HEADLINES: 2025

Re #160

Pundits are predicting that Trump is going to fire all the senior military leaders - that will ensure that the only ones left will be his lapdogs.

Shiftless2 said:

Re #160
"Pundits are predicting that Trump is going to fire all the senior military leaders - that will ensure that the only ones left will be his lapdogs." #161

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That's only alarming to the degree that it's accurate.
That's alarming !

For Trump's convenience,
to the potential extreme risk to the United States of America.

"Honor means sacrificing yourself for the benefit of others.
Dishonor means sacrificing others for the benefit of yourself." Lanny Davis,Special Counsel to President Clinton

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note:
It's baffling, implausible that a grown man (Trump) who benefits so conspicuously from these world-class military leaders is willing to hastily, arbitrarily threaten their tenure.

Moment thieves ransack US jewellery store​

Nearly $1 million worth of merchandise was stolen by about 25 people, according to police.
23 hrs ago / US & Canada

A group of nearly 25 people ransacked a jewellery store in San Ramon, California. Close to $1 million worth of merchandise was stolen during the armed robbery, according to the San Ramon Police Department. At least three individuals were armed with guns while others carried a mix of crowbars and pickaxes. Police arrested six adults and one minor in connection to the robbery. No injuries were reported.

Watch: Moment thieves ransack California jewellery store

Nearly $1 million worth of merchandise was stolen by about 25 people, according to police.

www.bbc.com

However choreographed / planned, this increasingly popular style of armed robbery bears some similarity to "flash mob".

How should government and corporate America respond?

Also note, jewelry stores are not the only target.

Rudy Giuliani and Dominion settle $1.3bn defamation suit over election lies​

US voting machine maker sued ex-New York mayor and Trump lawyer in 2021 for repeatedly calling election rigged

US voting machine maker sued ex-New York mayor and Trump lawyer in 2021 for repeatedly calling election rigged

Richard Luscombe

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and personal lawyer to Donald Trump, has settled a long-running defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over lies he told about the result of the 2020 presidential election.

Details of the settlement, revealed in federal court in Washington DC in a filing late on Friday, are confidential. The Colorado-based voting machine manufacturer sued Giuliani for $1.3bn in 2021, citing more than 50 instances in which he made false or defamatory statements insisting the election was rigged against Trump, with the integrity of Dominion’s machinery at the heart of the conspiracy theory.

Representatives for Giuliani and Dominion confirmed the resolution on Saturday but declined further comment when approached by CBS News. “The parties have agreed to a confidential settlement to this matter,” a Dominion spokesperson said in a short statement.

It is Dominion’s third payout in defamation lawsuits about the election resolved before reaching trial. The company reached a ....

Airbus A320 flies past Boeing 737 as most-delivered jetliner in history​

By Tim Hepher / October 7, 2025 10:14 AM GMT-5

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/airbus-a320-flies-past-boeing-737-most-delivered-jetliner-history-2025-10-07/

The U.S. is forfeiting its global leadership.

And what have we gained in exchange?

Z

No survivors in Tennessee explosion; cause of blast under investigation​

Jeanine Santucci Craig Shoup

There are no survivors of the blast that rocked a Tennessee explosives plant, authorities said on Oct. 11 as investigators work to determine the cause.

Authorities didn't give a number of deceased, but previously said 18 people were unaccounted for in the Oct. 10 blast at the Accurate Energetic Systems in Hickman County, Tennessee, about 60 miles west of Nashville. Investigators have searched through nearly every square inch of the scene, Humphreys County Sheriff Davis said at a news conference on Oct. 11.

"More devastating than we thought initially," Davis said. "It's a tremendous loss, a great loss."

The blast was heard for miles the morning of Oct. 10. The facility processes high-grade explosives for demolition, military and other uses, according to its website.

Eighteen people were missing in the explosion, authorities previously said. Earlier on Oct. 10, officials said 19 were unaccounted for but later said they located one person at home who was believed to be among the missing.

Investigators are working to test remains found in the wreckage to .....

Former President Joe Biden receiving radiation treatment for cancer, spokesperson says​

Shiftless2 said:

No survivors in Tennessee explosion #166​

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I'm surprised the crater wasn't deeper.

Shiftless2 said:

cause of blast under investigation #166​

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Well Sherlock, here's a lead for you:
The facility processes high-grade explosives for demolition, military and other uses ...

Shiftless2 said:

Former President Joe Biden receiving radiation treatment for cancer #167​

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This is not intended as an endorsement of the U.S. Republican party leadership, or political agenda.
But it's candid acknowledgement the Democrats might appear to be less ineffective if they'd remove the blindfolds each of them so assiduously maintains.

Former President Joe Biden receiving radiation treatment for cancer​

This is one of the lesser reasons the Dems. should never have dreamed of running charming Joe for a 2nd four year presidential term.
And cramming Kamala into the slot after the primaries was beneath slipshod.
The Democrats responsible for all that deserve 4 more years of President Trump.

The rest of the world, not so much.

Journalists turn in access badges, exit Pentagon rather than agree to new reporting rules​

DAVID BAUDER / Wed, October 15, 2025 at 4:27 PM EDT

Media Pentagon Rules​

Members of the Pentagon press corp carry their belongings out of the Pentagon after turning in their press credentials, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
NEW YORK (AP) — Dozens of reporters turned in access badges and exited the Pentagon on Wednesday rather than agree to government-imposed restrictions on their work, pushing journalists who cover the American military further from the seat of its power.
The nation's leadership called the new rules “common sense” to help regulate a “very disruptive” press.
News outlets were nearly unanimous in rejecting new rules imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that would leave journalists vulnerable to expulsion if they sought to report on information — classified or otherwise — that had not been approved by Hegseth for release.

Many of the reporters waited to leave together at a 4 p.m. deadline set by the Defense Department to get out of the building. As the hour approached, boxes of documents lined a Pentagon corridor and reporters carried chairs, a copying machine, books and old photos to the parking lot from suddenly abandoned workspaces. Shortly after 4, about 40 to 50 journalists left together after handing in badges. ...

It is unclear what practical impact the new rules will have, though news organizations vowed they’d continue robust coverage of the military no matter the vantage point.

Journalists turn in access badges, exit Pentagon rather than agree to new reporting rules

Dozens of reporters turned in access badges and exited the Pentagon on Wednesday rather than agree to government-imposed restrictions on their work, pushing journalists who cover the American military further from the seat of its power. The nation's leadership called the new rules “common...

news.yahoo.com

This news is extremely alarming !
a) BILL OF RIGHTS ARTICLE #1: Ratified December 15, 1791
Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ...

b) President Trump has already perpetrated piracy / acts of war. His bombing raid on Iran may seem a distant memory for some. More recently, vessels allegedly linked to Venezuela destroyed at sea, killing all aboard.

c) Trump has already publicly announced his territorial ambitions for Panama, Canada, and Greenland. Would conquest of any of these be made less troublesome after suppressing domestic news reporting on the U.S. military?

d) President Trump is not only reportedly the only convicted felon to serve as president. Trump is also disqualified from the office he holds for violating section #3 of article #14:


This news is extremely alarming !

Americans brand Trump a ‘dangerous dictator’ in scathing new poll​

John L. Micek / Thu, October 23, 2025 at 9:47 AM GMT-5
More than half of all Americans have branded President Donald Trump a “dangerous dictator,” who needs to be reined in before he destroys American democracy.
Fifty-six percent of respondents to the latest American Values Survey, released by the Public Religion Research Institute on Wednesday gave that answer.
That’s up from the 52% who responded the same way in March.
Forty-one percent of respondents told pollsters they believe Trump, who has dispatched soldiers to American cities amid a hardline immigration crackdown and launched prosecutions of his political opponents, is a “strong leader who should be given the power he needs to restore America’s greatness.”

Americans brand Trump a ‘dangerous dictator’ in scathing new poll

Most Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction as President Donald Trump closes in on the end of the first year of his second term, according to a new poll.

www.yahoo.com

note:
Being a "dangerous dictator" and a "strong leader" are not mutually exclusive.
Whether Trump is most accurately described as a "dictator" is subject to discussion. Who would deny President Trump's style is dictatorial?

sear said:

Being a "dangerous dictator" and a "strong leader" are not mutually exclusive.

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That can be said about a lot of people thru the years. First one that comes to mind is Stalin, followed by Hitler, followed by ....

Shiftless2 said:

"Stalin" S2 #171

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That's the example that comes to my mind.
Stalin was noted for his "purges", where he'd execute / exterminate those he didn't trust, not by the dozens, but reportedly by the millions.

Trump's not quite there yet. But demanding loyalty of his senior military commanders, and dismissing / retiring those unwilling to comply is close enough to draw alarm. Hegseth's imposition on those with Pentagon press pass corroborates the point.

Therein lies a danger of the existence of hyperbole.
In the rare cases where the reality is extreme, an objectively accurate disclosure of the facts can resemble, and may be mistaken for hyperbole.

Two weeks ago if you'd been told before the end of October President Trump would demolish the East wing of the white house, would it have been mistaken for hyperbole?

hy·per·bo·le (hī-pûrbə-lē)
n.
A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, as in I could sleep for a year or This book weighs a ton.
[Latin hyperbolē, from Greek huperbolē, excess, from huperballein, to exceed : huper, beyond; see HYPER- + ballein, to throw; see gwelə- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.

The following FOX cartoon addresses the NYC mayor's election: