Trump's DERP State

toomuchbaloney · Feb 14

Tweety said:

Trump definitely is not he lies and makes things up.

Musk really wan't on my radar much so I can't say much about he's conducted his affairs at baseline.

Musk is a purveyor of misinformation.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2024/07/31/elon-musk-isn't-stopping-misinformation-hes-helped-spread-it/

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/wrong-claims-by-musk-us-election-got-2-billion-views-x-2024-report-says-2024-11-04/

toomuchbaloney · Feb 14

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2025/02/10/army-navy-restore-webpages-highlighting-womens-service-other-military-diversity-efforts-are-erased.html

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The Army and Navy both have restored webpages they removed last week that featured the histories of female soldiers and sailors.

The webpages for the U.S. Army Women's Museum at Fort Gregg-Adams in Hopewell, Virginia, and the U.S. Navy History and Heritage Command's site highlighting women temporarily were taken offline to ensure that their content complied with an executive order issued Jan. 20 by President Donald Trump that banned diversity initiatives in the federal government.

The Navy website, which had an address that included the word "diversity" in its uniform resource locator, or URL, was restored within a day of Military.com reporting on the removal of the websites, with a new URL....

Retired Navy Cmdr. Jerri Bell, co-editor of the book, "It's My Country Too: Women's Military Stories from the American Revolution to Afghanistan," said that even a temporary removal was harmful.

"It implies that the historical achievements of some service members who once faced discrimination and arbitrary limits on their service based on their race, their gender, or their sexual orientation are not worth sharing," Bell said in an email to Military.com.

"In fact, the opposite is true: They not only achieved and set examples to all of leadership, courage, and devotion to duty -- they did so while facing immense opposition simply because of their race, gender and/or sexual orientation," Bell added.

Trump ended diversity initiatives across the federal government by executive order, prompting the federal government, including the armed forces, to abolish diversity offices and place those who work in them on leave.

The directive ordered agencies to review all policies and programs to ensure they complied.

But it also led to confusion in numerous circumstances, including a pause at Air Force Basic Military Training on trailblazers that included the Tuskegee Airmen and the Women's Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, who helped pilot aircraft stateside during World War II.

As a result of the order, the Pentagon abolished its Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and removed websites related to that office, as well as the DoD Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity.

I wonder if Hegseth will address this disobedience when he's back from embarrassing us on the world stage.

toomuchbaloney · Feb 14

https://apnews.com/article/germany-munich-vance-free-speech-election-33e720b820e61db9d5e478e63b4a4dc7

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Germany's defense minister pushed back hard against U.S. Vice President JD Vance's complaints Friday about the state of democracy in Europe, saying nine days before his country's election that it is "unacceptable" to draw a parallel between the region and authoritarian governments.

Vance lectured European governments about free speech in an appearance at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, saying that he fears that it is "in retreat" across the continent.

"To many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don't like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election,” Vance said.

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German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, speaking a couple of hours later, said he couldn't let the speech go without comment.

"If I understood him correctly, he is comparing conditions in parts of Europe with those in authoritarian regimes,” Pistorius said. "That is unacceptable, and it is not the Europe and not the democracy in which I live and am currently campaigning.”

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United States Vice-President JD Vance addresses the audience during the Munich Security Conference at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel in Munich, Germany, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

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German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius speaks during the Munich Security Conference, Germany, Friday Feb. 14, 2025. (Peter Kneffel/dpa via AP)

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Updated 10:19 AM MST, February 14, 2025

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MUNICH (AP) — Germany's defense minister pushed back hard against U.S. Vice President JD Vance's complaints Friday about the state of democracy in Europe, saying nine days before his country's election that it is "unacceptable" to draw a parallel between the region and authoritarian governments.

Vance lectured European governments about free speech in an appearance at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, saying that he fears that it is "in retreat" across the continent.

"To many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don't like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election,” Vance said.

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German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, speaking a couple of hours later, said he couldn't let the speech go without comment.

"If I understood him correctly, he is comparing conditions in parts of Europe with those in authoritarian regimes,” Pistorius said. "That is unacceptable, and it is not the Europe and not the democracy in which I live and am currently campaigning.”

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Vance also told European leaders that "if you're running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you.” He said that no democracy could survive telling millions of voters that their concerns "are invalid or unworthy of even being considered.”

"Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters,” he said. "There's no room for firewalls.”

Vance didn't elaborate on that. But mainstream parties in Germany say they won't work with the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party, or AfD. That stance is often referred to as a "firewall.”

Polls have put AfD in second place ahead of a national election on Feb. 23 with about 20% support.

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Pistorius countered that "every opinion has a voice in this democracy. It makes it possible for partly extremist parties like AfD to campaign completely normally, just like every other party.”

He noted that AfD's candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel, was on prime-time German television on Thursday night along with the other contenders.

Bue he added that "democracy doesn't mean that the loud minority is automatically right.” "Democracy must be able to defend itself against the extremists who want to destroy it,” he said.

Another prominent center-left European politician, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, took issue with how Vance urged European officials to stem irregular migration in the same speech. Vance said the European electorate didn't vote to open "floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants.”

"He speaks as though we are not focused on immigration in Europe,” Gahr Støre said. "I mean, this is the big theme in every country, that we want to have control of our borders.”

He argued that Ukrainian refugees accounted for a significant increase in unvetted immigrants in recent years — and they were accepted "because there is a bloody war going on, which he did not mention, which I think is not really addressing reality.”

"I don't agree with him that what's happening in Ukraine, what's happening in Russia, what's happening in China is less important than the presumed loss of freedom of speech in Europe,” Gahr Støre said.

Vance is peddling the American fascist's misinformation and ideas about alternative facts to the rest of the world. It sounds like they aren't as gullible as American voters.

toomuchbaloney · Feb 14

Beerman said:

As usual, there is more to the story:

"The Hampton VA went further, stating the entire Chesapeake clinic is exempt from the freeze.

Retired psychiatrist Harold Kudler, a former VA executive who ran the mental health program in the Hampton region, said a number of things created the personnel shortage, including the major legislation that expanded VA benefits in 2022.

"This hiring problem at the VA did not begin with the Trump Administration,” he said. "The PACT Act was the icing on the cake as a rapid expansion. Literally, more than a million, close to 2 million, people enrolled in VA based on that.”

The VA went on a hiring spree after the law passed, but began cutting back last year, faced with a budget deficit. Kudler said the price of care also ballooned under the 2018 Mission Act, which allowed more veterans to opt for care by non-VA providers in the community."

Musk will fix it all with across the board cuts. That's what you elected him to do.

toomuchbaloney · Feb 14

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/climate/fema-quietly-eases-rules-meant-to-protect-buildings-in-flood-zones.html

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The Federal Emergency Management Agency has decided to stop enforcing rules designed to prevent flood damage to schools, libraries, fire stations and other public buildings. Experts say the move, which has not been publicly announced, could endanger public safety and may be in violation of federal law.

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The rule says that when public buildings in a flood zone are damaged or destroyed, those structures must be rebuilt in a way that prevents future flood damage if they are to qualify for FEMA funding. That could include elevating a structure above the expected height of a future flood or relocating it to a safer spot.

In some cases, the standards also apply to private homes repaired or rebuilt in a flood plain.

I can't believe that people want to repeatedly rebuild in a flood zone.

toomuchbaloney · Feb 14

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/establishing-the-presidents-make-america-healthy-again-commission/

reading that document makes me wonder if there's going to be some fiction between Musk and RFKjr. None of the things he is concerned about are inexpensive fixes.

Crusades · Feb 14

nursej22 said:

Tell me you are a white, cis male, without telling me you are a white cis male.

I have personally, as well as my daughter and sister have encountered substandard care because of our gender. I have seen non white people pre-judged about what care they receive and why they hesitated to get care or did not follow through with recommendations.

So asking a patient who has not followed through with recommendations is "making assumptions" because they are a POC? Could it be that they didn't follow with recommendations and the heathcare professionals are trying to address why? This is the weakest part of your point. Perhaps there is a cultural/educaton influence as to why recommendations are not met? Or another factor? How can you address these barriers without asking or being afraid to ask or be seem as discrimatory?

You also make an assumption about Beerman that he is a "white cis man" while complaining about "assumptions"?

DEI is great if was clearly defined and regulated. However it is not and very vulnerable to abuse. DEI could explain your ease at calling beerman a "cis white man" in a derogatory fashion so openly.

You're vage examples of "assumptions" is the same vague claims of lack of diversity in the work place. Easily assumed and mischaracterized.

nursej22, MSN, RN · Feb 15

Crusades said:

So asking a patient who has not followed through with recommendations is "making assumptions" because they are a POC? Could it be that they didn't follow with recommendations and the heathcare professionals are trying to address why? This is the weakest part of your point. Perhaps there is a cultural/educaton influence as to why recommendations are not met? Or another factor? How can you address these barriers without asking or being afraid to ask or be seem as discrimatory?

You also make an assumption about Beerman that he is a "white cis man" while complaining about "assumptions"?

DEI is great if was clearly defined and regulated. However it is not and very vulnerable to abuse. DEI could explain your ease at calling beerman a "cis white man" in a derogatory fashion so openly.

You're vage examples of "assumptions" is the same vague claims of lack of diversity in the work place. Easily assumed and mischaracterized.

Yet, again, I have no idea what you are saying here. Do you think labeling someone as cis, white, or male is derogatory? This describes my hubby, and I am quite fond of him.

I did not say HCW asking about follow up was discriminatory. I said not asking and assuming a patient is non-compliant is discriminatory. I had a TB client who was not taking her insulin. Her provider labeled her noncompliant, when actually the diabetic educator did not provide her with needles for her pen, so she couldn't use it. The patient risked losing her job if she took a day off to get to the provider to get needles.

Crusades · Feb 15

nursej22 said:

Yet, again, I have no idea what you are saying here. Do you think labeling someone as cis, white, or male is derogatory? This describes my hubby, and I am quite fond of him.

I did not say HCW asking about follow up was discriminatory. I said not asking and assuming a patient is non-compliant is discriminatory. I had a TB client who was not taking her insulin. Her provider labeled her noncompliant, when actually the diabetic educator did not provide her with needles for her pen, so she couldn't use it. The patient risked losing her job if she took a day off to get to the provider to get needles.

"Tell me you're a young black male without telling me you're a young black male". Followed by a disagreement to the racially profiled person.

Does that sound derogatory? Does that make it more clear to you?

You suggested that these patients were being treated differently because of their race and gender. Not just a patient that was deemed non compliant.

toomuchbaloney · Feb 15

Crusades said:

So asking a patient who has not followed through with recommendations is "making assumptions" because they are a POC? Could it be that they didn't follow with recommendations and the heathcare professionals are trying to address why? This is the weakest part of your point. Perhaps there is a cultural/educaton influence as to why recommendations are not met? Or another factor? How can you address these barriers without asking or being afraid to ask or be seem as discrimatory?

You also make an assumption about Beerman that he is a "white cis man" while complaining about "assumptions"?

DEI is great if was clearly defined and regulated. However it is not and very vulnerable to abuse. DEI could explain your ease at calling beerman a "cis white man" in a derogatory fashion so openly.

You're vage examples of "assumptions" is the same vague claims of lack of diversity in the work place. Easily assumed and mischaracterized.

You might try restating your argument so that it makes sense.

toomuchbaloney · Feb 15

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/14/white-house-ap-ban-oval-office

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The White House has announced that it is indefinitely blocking Associated Press journalists from accessing the Oval Office and Air Force One amid a growing standoff between Donald Trump's administration and the news agency over the Gulf of Mexico's name.

The White House deputy chief of staff, Taylor Budowich, made the announcement on X, saying: "The Associated Press continues to ignore the lawful geographic name change of the Gulf of America. This decision is not just divisive, but it also exposes the Associated Press's commitment to misinformation.”

Budowich went on to accuse the 175-year-old news wire agency – whose style guidance is used by thousands of journalists and writers globally – of "irresponsible and dishonest reporting".

Freedom of speech and freedom of the press is very much conditional in fascist regimes.

nursej22, MSN, RN · Feb 16

Crusades said:

"Tell me you're a young black male without telling me you're a young black male". Followed by a disagreement to the racially profiled person.

Does that sound derogatory? Does that make it more clear to you?

You suggested that these patients were being treated differently because of their race and gender. Not just a patient that was deemed non compliant.

No, that is not more clear. You do not seem to comprehend my point. I said nothing about a young black male.

I think in the past, you identified as female. I find it difficult to believe that you have never been treated in a negative manner because of that.