Some of today’s news — This is in Rolling Stone — FAA Officials Ordered Staff to Find Funding for Elon Musk’s Starlink:
Elon Musk’s satellite business Starlink may not have officially taken over Verizon’s $2.4 billion contract with the Federal Aviation Administration yet to upgrade the systems it uses to manage America’s airspace. However, on Friday, FAA officials ordered staff to begin finding tens of millions of dollars for a Starlink deal, according to a source with knowledge of the FAA and two people briefed on the situation.
The sources note that these internal directives have mostly, if not entirely, been delivered verbally — which they say is unusual for a matter like this. The source with knowledge of the FAA tells Rolling Stone that it appears as though “someone does not want a paper trail.”
And this is from The Hill: White House backs Israel blocking aid to Gaza. I guess if the Palestinians won’t voluntarily get out of the way of Trump’s luxury real estate development deal for Gaza, they’ll have to be starved out.
And here’s another, from Politico EU — Russia celebrates US foreign policy that now ‘coincides’ with Moscow’s worldview. Of course it coincides with Moscow’s worldview. When Trump’s lips move, that’s really Putin’s voice you’re hearing.
The latest I’m hearing on Ukraine is that European leaders are still meeting in London to come together on a plan to aid Ukraine and stop Russia. From the New York Times:
Gathering in London at the invitation of Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, the leaders vowed to bolster support for President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine after his bitter clash with Mr. Trump last week. But several also expressed hope that the two could repair their breach, underscoring Europe’s reluctance to cast off a trans-Atlantic alliance that has kept the peace for 80 years.
“We are at a crossroads in history,” Mr. Starmer said after the meeting. “Europe must do the heavy lifting,” he declared, but added, “To support peace, and to succeed, this effort must have strong U.S. backing.”
I can tell them right now that Trump isn’t going to agree to anything that Putin doesn’t like.
Update: Here’s another one. Hegseth Orders Pentagon to Stop Offensive Cyberoperations Against Russia
I'm not disputing the accuracy of the Rolling Stone story, but I don't understand. The Verizon Contract was for 2.4 Billion. Muck is ordering execs at the FAA to flip over couch cushions to find "tens of millions." Money has been appropriated, I assume, for the Verizon contract. Musk hasn't come up with any plausible reason for the FAA to back out of the deal. Which means Verizon can sue for breach of contract. Muck will want more than what Verizin landed in the deal, and if Verizon is awarded a billion in compensatory damages, the system become MORE costly than the original. Which undermines "efficiency" and underscores "corruption."
If tens of millions are redirected in Musk's direction, and there's a crash because the legitimate target for those funds got stiffed, there will be hell to pay. When this or some other scandal threatens Trump, and Muxk was in on it, Trump will save his own ass. It may not be this scandal – it may be the gutting of FEMA or the collapse of Social Security. When the you-know-what hits the fan and even Republicans are incensed, Trump will say he didn't know about it. So who did it?
Musk thinks he's too important to be the scapegoat. So did Rudy.
Going off-topic, but it may become the main topic in the future… Trump will be shot down on some of these cases, all the way to the USSC. I can't predict which case, but the USSC won't become a total rubber stamp to Trump. In the case that the high court decided with a majority opinion that spells out the limits of presidential authority, Trump will, sooner or later, decide to ignore because it's an official act and Trump can't be prosecuted for official acts. And I see a flaw that could land Trump in jail, because after the USSC say's you can't.. and you do it anyway… if it's potentially criminal, the USSC that granted limited immunity will not apply. (No, I'm not a lawyer.)
When Trump becomes unpopular with 70% of the voting public, and I don't mean "We would not vote for Trump again." I mean "We want to test out tar and feathers." the usual immunity of a rich man or a VIP from government will not apply. If Muxk screws up Social Security and checks don't go out to tens of millions, even some MAGA will turn on Trump.
David Johansen died yesterday he was a punk rock pioneer founding member of the new york dolls. He was really one of a kind!
https://youtu.be/2aQTGqqXHw4?feature=shared
Are we in need of a clean-up. I did not open anything, but Trolls may have left a mess,
It sure looks like it.
My spam filter failed, sorry. I’ve cleaned the place up now.
thank you
Apparently GQP leader Johnson isn't in on the wholesale surrender to Putin? We've seen this before where they say something counter to Stump on Russia and then pull a Mz Lindsey 180 a day or do later. I'd bet that will happen again?
https://dailyboulder.com/mike-johnson-breaks-with-trump-calls-putin-a-threat-to-america-warns-of-new-axis-forming-on-presidents-watch/
Looks like someone is using the site to get some escort business going?
In Soviet Amerika, you can not have nice things said the sex pest Russian trolls.
Not Russian; probably Turkish, but still glad it's gone!
Where are the feckless Democrats in all this?
Well, to continue on the light at the end of the tunnel yarn, there is a light coming down the tunnel and it is an overflowing, out-of-control septic pumping truck and the Dems are, like as they say, scared deer in the face of said sh*t mobile's headlights. Oof, when that things goes off the rails, it is gonna be a sh*t storm.
Unable to get their face on the TV because all of the major news sources are controlled by right-wing billionaires? When the narrative is controlled by the enemy it is hard to change the narrative.
Compromised? No real proof except the lack of any sane reason for so many recent actions. In the felony trial the evidence showed the felon in chief showed no restraint in actions to win his first election at all costs and disregard for all laws and codes of fairness. This does not prove he offered Ukraine for Russian help in that election, but he does continue to deny Russian involvement at that time and even played the victim with Putin in the Oval Office show with Zelinski on Friday in his fit.
He and Putin are not victims. That is fact. To throw that lie in Zelinski's face in his fit was almost an admission of his compromised position. Yes, Putin plays the world stage to foster his interests. That is also a fact. It makes sense that Putin now expects Ukraine to be delivered to him as promised years ago. Europe can see this and know Putin wants more, much more. Putin may have made a deal years ago that the felon in chief cannot now or ever refuse. Putin's reach is long, and he follows no rules, laws, or codes. This is the truth Zelinski brought with him to the Oval Office. It is the truth they could not deny.
We need to accept that truth for what it is at this time, a plausible working hypothesis. If the pieces fit, it was a mistake to acquit. Admitting that now won't solve the pickle. Does Europe have a real James Bond to play? I think we are out of good moves.
TECHNICAL N OTE: My spam filter somehow cancelled itself overnight. That's why there were a bunch of stupid spam comments this morning. I have taken steps to reinstate the spam filter, but I'm not sure if they worked. I have requested technical help. In the meantime, I'll check occasionally to see if spam is showing up.
Oh my. A stock market melt-down and the SOTU address tomorrow night. This is going to take some serious spin. No chance for honesty. The market gave us that today.
Eloon has more conflicts of interest than Stump does by far and his are worth billions they make Stumps dirty deals look like monopoly money. Unfortunately, our corporate media is scared shitless to really report on any of it. Right off the bat he went after USAID, they just happened to have a couple IG investigations open regarding his starlink deals in Africa and elsewhere. You would have thought that would have been from page news every day for the last month, it was reported on but not widely, apparently 400 billion and owning twitter buys a shit load of silence. Eloon is using the same firehose tactic that Stump uses, overload the bobbleheads and they'll never catch up! They are selling us to Putin and cashing in on the way!
Alleged USAID Probe Into Starlink Raises Elon Musk Conflict Concerns – Newsweek
Retirement!
Grand Ennui
It keeps getting worse. Yesterday my emails included an article from the Atlantic. It's long. I read the whole thing, and while the events are familiar, the framework for understanding what's driving is a twist that's new to me, and rather enlightening. I don't think I'm able to do it justice in a post here, so I'm linking the article below. The general sense is this: strictly speaking, we are not looking at emerging oligarchy or autocracy. It is something from the past, called patrimonialism. Please read the article because it has a strong suggestion on resisting.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/corruption-trump-administration/681794/?gift=GTpUdOYAZvBRC4LGQsVvO3hpREpYIcSav5t2a62WcEI&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
Great article thanks! That's the best description of what Stump is up to I've read yet, I think lots of people feel this but just don't know what it is, patrimonialism. I loved the line: "But driving a strategic, coordinated message against Trump’s corruption is exactly what the opposition has not done. Instead, it has reacted to whatever is in the day’s news. By responding to daily fire drills and running in circles, it has failed to drive any message at all.", That is it in a nutshell, democrats need a singular messenger to get in front of the cameras everyday and offer a fifteen minute or so summary on the corruption that defines this administration. I had a comment about this a few weeks ago, I think Senator Kelly is the right messenger for this, he's a fighter pilot, astronaut and does not have the baggage (fair or unfair) associated with most of the democratic leadership. Get out there everyday and do something before it's too goddamn late.
Calling it a cult probably gives it the wrong valance, with an implication of something spiritual or mystical at its core that gives it at least a facade of benefit for its followers. Patrimonialism fits better for what we are seeing, with its core being the leader himself with a cadre of sycophants with limited competence. A self-promoting narcissist with a distorted and perverted elitism and a severe empathy deficit disorder compounded by a troubled relationship with reality and facts.
At the grass roots level, people see a government that ignores them and their problems. They thought he was one of them and understood how to make the "system" work for them. They thought their representatives worked for them and had control of the "system". Now they see their representative as adversarial working for only to please the leader and his whims. In place of a "system" that ignored them and favored aliens and immigrants, they got a "system" that deports immigrants and aliens and still ignores them. Ergo…rising levels of voter remorse. I am sure they have quite a few different names for what they are seeing. Most are shorter and also not very flattering.
I am working more with and adult-child trying to please a surrogate castrating father figure he sees in Putin who is the aggressor he must identify with, emulate, and please. I think it approximates what Swami used to refer to as a giant sack of shit. Patrimonialist just lacks the right ring and gets rejected by the spell checker. It has its points though.
That my friends, is my current view of the state of the union.
Yeah, and I'll add my strong support to your point about not using the word "patrimonialism". The word has no meaning in the general populace.
We need to say "Corruption, corruption, corruption" more than he says "Russia, Russia, Russia". We call out the corruption daily and show the receipts.
Also, from that article but equally important: We need to call out incompetence. Might even be more important than corruption. Corruption is too much subject to the risk of the other side muddying the water by saying "Everybody is corrupt. That's just the way business is done." Whereas incompetence in our federal government is a lot harder to make excuses for.
Our messages: Corruption & Incompetence.
So many words for it all. Rachel's 'shambolic' was a perfect description of this year's events, and Walz's "they're weird" tickled everybody last year. I am pleased when Ben Meiselas says "psycho Trump."
Bogged down in "malignant, vile and hateful," I have settled on the descriptive 'Ugly' for both Trump and Musk – love the poetry of the sound "ugh," and it rhymes with Russia.
Alas, I'll never have the chance to use my version of truth to cut down one of those monstrous egos, or to annoy any of their cultists.
For those interested, re. Drumph speech to congress, I got this from Senator Chris Murphy:
"Instead, I’ll be taking part in a counter-programming effort with a few colleagues and activists. We’ll watch the speech and respond in real time – cutting through the lies and BS you expect from Trump. You can join our livestream at 8:15 PM ET at.." MoveOn.org/TrumpBS.
I have to apologize about that link. I watched a little and had to turn it off. A fire hose of lies. I thought they were going to mute the real-time stuff and select some real honkers for real-time fact checking, but it didn't really work.
Sorry