America

[Puja]

Ah, but you see she had pronouns in her bio and there's unconfirmed rumour (or, as we like to call it nowadays, fact) that her social media says she was dating a woman. Fox News is already reporting it. So she's basically an extremist antifa leftist terrorist and, as we know, that makes her not a human being.

Doesn't matter if you kill an innocent white woman if you can paint her as a race traitor. Fascism! Wooo!

Puja

I'm sure I'm showing my age here, but... aren't you supposed to fabricate all that BEFORE murdering her?

That would imply that anyone has any kind of plan or thought process to this. Hells, they're so disconnected and disorganised that the ICE officer who did the murdering actually fled the state, apparently under the misapprehension that there was some danger of him being held accountable for his crime. Poor schmuck must've felt so embarrassed when he came back and was razzed by his teammates for running away for no reason! Frankly, he's the real victim here.

Seriously though, despite Fox's best efforts it will still be harder to stop white moms (and other standard issue Americans) sympathising with this one than with George Floyd. And a lot of white moms voted Trump (not as many as white dads but still, a lot).

I am worried that you are still thinking in the old paradigm. Trump owns a secret police now. He has loyallists in charge of every branch of government and at every level, as well as all the compliant judges that he planted in his first term, and the Supreme Court in his pocket. Any states with a Republican legislature are already having their electoral maps gerrymandered to shit and their electoral rolls cut to ribbons. It doesn't matter if he loses a chunk of white women, because he's already tilted the next election in his favour. And that's before his pet television channel presents any opposition as radical communists out to steal your toothbrush, and before his internet billionaires suppress any opposition messaging and advertising, and before his secret police are sent to "monitor" the polling stations and intimidate/disappear anyone who might not be of a lily-white hue. And, in the unlikely chance that he does lose, he can scream "FRAUD!!!" and either go to his packed courts to overturn it, or just flat-out refuse to accept the new Congress representatives - physically barring them from taking office with his goons and claiming he's upholding democracy by stopping these fraudulent officials.

And that's even assuming that a large number of Americans think he's done anything wrong here and would vote against him in the first place.

I genuinely don't see how this gets resolved. Certainly he won't be doing anything so prosaic as stepping down at the end of his second term - he'll run again. Maybe his death will unpick some of it? Vance certainly is a charismaless couch-fucker and might not be able to get away with the same things that Trump does and it's not like anyone else has the capability to do any better, but the risk is that too much damage has already been done to the institutions and Vance may be able to keep power, which will be worse cause he's not senile.

I genuinely wouldn't be surprised to see states starting to think about seceding in the case of rigged 2026 and 2028 leading to a third Trump term, especially the New England/New York area and California. Would Trump stand for that though, especially given the amount of the US economy that's in those states?

The problem in the US is that BOTH Republicans and Democrats have spent so long and so much money labeling any real alternatives as enemies of the state and communists that all those people who voted Trump but wouldn't again...will never vote for any of the alternatives.

And because of gun laws, there cannot be any large scale protests, as the MAGA crowd will just turn up with MP40s and murder a bunch of protesters.

IMO, we need to cut them out of our lives. The question is how can we do that while causing the least damage to our own people? And do we have the leadership with the balls to actually do what needs to be done?

And I fear, with people like Macron in positions of power...we will simply let things happen and be caught in the crossfire.

I had huge hopes for my children and their generation. But now I fear for the world they will inherit.

Which them do you mean?

I believe Stom is referring to the US of A with that *them*. I do tend to agree in terms of foreign policy - I don't think the USA is saveable and, going forwards, is more likely to be someone that we need to defend ourselves from than someone we trust to defend us. The human cost is going to be terrible though.

Puja

[Puja]

Jonathan Pie is, as always, very cathartic, but it's terrifying to hear the subject matter. I miss when he was just getting annoyed at Boris:



Puja

[Stom]

The problem in the US is that BOTH Republicans and Democrats have spent so long and so much money labeling any real alternatives as enemies of the state and communists that all those people who voted Trump but wouldn't again...will never vote for any of the alternatives.

And because of gun laws, there cannot be any large scale protests, as the MAGA crowd will just turn up with MP40s and murder a bunch of protesters.

IMO, we need to cut them out of our lives. The question is how can we do that while causing the least damage to our own people? And do we have the leadership with the balls to actually do what needs to be done?

And I fear, with people like Macron in positions of power...we will simply let things happen and be caught in the crossfire.

I had huge hopes for my children and their generation. But now I fear for the world they will inherit.

Which them do you mean?

America. Sorry.

[Stom]

Ah, but you see she had pronouns in her bio and there's unconfirmed rumour (or, as we like to call it nowadays, fact) that her social media says she was dating a woman. Fox News is already reporting it. So she's basically an extremist antifa leftist terrorist and, as we know, that makes her not a human being.

Doesn't matter if you kill an innocent white woman if you can paint her as a race traitor. Fascism! Wooo!

Puja

I'm sure I'm showing my age here, but... aren't you supposed to fabricate all that BEFORE murdering her?

That would imply that anyone has any kind of plan or thought process to this. Hells, they're so disconnected and disorganised that the ICE officer who did the murdering actually fled the state, apparently under the misapprehension that there was some danger of him being held accountable for his crime. Poor schmuck must've felt so embarrassed when he came back and was razzed by his teammates for running away for no reason! Frankly, he's the real victim here.

Seriously though, despite Fox's best efforts it will still be harder to stop white moms (and other standard issue Americans) sympathising with this one than with George Floyd. And a lot of white moms voted Trump (not as many as white dads but still, a lot).

I am worried that you are still thinking in the old paradigm. Trump owns a secret police now. He has loyallists in charge of every branch of government and at every level, as well as all the compliant judges that he planted in his first term, and the Supreme Court in his pocket. Any states with a Republican legislature are already having their electoral maps gerrymandered to shit and their electoral rolls cut to ribbons. It doesn't matter if he loses a chunk of white women, because he's already tilted the next election in his favour. And that's before his pet television channel presents any opposition as radical communists out to steal your toothbrush, and before his internet billionaires suppress any opposition messaging and advertising, and before his secret police are sent to "monitor" the polling stations and intimidate/disappear anyone who might not be of a lily-white hue. And, in the unlikely chance that he does lose, he can scream "FRAUD!!!" and either go to his packed courts to overturn it, or just flat-out refuse to accept the new Congress representatives - physically barring them from taking office with his goons and claiming he's upholding democracy by stopping these fraudulent officials.

And that's even assuming that a large number of Americans think he's done anything wrong here and would vote against him in the first place.

I genuinely don't see how this gets resolved. Certainly he won't be doing anything so prosaic as stepping down at the end of his second term - he'll run again. Maybe his death will unpick some of it? Vance certainly is a charismaless couch-fucker and might not be able to get away with the same things that Trump does and it's not like anyone else has the capability to do any better, but the risk is that too much damage has already been done to the institutions and Vance may be able to keep power, which will be worse cause he's not senile.

I genuinely wouldn't be surprised to see states starting to think about seceding in the case of rigged 2026 and 2028 leading to a third Trump term, especially the New England/New York area and California. Would Trump stand for that though, especially given the amount of the US economy that's in those states?

The problem in the US is that BOTH Republicans and Democrats have spent so long and so much money labeling any real alternatives as enemies of the state and communists that all those people who voted Trump but wouldn't again...will never vote for any of the alternatives.

And because of gun laws, there cannot be any large scale protests, as the MAGA crowd will just turn up with MP40s and murder a bunch of protesters.

IMO, we need to cut them out of our lives. The question is how can we do that while causing the least damage to our own people? And do we have the leadership with the balls to actually do what needs to be done?

And I fear, with people like Macron in positions of power...we will simply let things happen and be caught in the crossfire.

I had huge hopes for my children and their generation. But now I fear for the world they will inherit.

Which them do you mean?

I believe Stom is referring to the US of A with that *them*. I do tend to agree in terms of foreign policy - I don't think the USA is saveable and, going forwards, is more likely to be someone that we need to defend ourselves from than someone we trust to defend us. The human cost is going to be terrible though.

Puja

Throughout modern history, nearly every dictator was either communist or anti-business, because they saw the threat that these people posed to their reign.

Because capitalism is vehemently opposed to oligarchy. It cannot survive when wealth and power is concentrated.

And yet people still believe that we're living in a capitalist world.

Insanity.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Throughout modern history, nearly every dictator was either communist or anti-business, because they saw the threat that these people posed to their reign.

Because capitalism is vehemently opposed to oligarchy. It cannot survive when wealth and power is concentrated.

And yet people still believe that we're living in a capitalist world.

Insanity.

I agree with you about communism, but capitalism? You'd need a very narrow definition of capitalism to think that.

Per Wikipedia: Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit.

By that definition, Hitler, Pinochet and Putin (and would-be dictator Trump) were or are capitalists. (Mussolini is a borderline case, running a corporatist state initially but more free-market as time went on).

Capitalism easily slides into oligarchy (or, I would say, oligarchic capitalism). In fact, strong laws are needed to prevent it from happening naturally over time.

[Son of Mathonwy]

The problem in the US is that BOTH Republicans and Democrats have spent so long and so much money labeling any real alternatives as enemies of the state and communists that all those people who voted Trump but wouldn't again...will never vote for any of the alternatives.

And because of gun laws, there cannot be any large scale protests, as the MAGA crowd will just turn up with MP40s and murder a bunch of protesters.

IMO, we need to cut them out of our lives. The question is how can we do that while causing the least damage to our own people? And do we have the leadership with the balls to actually do what needs to be done?

And I fear, with people like Macron in positions of power...we will simply let things happen and be caught in the crossfire.

I had huge hopes for my children and their generation. But now I fear for the world they will inherit.

Which them do you mean?

America. Sorry.

Wasn't sure if you were talking about MAGA or maybe mainstream parties.

Agreed, at least to the extent that we need to become independent of them. We're reliant on a country that is now spectacularly unreliable. This can't go on.

In particular, we need to remove our reliance on their military tech and their IT (social media and AI). If we get it all from them, they have us over a barrel. We need to work closely with the EU. We need to be sure that our nukes are independent (it is unclear). We need independent anti-missile defences and to limit our purchases of F-35s. We need to at least be thinking about independent Facebook, Twitter/X, YouTube and openAI alternatives and should be pushing Linux so we're not forced to go to MS or Apple or Google/Android.

[Stom]

Throughout modern history, nearly every dictator was either communist or anti-business, because they saw the threat that these people posed to their reign.

Because capitalism is vehemently opposed to oligarchy. It cannot survive when wealth and power is concentrated.

And yet people still believe that we're living in a capitalist world.

Insanity.

I agree with you about communism, but capitalism? You'd need a very narrow definition of capitalism to think that.

Per Wikipedia: Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit.

By that definition, Hitler, Pinochet and Putin (and would-be dictator Trump) were or are capitalists. (Mussolini is a borderline case, running a corporatist state initially but more free-market as time went on).

Capitalism easily slides into oligarchy (or, I would say, oligarchic capitalism). In fact, strong laws are needed to prevent it from happening naturally over time.

Get a definition that isn’t from Wikipedia, then

The IMF, for example.

https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fa ... basics.htm

I find myself going mad, though, looking at them, because it seems that a lot of sources have been edited to add that tripe you quoted from Wikipedia: that government cannot be involved. When the founding fathers of capitalism wanted government control over markets to ensure competition, because competition was the most important tenet of capitalism.

That these same sources all say that socialism wants the control of everything under the state just shows the continuing use of misinformation by the far right. Because that definition of socialism as communism light was not the definition I was taught when learning it in the early 2000s. It’s not the definition in the textbooks, and capitalism isn’t described that way.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Throughout modern history, nearly every dictator was either communist or anti-business, because they saw the threat that these people posed to their reign.

Because capitalism is vehemently opposed to oligarchy. It cannot survive when wealth and power is concentrated.

And yet people still believe that we're living in a capitalist world.

Insanity.

I agree with you about communism, but capitalism? You'd need a very narrow definition of capitalism to think that.

Per Wikipedia: Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit.

By that definition, Hitler, Pinochet and Putin (and would-be dictator Trump) were or are capitalists. (Mussolini is a borderline case, running a corporatist state initially but more free-market as time went on).

Capitalism easily slides into oligarchy (or, I would say, oligarchic capitalism). In fact, strong laws are needed to prevent it from happening naturally over time.

Get a definition that isn’t from Wikipedia, then

The IMF, for example.

https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fa ... basics.htm

I find myself going mad, though, looking at them, because it seems that a lot of sources have been edited to add that tripe you quoted from Wikipedia: that government cannot be involved. When the founding fathers of capitalism wanted government control over markets to ensure competition, because competition was the most important tenet of capitalism.

That these same sources all say that socialism wants the control of everything under the state just shows the continuing use of misinformation by the far right. Because that definition of socialism as communism light was not the definition I was taught when learning it in the early 2000s. It’s not the definition in the textbooks, and capitalism isn’t described that way.

Interesting link. Somewhere in the middle of it you will see:

More recently, economists have identified four types of capitalism distinguished according to the role of entrepreneurship (the process of starting businesses) in driving innovation and the institutional setting in which new ideas are put into place to spur economic growth (Baumol, Litan, and Schramm, 2007).

In state-guided capitalism, the government decides which sectors will grow. Initially motivated by a desire to foster growth, this type of capitalism has several pitfalls: excessive investment, picking the wrong winners, susceptibility to corruption, and difficulty withdrawing support when it is no longer appropriate. Oligarchic capitalism is oriented toward protecting and enriching a very narrow fraction of the population. Economic growth is not a central objective, and countries with this variety have a great deal of inequality and corruption.

Big-firm capitalism takes advantage of economies of scale. This type is important for mass production of products. Entrepreneurial capitalism produces breakthroughs like the automobile, telephone, and computer. These innovations are usually the product of individuals and new firms. However, it takes big firms to mass-produce and market new products, so a mix of big-firm and entrepreneurial capitalism seems best. This is the kind that characterizes the United States more than any other country.

I'm not understanding why you think the Wikipedia quote is tripe (that government can't be involved?). In the Capitalism page from which it comes we see:

The degree of competition in markets and the role of intervention and regulation, as well as the scope of state ownership, vary across different models of capitalism

Strictly speaking almost all economies are Mixed, ie they include aspects of capitalism and socialism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_economy

So it depends on your understanding of the definition of capitalism. If you think that any element of socialism (eg state intervention) invalidates it as capitalism, then there are very few capitalist economies, perhaps none at all. I think the definition is wider than that (as Wikipedia and the IMF seem to say), which means that capitalism can encompass oligarchic or dictatorial or monarchic regimes.

As a slight aside, a measure of state intervention, ie regulation, is required in order to maintain free markets, an important feature of capitalism.

[Stom]

I agree with you about communism, but capitalism? You'd need a very narrow definition of capitalism to think that.

Per Wikipedia: Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit.

By that definition, Hitler, Pinochet and Putin (and would-be dictator Trump) were or are capitalists. (Mussolini is a borderline case, running a corporatist state initially but more free-market as time went on).

Capitalism easily slides into oligarchy (or, I would say, oligarchic capitalism). In fact, strong laws are needed to prevent it from happening naturally over time.

Get a definition that isn’t from Wikipedia, then

The IMF, for example.

https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fa ... basics.htm

I find myself going mad, though, looking at them, because it seems that a lot of sources have been edited to add that tripe you quoted from Wikipedia: that government cannot be involved. When the founding fathers of capitalism wanted government control over markets to ensure competition, because competition was the most important tenet of capitalism.

That these same sources all say that socialism wants the control of everything under the state just shows the continuing use of misinformation by the far right. Because that definition of socialism as communism light was not the definition I was taught when learning it in the early 2000s. It’s not the definition in the textbooks, and capitalism isn’t described that way.

Interesting link. Somewhere in the middle of it you will see:

More recently, economists have identified four types of capitalism distinguished according to the role of entrepreneurship (the process of starting businesses) in driving innovation and the institutional setting in which new ideas are put into place to spur economic growth (Baumol, Litan, and Schramm, 2007).

In state-guided capitalism, the government decides which sectors will grow. Initially motivated by a desire to foster growth, this type of capitalism has several pitfalls: excessive investment, picking the wrong winners, susceptibility to corruption, and difficulty withdrawing support when it is no longer appropriate. Oligarchic capitalism is oriented toward protecting and enriching a very narrow fraction of the population. Economic growth is not a central objective, and countries with this variety have a great deal of inequality and corruption.

Big-firm capitalism takes advantage of economies of scale. This type is important for mass production of products. Entrepreneurial capitalism produces breakthroughs like the automobile, telephone, and computer. These innovations are usually the product of individuals and new firms. However, it takes big firms to mass-produce and market new products, so a mix of big-firm and entrepreneurial capitalism seems best. This is the kind that characterizes the United States more than any other country.

I'm not understanding why you think the Wikipedia quote is tripe (that government can't be involved?). In the Capitalism page from which it comes we see:

The degree of competition in markets and the role of intervention and regulation, as well as the scope of state ownership, vary across different models of capitalism

Strictly speaking almost all economies are Mixed, ie they include aspects of capitalism and socialism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_economy

So it depends on your understanding of the definition of capitalism. If you think that any element of socialism (eg state intervention) invalidates it as capitalism, then there are very few capitalist economies, perhaps none at all. I think the definition is wider than that (as Wikipedia and the IMF seem to say), which means that capitalism can encompass oligarchic or dictatorial or monarchic regimes.

As a slight aside, a measure of state intervention, ie regulation, is required in order to maintain free markets, an important feature of capitalism.

Wikipedia has been edited again. Seems there may have been another editing war. Luckily for us, Wikipedia is owned by someone who values the truth.

Saying that capitalism is DEPENDENT UPON the lack of state intervention is dangerous, as it promotes the idea that any state involvement is inherently wrong, if you take capitalism to be the "only form" of society that works.

I tend to believe that.

BUT...

Yes, there are many forms of capitalism, but Adam Smith - he derided by the left, and praised by the right as the father of capitalism - said that capitalism cannot happen without competition.

And competition cannot happen if there are monopolies or duopolies, like we have in most sectors today. The fact the barriers toward these monopolies have been broken down should have been enough sign that capitalism as we knew it was over.

As it is, capitalism NEEDS competition. Capitalism can have a varying level of state control and/or regulation. Capitalism cannot function if there is no way to check and balance it, either through the market or through control or regulation.

So the fact AI companies can eat their own tails and people can get richer and richer off that, while the average person gets poorer and poorer is fundamentally breaking the system. And people like Trump are using that to become incredibly wealthy.

While we in the EU stand by and just let it happen like 450 million lemmings all jumping off the bloody cliff.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Get a definition that isn’t from Wikipedia, then

The IMF, for example.

https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fa ... basics.htm

I find myself going mad, though, looking at them, because it seems that a lot of sources have been edited to add that tripe you quoted from Wikipedia: that government cannot be involved. When the founding fathers of capitalism wanted government control over markets to ensure competition, because competition was the most important tenet of capitalism.

That these same sources all say that socialism wants the control of everything under the state just shows the continuing use of misinformation by the far right. Because that definition of socialism as communism light was not the definition I was taught when learning it in the early 2000s. It’s not the definition in the textbooks, and capitalism isn’t described that way.

Interesting link. Somewhere in the middle of it you will see:

More recently, economists have identified four types of capitalism distinguished according to the role of entrepreneurship (the process of starting businesses) in driving innovation and the institutional setting in which new ideas are put into place to spur economic growth (Baumol, Litan, and Schramm, 2007).

In state-guided capitalism, the government decides which sectors will grow. Initially motivated by a desire to foster growth, this type of capitalism has several pitfalls: excessive investment, picking the wrong winners, susceptibility to corruption, and difficulty withdrawing support when it is no longer appropriate. Oligarchic capitalism is oriented toward protecting and enriching a very narrow fraction of the population. Economic growth is not a central objective, and countries with this variety have a great deal of inequality and corruption.

Big-firm capitalism takes advantage of economies of scale. This type is important for mass production of products. Entrepreneurial capitalism produces breakthroughs like the automobile, telephone, and computer. These innovations are usually the product of individuals and new firms. However, it takes big firms to mass-produce and market new products, so a mix of big-firm and entrepreneurial capitalism seems best. This is the kind that characterizes the United States more than any other country.

I'm not understanding why you think the Wikipedia quote is tripe (that government can't be involved?). In the Capitalism page from which it comes we see:

The degree of competition in markets and the role of intervention and regulation, as well as the scope of state ownership, vary across different models of capitalism

Strictly speaking almost all economies are Mixed, ie they include aspects of capitalism and socialism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_economy

So it depends on your understanding of the definition of capitalism. If you think that any element of socialism (eg state intervention) invalidates it as capitalism, then there are very few capitalist economies, perhaps none at all. I think the definition is wider than that (as Wikipedia and the IMF seem to say), which means that capitalism can encompass oligarchic or dictatorial or monarchic regimes.

As a slight aside, a measure of state intervention, ie regulation, is required in order to maintain free markets, an important feature of capitalism.

Wikipedia has been edited again. Seems there may have been another editing war. Luckily for us, Wikipedia is owned by someone who values the truth.

Saying that capitalism is DEPENDENT UPON the lack of state intervention is dangerous, as it promotes the idea that any state involvement is inherently wrong, if you take capitalism to be the "only form" of society that works.

I tend to believe that.

BUT...

Yes, there are many forms of capitalism, but Adam Smith - he derided by the left, and praised by the right as the father of capitalism - said that capitalism cannot happen without competition.

And competition cannot happen if there are monopolies or duopolies, like we have in most sectors today. The fact the barriers toward these monopolies have been broken down should have been enough sign that capitalism as we knew it was over.

As it is, capitalism NEEDS competition. Capitalism can have a varying level of state control and/or regulation. Capitalism cannot function if there is no way to check and balance it, either through the market or through control or regulation.

So the fact AI companies can eat their own tails and people can get richer and richer off that, while the average person gets poorer and poorer is fundamentally breaking the system. And people like Trump are using that to become incredibly wealthy.

While we in the EU stand by and just let it happen like 450 million lemmings all jumping off the bloody cliff.

I'm not sure what edit you're referring to in Wikipedia. What changed?

You said capitalism is vehemently opposed to oligarchy. It cannot survive when wealth and power is concentrated.

I'm just pointing out that you need a quite narrow definition of capitalism to believe that, narrower than on the IMF page you showed me, because the IMF talks about oligarchic capitalism as being a form of capitalism. I'm not disagreeing with you on the evils of oligarchy but I think what you say about capitalism is misleading because of your narrow definition of the word.

Oligarchic capitalism, as we see in Russia, as we see in the USA, is s very bad thing, and is a step on the way to feudalism or some other oppressive system. Whether we consider it capitalism or not is just a question of how wide is the meaning of the word. It's probably misleading to think of any country as totally capitalist or socialist or oligarchic or authoritarian. Most of the time they are some mix of these and other things.

[In the last few decades, economists have been quite successful at claiming that the West is Capitalist (full stop) and that anything worthy of the name socialist should be reduced or expunged completely and that its name should not be used to describe socialist things in the West (eg the NHS). Thus the definition of capitalism has expanded so that it seems easier to describe the UK as a capitalist country than a socialist one (despite the fact that it's a mixed economy with capitalist and socialist elements). This has probably helped the neoliberal cause by making any argument for socialist measures sound like communism.]

[paddy no 11]

Nailed it on that last paragraph SOM

[Which Tyler]

Who is Sasha Riley and what’s behind the viral testimony audio of alleged Epstein survivor? Bad news for Trump due to…
Audio recordings attributed to alleged Epstein survivor Sasha Riley have gone viral, claiming child trafficking and abuse linked to the Trump/Epstein network.

...
Sascha (Riley) Barros, who was a victim of sex trafficking at the age of nine to the age of 13 by Epstein, Trump and others, has publicly called for the release of his sworn, filmed depositions provided years ago. In his testimony, Sascha (Riley) Barros recounted experiencing severe trauma, including being raped by Donald Trump at the age of twelve and witnessing violent acts known as Snuffing against other underage victims associated with Jeffrey Epstein. Sascha reported that during his encounters with Trump, he was subjected to physical violence, including being choked unconscious on multiple occasions while these incidents were recorded.




NB: These accusations are extreme, so worth noting that I don't know how reliable either Barros or Voldeng are. News24Online also include the rider "independent verification of these allegations is not yet available"

[Puja]

Who is Sasha Riley and what’s behind the viral testimony audio of alleged Epstein survivor? Bad news for Trump due to…
Audio recordings attributed to alleged Epstein survivor Sasha Riley have gone viral, claiming child trafficking and abuse linked to the Trump/Epstein network.

...
Sascha (Riley) Barros, who was a victim of sex trafficking at the age of nine to the age of 13 by Epstein, Trump and others, has publicly called for the release of his sworn, filmed depositions provided years ago. In his testimony, Sascha (Riley) Barros recounted experiencing severe trauma, including being raped by Donald Trump at the age of twelve and witnessing violent acts known as Snuffing against other underage victims associated with Jeffrey Epstein. Sascha reported that during his encounters with Trump, he was subjected to physical violence, including being choked unconscious on multiple occasions while these incidents were recorded.




NB: These accusations are extreme, so worth noting that I don't know how reliable either Barros or Voldeng are. News24Online also include the rider "independent verification of these allegations is not yet available"

Welp. Cuba's fucked.

Puja

[Which Tyler]

As we all saw coming...


Trump says the US ‘shouldn’t even have an election’ in 2026 because of all his accomplishments
Trump expressed frustration that his party could lose the House or Senate in the upcoming midterms

[Son of Mathonwy]

Hope the UK and EU grow a pair in the face of Trump's tariff threats over Greenland. If not now then when?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/ ... -greenland

[Which Tyler]

I owe my Trump-supporting friends an apology. I’ve been critical of the Trump presidency and am still exhausted from the experience. But to be fair, President Trump wasn’t that bad, other than when:

• He incited an insurrection against the government
• Mismanaged a pandemic that killed nearly half a million Americans
• Separated children from their families, and lost those children in the bureaucracy
• Tear-gassed peaceful protesters on Lafayette Square so he could hold a photo op holding a Bible in front of a church
• Tried to block all Muslims from entering the country
• Got impeached, got impeached again
• Had the worst jobs record of any president in modern history
• Pressured Ukraine to dig dirt on Joe Biden
• Fired the FBI director for investigating his ties to Russia
• Bragged about firing the FBI director on TV
• Took Vladimir Putin’s word over the US intelligence community
• Diverted military funding to build his wall
• Caused the longest government shutdown in US history
• Called Black Lives Matter a “symbol of hate"
• times (probably an underestimate, even if keeping it to the last decade)
• Banned transgender people from serving in the military
• Ejected reporters from the White House briefing room who asked tough questions
• Vetoed the defence funding bill because it renamed military bases named for Confederate soldiers
• Refused to release his tax returns
• Increased the national debt by nearly $8 trillion
• Had three of the highest annual trade deficits in U.S. history
• Called veterans and soldiers who died in combat losers and suckers
• Coddled the leader of Saudi Arabia after he ordered the execution and dismembering of a US-based journalist
• Refused to concede the 2020 election
• Hired his unqualified daughter and son-in-law to work in the White House
• Walked out of an interview with Lesley Stahl
• Called neo-Nazis “very fine people”
• Suggested that people should inject bleach into their bodies to fight COVID
• Abandoned our allies the Kurds to Turkey
• Pushed through massive tax cuts for the wealthiest but balked at helping working Americans
• Incited anti-lockdown protestors in several states at the height of the pandemic
• Withdrew the US from the Paris climate accords
• Withdrew the US from the Iranian nuclear deal
• Withdrew the US from the Trans Pacific Partnership which was designed to block China’s advances
• Insulted his own Cabinet members on Twitter
• Pushed the leader of Montenegro out of the way during a photo op
• Failed to reiterate US commitment to defending NATO allies
• Called Haiti and African nations “shithole” countries
• Called the city of Baltimore the “worst in the nation"
• Claimed that he single handedly brought back the phrase “Merry Christmas” even though it hadn’t gone anywhere
• Forced his Cabinet members to praise him publicly like some cult leader
• Believed he should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
• Berated and belittled his hand-picked Attorney General when he recused himself from the Russia probe
• Suggested the US should buy Greenland
• Colluded with Mitch McConnell to push through federal judges and two Supreme Court justices after supporting efforts to prevent his predecessor from appointing judges
• Repeatedly called the media “enemies of the people"
• Claimed that if we tested fewer people for COVID we’d have fewer cases
• Violated the emoluments clause
• Thought that Namibia was a country
• Told Bob Woodward in private that the coronavirus was a big deal but then downplayed it in public
• Called his exceedingly faithful vice president a “p---y” for following the Constitution
• Nearly got us into a war with Iran after threatening them by tweet
• Nominated a corrupt head of the EPA
• Nominated a corrupt head of HHS
• Nominated a corrupt head of the Interior Department
• Nominated a corrupt head of the USDA
• Praised dictators and authoritarians around the world while criticising allies
• Refused to allow the presidential transition to begin
• Insulted war hero John McCain – even after his death
• Spent an obscene amount of time playing golf after criticising Barack Obama for playing (far less) golf while president
• Falsely claimed that he won the 2016 popular vote
• Falsely claimed that he turned down being Time’s Man of the Year
• Considered firing special counsel Robert Mueller on several occasions
• Mocked wearing face masks to guard against transmitting COVID
• Locked Congress out of its constitutional duty to confirm Cabinet officials by hiring acting ones
• Used a racist dog whistle by calling COVID the “China virus"
• Hired and associated with numerous shady figures that were eventually convicted of federal offences including his campaign manager and national security adviser
• Pardoned several of his shady associates
• Gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to two congressman who amplified his batshit crazy conspiracy theories
• Got into telephone fight with the leader of Australia(!)
• Had a Secretary of State who called him a moron
• Forced his press secretary to claim without merit that his was the largest inauguration crowd in history
• Botched the COVID vaccine rollout
• Tweeted so much dangerous propaganda that Twitter eventually banned him
• Charged the Secret Service jacked-up rates at his properties
• Constantly interrupted Joe Biden in their first presidential debate
• Claimed that COVID would “magically” disappear
• Called a U.S. Senator “Pocahontas"
• Used his Twitter account to blast Nordstrom when it stopped selling Ivanka’s merchandise
• Opened up millions of pristine federal lands to development and drilling
• Got into a losing tariff war with China that forced US taxpayers to bail out farmers
• Claimed that his losing tariff war was a win for the US
• Ignored or didn’t even take part in daily intelligence briefings
• Blew off honouring American war dead in France because it was raining
• Redesigned Air Force One to look like the Trump Shuttle
• Got played by Kim Jung Un and his “love letters"
• Threatened to go after social media companies in clear violation of the Constitution
• Botched the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico
• Threw paper towels and toilet paper at Puerto Ricans when he finally visited them
• Pressured the governor and secretary of state of Georgia to “find” him votes
• Thought that the Virgin islands had a President
• Drew on a map with a sharpie to justify his inaccurate tweet that Alabama was threatened by a hurricane
• Allowed White House staff to use personal email accounts for official businesses after blasting Hillary Clinton for doing the same thing
• Rolled back regulations that protected the public from mercury and asbestos
• Pushed regulators to waste time studying snake-oil remedies for COVID
• Rolled back regulations that stopped coal companies from dumping waste into rivers
• Held blatant campaign rallies at the White House
• Tried to take away millions of Americans’ health insurance because the law was named for a Black man
• Refused to attend his successors’ inauguration
• Nominated the worst Education Secretary in history
• Threatened judges who didn’t do what he wanted
• Attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci
• Promised that Mexico would pay for the wall (it didn’t)
• Allowed political hacks to overrule government scientists on major reports on climate change and other issues
• Struggled navigating a ramp after claiming his opponent was feeble
• Called an African-American Congresswoman “low IQ"
• Threatened to withhold federal aid from states and cities with Democratic leaders
• Went ahead with rallies filled with mask-less supporters in the middle of a pandemic
• Claimed that legitimate investigations of his wrongdoing were “witch hunts"
• Seemed to demonstrate a belief that there were airports during the American Revolution
• Demanded “total loyalty” from the FBI director
• Praised a conspiracy theory that Democrats are Satanic paedophiles
• Completely gutted the Voice of America
• Placed a political hack in charge of the Postal Service
• Claimed without evidence that the Obama administration bugged Trump Tower
• Suggested that the US should allow more people from places like Norway into the country
• Suggested that COVID wasn’t that bad because he recovered with the help of top government doctors and treatments not available to the public
• Overturned energy conservation standards that even industry supported
• Reduced the number of refugees the US accepts
• Insulted various members of Congress and the media with infantile nicknames
• Gave Rush Limbaugh a Presidential medal of Freedom at the State of the Union address
• Named as head of federal personnel a 29-year old who’d previously been fired from the White House for allegations of financial improprieties
• Eliminated the White House office of pandemic response
• Used soldiers as campaign props
• Fired any advisor who made the mistake of disagreeing with him
• Demanded the Pentagon throw him a Soviet-style military parade
• Hired a ton of white nationalists
• Politicised the civil service
• Did absolutely nothing after Russia hacked the U.S. government
• Falsely said the Boy Scouts called him to say his bizarre Jamboree speech was the best speech ever given to the Scouts
• Claimed that Black people would overrun the suburbs if Biden won
• Insulted reporters of colour and women reporters and women reporters of colour
• Suggested he was fine with China’s oppression of the Uigurs
• Attacked the Supreme Court when it ruled against him
• Summoned Pennsylvania state legislative leaders to the White House to pressure them to overturn the election
• Spent countless hours every day watching Fox News
• Refused to allow his administration to comply with Congressional subpoenas
• Hired Rudy Giuliani as his lawyer
• Tried to punish Amazon because the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post wrote negative stories about him
• Acted as if the Attorney General of the United States was his personal attorney
• Attempted to get the federal government to defend him in a libel lawsuit from a women who accused him of sexual assault
• Held private meetings with Vladimir Putin without staff present
• Didn’t disclose his private meetings with Vladimir Putin so that the US had to find out via Russian media
• Stopped holding press briefings for months at a time
• "Ordered” US companies to leave China even though he has no such power
• Led a political party that couldn’t even be bothered to draft a policy platform
• Claimed preposterously that Article II of the Constitution gave him absolute powers
• Tried to pressure the U.K. to hold the British Open at his golf course
• Suggested that the government nuke hurricanes
• Suggested that wind turbines cause cancer
• Said that he had a special aptitude for science
• Fired the head of election cyber security after he said that the 2020 election was secure
• Blurted out classified information to Russian officials
• Tried to force the G7 to hold their meeting at his failing golf resort in Florida
• Fired the acting attorney general when she refused to go along with his unconstitutional Muslim travel ban
• Hired Stephen Miller
• Openly discussed national security issues in the dining room at Mar-a-Largo where everyone could hear them
• Interfered with plans to relocate the FBI because a new development there might compete with his hotel
• Abandoned Iraqi refugees who’d helped the U.S. during the war
• Tried to get Russia back into the G7
• Held a COVID super spreader event in the Rose Garden
• Seemed to believe that Frederick Douglass is still alive
• Lost 60 election fraud cases in court including before judges he had nominated
• Falsely claimed that factories were reopening when they weren’t
• Shamelessly exploited terror attacks in Europe to justify his anti-immigrant policies
• Still hasn’t come up with a healthcare plan
• Still hasn’t come up with an infrastructure plan despite repeated “Infrastructure Weeks"
• Forced Secret Service agents to drive him around Walter Reed while contagious with COVID
• Told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by"
• F***ed up the Census
• Withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organisation in the middle of a pandemic
• Did so few of his duties that his press staff were forced to state on his daily schedule “President Trump will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings"
• Allowed his staff to repeatedly violate the Hatch Act
• Seemed not to know that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican
• Stood before sacred CIA wall of heroes and bragged about his election win
• Constantly claimed he was treated worse than any president which presumably includes four that were assassinated and his predecessor whose legitimacy and birthplace were challenged by a racist reality TV show star named Donald Trump
• Claimed Andrew Jackson could’ve stopped the Civil War even though he died 16 years before it happened
• Said that any opinion poll showing him behind was fake
• Claimed that other countries laughed at us before he became president when several world leaders were literally laughing at him
• Claimed that the military was out of ammunition before he became President
• Created a commission to whitewash American history
• Retweeted anti-Islam videos from one of the most racist people in Britain
• Claimed ludicrously that the Pulse nightclub shooting wouldn’t have happened if someone there had a gun even though there was an armed security guard there
• Hired a senior staffer who cited the non-existent Bowling Green Massacre as a reason to ban Muslims
• Had a press secretary who claimed that Nazi Germany never used chemical weapons even though every sane human being knows they used gas to kill millions of Jews and others
• Bilked the Secret Service for higher than market rates when they had to stay at Trump properties
• Apparently sold pardons on his way out of the White House
• Stripped protective status from 59,000 Haitians
• Falsely claimed Biden wanted to defund the police
• Said that the head of the CDC didn’t know what he was talking about
• Gave himself an A+ for his handling of the pandemic
• Tried to start a boycott of Goodyear tires due to an Internet hoax
• Said U.S. rates of COVID would be lower if you didn’t count blue states
• Deported U.S. veterans who served their country but were undocumented
• Claimed he did more for African Americans than any president since Lincoln
• Touted a “super-duper” secret “hypersonic” missile which may or may not be a new “hypersonic” missile or may not exist at all
• Retweeted a gif calling Biden a paedophile
• Forced through security clearances for his family
• Suggested that police officers should rough up suspects
• Suggested that Biden was on performance-enhancing drugs
• Tried to stop transgender students from being able to use school bathrooms in line with their gender
• Suggested the US not accept COVID patients from a cruise ship because it would make US numbers look higher
• Nominated a climate change sceptic to chair the committee advising the White House on environmental policy
• Retweeted a video doctored to look like Biden had played a song called “F**k tha Police” at a campaign event
• Hugged a disturbingly large number of U.S. flags
• Accused Democrats of “treason” for not applauding his State of the Union address
• Claimed that the FBI failed to capture the Parkland school shooter because they were “spending too much time” on Russia
• Mocked the testimony of Dr Christine Blasely Ford when she accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault
• Was proven to be close friends with the biggest sexual predictor of young girls
• Obsessed over low-flow toilets
• Ordered the re-release of more COVID vaccines when there weren’t any to release
• Called for the construction of a bizarre garden of heroes with statutes of famous dead Americans as well as at least one Canadian (Alex Trebek)
• Hijacked Washington’s July 4th celebrations to give a partisan speech
• Took advice from the MyPillow guy
• Claimed that migrants seeking a better life in the US were dangerous caravans of drug dealers and rapists
• Said nothing when Vladimir Putin poisoned a leading opposition figure
• Never seemed to heed the advice of his wife’s “Be Best” campaign
• Falsely claimed that mail-in voting is fraudulent
• Announced a precipitous withdrawal of troops from Syria which not only handed Russia and ISIS a win but also prompted his defence secretary to resign in protest
• Insulted the leaders of Canada, France, Britain, Germany, and Sweden!!
• Falsely claimed credit for getting NATO members to increase their share of dues
• Blew off two Asia summits even though they were held virtually
• Continued lying about spending lots of time at Ground Zero with 9/11 responders
• Said that the Japanese would sit back and watch their “Sony televisions” if the US were ever attacked
• Left a NATO summit early in a huff
• Stared directly into an eclipse even though everyone over the age of 5 knows not to do that
• Called himself a very stable genius despite significant evidence to the contrary
• Refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power and kept his promise

But other than that, and a whole bunch of other things I can’t remember at the moment, he's been mostly fine, I guess...

[Which Tyler]

The man is certifiably insane!

We should have kept Greenland after WW2
The United States was paying 100% of NATO
We have never asked for anything and we’ve never gotten anything.
I won’t use force. All we want is Greenland. We had it before and we gave it back.
We want right, title and ownership to Greenland to defend it because who’s going to defend it if you don’t own it. That’s all we’re asking for
Canada should be grateful, they live because of us. I heard Mark Carney’s speech, you should remember that Mark
We’ve spent trillions and trillions of dollars on NATO and we've never asked for anything and never gotten anything
Iceland cost us a lot of money yesterday
We just want a piece of ice, that’s all. You can say no but if you do we’ll remember
China only sells windmills, they dont use them themselves
I put a 30% tariff on Switzerland because everything came in for free and there’s a $49 B dollar deficit. And the prime minister called me, a woman, and she said no no no, you can’t do that, we are a small country. She kept saying that over and over and I said you are a small country with a big deficit, No no no you can’t do that. She really bothered me and I said thank-you ma’am and I hung up and and I made the tariff 39%
Two years ago no one had heard of the term [AI]

[Which Tyler]

I gather the Vienna School of Art had offered Trump a scholarship and degree.

They don't want to blamed again.

[paddy no 11]

Hopefully there's an all out strike/shutdown in minesota in response to this latest murder

[Puja]

Orwell is often misused and abused on ther internet by people who read his Wikiquotes page instead of any of his books, but there is one that keeps cropping up on social media today, over and over again. "The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."

There are several videos from different angles showing an ICE agent, in little to no danger, making the decision to shoot a woman dead while she drove away from him. These videos also show ICE preventing that woman from receiving any medical aid that might've saved her and show him walking away, entirely unharmed, and it is a proven fact that he then drove away from the scene and fled across state lines.

Donald Trump then stated that the woman was a domestic terrorist who deliberately ran over the ICE agent, who.managed to shoot her in self-defence, but who is now in hospital in critical condition and is lucky to be alive. The US Attorney General has also stated this, without equivocation, and decried anybody arguing as part of a left win conspiracy to pervert the truth, and a dozen apparatchiks of the regime have also faithfully parrotted these lines.

It's not true. It's not even an interpretation that could be argued. There are multiple videos, all showing the same thing - she was driving away from him, the ICE agent was unhurt and in no danger and walked away without any injury, he drew his gun and shot an innocent person who was fleeing. And yet, they confidently state the opposite, somehow sanguine that no amount of evidence, no amount of physical reality can overturn them brazenly stating the sky is green.

I don't even know. What even is this timeline.

Puja

And again. The official line is that Alex Pretti came at them with a gun, he was armed with several clips, he was a terrorist looking to do damage, he reacted violently to an agents trying to disarm him, and the ICE agents shot in self-defence to protect their own lives. Two minutes of looking at the videos from the different angles and the order of events isn't even remotely controversial. The ICE agent violently shoves a woman, then reacts to Pretti stepping between them with his hands held high and unthreateningly in order to shield her, by pepper spraying him directly in the face, then giving him another dose as he tries to help the woman up. Pretti is then dragged to the floor and set upon by 4-5 agents, one of whom takes the victim's (legal) gun out of his waistband and throws it away, another pistol whips him repeatedly in the head. Pretti is prone on the ground, being viciously beaten, at this point, but one of the agents decides the correct next action is to draw his gun and shoot the victim in the back. The other agents spring off him, drawing their own guns and there are 10 shots in the space of 5 seconds, at a body that is lying face-down and motionless on the floor.

And yet the administration still incredibly insist that it was a terrorist attacking officers, who shot only to preserve their own lives.

I do wonder how far the cognitive dissonance of their support will stretch though. I think they made a tactical error with the initial response justifying this one because he was armed - there's a lot of people who'd normally be willing to go along with the administration, but are feeling awfully uncomfortable at the idea that a white man's right to carry a gun might be abrogated.

Puja

[Stom]

When the NRA comes out in support of the innocent…

You know you’ve lost. How it’s possible for the republicans to come back from losing the NRA, I don’t know

[Which Tyler]

When the NRA comes out in support of the innocent…

You know you’ve lost. How it’s possible for the republicans to come back from losing the NRA, I don’t know

By denying free and fair elections*

Ice sweep Dem areas 1-3 days previously - they don't care about justification, just remove people from the streets on voting day
Ice stand around polling booths (especially in Dem areas) - even if they don't disappear anyone, their presence will keep large numbers at home
Ice stand around polling booths (especially in Dem areas) - even if they don't disappear anyone, their presence will intimidate those who do turn out
If given a fig leaf of "due cause" then apply martial law, and not even hold a vote
If given a fig leaf of "due cause" then the right will rally around the flag
If they lose an area they really want to win, then storm the Capitol, &/ exert huge, intimidating pressure on state electors to ignore inconvenient ballots - and all the other stuff Trump accuses the other side of doing (which, as ever, is him publicly admitting that he's either done that, or fully intends to do that)



* Worth noting that American elections already aren't particularly "free and fair" due to gerrymandering, voter suppression measures

[Son of Mathonwy]

When the NRA comes out in support of the innocent…

You know you’ve lost. How it’s possible for the republicans to come back from losing the NRA, I don’t know

By denying free and fair elections*

Ice sweep Dem areas 1-3 days previously - they don't care about justification, just remove people from the streets on voting day
Ice stand around polling booths (especially in Dem areas) - even if they don't disappear anyone, their presence will keep large numbers at home
Ice stand around polling booths (especially in Dem areas) - even if they don't disappear anyone, their presence will intimidate those who do turn out
If given a fig leaf of "due cause" then apply martial law, and not even hold a vote
If given a fig leaf of "due cause" then the right will rally around the flag
If they lose an area they really want to win, then storm the Capitol, &/ exert huge, intimidating pressure on state electors to ignore inconvenient ballots - and all the other stuff Trump accuses the other side of doing (which, as ever, is him publicly admitting that he's either done that, or fully intends to do that)



* Worth noting that American elections already aren't particularly "free and fair" due to gerrymandering, voter suppression measures

Agreed, no doubt ICE will intimidate and disrupt voting in stronger Dem voting areas.

Hope (I struggle to think of reasons for it):

1) The police are sent out to defend voters. But would they have the manpower to do this, given ICE's huge budget? And would it turn into a riot, a fight between ICE and the police which would make voting impossible anyway (but only in those Dem areas)?

2) Trump/Vance/MAGA is so unpopular that even these measures aren't enough to swing the vote in their favour. But then they just change the numbers, or if the counting is still done with integrity, ignore the result, say the election was stolen, don't leave the White House, wait for the Supreme Court to rubber stamp the dictatorship).

But I think genuine, massive unpopularity is the best hope (as it should be).

[Sandydragon]

Interesting point about NRA condemning the shooting. I’ve watched that video, there’s a very good analysis on Bellingcat, and the victim was no threat. Yes, he had a holstered firearm, but at no time did he remove it. And firing ten rounds into a person prone on the floor who who have just disarmed is frankly murder.

The election issue is really concerning. This MUsT be time for anyone who opposes Trump to vote tactically. Time to forget the little niggles about policy, ABD even some larger one, and just vote for the Dems to get control of congress. There will be massive intimidation, but if those tactics work at the I’d terms, trump will do the same for the presidential election. It’s a tipping point for America, stand up and be counted or let the insanity continue.

[Sandydragon]

Sadly, all the warning signs were there. Being a dictator for even one day, project 2025 and so on. It was all there in plain sight. Hopefully the majority of the electorate will learn their lesson.