https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/05/politics/suriname-boat-strike-bradley Exclusive: Boat at center of double-tap strike controversy was meeting vessel headed to Suriname, admiral told lawmakers The alleged drug traffickers killed by the US military in a strike on September 2 were heading to link up with another, larger vessel that was bound for Suriname — a small South American country east of Venezuela – the admiral who oversaw the operation told lawmakers on Thursday, according to two sources with direct knowledge of his remarks. According to intelligence collected by US forces, the struck boat planned to “rendezvous” with the second vessel and transfer drugs to it, Adm. Frank Bradley said during the briefings, but the military was unable to locate the second vessel. Bradley argued there was still a possibility the drug shipment could have ultimately made its way from Suriname to the US, the sources said, telling lawmakers that justified striking the smaller boat even if it wasn’t directly heading to US shores at the time it was hit. US drug enforcement officials say that trafficking routes via Suriname are primarily destined for European markets. US-bound drug trafficking routes have been concentrated on the Pacific Ocean in recent years.
I listened to a former coast guard officer who said that in the past when they wanted to intercept a potential drug boat they would send a helicopter up with a sniper who would put a bullet in their engine. Once disabled the coast guard would board , search and arrest.
Oh Lumpy! With what looks like no consultation, Lumpy pardons Texas congresscritter Henry Cuellar (D). He was up on bribery charges. Strong case against him. He is that rare thing, a Democrat elected in Texas. Lumpy’s hairbrained scheme was to pardon him, and Cuellar would then run for his seat as a Republican. Nothing like a bit of bribery to offset a little bit of bribery. Which would then help the GOPers keep a majority in the House. But, Holy Corruption, Batman! The Republicans were already doing well, running against an indicted incumbent and didn’t need the assist. And then, more Holy Payback, Batman! Cuellar says, “gee, thanks for the pardon Lumpy, I am running for reelection, but still as a Democrat”. So Lumpy has taken to complaining about Cuellar’s lack of loyalty, double crossing, etc. Bit like calling the cops, telling them you were sold low grade, weak coke and you want your money back.
60,000 people, that’s 0.001% of the world’s population, control three times as much wealth as the entire bottom 50% of the world’s population. This is the type of shit that drives me crazy.
The US government doing all it can to persuade people not to visit the USA. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1dz0g2ykpeo Tourists from dozens of countries including the UK could be asked to provide a five-year social media history as a condition of entry to the United States, under a new proposal unveiled by American officials. The new condition would affect people from dozens of countries who are eligible to visit the US for 90 days without a visa, as long as they have filled out an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) form. Since returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump has moved to toughen US borders more generally - citing national security as a key reason. Analysts say the new plan could pose an obstacle to potential visitors, or harm their digital rights. The US expects a major influx of foreign tourists next year, as it hosts the men's football World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico, and for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The proposal document was filed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), of which the agency is part. US media reported that it appeared in the Federal Register, which is the official journal of the US government. The BBC has asked DHS for comment. The proposal says "the data element will require ESTA applicants to provide their social media from the last 5 years", without giving further details of which specific information will be required.
God Almighty - do these morons ever listen to themselves? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/10/trump-times-new-roman-font-return-state-department US diplomats have been ordered to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, with secretary of state Marco Rubio calling the Biden administration’s decision to adopt Calibri a “wasteful” diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters. The department under Rubio’s predecessor Antony Blinken switched to Calibri in 2023, claiming the modern sans-serif font was more accessible for people with disabilities because it did not have the decorative angular features and was the default in Microsoft products. But a state department cable dated 9 December sent to all US diplomatic posts said that typography shapes the professionalism of an official document and Calibri is informal compared to serif typefaces. “To restore decorum and professionalism to the Department’s written work products and abolish yet another wasteful DEIA program, the Department is returning to Times New Roman as its standard typeface,” the cable said. “This formatting standard aligns with the President’s One Voice for America’s Foreign Relations directive, underscoring the Department’s responsibility to present a unified, professional voice in all communications,” it added.
the Occupy Wall Street protests seem to have been forgotten, while the problem is 10,000x times worse.
Dissolve the government and hire some people who aren't iddddddiots or sycophants. I fixed it for them...
The world is changing. In response to evolving changes in the world Canada is planning to expand the army to 100,000 and a further 300,000 in reservists. Preparing for war? New Canadian military plan will grow reserves to 400,000 | Ottawa Citizen
possibly making sure it can defend itself from the absolutely shitshow that is the Disunited States (and maybe even its buddy Russia?).
Unfortunately, probably... they are actually being prudent given the current geopolitical environment. I wish we'd actually see US politicians focusing on this more. As much as many of them would prefer social media posting about cultural wedge issues, we really are in a time of potentially dramatic geopolitical change. Russia will end up in 2030 with more tanks (and most newly built) than they started with in their Ukraine invasion. They've completely re-tooled their economy and military industrial complex and they can make and use their weapons much more effectively than in 2022. They are going to be a military threat for Eastern Europe for the next decade at least, regardless of whether a cease-fire or peace agreement happens with Ukraine. Make no mistake, this is just the opening salvo in what is going on between Russia and NATO (or whatever replaces it). Russia under Putin is going to continue on this path, just as China under Xi will continue on their path to force re-patriation of Taiwan with mainland China. Both have consistent geopolitical goals of undermining and weaking US-led coalitions. Those are unlikely to change as long as they remain in power. Their geopolitical aims are strategically aligned, they want to upend the post-WW2 international status quo, where US-led international alliances have held sway - both militarily and economically. While history does not repeat itself, it does rhyme. A very similar scenario developed before WW1 and WW2. In WW1 Germany was recently unified from a plethora of small, weak royalty-based realms and in its new form was stymied in its ability to expand it's sphere of influence (much like Russia, today). Similarly in WW2, Japan was undergoing a massive industrialization which dramatically changed its capacity to exert influence on its neighbors. The US initially countered this by restricting access to key resources (iron, oil), but all this did was embolden Japan who came to think that their only way to change the system to one more amenable to their perceived needs was to upend the existing power balance. Does this look familiar? So yes, Canada is increasing it's defense budget... and no, as much as it is funny to blame this on Trump, that isn't it. It's because the chances of major international conflict are increasing over the next decade and we'd all be better focusing on that rather than what the most recent, stupid political provocation from one or another party is.
It has me seriously worried. Especially with a son who just turned 17…. We all need to start thinking more in terms of what is really important about liberal democracy, and stop fighting the little battles. There are political viewpoints that will try to take advantage of this new environment to gain political influence that they wouldn’t have access to normally. This is happening in the far-right political movements that we see in the US and in European countries right now. But it is just a matter of time before we see the same from far-left ideologies as well (the Soviet Union largely arose from economic and geopolitical disruption in Russia during WW1). This is just a small community, and I know we’re all really just here for discussion of sports…. I’m not going to keep harping on this, but if there is one thing you take home and listen to me about (non LFC-related), it’s this. The decisions we make, en masse, as voters in the next 2-3 national elections are likely to have profound effects on what is going to happen on a large scale geopolitically. None of us, individually, will be able to change any of this. But if you agree that hyper polarization in politics is a bad thing, that politicians are paying more attention to partisans than they are to national priorities is a bad thing, then please don’t just agree with me. Speak with your friends and colleagues about this. Ultimately that is the only way to make a difference.
Agree. Politics follows economics imo. Our politics have become polarized as our economic class distinctions have become polarized. It's the overriding issue to solve - the transition to a service economy has destroyed our stability.
True - but the primary factor (the vector-vehicle of social media aside) for this is the existence/growth of "political Trump". An existence that would not have basically cancer-grown enough, but rather more likely deceased from its own utter uncouthness and vapid vileness were it not for the will and drive of the bad actors of anti-american bent - whose wish was to weaken and Poison the US democratic state - and thus weakened, channel more such loosed poison into the others. E.G. - primarily Putin. (This makes Trump actually the biggest traitor in US History, but nothing will be done to the pig-b@stard for it.) And sadly, of course, people, like even a couple who used to frequent this board in the 1st Trump admin simply will do any kind of mental gymnastic in order to not confront the idea that they have been used by Vlad Putin, et al to wreck the basic premises of the United States via the amped up stupidity of its stupidest sectors.....
With AI looming over the horizon, and a bunch of tosspots who don't bother to even look for useful solutions in governance- it does not bode well... or look good - but we have to strive, as Hubba says
Tell your friends and colleagues. Don’t be shy in expressing what you think is wrong with our current politics… It isn’t left vs right, it is the inanity of the discussion itself. Neither of the supposed positions are without legitimate criticism…. But do either of them actually move us forward as a country to address the important issues that we need to deal with?
unfortunately, the propaganda channels try to tell people without the wits to analyze it for themselves that in the Western Democracies since WWII "high taxes on the rich and corporations translate into real redeemable benefits for the bottom 75% of the people and trickle down economics does not" This is not a left v right argument. This is a fact that is being absurdly lied about in the US. Yet it is continually framed as a left v right argument
This has been my #1 concern for the past 10(?) years. But most people seem more concerned with the "small" stuff. Sure, the "small" stuff is important and affects us all every day. But in the scheme of things, if some of the "small" stuff doesn't go as we would like, it is completely insignificant compared to a major war breaking out ...... when everyone gets royally fcuked.
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/19d6tqv8Sk/?mibextid=wwXIfr Awrite la. crimbo will never be the same.
On tv news they've been showing brief clips of All In The Family. It's astounding how, 50+ years later, the issues that truly remarkable program brought to light continue ripping the US, and huge parts of the world, apart: racism, sexism, wealth inequality, health care, abortion.
Lumpy strikes: “A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!"