Worrier & retired person (in that order). Boomer, grumpy old man (since forever). Travel. | Be nice. Especially to me. | repost≠endorse | Be all you can be. Wake me when you’re done. | Toronto 🇨🇦 Travel journal: https://journeys.klebanoff.com
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I’m in Edinburgh having lunch alone because the relative I’m visiting is working. I looked at Bluesky and saw presumably false rumours of Trump’s death. There are few things that I think would be worse than Trump as U.S. president. Vance as president might be one of them. Sigh.
I *knew* it was a bum rap all along. Thank goodness the railway was able to establish its innocence! (Near, or maybe still in, Edinburgh, Scotland.)
To be honest, I don’t know, but I assumed the “why not?” was sarcastic because that’s one of a few big reasons I can think of as to why not.
Wheels up momentarily. Signing off for now.
I mean, in a functional government, the president would give a shit about professional employees doing everything they can to draw attention to his appointees creating incredible damage. But Trump is firing or putting on administrative leave any professionals who raise concerns. (see also EPA, FEMA)
The U.S. is spiralling ever downward.
Look, FEMA had no choice but to put the employees on leave. They broke the lèse majesté laws of the United States.
Making America great doesn’t look like I thought it would look.
“.. ‘I am not able to serve in this role any longer because of the ongoing weaponizing of public health,’ Daskalakis wrote in his letter.” @reuters.com www.reuters.com/business/hea...
FEMA employees were just placed on leave after criticizing the Trump regime in open letter. Their letter was meant to "sound the alarm" about inexperienced appointees and drastic cuts to agency programs. Like all tyrants in history, Trump wants to squelch dissent.
Cruelty is both one of the means to the Trump administration’s ends and one of its ends. Sick. Sick. Sick.
making my baby smoke one (1) cigarette so she can get the covid vax
American refugee claims are skyrocketing in Canada. Gee, I wonder what’s going on in the US. apple.news/AngqvHjZXS8q...
I'm not American, so I might have the specifics wrong, but my understanding is that the Second Amendment of the US Constitution specifically entrenches the right of all Americans to keep and bear sub sandwiches.
remember folks, we cant have gun restrictions because if we do the federal government will occupy our streets, imprison people without due process, ship dissidents to foreign gulags and things of that nature
I’m at the airport waiting to flee the continent for ~3 weeks. I’m visiting a relative for the first part of that and likely won’t be on here much. Then, I’ll be a tourist and this will turn into a travel account for a couple of weeks. Please bear with me.
Temporary foreign workers are doing the jobs young/many Canadians don't want to do. This is true for jobs in food delivery, food processing, agriculture, cleaning and, importantly, the care economy. Just today, StatCan published this report. www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/36... 🧵
AMERICA: “It’s a mental health issue.” REST OF THE WORLD: “We have those. But don’t have mass shootings.” AMERICA: “It’s video games.” WORLD: “We have those too. But don’t have mass shootings.” AMERICA B: “It’s cause they took Jesus out of the classroom.” WORLD: “God, you’re stupid.”
These fucking ghouls
What an image (J. Scott Applewhite, AP)
The Trump administration likely wants an agreement on how many Trump hotels, golf courses, resorts, and condo towers will be built in Gaza, what financial incentives regional governments will provide for them, and where they’ll be built.
The right to bear sub sandwiches shall not be infringed.
Probably a bigly number.
The president of the United States is laser-focused on the fate of a late-night comedian’s contract. What a time to be alive. It’s a good thing there’s nothing else going on in the United States or the rest of the world.
The National Guard’s new motto: “We pick up more garbage before 9 AM than most people do all day.”
He thinks it’s disrespectful to the members of the National Guard? He obviously hasn’t seen the videos of them wearing high-visibility fluorescent vests and collecting trash in DC. How much more respectful can you get than that? ()
They aren’t very bright, are they?
With MAGA, words have no meaning and facts are pliable.
Going from defense to war, Trump isn’t exactly playing to the Nobel Peace Prize committee, is he?
Fun fact: US oil production is down slightly from this time last year — when Biden was president — despite Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” policies.
Obviously, the most deleterious part, by far, is that the United States is now a fascist country, but to add minor insult to massive injury, Trump is making it look buffoonish too.
Trump now has the “warfighters” picking up trash near the White House. www.fox5dc.com/news/nationa...
I’m sure that the National Guard members who were plucked out of their regular jobs and their states and sent to DC are thrilled to be assigned to garbage collection. Just thrilled.
If leader of any other democracy in world started using his justice dept to purge people he didn't like and military/paramilitary to occupy opposition strongholds, our Elite would have no question it is a coup against democracy. But for some reason our Elite having trouble seeing big picture here.
All of our major cities have websites. I imagine they post city planner job openings there or on job boards. Good luck!!
It’s not up to me, but as far as I’m concerned, welcome to Canada! (For the record, our immigration officials they have a different opinion.)
We currently have a housing shortage in many cities in Canada, but I, for one, wouldn’t stop you.
It won’t be long until all Americans will be required to pledge allegiance to Supreme Leader Trump every day.
First, they came for John Bolton And I did speak out Because even though I'm not a nutty right-wing warmonger with a ridiculous mustache, I am an American who is horrified by a simple-minded tyrant using our Justice Department to avenge his petty, personal grudges.
We need to reclaim the phrase "Trump Derangement Syndrome"
President Donald Trump called for Harvard University to pay a sweeping $500 million settlement to restore its federal funding, saying the elite university has been “very bad.” https://cnn.it/4lQz0jw
The extortion by the Mob Boss in Chief never ends.
But Obama put dijon mustard on his hamburger
Reminder 1: Ukraine didn't go into war. Russia forced them into war by invading Ukraine. Reminders 2-10: Trump is still a moron.
Kristi Noem says the administration is "going from city to city around this country and pressuring these politicians to get on board with keeping their people safe. What is going to be the story here in Washington can happen in Chicago, Boston, San Francisco ... "
Kristi Noem is particularly excited about the prospect of having more places where she can play dress-up for photo ops with the invading forces Trump has sent into cities.
Trump is right. Absolute monarchs have the right to do whatever they want. Wait. What?
There is a non-zero chance that Trump's staff creates videos in a studio of just things that will make him happy and feeds it onto his tv as if it's real news because he wouldn't be able to survive otherwise.
Reminder 1: Ukraine didn't go into war. Russia forced them into war by invading Ukraine. Reminders 2-10: Trump is still a moron.
Reminder 1: Ukraine didn't go into war. Russia forced them into war by invading Ukraine. Reminders 2-10: Trump is still a moron.
Trump: "They’re children but they’re criminals, and they're really bad criminals... You have 14-year-old kids who are EVIL! They're sick! And they have to be put away."
It's impressive that, at his age, Trump can remember his childhood that well.
But, yes, they're looking only at the records of officials they don't like. Because that's a prominent lesson in "Fascism for Dummies."
Trump would love to have "his" military brutally take over every city in the United States. Because that's what fascists do.
I fear we haven't got long now.
I'm part of the world. I'm not the least bit interested in Trump's reaction to the engagement of Swift & Kelce. Am I the only one?
Trump on Lisa Cook: "She seems to have had an infraction, and she can't have an infraction."
The man with 34 *felony* *convictions* says what?
Stalin could only have dreamed of having such toadies.
Trump probably has wet dreams because he does.
No, apart from the "eggs were through the roof" part, it was a joke. As to, "What is wrong with this man?," sorry the sun is expected to become a red giant and destroy all life on Earth in a few billion years, so there isn't enough time left to answer that question.
I will give Trump’s cabinet credit for this: If I were there, I’d need a bathroom break well before his cabinet secretaries all finished giving their near-perpetual, putrid praise of Trump. Do they all wear diapers?
"Fought for us to be at this table." All it takes to be at Trump's Cabinet table is to be the ultimate suck-up to him. It also helps if they were a Fox host and/or a complete idiot.
You are not giving, ad infinitum, infinite respect to Dear Leader. Off with your head!
I'm unclear on the rules. How do they determine the winner of the "Biggest Trump Suck-up Award?" And are the runners up named?
"It is illegal to be under the influence and on a boat." Send the troops out to patrol the Trump boat parades.
This is exciting. I always look forward to the pomp and circumstance of the ceremonial parade of the royal sycophants.
There's a non-zero chance that Trump thinks that, simply because it's in the capital, capital punishment is the only option. "It's the capital. How can you not use capital punishment? Some people are so stupid."
I seem to recall Trump saying a few times in the past that windmills are killing whales, so it's not surprising that RFK Jr. is repeating and elevating it, particularly considering that RFK Jr. is the most batshit crazy of Trump's administration—and he has stiff competition for that.
I seem to recall Trump saying a few times in the past that windmills are killing whales, so it's not surprising that RFK Jr. is repeating and elevating it, particularly considering that RFK Jr. is the most batshit crazy of Trump's administration—and he has stiff competition for that.
I don't believe for an instant that many, if any, people have told Trump they'd rather have a dictator. But, I'm reasonable sure that a lot of people have said, usually out of his earshot, that he's a fascist.
"This slob of a governor." Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.
I know about that, but he's killing wind turbines in the US far away from any of his golf courses. They've put a halt to an offshore wind turbine project that was almost complete. The economic cost will be huge.
Does anyone have a handle on the reason for Trump's insane, asinine obsession with what he calls windmills (wind turbines)? Did he, as a child, have a recurring nightmare about being chased by demon windmills?
Does anyone have a handle on the reason for Trump's insane, asinine obsession with what he calls windmills (wind turbines)? Did he, as a child, have a recurring nightmare about being chased by demon windmills?
"Eggs were through the roof when we came in. That's no good. People had to climb up onto the roof to get them. Some people were injured. And the eggs kept breaking when they went through the roof. But we put a stop to that as soon as I came in!! Eggs now remain firmly in the grocery store coolers."
“They have to give us magnets, if they don’t give us magnets, then we have to charge them 200% tariffs or something,” Trump told reporters after a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the White House on Monday.
"And if the 200% tariffs don't get me my magnets, I'll kick and scream and hold my breath until I turn blue!"
That's likely an understatement.
True, that.
Intel. NVIDIA. Apple. Coke. Cracker Barrel. US Steel. And more to come. @cnn.com www.cnn.com/2025/08/25/b...
Considering that Trump is trying to force companies to do his bidding, regardless of what’s best for their shareholders and customers, why would anyone continue to want to buy stocks of American companies?
There’s something to be said for Trump’s priorities. However, if I said it, this reply might get blocked for obscenities.
He'll likely try this, but I think the real danger comes after the 2026 midterms. Sure, they'll try to sway them with gerrymandering and "emergencies" that shut down polling places in key Democratic areas. But if Dems make real gains the current GOP majority can cry fraud and refuse to seat them.
A careful study of every populist episode since 1900 finds catastrophic consequences, which play out slowly. On average, incomes fall behind by nearly 15% over 15 years. For the U.S., this is a cost of about $13k per person per year. Over a lifetime, that's million bucks.
Huh. Reducing Americans’ incomes doesn’t seem like a good way of making America great again, does it?
Just casually laying the groundwork for violent repression of the opposition
But they get upset when you call them fascists. 🤷🏻
Trump has already used his office to extort concessions out of companies. If he takes shares in corporations and tries to use those as leverage to bend companies to his will for the benefit of him and his government, not for shareholders or customers, why would anyone still want to buy US stocks?
Trump has already used his office to extort concessions out of companies. If he takes shares in corporations and tries to use those as leverage to bend companies to his will for the benefit of him and his government, not for shareholders or customers, why would anyone still want to buy US stocks?
Fact check, please.
Throwing out people who helped to keep the economy going has consequences. Who knew?
As a Canadian, I admit to being thrilled by Canada now having a domestic source plant for the Moderna vaccine. I want to thank American taxpayers for making it possible. And it saddens me that the Trump administration is not letting them continue to benefit from it.
Howard Lutnick on CNBC indicates that the Trump administration will try to partially nationalize defense companies like Lockheed Martin
True, that. See, for example, Donald Trump.
Hard to convince younger generations, but for decades, Republicans went on and on about how two of the worst things imaginable were (1) state intervention in the market and (2) DC using federal troops against US states; both so bad the people should be ready for armed rebellion in case it happens.
It’s nice that Melania Trump is heading up an artificial intelligence initiative because there’s so little natural intelligence in her husband’s administration.
Looking at the Trump administration, it would be nice to have some artificial intelligence because they’re so little of the natural variety in it.