act on Epstein’s sexual abuse of children and young women. Massie also questioned the Justice Department’s rationale for redacting Wexner’s name and then acting “as if they were justified in redacting” it “because the document contains victim names.” “Tonight they learned you can redact victim names while still publishing the other names, per our law,” he quipped on X. He also addressed an email from the Epstein Files, widely circulated on social media, in which the disgraced financier said he “loved the torture video” he’d been sent by a redacted sender. Information contained elsewhere in the files since appears to have identified that person as Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the Emirati businessman and CEO of global ports company DP World. “Our law requires VICTIM’s information to be redacted, not information of men who sent Epstein torture porn!” Massie wrote. The Kentucky congressman, along with his Democratic counterpart Ro Khanna and Republican former colleague Marjorie Taylor Greene, spearheaded efforts last year to force the Donald Trump administration to release millions of Justice Department files on Epstein’s crimes. Trump, himself once a close friend of Epstein’s, resisted that pressure until November, when he finally signed a bipartisan law requiring full release of those documents by a Dec. 19 deadline, subject only to redactions for the sake of protecting victims’ identities. The DoJ mustered only a limited release by that date, and has yet to provide a similarly mandated rationale for its redactions, which critics say have in many cases been made to protect the disgraced financier’s associates rather than survivors of his crimes. As of Jan. 31, the department has now published three million documents, accounting for roughly half of the estimated materials in its possession. Officials say the remaining files remain subject to review and that they have no plans to release more at this time. Massie has since gone on the offensive over both the legal justifications for withholding that information and the basis of redactions made to the files that have already been made public. He and Khanna met with DoJ officials on Monday, when they were granted access to view unredacted versions of key files in a secure reading room. They now claim to have identified at least six men whose names had been removed from public copies of those documents despite being “likely incriminated” by their contents. The Daily Beast has contacted the FBI, along with Wexner’s and bin Sulayem’s representatives for comment on this story. “The Assistant U.S. Attorney told Mr. Wexner’s legal counsel in 2019 that Mr. Wexner was neither a co-conspirator nor target in any respect,” a legal representative for the billionaire said. “Mr. Wexner cooperated fully by providing background information on Epstein and was never contacted again.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/republican-rep-thomas-massie-calls-out-kash-patel-over-jeffrey-epstein-files-bombshell/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 11 Author Members Posted February 11 Trump Faces Humiliating Defeat as Republicans Break With Him in Key Vote House Republicans could be poised to finally rein in Trump on at least one major issue. Moderate House Republicans worried about this year’s midterm elections appear ready to finally break with President Donald Trump over his signature economic policy. In a bid to protect Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson has repeatedly introduced procedural rules banning members from bringing up resolutions challenging the president’s crushing tariffs on products from dozens of U.S. trading partners. On Tuesday, Johnson planned to ask the House to extend the ban through August. But this time, key Republicans signaled they would likely vote against the measure, Punchbowl reported. “American consumers pay the tariffs and thus it is a big tax,” Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska told the outlet. “I support giving these authorities back to Congress.” Rep. Kevin Kiley of California also told Punchbowl that he had “made it clear” he was not in favor of extending the blockade. With full attendance, two Republican defectors would be enough to sink Johnson’s proposed extension, opening the door to a flood of Democratic resolutions challenging the increasingly unpopular tariffs. The vote is likely to be close, as some Republicans are still holding out hope the Supreme Court will strike down the tariffs, easing voters’ concerns while sparing them a confrontation with the president, according to Punchbowl. The duties are a form of import tax paid by American companies, which must either eat the additional costs or pass them along to consumers. Trump has repeatedly claimed the bulk of the costs fall on foreign producers and middlemen, when in fact Americans “pay one way or the other—via higher prices or less choice,” the opinion editors of the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal wrote last week. Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro acknowledged in December that U.S. manufacturing was down thanks to the tariffs, which have also contributed to higher prices and led to intense trade volatility. Tariffs were also at the center of an international scandal last month after the president threatened to impose duties on products from countries that opposed his efforts to seize Greenland, an autonomous region of a fellow NATO country, Denmark. He ultimately dropped the threat after NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte talked him down during a meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. If Johnson’s procedural vote fails, Democrats are likely to force votes as early as this week on resolutions to overturn Trump’s tariffs on products from Mexico and Canada, followed by resolutions aimed at tariffs on Brazilian products and products from other global trade partners. The Canada vote in particular would be a difficult one for Republicans and would require the White House’s intervention, Johnson told Puck. While Trump could ultimately veto any resolution reining in his trade wars, a rebuke from Congress would nevertheless be politically damaging. The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-faces-humiliating-defeat-as-republicans-break-with-him-in-key-vote/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 11 Author Members Posted February 11 Manic Trump, 79, Turbocharges His Unhinged Hockey Warnings to Canada The president warns Canadians that their national sport is at stake if they do a trade deal with China. President Donald Trump has returned to one of his more head-scratching threats in a screed against Canada. Posting on Truth Social on Monday, the 79-year-old president went on an unhinged rant about the building of the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. He thinks the project is unfair because “they own both the Canada and the United States side,” and apparently didn’t use any U.S. materials during construction (which officials north of the border say isn’t true.) He is threatening to halt the project, save for restitution for the U.S. “I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them,” he demanded. “It’s just insane, when I read that post I can’t believe what I’m reading, but it’s par for the course,” Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens responded. Weaved into the 300-word missive was the latest instance of a bizarre threat to Canada, based on its growing economic ties with China. The relationship has grown stronger since Trump began his trade war with Canada. “Now, on top of everything else, Prime Minister Carney wants to make a deal with China — which will eat Canada alive," Trump said. In January, Canada negotiated an agreement to lower tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in return for lower import taxes on Canadian farm products. Trump then made the threat about Canada’s national sport. “We’ll just get the leftovers! I don’t think so. The first thing China will do is terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate The Stanley Cup,” he wrote. There is, of course, no threat to hockey. Trump is trying to paint increased international trade with China, Canada’s second biggest trading partner after the U.S., as an existential threat to Canadian culture itself, using hockey as a vehicle. He’s done it before, too. He spoke about the subject at the premiere of a vanity documentary about his wife, Melania, last month. A reporter asked what he thought about the U.K. teaming up with China. He quickly pivoted to Canada and ice hockey. “I know China very well, President Xi is a friend of mine, I know him very well…The first thing they’re going to do is say you are not allowed to play ice hockey anymore. That’s not good. Canada’s not going to like that,” he said. In January, as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hashed out a deal with Xi Jinping and his team, Trump once again brought up the topic. “China is successfully and completely taking over the once Great Country of Canada. So sad to see it happen,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. He added, “I only hope they leave Ice Hockey alone! President DJT.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/manic-trump-79-turbocharges-his-unhinged-hockey-warnings-to-canada/? ps:???????????????????? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 11 Author Members Posted February 11 I Know Why Spineless MAGA Bows to Trump: Rep A Florida Democrat spilled the beans on what he’s hearing from his Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill. A young Democratic lawmaker thinks his Republican colleagues are suffering from a lack of courage.Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost, 29, laid into Republican lawmakers as the midterm elections loom large over their tenuous majority in Congress—all while they try to keep both their constituents and President Donald Trump happy. “What are you hearing from your Republican colleagues in Congress, some of whom are just as appalled about what’s going on as you are, but are either terrified of being primaried or being singled out by Donald Trump? What did they say to you behind closed doors when no one is listening?” The Daily Beast Podcast host Joanna Coles asked. “I’m not sure any of them are as appalled as I am, but let’s say some that are appalled or not feeling good, they just have no courage. They have no backbone to stand up to this president. And that’s why they haven’t in the last year,” Frost said. But Frost acknowledged that more and more Republicans have begun to break from the Trump administration on a variety of issues. Over the past year, Trump has made enemies out of a handful of Republicans who have crossed him by voting against his controversial policies and calling for the release of the Epstein files, including Rep. Thomas Massie and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. More and more Republicans are slowly speaking out. After Trump posted a video depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as gorillas, Republican lawmakers fell in line to condemn the blatant racism, including Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, and Ohio Rep. Mark Turner. “Now, we’re starting to see cracks, right?” Frost said. “More and more of them are deciding to do something about it, but little by little, we see people stepping up.” “But it is really a question of courage and whether or not they say, ‘I don’t care what this president does. I don’t care if I put my own reelection at risk. I’m going to stand up for this country because right now we have a dictator and a regime that is seeking to completely destroy democracy to enrich billionaires and enrich people like him’,” he continued. When reached for comment on Frost’s remarks, the White House responded with an attack on The Daily Beast Podcast, which regularly draws in hundreds of thousands of views. “Anything said on the Daily Beast podcast is equivalent to screaming into the void. No one listens to this Trump Derangement Syndrome therapy session,” spokesperson Abigail Jackson said. The latest episode of The Daily Beast Podcast has received over 210,000 views on YouTube alone. Tensions between Trump and Republican lawmakers have also been brewing behind the scenes. Officials and White House insiders told The Washington Post that the 79-year-old president sometimes appears detached and noncommittal when asked about his plans for midterms spending and endorsements, with one source saying Trump outright does not seem to care on some days. But other sources who were at an Oval Office meeting with Trump last week told the outlet that he wants to defy the trend of the sitting president’s party losing seats in the midterms. “We’ll spend whatever it takes,” one person recalled Trump saying. “Go get it done.” White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles announced last month that Trump would go on a domestic traveling blitz to address voters’ concerns about the cost of living and rally support for the GOP ahead of the midterms. Frost, meanwhile, expressed confidence in Democrats’ ability to win in the midterms, citing strong pushback to the Trump administration’s hardline immigration operations in Minnesota. “We do have the ability to win,” he said. “I just hope people know that there are things we can do to push back.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/i-know-why-spineless-maga-bow-to-trump-rep/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 11 Author Members Posted February 11 American Optimism Crashes to All-Time Low Under Trump The mood has sunk lower than during the pandemic. American optimism about the future has sunk to its lowest point in nearly two decades under President Trump, according to damning new polling. The findings come from Gallup’s National Health and Well-Being Index, which has tracked public sentiment since 2008. It charts a broad retreat in expectations about life five years from now. Roughly six in ten Americans now say they anticipate having a “high-quality life” in the future, a level Gallup reports is about nine percentage points lower than at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. “I think that’s disconcerting, and says a lot about the mood of the American public today,” said Dan Witters, research director for the index. Gallup Gallup found overall optimism fell by 3.5 percentage points since 2024. Hispanic adults saw the sharpest decline, dropping from about 69 percent to roughly 63 percent. The findings are based on four quarterly surveys conducted throughout 2025, involving 22,125 respondents. The poll asked adults to rate their current lives and their expected lives in five years on a scale of one to 10. Over the past year, about 62 percent rated their present lives at seven or higher, while roughly 59 percent said their future lives would reach an eight or above. Both measures have slid amid years marked by a pandemic, affordability pressures, turbulent national politics, and global conflict. While respondents were not asked to explain their answers, Witters said the downturn began as high inflation strained household budgets in 2021 and 2022. “Even as the pandemic was kind of receding, those affordability issues… had a lot to do with it,” he said. The slide has continued following Trump’s return to office. Democrats reported a 7.6 percentage-point drop in expectations for their future lives since 2024, while independents fell by 1.5 points. Republicans, by contrast, saw a modest increase of 0.9 points. Such partisan swings are common after a change in the White House, Witters noted. But unlike 2021, when shifts largely canceled each other out after Joe Biden’s election, the gaps in 2025 did not. Black and Hispanic adults recorded some of the largest declines in recent years, a pattern Witters said suggests minority groups have borne the brunt of lingering affordability problems. He added that the particularly steep drop among Hispanic adults, alongside the widening partisan divide, could point to the impact of Trump administration policies. Latino voters moved away from Republicans in recent special elections, a shift Democrats have framed as backlash against the administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement campaign. Nearly two dozen Trump voters shared their assessments of the president with Reuters. The interviews were ostensibly meant to detail what they want the 79-year-old to accomplish in 2026, with the November midterms approaching. But a hefty chunk of the 20 respondents detailed what they think Trump could do better. A main concern was Trump’s take on immigration reform, which respondents thought he could carry out in a more discerning manner. They also demanded more of a focus on domestic issues. Fourteen said they were disappointed by his rhetoric about annexing foreign countries, such as Venezuela and Greenland, a territory of NATO ally Denmark. His tendency to “inflame divisions through social media posts” also irked some of his voters. Steve Egan, 65, a promotional product distributor in Tampa, Florida, said he could do the unthinkable and switch parties if things don’t change. “When Trump’s out of office, I’m sorry, I can’t vote Democratic generally, but if there’s a Democrat that talks more sense than Trump’s doing, then I’ll probably vote for him,” said Egan. https://www.thedailybeast.com/american-optimism-crashes-to-all-time-low-under-trump/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 11 Author Members Posted February 11 Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick acknowledges meetings with Epstein that contradict previous claims WASHINGTON (AP) — Under questioning from Democrats on Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick acknowledged that he had met with Jeffrey Epstein twice after the late financier’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a child, reversing Lutnick’s previous claim that he had cut ties with him after 2005. https://apnews.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-files-howard-lutnick-2ead9f281ba2491e0581aced50a0533d? ps:Just like his boss deny, deny, deny and than when they find you're lying than say, oh yeah I know him!!!!! RELATED COVERAGE ➤ US to expand passport revocations for parents who owe child support, AP sources say Trump administration takes down a rainbow flag at the Stonewall National Monument Annual governors gathering with White House unraveling after Trump excludes Democrats Trump administration’s changes to the CFPB cost Americans $19B, a new report says Live updates: Trump’s immigration chiefs defend operations before Congress Trump set to gut U.S. climate change policy and environmental regulations: White House official Malinowski concedes to Mejia in Democratic US House special primary in New Jersey Susan Collins announces reelection bid in pivotal Maine Senate race In Connecticut, opposition to Iroquois natural gas project crosses party lines California man sentenced to 4 years for acting as Beijing’s agent while working for local politician Survey says democracies’ anti-corruption efforts are slipping and raises concern about the US Why the words ‘Armenian genocide’ matter after Vance social media reference is deleted Opposition grows in Congo over US mineral deal Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 11 Author Members Posted February 11 Get your measles shot, Oz says Data: CDC. Chart: Axios Visuals One of President Trump's top public health voices is urging Americans to get their measles shot amid an outbreak jeopardizing the country's disease elimination status, Alex Fitzpatrick reports. 📺 Dr. Mehmet Oz, TV celebrity turned Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services director, said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday: "Not all illnesses are equally dangerous, and not all people are equally susceptible to those illnesses." "But measles is one you should get your vaccine." (Watch) 💉 Oz's comments contrast with the general vaccine skepticism of his boss, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. RFK recently oversaw controversial changes to the childhood vaccine schedule — though it still calls for all kids to get a measles shot. 📈 By the numbers: Hundreds of measles cases have been confirmed in South Carolina, with another hotspot along the Utah-Arizona border. Cases have also been reported this year in California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia and Washington, AP reports. Headlines have warned of potential exposures at Washington, D.C.'s National March for Life, Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport, a Charlotte-area grocery store and more. 😷 Measles is highly contagious, and generally hits unvaccinated children the hardest. About 1 in 5 unvaccinated people who contract it are hospitalized. About 1 in every 20 children develop pneumonia as a result — "the most common cause of death from measles in young children," the CDC says. 👩🏫 Rising shares of U.S. kindergarteners have been issued exemptions for one or more vaccines in recent years, the CDC says, amid a wave of vaccine skepticism among parents. Support for school MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine requirements among Republicans has fallen to about 50%, a recent Pew survey found, down from nearly 80% in 2019. 🙏 Oz said on CNN: "Take the vaccine, please. We have a solution for our problem." ps:Exactly!!!!! Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 12 Author Members Posted February 12 A Deep Slide View in browser During the summer of his 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump made a vow to the cryptocurrency industry: Elect him, and the United States would become the “crypto capital of the planet.” That winter, after crypto-industry donations helped secure Trump’s place in the White House, digital assets began appreciating rapidly—and the president-elect was glad to take the credit. When bitcoin crossed the $100,000 mark, he simply posted, “YOU’RE WELCOME!!!” For a sense of just how much money has evaporated from the crypto industry since then, look to bitcoin. On October 6, the price of a single bitcoin climbed to an all-time high north of $126,000; today, its value is closer to $69,000. The global market capitalization of all coins has shed more than $2 trillion in that time, and fewer and fewer traders are dabbling in meme coins and derivatives. Following a relatively fruitful 2025, crypto-venture-capital deals have fallen off a cliff over the past few months. Commentators have now started to wonder whether the president, who has spent the past two years positioning himself as the industry’s protector and hype man, might initiate a crypto bailout. But wasn’t Trump’s election already a kind of bailout? His explicit promise on the campaign trail was that America would lead the way, but his implicit promise was that prices would go up. Since taking office, Trump has established himself as the face of crypto through his flagrant promotional tactics (remember those limited-edition bitcoin-orange sneakers?), his sweeping deregulation efforts, and, of course, his family’s investments in digital assets. The Trumps have now made hundreds of millions of dollars from cryptocurrencies, according to recent estimates. Despite these links, crypto’s fate isn’t solely tied to the Trumps. There’s no single cause for the current downturn, but it demonstrates that a president’s intervention—even intervention as consistent as Trump’s—can only do so much to keep cryptocurrencies afloat. Throughout its 17 years, bitcoin has been defined by cycles—booms and busts that are sometimes explicable and sometimes not. This volatility is part of why the president himself once thought of bitcoin as a “scam.” It is driven both by an inbuilt technical feature called “halving” (which I will stop myself from explaining but is worth digging into if you’re so inclined) and by the natural waxing and waning of global attention. The year 2021 gave us a historic bubble, fueled in part by venture-capital funding and NFTs. The bubble popped in 2022 thanks to the unraveling of two crypto kingpins, Do Kwon and Sam Bankman-Fried, and the ensuing regulatory crackdown. After that came a deep freeze of investment activity, a so-called crypto winter, and a slow but steady recovery. Trump’s 2024 “crypto capital” remark arrived as the sector was starting to wake from hibernation. Morale was, if not quite as low as it is right now, nowhere near where it had been a few years prior. The crypto optimism of Trump’s election probably helped boost prices, but it was not a guaranteed buffer against all future instability. The president’s public support of the industry is inextricable from his family’s personal investments. The Trumps’ empire encompasses the crypto firms World Liberty Financial and American Bitcoin, as well as the crypto-adjacent Trump Media & Technology Group, which at one point held about $2 billion worth of bitcoin. There are also the meme coins $TRUMP and $MELANIA, the first of which made the president a crypto billionaire just before his inauguration and has since lost about 95 percent of its value. The administration has also made life easier for crypto more broadly, championing industry-backed regulations such as the GENIUS Act, a new framework for stablecoins that was signed into law this past summer. It has also, separately, dropped Joe Biden–era investigations into major firms. The White House is now packed with crypto devotees, including the venture capitalist David Sacks, who now serves as special adviser for AI and crypto, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has dubbed Trump the “crypto president.” Together, this team has worked to establish a crypto-forward White House, most notably by creating a “strategic bitcoin reserve.” These moves probably accelerated the real gains that crypto was making throughout the majority of 2025. But those gains weren’t entirely attributable to Trump, either. Over the past few years, cryptocurrencies have cropped up in BlackRock’s exchange-traded funds and in mainstream brokerage apps. A side effect of crypto’s integration with existing financial institutions is that bitcoin has started to trade like an ordinary tech stock: Bitcoin’s rise last year coincided with the broader momentum of the tech industry. The fact that it’s now crashing doesn’t necessarily suggest a complete decoupling (parts of tech, particularly software stocks, are getting crushed right now), but the downtrend is a reminder that crypto is governed by more than just Silicon Valley earnings calls. Plus, the industry is still more international than Trump might like it to be; prices are determined by traders all over the world. A crypto-friendly White House was never going to be a panacea, but the scale of the recent crash is remarkable. The global crypto market capitalization—that is, the approximate value of all of its tokens—has entirely erased the gains it made since Trump’s inauguration, despite this supposed regulatory golden age. If Democrats return to power in 2028, they aren’t likely to share this administration’s permissive attitude. And those commentators musing about whether Trump would bail out crypto are likely to be disappointed. When asked in a congressional hearing last week whether the administration would direct private banks to purchase more bitcoin, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent insisted that the government has no authority to do so. Bitcoin was once envisioned as an alternative to a corrupt system—something entirely independent from governments and big banks. In 2026, the most powerful politicians and financiers in the world have gone all-in. An asset that was once anti-system has now effectively become the system. There’s no question that this has benefited crypto in some ways. (For one, institutional adoption has made it more resilient; crypto is not beyond recovery, and it will probably bounce back.) But because no one actor has unilateral control over the sector’s future, the prices of these coins remain as fickle as ever. Trump has long embraced the notion that he has the power to solve even the most intractable problems. He famously told voters in 2016 that the system is broken and that “I alone can fix it.” But volatility is inherent to crypto; not even the “crypto president” can fix that. Related: Crypto’s core values are running headfirst into reality. (From 2022) Trump’s crypto dealings now have the perfect cover. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 12 Author Members Posted February 12 Crimes by ICE personnel in recent years show patterns of abuse, corruption, AP review shows At least two dozen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees and contractors have been charged with crimes since 2020, and their documented wrongdoing includes patterns of physical and sexual abuse, corruption and other abuses of authority, a review by The Associated Press found. Read more. Why this matters: Almost every law enforcement agency contends with bad employees and crimes related to domestic violence and substance abuse are long-standing problems in the field. But ICE's rapid growth and mission to deport millions are unprecedented, and the AP review found that the immense power that officers exercise over vulnerable populations can lead to abuses. While most of the cases happened before Congress voted last year to give ICE $75 billion to hire more agents and detain more people, experts say these kinds of crimes could accelerate given the sheer volume of new employees and their empowerment to use aggressive tactics to arrest and deport people. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that wrongdoing was not widespread in the agency, and that ICE “takes allegations of misconduct by its employees extremely seriously.” She said that most new hires had already worked for other law enforcement agencies, and that their backgrounds were thoroughly vetted. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Congressional leaders say ICE deal is still possible despite divisions How the head of ICE responded to questions in Congress over Trump's immigration policies Gov. Tim Walz says federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota could end within days Grand jury refuses to indict Democratic lawmakers in connection with illegal military orders video Former federal prosecutor who quit amid Trump administration dispute now representing Don Lemon FBI search of Georgia election offices relied on years-old claims of fraud, affidavit shows Potential conflicts over celebrating America's 250th anniversary spill out in congressional hearing Trump administration plans to hold back grant money for some Democratic-led states U.S.-Canada bridge brouhaha deepens as White House says Trump could amend a permit for the project Republican lawmakers grill telecom officials over phone records access in Trump investigation The economy is booming. So why is the job market lagging? Crowded Democratic field in California governor’s race might provide a rare opening for the GOP Federal judge dismisses attempt to obtain Michigan voter data in latest rejection of DOJ WATCH: 'Why not?:' White House says Trump floats naming Penn Station, Dulles airport after himself Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 12 Author Members Posted February 12 Trump Hit With Stinging Defeat as Republicans Finally Rebel Even members of the president’s party are souring on one of his favorite policies. Donald Trump is facing a wave of congressional attacks on his signature economic policy after Republican rebels blocked a ban on resolutions challenging the president’s tariffs.For the past year, House Speaker Mike Johnson has repeatedly introduced procedural rules that prevented members from opposing Trump’s crushing—and often arbitrary—tariffs on products from dozens of U.S. trading partners. On Tuesday, Johnson asked the House to extend the ban through August. But three Republicans—Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Kevin Kiley of California, and Don Bacon of Nebraska—sided with Democrats to defeat the measure 217-214, Politico reported. The blockade was designed to protect Trump from losing his favorite geopolitical cudgel—and to shield Republican representatives from having to take politically difficult positions during votes on tariffs. Voters and business leaders have soured on the tariffs, which have contributed to job losses, higher prices, and reduced domestic manufacturing. The duties are a form of import tax paid by American companies, which must either eat the additional costs or pass them along to consumers. The vote was expected to be razor-thin, in part because some congressional Republicans were still holding out hope the Supreme Court would eventually strike down the tariffs, easing voters’ concerns while avoiding a confrontation with the president, Punchbowl reported. House Republican leaders spent most of Tuesday whipping votes for the procedural maneuver, arguing that any “disapproval” vote should wait until after the Supreme Court’s ruling, which could come as late as July, according to Politico. Trump himself appeared to be undermining that effort, though, as he bragged to Fox Business host Larry Kudlow that he increased the tariff rate on products from Switzerland because he “didn’t really like the way” the country’s female leader talked to him. The comments, which aired Tuesday, seemed to be referring to Karin Keller-Sutter, who held the country’s rotating presidency in 2025. “This is why Congress needs to debate tariffs,” Bacon wrote on X.com alongside a clip of the interview. Democrats could force a vote as soon as this week on resolutions disapproving of Trump’s tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico, followed by resolutions targeting tariffs on products from Brazil and then other global trade partners. The Canada vote in particular would be a difficult one for Republicans and would require the White House’s intervention, Johnson told Punchbowl earlier this week. While Trump could ultimately veto any resolution reining in his trade wars, a rebuke from Congress would nevertheless be politically damaging. The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-hit-with-painful-defeat-after-failing-to-stop-republican-revolt/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 12 Author Members Posted February 12 Trump’s Jaw-Dropping Call Before Weird Bridge Threat Exposed The billionaire president’s tirade came just hours after his billionaire Cabinet official met with a billionaire bridge owner. A phone call to President Donald Trump shortly before he posted a furious rant against Canada and the Gordie Howe International Bridge on Monday has raised eyebrows over its timing. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick spoke to the president after a meeting with billionaire Matthew Moroun, a Detroit trucking magnate whose family owns the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, according to two sources who spoke to the New York Times. The Moroun family has claimed that the Gordie Howe Bridge, which is set to open in a few months and connects Detroit to Windsor, would infringe on their exclusive right to collect tolls. The family, which has an estimated $1.5 billion fortune, had previously asked Trump to prevent the construction of the bridge during his first term. Between 2019 and 2020, they also donated more than $605,000 to Trump’s re-election campaign and the Trump Victory fundraising committee for the GOP, according to the Detroit Free Press. Those contributions reportedly accompanied hundreds of thousands of dollars donated to other politicians and political committees known to oppose the construction of the new bridge. Shortly after speaking to Lutnick, Trump complained on Truth Social about the bridge and, by extension, the Canadian government, which is navigating an ongoing trade war with the U.S. due to Trump’s tariffs. “I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve,” Trump wrote, arguing that “with all that we have given them,” the U.S. is owed at least one half of the bridge. The 79-year-old also incorrectly claimed that the bridge was being built with “virtually no U.S. content” and that Canada had sole ownership of the bridge. The bridge was paid for entirely by the Canadian government, but will be jointly owned by Canada and Michigan. The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and the Department of Commerce for comment. “This project has been a tremendous example of bipartisan and international cooperation,” Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer told Reuters. “It’s going to open one way or another, and the governor looks forward to attending the ribbon cutting.” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed Tuesday that he had spoken with Trump, clarifying the matter of the bridge’s ownership and assuring residents that the bridge was still on track to open later in the year. “We discussed the bridge, I explained that Canada paid for the construction of the bridge—over $4 billion—that the ownership is shared between the state of Michigan and the government of Canada, and that in the construction of the bridge, obviously there’s Canadian steel and Canadian workers but also U.S. steel and U.S. workers that were involved,” Carney said. “This is a great example of cooperation between our countries, look forward to it opening.” President Trump had previously endorsed the construction of the bridge, which will be the third crossing between Detroit and Windsor, as a priority project during his first term, joining then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in calling it a “vital economic link between our two countries.” The president’s latest attack on Canada, which included complaints about Canadian tariffs on dairy products, Ontario’s ban on U.S. alcohol, and Canada’s new trade agreement with China, came after months of back-and-forth between the neighboring countries as a result of Trump’s trade war. Relations soured further after Trump threatened to annex Canada and turn it into the 51st U.S. state, leading to a steep drop in Canadian tourism to the U.S. Carney made waves after he responded to his American counterpart’s continued aggression with a powerful speech at the World Economic Forum last month. “Every day we’re reminded that we live in an era of great-power rivalry,” Carney told attendees at the meeting in Davos, Switzerland. “That the rules-based order is fading, that the strong can do what they can, and the weak must suffer what they must.” “Middle powers must act together because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/phone-call-that-triggered-trumps-bridge-meltdown-revealed/? ps:This guy is so vain!! I'm starting to wonder if the song that Carly Simon sang was actually for trump????? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 12 Author Members Posted February 12 Jaw-Dropping Number of Times Trump Is Named in Epstein Files Revealed by Rep The revelation has further inflamed fears of an Epstein cover-up. President Donald Trump’s name appears in the Epstein files more than a million times, according to a top Democrat who reviewed the Justice Department’s unredacted version of the documents.Congressman Jamie Raskin, the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, made the jaw-dropping revelation after examining some of the Epstein files that the department blacked out when it released its latest tranche of documents earlier this month. “I mean, there’s tons of redacted stuff,” Raskin told Axios in an interview. “And [Trump’s] name, I think I put his name, and it appears more than a million times. So it’s all over the place.” The latest trove of more than 3.5 million files was released by the Justice Department earlier this month, marking what Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said would be “an end” to the DOJ’s review of the documents. But this was only about half of the six million documents the department reviewed, prompting renewed fears of a cover-up. Trump, who has consistently claimed the files were a “hoax,” initially featured about 5,300 times in the heavily redacted trove. But Raskin’s revelation suggests there are many references the public is not aware of, despite the laws that Trump signed last year demanding maximum transparency. In a letter sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday, survivors told her: “We must be clear: this release does not provide closure. It feels instead like a deliberate attempt to intimidate survivors, punish those who came forward, and reinforce the same culture of secrecy that allowed Epstein’s crimes to continue for decades.” One file that Raskin reviewed on Monday undercut Trump’s longstanding claim that he cut ties with Jeffrey Epstein in the mid-2000s. Last year, the president also asserted that he kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago years ago after the sex offender “stole” staff from his spa. But an unredacted email Raskin claims he saw involved a conversation between Epstein’s lawyers and lawyers for Trump which suggested otherwise. “Epstein’s lawyers synopsized and quoted Trump as saying that Jeffrey Epstein was not a member of his club at Mar-a-Lago — but he was a guest at Mar-a-Lago and he had never been asked to leave,” Raskin told reporters on Monday. “And that was redacted for some …inscrutable reason.” Trump was serving his first term as president when Epstein was arrested in 2019 and charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy. Asked about their relationship at the time, he told reporters that Epstein was “a fixture of Palm Beach” in Florida, and “I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him.” But in terms of when they last spoke, Trump added: “I had a falling out with him a long time ago, I don’t think I’ve spoken to him for 15 years. I wasn’t a fan.” This suggests the pair cut ties around 2004, a few years before Epstein was convicted in Florida in 2008 for soliciting prostitution and soliciting prostitution from a minor as part of a sweetheart plea deal. The president has also consistently claimed that he knew nothing about Epstein’s crimes. However, another newly unearthed document suggests that he called Palm Beach’s police chief Michael Reiter in July 2006 - just as Epstein’s first criminal sex charge became public - to inform him that Epstein’s activities were well known. According to the document, Trump also referred to Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell as the sex offender’s “operative,” telling Reiter that “she is evil and to focus on her.” Asked about the inconsistencies on Tuesday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was unable to say whether or not the call actually took place. However, she told reporters: “What the president has always remained consistent in is that he kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club at Mar-a-Lago because frankly Jeffrey Epstein was a creep.” “And unlike many other people who are named in these files, the president cut off his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and was honest and transparent about that for years and years,” she said. Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing. When reached for comment, the White House called attention to Trump biographer and Daily Beast podcast co-host Michael Wolff’s communications with Epstein, which he has explained. “When will the Daily Beast report on their podcaster Michael Wolff’s extremely close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein after he was convicted as a sex offender?” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said. Bondi is also expected to be grilled about the issue when she appears before the House Judiciary Committee later this week. Trump, meanwhile, is keen for Americans to move on, telling reporters last week: “I think it’s really time for the country to get on to something else.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/jaw-dropping-number-of-times-trump-is-named-in-epstein-files-revealed-by-rep/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 12 Author Members Posted February 12 Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show Scores 20x More Viewers Than Kid Rock MAGA’s Super Bowl boycott didn’t work as intended. While MAGA devotees were watching Kid Rock lip-sync at an off-brand halftime show, the rest of America was dancing to Bad Bunny.The Puerto Rican star’s Super Bowl halftime show averaged 128.2 million viewers just between 8:15 and 8:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, according to Nielsen—a far, far cry from Turning Point USA’s 6.1 million concurrent viewers on YouTube for its pre-taped “All-American Halftime Show” around the same period. Nielsen also reported that an estimated 124.9 million viewers tuned into the Super Bowl over the weekend, making it the second-most-watched edition behind the 2025 broadcast headlined by Kendrick Lamar. A staggering 137.8 million Americans watched the second quarter of the Seattle Seahawks-New England Patriots matchup, which is now the highest peak viewership in U.S. history. Turning Point USA, the conservative youth organization founded by assassinated activist Charlie Kirk, billed its MAGAfied halftime show as “a unique, patriotic event proudly celebrating American culture, freedom, and faith.” The group first announced that it would stage its Super Bowl alternative in October, after the NFL revealed that Bad Bunny, a Spanish-speaking reggaeton hitmaker, would become the first solo Latin artist to headline the highly anticipated halftime show. “The All-American Halftime Show is an opportunity for all Americans to enjoy a halftime show with no agenda other than to celebrate faith, family, and freedom,” Turning Point USA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet said earlier this month. In response to conservative uproar over his selection, Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, quipped in his Saturday Night Live! monologue that viewers had “four months to learn” Spanish. He walked the joke back last week, saying, “They don’t even have to learn Spanish. They [can] learn to dance.” As Americans gathered in groups to watch the Super Bowl, Turning Point USA announced that its halftime show hit a snag before it even went live. “UPDATE: Due to licensing restrictions, we are unable to stream The All-American Halftime Show on X,” TPUSA said on X just two hours before the broadcast. The issues didn’t stop there. Viewers tuned in to see Kid Rock were put off by his apparent lip-syncing in his first performance. “Was Kid Rock doing a really bad job of lip syncing or is my audio out of sync?” one X user wrote just after Kid Rock jumped up onstage in a fur vest, jean shorts, and fedora hat to perform his 1999 song “Bawitdaba.” The half-hour show included performances from country music stars Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett, as well as a classical duo that performed a string interlude. Sources later told Variety that the show was pre-taped in Atlanta. Kid Rock denied lip-syncing in a video posted to X on Tuesday, claiming “My halftime performance was pre recorded but performed live. No lipsycing like the haters and fake news are trying to report. When they synced the cameras to my performance on Bawitdaba, it did not line up...” In an X post made after the show, Kirk’s widow Erika said he “would have loved” the broadcast dedicated to him. “Thank you to the millions that tuned in,” she wrote, adding, “It’s okay to love Jesus and your country. Ultimately, this is what it’s all about, making Heaven crowded.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/bad-bunnys-halftime-show-scores-20x-more-viewers-than-kid-rock/? ps:I posted this just to say who cares????? Than I thought about that and I know who actually cares!! Maga and it's minions!! Pretty sad commentary on trump and his administration that they need to prove something that back fired on all of them!! SICK Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 12 Author Members Posted February 12 Congress Members Bailing on Job at Record Rate Under Trump Some lawmakers have cited a “toxic” work culture under President Donald Trump as one driver of the exodus. Under Trump 2.0, members of Congress are leaving office in numbers that haven’t been seen in nearly a hundred years. An NBC News analysis of historical data from the Brookings Institution’s Vital Statistics on Congress found that 60 representatives and senators will not seek reelection this year. Broken down, 51 House members and nine senators are either retiring from political life or seeking another office. This figure does not include members of Congress who have died or resigned, such as Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. In the House, 30 of those lawmakers are Republicans and 21 are Democrats, marking the most departures from the lower chamber in all but two election cycles since 1930. In the Senate, five are Republicans and four are Democrats, excluding those who are running for other offices but are not up for reelection this year, like Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who is running for governor. The members cited a variety of reasons for leaving: Nebraska Republican Don Bacon said he no longer had the hunger to endure another campaign, Iowa Republican Joni Ernst and Maine Democrat Jared Golden wanted to focus on their families, and South Carolina Republican Ralph Norman thought his business chops were needed in the governor’s office. Others, however, are heading for the exit to escape the “toxic” work culture under President Donald Trump. Bonnie Watson Coleman, the 81-year-old Democratic representative for New Jersey, said she couldn’t bear the idea of serving two more years with Trump in the White House. “I still would have had Donald Trump as a president,” she told NBC. “And I tell you, that’s just sickening for me to have to deal with.” Illinois Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi is leaving the House to run for Senate. When asked why so many of his colleagues are retiring, he said the political arena has been an unpleasant work environment in recent years. “Over my 10 years here, I think Donald Trump has helped catalyze a real toxic partisan atmosphere,” he told the outlet. “I have not known normal. And I think for anybody who came here expecting something different and then being served up this kind of toxic brew of partisanship and character attacks and name-calling is going to be severely disappointed.” Few Republican lawmakers are more familiar with that toxicity than top Trump foes Mitch McConnell and Thom Tillis, both of whom are leaving office. “As many of my colleagues have noticed over the last year, and at times even joked about, I haven’t exactly been excited about running for another term,” Tillis said in a statement last summer. “That is true since the choice is between spending another six years navigating the political theatre and partisan gridlock in Washington or spending that time with the love of my life Susan, our two children, three beautiful grandchildren, and the rest of our extended family back home,” he added. “It’s not a hard choice, and I will not be seeking re-election.” The White House did not immediately return a request for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/congress-members-bailing-on-job-at-record-rate-under-trump/? ps:Why wouldn't they? He's turned the Republican party into a joke!!!!! Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 12 Author Members Posted February 12 Democratic Governors to Snub Trump Dinner at White House The group of governors is boycotting the glitzy event after some Democrats were excluded. A group of Democratic governors plans to boycott a dinner with President Donald Trump after he declined to invite all of them to the White House event. The National Governors Association (NGA) said it would not hold a formal meeting with the president after the White House invited Republicans to what was once one of the rare bipartisan gatherings. Now at least eighteen of the country’s 24 Democratic governors said on Tuesday they would not attend the annual dinner. It comes after the Trump administration also moved to limit attendance to the typically bipartisan gathering scheduled for February 20. Among those not invited were the country’s only Black governor, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. “If the reports are true that not all governors are invited to these events, which have historically been productive and bipartisan opportunities for collaboration, we will not be attending the White House dinner this year,” they announced in a statement. The governors accused the president of not being committed to working across the aisle. It comes as Trump has fiercely clashed with the leaders of blue states over immigration, funding and other issues. “At every turn, President Trump is creating chaos and division, and it is the American people who are hurting as a result,” they said. The group included Democratic Governors Association Chair, Gov. Andy Beshear, as well as Vice Chair Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has worked with Trump in the past. Others who vowed to boycott included top Trump-troller Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who is regularly attacked by the president. At her press briefing on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the president’s exclusion of governors. “It is a dinner at the White House. It’s the people’s house. It’s also the president’s home, and so he can invite whomever he wants to dinner and events here at the White House,” she said. Leavitt encouraged those who were invited to show up but said if they don’t want to, it’s their loss. In an interview with CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Moore, who serves as NGA vice chair, said it was “particularly confusing’ why he was being excluded from the event after he led a group of Democrats and Republicans to the White House just a few weeks ago. Asked why he believed he was being excluded, Moore said he was not trying to get inside the “president’s psyche,” but he did say it was not lost to him that he is the only Black governor left out. “I find that to be particularly painful, considering the fact that the president is trying to exclude me from an organization that not only my peers have asked me to help to lead, but then also a place that I know I belong in,” Moore said. Pressed by CNN’s Dana Bash whether he was saying the president was excluding him because of the color of his skin, Moore said he could not speak to the president’s intent. “It’s not lost to me, but I can’t speak to the president’s intent,” he responded. https://www.thedailybeast.com/democratic-governors-to-snub-trump-dinner-at-white-house/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 12 Author Members Posted February 12 Trump’s calls to ‘nationalize’ elections have state, local election officials bracing for tumult President Donald Trump’s calls this week to “nationalize” elections capped a year of efforts by his administration to exercise authority over state-run elections. The demands now have some state and local election officials fearing — and preparing for — a tumultuous year ahead. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/02/10/repub/trumps-calls-to-nationalize-elections-have-state-local-election-officials-bracing-for-tumult/? ps:This guy is so afraid of being charged after his term is over he doesn't know which way to turn!!!!! Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 12 Author Members Posted February 12 Trump, 79, Secretly Asking Aides Why He Can’t Destroy Deal He Negotiated The president is apparently having second thoughts on a major pact he signed during his first term. President Donald Trump has privately asked aides why he shouldn’t withdraw from the USMCA trade pact he negotiated, as the agreement faces a review this summer. Trump, 79, signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) during his first term, hailing it as a signature economic achievement that replaced the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Now, according to Bloomberg, Trump has been asking aides why he shouldn’t exit the deal. Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter and reported that the president hasn’t made a final decision and has stopped short of signaling he will withdraw. It comes as USMCA is scheduled for a mandatory review on July 1. If the U.S., Mexico, and Canada agree to renew it, it would remain in effect for another 16 years. If they do not, the agreement would enter a period of annual reviews for up to a decade, until it expires in 2036. An official in the office of U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s told Bloomberg that under the current terms, the deal doesn’t best serve the interests of the United States. The Trump administration is exploring how to address issues identified, they said. Greer, meanwhile, hasn’t confirmed whether Trump will renew the deal as it stands in July. He told Fox Business that talks are ongoing between the countries and within the Trump administration. The Daily Beast has contacted Greer’s office for comment. A White House official told the Daily Beast that “the ultimate decisionmaker is President Trump himself, who is always seeking a better deal for the American people.” “Any discussion about potential presidential action unless announced by the President himself is baseless speculation,” the official said. A committee hearing on the future of USMCA is scheduled for Thursday. In a letter published Tuesday, Neil Herrington, Senior Vice President for the Americas at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, described the pact as “a cornerstone of North American economic strength.” Herrington wrote that more than 13 million American jobs depend on trade with Canada and Mexico. “By maintaining its trilateral structure, the agreement ensures that the United States, Canada, and Mexico can collectively leverage their shared strengths to remain competitive in the global economy,” Herrington wrote. “The importance of preserving the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) cannot be overstated.” Herrington added that the pact “fosters innovation, strengthens supply chains, and promotes investment in key sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, energy, and digital trade,” calling it “an unparalleled opportunity to deepen economic ties with its closest trading partners.”Trump’s chaotic approach to trade policy has earned him the acronym “TACO,” short for “Trump Always Chickens Out,” a term first coined by Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong. The president, in his second term, announced steep and sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries, only to delay or revise them. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-79-secretly-asking-aides-why-he-cant-destroy-deal-he-negotiated/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 12 Author Members Posted February 12 Keystone Kash Blasted Over Floundering Guthrie Investigation The FBI director has a history of bungling high-profile case announcements. FBI Director Kash Patel has been slammed for his handling of the investigation into the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie. On Tuesday, Patel boasted to Fox News’ Sean Hannity that the agency was looking into “persons of interest” in connection with the suspected abduction of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie’s mother, and that “substantial progress” had been made in the case. Shortly afterward, a man was detained for questioning over the alleged kidnapping of the elderly woman. However, the man—later identified as a delivery driver named Carlos Palazuelos—was freed just hours later without charge. The arrest-and-release drew renewed waves of criticism towards Patel, 45. “The FBI—now run by online influencers, hair tonic salesmen, and talk show hosts—has become a shell of its former self,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut posted on X while sharing a clip of Palazuelos telling reporters he had nothing to do with Guthrie’s disappearance. “The next president is going to have an enormous job to rebuild it.” Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of the liberal news site MeidasTouch.com, posted: “Kash Patel’s main investigative strategy is waiting for the relatives of suspects to turn them in.” The release of the apparently innocent man means that law enforcement has still not apprehended a suspect in the high-profile case, more than 10 days after the 84-year-old was reported missing from her home. Multiple other social media users attacked Patel, a former MAGA podcaster, and the FBI over what they described as shambolic operations as the Guthrie investigation continues. Many pointed out that Patel had already embarrassed himself last year during the investigation into the shooting of Charlie Kirk. That included posting a misleading update on social media, eagerly telling his X followers that officials had apprehended “the subject of the shooting,” before later clarifying that the individual had nothing to do with the attack. Tyler Robinson, the actual suspect in the shooting of the Turning Point USA founder, eventually turned himself in with the help of his family. Writer Keith Murphy added, “I don’t think anyone should feel confident with Kash Patel as head of the FBI. I mean, look at this amateur-hour BS. When people look back at Trump 2.0 in the White House, they will be astonished by the historical incompetence of the FBI and the administration across the board.” Another X user wrote: “I feel sorry for the Guthries with this FBI. Kash Patel is a f---ing clown in way over his head. He’s going to screw this up royally if he hasn’t already.” Palazuelos was detained after the FBI released chilling video footage and photos of a person in a ski mask and gloves appearing to tamper with Nancy Guthrie’s security camera at her home. Speaking shortly after his release, Palazuelos told reporters outside his home that he had no idea why he was brought in and that he works as a delivery driver in Tucson. “What the f--- am I doing here? I didn’t do anything. To be honest, I’m innocent,” he said. In another interview with ABC 15 Arizona, Palazuelos said he had “never heard” of Nancy Guthrie until he was brought in for questioning. “I hope they get the suspect, because I’m not it. And they better do their job and find the suspect who did it so they can clear my name. I’m done.” In December 2025, Patel was criticized by FBI insiders in a damming internal document. The leaked report featuring assessments from active-duty and retired agents slammed the FBI under Patel’s leadership as “dismal”, “all f---ed up,” and a “rudderless ship,” and concluded the director is “in over his head.” The Daily Beast has contacted the FBI for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/keystone-kash-patel-blasted-over-floundering-nancy-guthrie-investigation/? ps:This man has no idea what he's doing! Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 12 Author Members Posted February 12 Trump’s Favorite Pollster Hits President With Nightmare Rating His least favorite person has outperformed him. President Trump’s favorite pollster has hit the MAGA chief with a nightmare scenario. Rasmussen, a polling company trumpeted by the White House when it provides favorable figures, confirmed the unthinkable on Tuesday: Former President Joe Biden did a better job than his successor is managing.A whopping 48 percent of respondents prefer Biden’s stab at managing the country, while just 40 percent said the current POTUS is doing a better job. “Worse Than Biden? 58% Don’t See Trump’s ‘Golden Age,’” said the headline that accompanied Rasmussen’s research. This seems bound to sting Trump, 79, especially since he often cites Rassmussen to brag about his approval among voters. “Even Rasmussen, Trump’s favorite pollster, just dropped a brutal number,” political strategist Chris D. Jackson said of the damning numbers on X. Andrew Bates, the White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary under Biden, said the Trump slump is his own fault. “By raising prices, killing jobs, and lowering economic growth, Trump broke the top promises he made to voters and failed the tests he set for Biden,” he told the Daily Beast. Bates said that Biden “publicly warned Trump not to raise tariffs, add trillions to the debt in tax breaks for the rich, or make the biggest health care and clean energy cuts in history.” He did anyway, and he’s suffering the consequences, Bates suggested. “Now congressional Republicans have to decide if they’ll finally break with an agenda that’s selling out working families or if they’ll keep being rubber stamps for the most unpopular policies in modern history.” Rasmussen Reports head pollster Mark Mitchell even said the numbers indicate that Biden would beat Trump in an election. “If an election were held TODAY between Trump and Biden, Biden would win,” he wrote on X Tuesday, adding that even “a million valid arguments” against Trump’s predecessor making a comeback “doesn’t change the fact Biden would win.” The humiliating polling comes after a Harvard/Harris poll published last week showed that Trump, one year into his second term, dropped 9 points in job approval when compared to his predecessor. Trump, despite calling Biden the worst president in history, is actually “worse,” according to voters. When asked whether Trump, 79, was doing “a better or worse job” than Biden, 49 percent of likely voters responded “better” in that poll. Fifty-one percent said “worse.” About a year ago, the same poll showed 58 percent indicating that Trump was doing the job better. A January YouGov/Economist survey found that 71 percent of Americans think the country is “out of control” under Trump, who could face a messy midterm election in November as a result of the chaos. The Rassmussen survey was conducted between Feb. 2 and 4, using responses from more than 1,000 likely voters. Some 58 percent also said this is not the “Golden Age” of America that they were promised by Trump and his cronies. In January last year, 52 percent thought the so-called “Golden Age” was coming. To compound the issues for Trump, 56 percent of those surveyed, online and by telephone, said they disapprove of the job he’s doing. A 29 percent cut strongly disapprove. The White House has been contacted for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-favorite-pollster-hits-president-with-nightmare-rating/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 12 Author Members Posted February 12 Cardinal Blasts ICE for Targeting Priests as He Rips Trump for Racist Obama Meme “That’s not America,” the archbishop of Chicago said of Trump’s deadly immigration crackdown. The Catholic archbishop of Chicago has shredded the Trump administration’s brutal deportation crusade and called President Donald Trump out personally for a racist post about the Obamas. Cardinal Blase Cupich has claimed in a series of interviews that clergymen in the Windy City are being stopped by federal agents in what he framed as blatant racial profiling. “I’ve had some priests who are of a different color being targeted and arrested—stopped—because of their color and asking them to prove that they’re citizens,” he told Chicago PBS affiliate WTTW in January. “That’s not America,” the 76-year-old cardinal went on. “We should not have to live in a country where people have to carry around their documents all the time.” He further tore into the Department of Homeland Security’s anti-immigration crackdown in a separate interview last week with Spanish newspaper El Pais. “It brings terror into a city where not just immigrants, but the population, feel as though they’re being terrorized by the ways that these roundups are going,” he said. “This is really unheard of,” he added. “That kind of tactic is really fueling the outrage of people, not only because of the murders that we had in Minneapolis, but also because of our experience here.” Cupich, who was appointed to lead the United States’ third-largest archdiocese by the late Pope Francis in 2015, also took aim at Trump directly after the president posted a racist meme depicting Michelle and Barack Obama as apes. “Our shock is real. So is our outrage,” he wrote in a response to the vile clip on Monday. “Nothing less than an unequivocal apology—to the nation and to the persons demeaned—is acceptable.” The White House has denied Trump was the person responsible for posting the video to his Truth Social account, and the president has refused to offer an apology for it. The clip remained online for more than 12 hours before it was taken down. Trump has a tempestuous relationship with the Catholic Church. He came under fire from Francis on everything from his plans for a border wall with Mexico to his wider immigration stance, climate change denialism, and isolationism. The president has also not exactly enjoyed cordial relations with Francis’ Chicago-born successor, Pope Leo XIV, who, despite his brother being a stalwart MAGA supporter, has similarly criticised the administration over its attacks on Iran and Venezuela. The first American pontiff has also criticised the Trump administration for creating a climate of “fear and anxiety” with its anti-immigration policies and questioned Vice President JD Vance’s interpretation of Catholic doctrine. Since Trump assumed office for the second time last January, his administration has embarked on a campaign to dramatically increase the number of migrants being detained and deported from the country. Legal experts have decried rampant violations of due process and other constitutional rights as a direct result of that campaign. Late last year, those efforts witnessed large-scale raids in Cupich’s archdiocese of Chicago, along with other cities such as Los Angeles, New York, and Portland, Oregon. Beginning in January, Homeland Security launched its largest effort to date, Operation Metro Surge, sending an estimated 3,000 federal agents to carry out detentions in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. DHS claims it is going after the “worst of the worst” criminal offenders amid a fictional “crimewave” driven by an “invasion” of “illegal aliens.” Statistics have consistently shown that 70 percent of those arrested have no criminal background. U.S. citizens have increasingly found themselves caught up in what critics describe as excessive use of force during DHS raids. In January, confrontations between federal immigration officials and protesters in Minneapolis saw two protesters, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, fatally shot by ICE agents. The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and DHS for comment on this story. https://www.thedailybeast.com/chicago-cardinal-blase-cupich-blasts-ice-for-stopping-priests-and-rips-donald-trump-over-racist-barack-obama-m/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 12 Author Members Posted February 12 Canada Humiliates Trump After His Wild Bridge Meltdown Prime Minister Mark Carney is striking down Trump’s latest threats. Donald Trump’s evening Truth Social outburst about a major U.S.–Canada infrastructure project was so riddled with errors that Canada’s prime minister felt compelled to personally walk him through the facts in a phone call. The latest flare-up centers on the $4.6 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge, a long-planned crossing that will connect Detroit, Michigan, with Windsor, Ontario. In a rambling post Monday night, Trump, 79, accused Canada of cheating the United States by falsely claiming the bridge was entirely Canadian-owned and complained that it was being built with “virtually no U.S. content.” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, 60, moved quickly to clean up the mess. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Carney confirmed that he had spoken with Trump directly to correct the record. He added in French that the “situation will be resolved” and said that the bridge remains on track to open in 2026. Trump’s grievance, however, was anything but calm. In his Truth Social post, he framed the project as another example of Canada taking advantage of the U.S., writing that the bridge was being constructed in violation of the Buy American Act and asserting that he would personally block its opening unless Canada agreed to renegotiate terms “IMMEDIATELY.” As Carney explained, while Canada paid for the construction aspect, ownership of the bridge is shared between the Canadian government and the state of Michigan under an agreement finalized more than a decade ago. The project was approved in 2014, after years of bipartisan support on both sides of the border, and has always been structured as a joint infrastructure effort. The Daily Beast has reached out to Mark Carney for comment. Trump’s claim that the bridge uses no American materials also collapsed after Carney corrected the record. The prime minister said he informed the president that the project includes both materials and workers from both countries. He said bluntly, “Obviously, there’s Canadian steel and Canadian workers, but also U.S. steel, U.S. workers that were involved.” Despite Trump’s threat to sabotage the bridge opening, Carney showed little concern. He said he expects the bridge to debut as scheduled and called it “a great example of cooperation between our countries,” a line that stood in sharp contrast to Trump’s ultimatum. Carney said that his call with Trump began with a brief chat about the upcoming U.S.–Canada Olympic hockey matchup before pivoting to the bridge. Meanwhile, Windsor, Ontario, Mayor Drew Dilkens blasted the president on CNN for putting “forward a number of mistruths in his social media posts talking about no U.S. products being used or U.S. labor.” Dilkens added, “In fact, half the bridge, the Michigan half, was built with U.S. steel. The port of entry on the U.S. side was built with U.S. steel and U.S. building materials. And of the 15,000 people who helped build this bridge, 8,000 came from the United States, and so to say that somehow the U.S. wasn’t involved and, you know, there has to be some more equity in this, it makes no sense based on the facts.” Trump’s sudden hostility toward the bridge also clashes with his own earlier position. In 2017, during his first term, Trump publicly supported the project in a joint statement with then–Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, praising the bridge as “a vital economic link between our two countries” and expressing excitement for its “expeditious completion.” Now, Trump is attempting to distance himself from the project altogether, blaming former President Barack Obama for approving it and claiming Canada used the agreement to sidestep American manufacturing rules. The blowup also comes amid Trump’s broader fixation on Canada during his second term. He has floated the idea of annexing the country and slapped tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, and automobiles. The move has sparked trade tensions, which Canada has met with its own retaliation. Ontario recently pulled U.S. spirits and wines from government-owned liquor stores, a move Trump complained about directly in his bridge rant. “Ontario won’t even put U.S. spirits, beverages, and other alcoholic products on their shelves,” he wrote. The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/canada-humiliates-trump-after-his-wild-bridge-meltdown/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
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