Trump 2.0

[geekette]

Per Drumph, it was caused by DEI. No really, his presser was on CNN. 

[Just Joe]

I swear to God all this plane stuff makes me so much happier to be on trains.

Yup. No planes for me thanks. No trains in area unfortunately. Someday I'll need to fly b/c we can't drive to Europe but until then...

[OzzieandHarriet]

Per Drumph, it was caused by DEI. No really, his presser was on CNN.

Of course if there was something nasty to say about it that is also a lie, he would manage it.

[Fru-Gal]

I swear to God all this plane stuff makes me so much happier to be on trains.

Yup. No planes for me thanks. No trains in area unfortunately. Someday I'll need to fly b/c we can't drive to Europe but until then...

Even though it’s not better for the environment (unlike trains), a bucket list item for me is to take the Queen Mary from NYC to London or perhaps round trip (apparently coming into the New York Harbor and seeing the Statue of Liberty is pretty amazing).

[NorCal]

I swear to God all this plane stuff makes me so much happier to be on trains.

Yup. No planes for me thanks. No trains in area unfortunately. Someday I'll need to fly b/c we can't drive to Europe but until then...

Even though it’s not better for the environment (unlike trains), a bucket list item for me is to take the Queen Mary from NYC to London or perhaps round trip (apparently coming into the New York Harbor and seeing the Statue of Liberty is pretty amazing).

While an individual boat uses a lot of fuel, they are one of the most efficient means of travel when measured by passenger miles or freight carried.  Way better than an airplane. 

[reeshau]

I swear to God all this plane stuff makes me so much happier to be on trains.

Yup. No planes for me thanks. No trains in area unfortunately. Someday I'll need to fly b/c we can't drive to Europe but until then...

Even though it’s not better for the environment (unlike trains), a bucket list item for me is to take the Queen Mary from NYC to London or perhaps round trip (apparently coming into the New York Harbor and seeing the Statue of Liberty is pretty amazing).

While an individual boat uses a lot of fuel, they are one of the most efficient means of travel when measured by passenger miles or freight carried.  Way better than an airplane.

The Sierra Club doesn't think so.

https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/ask-mr-green/which-better-for-environment-flying-or-sailing

"You're correct that one of the best things you can do to reduce your carbon emissions is to minimize flying altogether. When you do need to travel, considering just efficiency and cost alone, the plane is your best option between the two. The Queen Mary 2, for example, gets about 20.5 miles per gallon per passenger when traveling at its full speed (though at lower speeds it is considerably more efficient, getting around 45 passenger miles per gallon per passenger). An Airbus A380, in comparison, gets 74 miles per gallon per passenger; the Boeing 737 Max8 gets 110 miles per gallon per passenger. The cost of traveling by ship is considerably higher than by plane as well, though you can save some with a repositioning ticket. In general, air efficiency can depend on many variables, including different routes."

To be fair, when considering freight tonnage, yes sea beats air hands down.

[rocketpj]

Forcing the FAA chief to resign on Jan 20th (because he was prosecuting SpaceX for safety violations...)  He wasn't fired because he quit before they could fire him, but shadow president Musk has been demanding he be fired for months.

Air Traffic Controller Hiring frozen on Jan 21.

Aviation Safety Advisory Committee disbanded Jan 27

Buyout/Retirement threats/demand sent to existing employees, including the stated intent to let go of all first year hires. Jan 28

Jan 29, First American mid-air collision in 16 years. 

Sure, it's because of DEI, or Obama or immigrants or anyone, anyone at all that is not Lord Trump.

[Omy]

I can only imagine how chaotic and overwhelming it must be to work in this new administration with the threat of losing your job and future pension looming over you. I'm sure the chaos had nothing to do with it though...

[neo von retorch]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-was-challenged-after-blaming-dei-for-the-dc-plane-crash-heres-what-he-said/ar-AA1y8Q7a

Q: “Are you saying this crash was somehow caused as the result of diversity hiring? And what evidence have you seen to support these claims?”

"And there are things where you have to go by brainpower. You have to go by psychological quality, and psychological quality is a very important element of it."

"But certainly for an air traffic controller, we want the brightest, the smartest, the sharpest. We want somebody that’s psychologically superior."

"We want brilliant people doing this. This is a major chess game at the highest level. "

"We’ve already hired some of the people that you already hired for that position long before we knew about this"

[Just Joe]

I swear to God all this plane stuff makes me so much happier to be on trains.

Yup. No planes for me thanks. No trains in area unfortunately. Someday I'll need to fly b/c we can't drive to Europe but until then...

Even though it’s not better for the environment (unlike trains), a bucket list item for me is to take the Queen Mary from NYC to London or perhaps round trip (apparently coming into the New York Harbor and seeing the Statue of Liberty is pretty amazing).

That sounds nice. I've seen the SoL from a Navy ship. It was really a great day. If you haven't taken the ferry out to explore Elllis Island it is worth it. Give yourself lots of time.

[Travis]

What I'm wondering is has there been no mention of possible intent? Or is it clear from the recordings that this was an accident?

I swear to God all this plane stuff makes me so much happier to be on trains.

You mean the plane crash last night? It sounds like it was an accident caused by the military trainees flying the helicopter, but with this bunch running things we may never know the truth.

The Army is calling it a "training flight," but the pilot had 1000 hours and the co-pilot 500 hours. I don't know yet how long either has been flying in the VIP battalion, but the route they took was normal for that unit. It's possible they were out just getting in some practice, or this was some kind of regular qualification flight.  DCA's flight pattern is always crowded and tight, and the Air Traffic Control world has been living on borrowed time since Reagan. Every tower in the US is undermanned and overworked.

[LennStar]

To be fair, when considering freight tonnage, yes sea beats air hands down.

That's because cruise ships are not made for efficient passenger transport. Pu them in ther elike the old slave ships and you easily get 1000+ miles out of it!

Bad jokes aside, consider the number of swimming pools, restaurants, shops, hordes of staff etc. that are on a cruise ship. You could easily double the number of passengers if you get rid of those (Except what is needed for basics). And then again by putting more than 2 persons in a cabin, especially the big ones. I mean in a plane how many people are there in that small space?

Btw. you can also book a ship travel on freight ships. Don't ask me about the comfort though (most likely empty crew cabins) and it definitely is not cheap either. They take nearly hotel prices (at least that one time I looked into that).

[ChpBstrd]

Btw. you can also book a ship travel on freight ships. Don't ask me about the comfort though (most likely empty crew cabins) and it definitely is not cheap either. They take nearly hotel prices (at least that one time I looked into that).

This is fascinating to me. Please share if you have more details. I cannot imagine it being a thing in the litigious US.

[LennStar]

Btw. you can also book a ship travel on freight ships. Don't ask me about the comfort though (most likely empty crew cabins) and it definitely is not cheap either. They take nearly hotel prices (at least that one time I looked into that).

This is fascinating to me. Please share if you have more details. I cannot imagine it being a thing in the litigious US.

Google it yourself ;)

I only looked at it once, somewhen pre-pandemic, and from Europe to Japan. I am definitely not qualified to say anything about it for the US except that I am pretty sure it's possible.

[PeteD01]

I can't imagine what about Elon Musk's personality leads you to believe he will do that, instead of basically weakening all of the regulatory agencies he doesn't want to have to deal with, gut any agencies he has any personal beef with, and push for further tax cuts for billionaires.

I honestly believe, from the bottom of my heart, that like me, Elon Musk is a ruthless and relentless cost cutter who is obsessed with efficiency for its own sake. And that he has the track record to prove that he is one of the very best in the world at it. I genuinely admire this aspect of his personality.

We are free to disagree on this point, but that’s where I stand.

Well, there is a problem for the GOP and MAGA and Musk will run into this: we are basically looking at some sort of defund MAGA campaign - MAGA is not going to like it and Musk's personality isn't going to make a difference here.

Transfer payments, Medicare, Social Security, SNAP etc., have become an ever increasing part of the income of non-metro residents.

Currently, transfer payments which go largely to rural areas are around 2/3 of the federal budget and the payments continue to increase.

About 1/4 of rural incomes are now from transfer payment and they got where they are from negligible amounts to 3.8 trillion as of 2022.

The causes are largely twofold: 1. a persisting political and economical environment of wage repression 2. large increases of healthcare and other costs.

Musk must have looked at the numbers and warned of hardships which is obviously a grotesque understatement.

As for metropolitan areas, transfer payments are of negligible economic importance - in fact, a massive reduction in the federal budget by way of eliminating the bulk of transfer payments would likely greatly benefit metro areas by stopping the bleed of tax dollars to the countryside.

And here is the problem: Musk´s efficiency plans could well be summed up as mainly a rural defunding campaign and that is equivalent to kicking MAGA in the teeth.

Of course, there is another way to decrease the share of transfer payments of rural incomes but that would be increases of work and other income. It goes without saying that decreasing transfer payments amounts to economic repression of rural America and is counterproductive if the objective is to increase economic activity in order to increase wages.

So that is the problem the GOP is facing, MAGA must suffer much more than their perceived liberal enemies living in the cities and blue states which would be able to substitute loss of federal $$ with state generated tax income.

In short, the numbers show that it is MAGA who is in the incoming administration's crosshairs and it's going to be interesting once MAGA finds out who the mark was all along (and we haven't even talked about the proposed massively inflationary tariff policies):

The Great Transfer-mation

Not long ago, money from government programs like Social Security or SNAP — known as transfers — featured minimally in Americans’ personal income.

Only people in areas of chronic economic distress depended on transfers for meaningful shares of their income in the 1970s.

By the 2000s, transfer income featured much more prominently in local economies.

Today, the majority of counties rely on transfers for a significant portion of their income, while low-transfer places have gone from the norm to nearly extinct.

Americans derive their income from three main sources: work, investments, and transfers. Transfer income comes from government programs, such as Social Security, Medicare, and veterans benefits.

In 2022, Americans received $3.8 trillion in transfer income from the government. If that were split evenly across the entire US population, it would be about $11,500 per person.

https://eig.org/great-transfermation/

Quoting my post from 11/08/2024.

The Office of Management and Budget memo ceasing all transfer payments except Medicare and Social Security has hit MAGA hard, and that was entirely predictable.
It must be a rude awakening to realize that the rugged individualistic rural lifestyle is actually heavily subsidized and at risk from the Trump billionaire administration.

'Full meltdown mode': Conservative Rick Wilson flags 'debacle' that 'hurts MAGA most'
David McAfee
January 31, 2025

"Initially, it looked like another one of their performative trolling efforts—until it spiraled into disaster," Wilson added. "While Medicare and Social Security were exempt, state agencies reported that financial systems and funding portals for Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, and emergency aid had gone offline within hours. The resulting panic was immediate."

He further said, "The irony was almost poetic."

"Trump voters, many of whom despise 'socialism' with the intensity of a thousand suns, were suddenly in full meltdown mode," Wilson said.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-maga-omb-debacle-wilson/



Now we are looking at tariffs against Mexico and Canada to be levied starting tomorrow at 25%.
We will soon see what the effect on still rattled MAGA is going to be:

Trump says tariffs on Canada and Mexico coming Saturday, and he’s deciding whether to tax their oil
OSH BOAK
January 30, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said his 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico are coming on Saturday, but he’s still considering whether to include oil from those countries as part of his import taxes.

“We may or may not,” Trump told reporters Thursday in the Oval Office about tariffing oil from Canada and Mexico. “We’re going to make that determination probably tonight.”

https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-canada-mexico-oil-afb915762af6994573353135bcd30a1b

[Scandium]

The Sierra Club doesn't think so.

https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/ask-mr-green/which-better-for-environment-flying-or-sailing

"You're correct that one of the best things you can do to reduce your carbon emissions is to minimize flying altogether. When you do need to travel, considering just efficiency and cost alone, the plane is your best option between the two. The Queen Mary 2, for example, gets about 20.5 miles per gallon per passenger when traveling at its full speed (though at lower speeds it is considerably more efficient, getting around 45 passenger miles per gallon per passenger). An Airbus A380, in comparison, gets 74 miles per gallon per passenger; the Boeing 737 Max8 gets 110 miles per gallon per passenger. The cost of traveling by ship is considerably higher than by plane as well, though you can save some with a repositioning ticket. In general, air efficiency can depend on many variables, including different routes."

To be fair, when considering freight tonnage, yes sea beats air hands down.

I detest their misused of "sailing". You don't "sail" a engine-powered ship! On account of it not having, you know; sails! I'd like to see the calculation done with an aircraft vs an actual sailboat, that uses wind power for 95% of the trip. Of course it would take 3-4 weeks to cross the Atlantic. So you'd have to include the emissions causes by eating food for that whole time, cooking, making of the sails the wear out etc. (and of course it's completely unrealistic, but still)

[Just Joe]

Better go fill up your gas tanks Trump voters...

Maybe stock up on milk, bread and eggs too just in case.

[MustacheAndaHalf]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fact-check-yes-obama-and-biden-had-faa-hire-people-with-intellectual-psychiatric-severe-physical-disabilities/ar-AA1yb6Ar?cvid=d61d06d25e7e4a729315ce7afb266bba&ei=5

"The first is that there's never one single thing to blame for disasters, especially when it involves airliners; so much redundancy is built into the system that numerous things have to go wrong, either simultaneously or over a period of time, for a crash to happen. The second is that nobody -- nobody -- knows what caused the disaster in the first 24 hours."
...
"From 1989 to 2013, the Collegiate Training Initiative program was a pipeline to a career in air traffic control. The program aimed to ensure future air traffic controllers had the skills and knowledge necessary to carry out the job," the Washington Times reported in May 2024.

"More than ten years ago, the Obama Administration scrapped 1000 qualified candidates. The administration’s justification was that the pool of applicants was not diverse enough, so they would be purged from consideration. Instead of hiring candidates with the most competency, individuals were elevated for hiring consideration based on their race."

---

Pilots have commented it can be difficult to distinguish airplane lights (at night) with so many other lights near an airport.

The most plausible explanation I've heard is that the pilot thought they saw the airplane land, but it was the wrong plane.  And then they proceeded thinking the airplane landed, unknowingly heading into the path of the landing plane.

[Dave1442397]

I swear to God all this plane stuff makes me so much happier to be on trains.

Yup. No planes for me thanks. No trains in area unfortunately. Someday I'll need to fly b/c we can't drive to Europe but until then...

Even though it’s not better for the environment (unlike trains), a bucket list item for me is to take the Queen Mary from NYC to London or perhaps round trip (apparently coming into the New York Harbor and seeing the Statue of Liberty is pretty amazing).

You can also cruise by the Statue of Liberty for free on the Staten Island Ferry. It's something I always tell visitors to do if they have the time.

[GuitarStv]

I swear to God all this plane stuff makes me so much happier to be on trains.

Yup. No planes for me thanks. No trains in area unfortunately. Someday I'll need to fly b/c we can't drive to Europe but until then...

Even though it’s not better for the environment (unlike trains), a bucket list item for me is to take the Queen Mary from NYC to London or perhaps round trip (apparently coming into the New York Harbor and seeing the Statue of Liberty is pretty amazing).

You can also cruise by the Statue of Liberty for free on the Staten Island Ferry. It's something I always tell visitors to do if they have the time.

Maybe keep it on the DL.  If Trump ever catches wind of what's written under the statue, I can't imagine it being allowed to remain without some minor revisions:

Don't give me your tired, your poor, your rapists, and . . . I assume, some good people
The very best people are telling me that those huddled masses yearn to take our freedom,
They're wretched refuse and should go back to the teeming shores of their own shithole countries.

[nouseforausername]

Btw. you can also book a ship travel on freight ships. Don't ask me about the comfort though (most likely empty crew cabins) and it definitely is not cheap either. They take nearly hotel prices (at least that one time I looked into that).

This is fascinating to me. Please share if you have more details. I cannot imagine it being a thing in the litigious US.

Google it yourself ;)

I only looked at it once, somewhen pre-pandemic, and from Europe to Japan. I am definitely not qualified to say anything about it for the US except that I am pretty sure it's possible.

Family members of mine have used Maersk to travel.  They loved it. The cabin looked like an Ikea furnished dorm room and there was a gym, other amenities.  Mind you these folks were non US, and one was a former merchant mariner. I don't know how feasible it would be for random novetly travel.

https://cargoholidays.com/maersk-passenger-travel-from-usa-to-uk

[Scandium]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fact-check-yes-obama-and-biden-had-faa-hire-people-with-intellectual-psychiatric-severe-physical-disabilities/ar-AA1yb6Ar?cvid=d61d06d25e7e4a729315ce7afb266bba&ei=5

"The first is that there's never one single thing to blame for disasters, especially when it involves airliners; so much redundancy is built into the system that numerous things have to go wrong, either simultaneously or over a period of time, for a crash to happen. The second is that nobody -- nobody -- knows what caused the disaster in the first 24 hours."
...
"From 1989 to 2013, the Collegiate Training Initiative program was a pipeline to a career in air traffic control. The program aimed to ensure future air traffic controllers had the skills and knowledge necessary to carry out the job," the Washington Times reported in May 2024.

"More than ten years ago, the Obama Administration scrapped 1000 qualified candidates. The administration’s justification was that the pool of applicants was not diverse enough, so they would be purged from consideration. Instead of hiring candidates with the most competency, individuals were elevated for hiring consideration based on their race."

---

Pilots have commented it can be difficult to distinguish airplane lights (at night) with so many other lights near an airport.

The most plausible explanation I've heard is that the pilot thought they saw the airplane land, but it was the wrong plane.  And then they proceeded thinking the airplane landed, unknowingly heading into the path of the landing plane.

But the FAA isn't 100% air traffic controllers. I'd like to know if these supposed "unqualified people" were hired for ATC, or other positions in the FAA? The article is meaningless without specifying which jobs were talking about. It does quote job hiring in "air traffic operations", but I don't know if that means actually sitting in the control tower, or other parts of the FAA.

[ChpBstrd]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fact-check-yes-obama-and-biden-had-faa-hire-people-with-intellectual-psychiatric-severe-physical-disabilities/ar-AA1yb6Ar?cvid=d61d06d25e7e4a729315ce7afb266bba&ei=5

"The first is that there's never one single thing to blame for disasters, especially when it involves airliners; so much redundancy is built into the system that numerous things have to go wrong, either simultaneously or over a period of time, for a crash to happen. The second is that nobody -- nobody -- knows what caused the disaster in the first 24 hours."
...
"From 1989 to 2013, the Collegiate Training Initiative program was a pipeline to a career in air traffic control. The program aimed to ensure future air traffic controllers had the skills and knowledge necessary to carry out the job," the Washington Times reported in May 2024.

"More than ten years ago, the Obama Administration scrapped 1000 qualified candidates. The administration’s justification was that the pool of applicants was not diverse enough, so they would be purged from consideration. Instead of hiring candidates with the most competency, individuals were elevated for hiring consideration based on their race."

---

Pilots have commented it can be difficult to distinguish airplane lights (at night) with so many other lights near an airport.

The most plausible explanation I've heard is that the pilot thought they saw the airplane land, but it was the wrong plane.  And then they proceeded thinking the airplane landed, unknowingly heading into the path of the landing plane.

Just a quick note that the ultimate source for that article, "The Western Journal" is a far-right internet outlet according to the following media bias sources:
https://www.allsides.com/news-source/western-journalism
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/western-journalism/

Wikipedia describes their alignment as conservative an a bit more digging reveals they are owned by Liftable Media Inc, which also runs Conservative Tribune, Liberty Alliance and the religious website Liftable.com.

In other words, I am suspicious of a "fact check" that aligns with Trump's rhetoric coming from this particular source. I would not be surprised if their fact check was in fact a complete fabrication.

It's this sort of stuff that leads me to think Microsoft (i.e. MSN and the news feed in Windows) is just as conservative a media repeater as X.

[sixwings]

The crash is just another example of why conservatives have just become straight up bad people. Normal people would have heard Trump immediately try to politicize the situation and blame "DEI" in his opening speech, before any information about the actual causes, and been absolutely horrified. But conservatives are like "that's my guy!" and then rush to create articles about how right he is. Very, very gross.

I can't imagine what about Elon Musk's personality leads you to believe he will do that, instead of basically weakening all of the regulatory agencies he doesn't want to have to deal with, gut any agencies he has any personal beef with, and push for further tax cuts for billionaires.

I honestly believe, from the bottom of my heart, that like me, Elon Musk is a ruthless and relentless cost cutter who is obsessed with efficiency for its own sake. And that he has the track record to prove that he is one of the very best in the world at it. I genuinely admire this aspect of his personality.

We are free to disagree on this point, but that’s where I stand.

Well, there is a problem for the GOP and MAGA and Musk will run into this: we are basically looking at some sort of defund MAGA campaign - MAGA is not going to like it and Musk's personality isn't going to make a difference here.

Transfer payments, Medicare, Social Security, SNAP etc., have become an ever increasing part of the income of non-metro residents.

Currently, transfer payments which go largely to rural areas are around 2/3 of the federal budget and the payments continue to increase.

About 1/4 of rural incomes are now from transfer payment and they got where they are from negligible amounts to 3.8 trillion as of 2022.

The causes are largely twofold: 1. a persisting political and economical environment of wage repression 2. large increases of healthcare and other costs.

Musk must have looked at the numbers and warned of hardships which is obviously a grotesque understatement.

As for metropolitan areas, transfer payments are of negligible economic importance - in fact, a massive reduction in the federal budget by way of eliminating the bulk of transfer payments would likely greatly benefit metro areas by stopping the bleed of tax dollars to the countryside.

And here is the problem: Musk´s efficiency plans could well be summed up as mainly a rural defunding campaign and that is equivalent to kicking MAGA in the teeth.

Of course, there is another way to decrease the share of transfer payments of rural incomes but that would be increases of work and other income. It goes without saying that decreasing transfer payments amounts to economic repression of rural America and is counterproductive if the objective is to increase economic activity in order to increase wages.

So that is the problem the GOP is facing, MAGA must suffer much more than their perceived liberal enemies living in the cities and blue states which would be able to substitute loss of federal $$ with state generated tax income.

In short, the numbers show that it is MAGA who is in the incoming administration's crosshairs and it's going to be interesting once MAGA finds out who the mark was all along (and we haven't even talked about the proposed massively inflationary tariff policies):

The Great Transfer-mation

Not long ago, money from government programs like Social Security or SNAP — known as transfers — featured minimally in Americans’ personal income.

Only people in areas of chronic economic distress depended on transfers for meaningful shares of their income in the 1970s.

By the 2000s, transfer income featured much more prominently in local economies.

Today, the majority of counties rely on transfers for a significant portion of their income, while low-transfer places have gone from the norm to nearly extinct.

Americans derive their income from three main sources: work, investments, and transfers. Transfer income comes from government programs, such as Social Security, Medicare, and veterans benefits.

In 2022, Americans received $3.8 trillion in transfer income from the government. If that were split evenly across the entire US population, it would be about $11,500 per person.

https://eig.org/great-transfermation/

Quoting my post from 11/08/2024.

The Office of Management and Budget memo ceasing all transfer payments except Medicare and Social Security has hit MAGA hard, and that was entirely predictable.
It must be a rude awakening to realize that the rugged individualistic rural lifestyle is actually heavily subsidized and at risk from the Trump billionaire administration.

'Full meltdown mode': Conservative Rick Wilson flags 'debacle' that 'hurts MAGA most'
David McAfee
January 31, 2025

"Initially, it looked like another one of their performative trolling efforts—until it spiraled into disaster," Wilson added. "While Medicare and Social Security were exempt, state agencies reported that financial systems and funding portals for Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, and emergency aid had gone offline within hours. The resulting panic was immediate."

He further said, "The irony was almost poetic."

"Trump voters, many of whom despise 'socialism' with the intensity of a thousand suns, were suddenly in full meltdown mode," Wilson said.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-maga-omb-debacle-wilson/



Now we are looking at tariffs against Mexico and Canada to be levied starting tomorrow at 25%.
We will soon see what the effect on still rattled MAGA is going to be:

Trump says tariffs on Canada and Mexico coming Saturday, and he’s deciding whether to tax their oil
OSH BOAK
January 30, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said his 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico are coming on Saturday, but he’s still considering whether to include oil from those countries as part of his import taxes.

“We may or may not,” Trump told reporters Thursday in the Oval Office about tariffing oil from Canada and Mexico. “We’re going to make that determination probably tonight.”

https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-canada-mexico-oil-afb915762af6994573353135bcd30a1b

If Trump excludes oil Canada will likely put an export tariff on it. By saying he's considering excluding oil he's signaled that is an issue he knows is weak and will lose on and Canada should use that leverage. Oil gets a 25% tariff, gas becomes more expensive, and refinery jobs are lost either way IMO.   

[neo von retorch]

In other words, I am suspicious of a "fact check" that aligns with Trump's rhetoric coming from this particular source. I would not be surprised if their fact check was in fact a complete fabrication.

While I couldn't find "less biased media" reporting on the history, this law suit motion is probably the best source for information (I could find) on the claim being made.

BRIGIDA v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION et al, No. 1:2016cv02227 - Document 130 (D.D.C. 2021)

Among the numbers through around (1000 or even 3000 qualified candidates), this lawsuit claims that 4000 candidates took a biographical (DEI) test, and only 14% passed.

Of course, this is probably the kind of thing that's a distraction. We're still not yet at the stage of identifying the cause of the crash (however difficult that may prove to be.)

And this argument already went to the courts. I believe this FAA policy may still have been in place in 2019, well into Trump's first term, but apparently was modified in 2022 under Biden. (That's my rough understanding from scanning a few sources related to the above story.)

Ultimately the above court motion was dismissed. I believe this is a motion filed on behalf of the FAA to cancel a law suit against them. So I'm curious about the contents and outcome of the lawsuit itself.

May 12, 2021 

The FAA contends that the plaintiffs have not plausibly alleged that they were either employees or applicants for employment at the time the FAA changed its process for appointing air traffic controllers.  As a result, the FAA argues that the plaintiffs cannot state a claim under Title VII because the FAA cannot be said to have taken any employment action, let alone one that was adverse.  The Court disagrees.  The plaintiffs have plausibly alleged both that they were applicants and that they suffered an adverse employment action. 

[Fru-Gal]

I’m seeing cracks in Trump‘s support. I’ve been reading conservative forums, and even though there’s still a lot of group think it reassures me to find normal people who support Trump have a detailed understanding of World War II. His retirement memo and also especially the crash news conference really upset a lot of people. But they’re still knuckling under and saying let him be himself because he’s going to do great things by **** everything up lol.

[blue_green_sparks]

As per FAA staffing levels, back when I was still working, it was not uncommon that the FAA would designate specially trained employees of equipment manufacturers to represent the government agencies' interests. In one way it may be better to have someone who understands the equipment very well (The FAA folks just didn't have the time to get that deep), but it is a bit like the fox guarding the henhouse. If an angle-of-attack sensor can become a catastrophic single point of failure by design, well the certification methodology is broken.

[Sandi_k]

Of course, this is probably the kind of thing that's a distraction. We're still not yet at the stage of identifying the cause of the crash (however difficult that may prove to be.)

My understanding is that:

1) Only one ATC on duty; the standard is two;

2) The ATC re-directed the AA plane to a different runway within minutes of ETA, after the pilots had planned an approach for another.

3) My DH, who is a pilot, says that military pilots are not always subject to the same in-air rules. So they may not have followed commercial airline regs as they maneuvered around the runway.

[NorCal]

Of course, this is probably the kind of thing that's a distraction. We're still not yet at the stage of identifying the cause of the crash (however difficult that may prove to be.)

My understanding is that:

1) Only one ATC on duty; the standard is two;

2) The ATC re-directed the AA plane to a different runway within minutes of ETA, after the pilots had planned an approach for another.

3) My DH, who is a pilot, says that military pilots are not always subject to the same in-air rules. So they may not have followed commercial airline regs as they maneuvered around the runway.

CNN had a short clip with insights from a former Blackhawk pilot.  We're at the point where the speculation is at least well informed speculation, even if it takes months for a final report.  Highlights:

1. ATC should have had more people on duty.
2. The Blackhawk should have had two crew chiefs instead of one for better situational awareness.
3. There were two aircraft the Blackhawk should have been aware of.  When ATC asked "can you see that aircraft", the Blackhawk pilot was likely visually spotting only one of the two airplanes they should have been aware of. 
4. The Blackhawk was at an altitude of ~350ft when it should have been closer to ~200ft.

While likely not directly contributing to this crash, it does make me wonder why the Senate is still doing confirmation hearings when they should be immediately demanding to know why there's a hiring freeze on Air Traffic Controllers, and why the administration is trying to get as many of them to resign as possible.  How many other roles critical to safety and security are being impacted this way?

[GuitarStv]

Of course, this is probably the kind of thing that's a distraction. We're still not yet at the stage of identifying the cause of the crash (however difficult that may prove to be.)

My understanding is that:

1) Only one ATC on duty; the standard is two;

2) The ATC re-directed the AA plane to a different runway within minutes of ETA, after the pilots had planned an approach for another.

3) My DH, who is a pilot, says that military pilots are not always subject to the same in-air rules. So they may not have followed commercial airline regs as they maneuvered around the runway.

CNN had a short clip with insights from a former Blackhawk pilot.  We're at the point where the speculation is at least well informed speculation, even if it takes months for a final report.  Highlights:

1. ATC should have had more people on duty.
2. The Blackhawk should have had two crew chiefs instead of one for better situational awareness.
3. There were two aircraft the Blackhawk should have been aware of.  When ATC asked "can you see that aircraft", the Blackhawk pilot was likely visually spotting only one of the two airplanes they should have been aware of. 
4. The Blackhawk was at an altitude of ~350ft when it should have been closer to ~200ft.

While likely not directly contributing to this crash, it does make me wonder why the Senate is still doing confirmation hearings when they should be immediately demanding to know why there's a hiring freeze on Air Traffic Controllers, and why the administration is trying to get as many of them to resign as possible.  How many other roles critical to safety and security are being impacted this way?

No, you don't understand.  The whole problem was caused by hiring more air traffic controllers (who were diverse).  Diversity is the enemy you see.

[Turtle]

I swear to God all this plane stuff makes me so much happier to be on trains.

Yup. No planes for me thanks. No trains in area unfortunately. Someday I'll need to fly b/c we can't drive to Europe but until then...

I usually fly to visit my kids, one of whom just moved to DC.  Good thing I’m retiring in just over a year and my only current flying plans are also to Europe.  I’ll be driving to the DC area later this year rather than flying.

[partgypsy]

All I can say, is that Trump's current actions are going to make accidents (both minor and major) more likely. World health organization has already been cratered. If RFK gets the seat, we are going to see big attacks on both NIH and CDC. I would think that even mainstream conservatives would prefer not to have their children, parents, and grandparents die of preventable communicable diseases. So what am I missing here? 

[Just Joe]

If Trump excludes oil Canada will likely put an export tariff on it. By saying he's considering excluding oil he's signaled that is an issue he knows is weak and will lose on and Canada should use that leverage. Oil gets a 25% tariff, gas becomes more expensive, and refinery jobs are lost either way IMO.   

Is the math as simple as saying a ~70 cent USD increase in gasoline prices?

[reeshau]

I swear to God all this plane stuff makes me so much happier to be on trains.

Yup. No planes for me thanks. No trains in area unfortunately. Someday I'll need to fly b/c we can't drive to Europe but until then...

I usually fly to visit my kids, one of whom just moved to DC.  Good thing I’m retiring in just over a year and my only current flying plans are also to Europe.  I’ll be driving to the DC area later this year rather than flying.

Just take a daytime flight.

[Just Joe]

I usually fly to visit my kids, one of whom just moved to DC.  Good thing I’m retiring in just over a year and my only current flying plans are also to Europe.  I’ll be driving to the DC area later this year rather than flying.

Yup. Driving to MD this summer. We'll ride the train into DC for a little sightseeing. 

[NorCal]

If Trump excludes oil Canada will likely put an export tariff on it. By saying he's considering excluding oil he's signaled that is an issue he knows is weak and will lose on and Canada should use that leverage. Oil gets a 25% tariff, gas becomes more expensive, and refinery jobs are lost either way IMO.   

Is the math as simple as saying a ~70 cent USD increase in gasoline prices?

It will vary heavily by region.  The oil & gas infrastructure is connected heavily by pipeline and rail line.  Some parts of the US are powered almost exclusively by Canadian oil, and other parts of the US don't even touch it. 

I mostly visualize the infrastructure as the central Canadian provinces pushing everything south towards the gulf port locations like Houston.  Refineries in places like Montana, Oklahoma, Colorado, etc refine Canadian oil for use by US customers.  US pumped oil is either added to this, or pumped further south for export.  I understand that the grade of crude oil coming from Canada is very different from that found in the US shale formations.  Switching the refineries to run on different grades of crude oil is not considered a simple or cheap task. 

I won't be surprised if Trump is inadvertently about to become the worlds best EV salesman.

[wenchsenior]

All I can say, is that Trump's current actions are going to make accidents (both minor and major) more likely. World health organization has already been cratered. If RFK gets the seat, we are going to see big attacks on both NIH and CDC. I would think that even mainstream conservatives would prefer not to have their children, parents, and grandparents die of preventable communicable diseases. So what am I missing here?

My impression is that the conservative voters in the U.S. seem very bought into the prosperity gospel, so probably they have similar beliefs about peoples' health. 'Good Christians' who are in favor with god will stay healthy and wealthy. The rest deserve what they get.

[bacchi]

If Trump excludes oil Canada will likely put an export tariff on it. By saying he's considering excluding oil he's signaled that is an issue he knows is weak and will lose on and Canada should use that leverage. Oil gets a 25% tariff, gas becomes more expensive, and refinery jobs are lost either way IMO.   

Is the math as simple as saying a ~70 cent USD increase in gasoline prices?

It will vary heavily by region.  The oil & gas infrastructure is connected heavily by pipeline and rail line.  Some parts of the US are powered almost exclusively by Canadian oil, and other parts of the US don't even touch it. 

I mostly visualize the infrastructure as the central Canadian provinces pushing everything south towards the gulf port locations like Houston.  Refineries in places like Montana, Oklahoma, Colorado, etc refine Canadian oil for use by US customers.  US pumped oil is either added to this, or pumped further south for export.  I understand that the grade of crude oil coming from Canada is very different from that found in the US shale formations.  Switching the refineries to run on different grades of crude oil is not considered a simple or cheap task. 

I won't be surprised if Trump is inadvertently about to become the worlds best EV salesman.

US refineries also refine crude for use in Canada. I don't know how that's treated though. Is it an import/export situation or does Canada pay the US a fee for refining and the crude isn't actually sold? I.e., we ship you a barrel of crude, you send back 20 gallons 75 liters of car petrol and 45 liters of diesel, and we cut you a check for refining that barrel.

If the former, where the crude is bought by refineries and the refined is sold back to Canada, tariffs can make things more expensive very quickly.

[Fru-Gal]

If Trump excludes oil Canada will likely put an export tariff on it. By saying he's considering excluding oil he's signaled that is an issue he knows is weak and will lose on and Canada should use that leverage. Oil gets a 25% tariff, gas becomes more expensive, and refinery jobs are lost either way IMO.   

Is the math as simple as saying a ~70 cent USD increase in gasoline prices?

It will vary heavily by region.  The oil & gas infrastructure is connected heavily by pipeline and rail line.  Some parts of the US are powered almost exclusively by Canadian oil, and other parts of the US don't even touch it. 

I mostly visualize the infrastructure as the central Canadian provinces pushing everything south towards the gulf port locations like Houston.  Refineries in places like Montana, Oklahoma, Colorado, etc refine Canadian oil for use by US customers.  US pumped oil is either added to this, or pumped further south for export.  I understand that the grade of crude oil coming from Canada is very different from that found in the US shale formations.  Switching the refineries to run on different grades of crude oil is not considered a simple or cheap task. 

I won't be surprised if Trump is inadvertently about to become the worlds best EV salesman.

US refineries also refine crude for use in Canada. I don't know how that's treated though. Is it an import/export situation or does Canada pay the US a fee for refining and the crude isn't actually sold? I.e., we ship you a barrel of crude, you send back 20 gallons 75 liters of car petrol and 45 liters of diesel, and we cut you a check for refining that barrel.

If the former, where the crude is bought by refineries and the refined is sold back to Canada, tariffs can make things more expensive very quickly.

This is why Mexico built their first refinery last year. Oh, and a woman was in charge of the whole project.

[PeteD01]

All I can say, is that Trump's current actions are going to make accidents (both minor and major) more likely. World health organization has already been cratered. If RFK gets the seat, we are going to see big attacks on both NIH and CDC. I would think that even mainstream conservatives would prefer not to have their children, parents, and grandparents die of preventable communicable diseases. So what am I missing here?

Trump actually has created chaos within the FAA since taking over with Musk in particular having injected himself aggressively into the workings of the agency.
Upheavals like that ripple through organizations and when combined with threats to employees´ livelihoods can cause performance to deteriorate.
Now consider that air traffic control is way understaffed and one can easily see where responsibility lies.
I guess that's what one gets when putting people who "move fast and break things" (paraphrasing Musk here) in charge of critical transportation operations.

'This could be a coverup': Dem senator says Trump 'very vulnerable' over plane crash
David Badash
January 31, 2025

“Trump fired upon taking office the entire FAA Safety Advisory Board,” Murphy explained. “He spent the last week trying to push federal employees out the door, including people at the FAA, trying to bully them into accepting offers to resign. And so we got reports that the control tower was not normal on the night of the crash.”

“Well, that stands to reason, because the FAA has been in meltdown since Trump took over. He knows that he would have to answer for that, so instead of actually explaining why he left the FAA leaderless and without any direction, in chaos, he’s blaming Black people and blaming women who work at the FAA, without any evidence,” Murphy stated.

https://www.rawstory.com/this-could-be-a-coverup-dem-senator-says-trump-very-vulnerable-over-mid-air-colli/

[reeshau]

If Trump excludes oil Canada will likely put an export tariff on it. By saying he's considering excluding oil he's signaled that is an issue he knows is weak and will lose on and Canada should use that leverage. Oil gets a 25% tariff, gas becomes more expensive, and refinery jobs are lost either way IMO.   

Is the math as simple as saying a ~70 cent USD increase in gasoline prices?

It will vary heavily by region.  The oil & gas infrastructure is connected heavily by pipeline and rail line.  Some parts of the US are powered almost exclusively by Canadian oil, and other parts of the US don't even touch it. 

I mostly visualize the infrastructure as the central Canadian provinces pushing everything south towards the gulf port locations like Houston.  Refineries in places like Montana, Oklahoma, Colorado, etc refine Canadian oil for use by US customers.  US pumped oil is either added to this, or pumped further south for export.  I understand that the grade of crude oil coming from Canada is very different from that found in the US shale formations.  Switching the refineries to run on different grades of crude oil is not considered a simple or cheap task. 

I won't be surprised if Trump is inadvertently about to become the worlds best EV salesman.

US refineries also refine crude for use in Canada. I don't know how that's treated though. Is it an import/export situation or does Canada pay the US a fee for refining and the crude isn't actually sold? I.e., we ship you a barrel of crude, you send back 20 gallons 75 liters of car petrol and 45 liters of diesel, and we cut you a check for refining that barrel.

If the former, where the crude is bought by refineries and the refined is sold back to Canada, tariffs can make things more expensive very quickly.

That's similar to the Maquiladora concept on the Mexican border.  US parts are never exported; they just visit Mexico for processing or assembly, and come back to the US.  Manufacturing has gone deep into Mexico,  but there is potentially a bug loophole--or an even more dramatic impact, if negated.

[MustacheAndaHalf]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fact-check-yes-obama-and-biden-had-faa-hire-people-with-intellectual-psychiatric-severe-physical-disabilities/ar-AA1yb6Ar?cvid=d61d06d25e7e4a729315ce7afb266bba&ei=5

"The first is that there's never one single thing to blame for disasters, especially when it involves airliners; so much redundancy is built into the system that numerous things have to go wrong, either simultaneously or over a period of time, for a crash to happen. The second is that nobody -- nobody -- knows what caused the disaster in the first 24 hours."
...
"From 1989 to 2013, the Collegiate Training Initiative program was a pipeline to a career in air traffic control. The program aimed to ensure future air traffic controllers had the skills and knowledge necessary to carry out the job," the Washington Times reported in May 2024.

"More than ten years ago, the Obama Administration scrapped 1000 qualified candidates. The administration’s justification was that the pool of applicants was not diverse enough, so they would be purged from consideration. Instead of hiring candidates with the most competency, individuals were elevated for hiring consideration based on their race."

---

Pilots have commented it can be difficult to distinguish airplane lights (at night) with so many other lights near an airport.

The most plausible explanation I've heard is that the pilot thought they saw the airplane land, but it was the wrong plane.  And then they proceeded thinking the airplane landed, unknowingly heading into the path of the landing plane.

But the FAA isn't 100% air traffic controllers. I'd like to know if these supposed "unqualified people" were hired for ATC, or other positions in the FAA? The article is meaningless without specifying which jobs were talking about. It does quote job hiring in "air traffic operations", but I don't know if that means actually sitting in the control tower, or other parts of the FAA.

Looks like their source was an opinion piece by a Republican who served as Nevada Attorney General (Adam Laxalt).
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/faa-lawsuit-claims-agency-discriminated-against-air-traffic-controller-applicants-basis-race

But I found "History of the Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative", which by the name suggests this was focused on air traffic controllers.  While Obama was President, a "Barrier Analysis" was conducted.  I read that as "race", even though it only mentioned "biodata".  This document also mentions " all previous
applicants were asked to reapply under the new hiring process", which could be how 1,000 people who didn't meet diversity goals were fired.
https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/oamtechreports/201907.pdf#page=34

There was also a bill in Congress trying to reverse using "biodata" in hiring air traffic controllers, but I think that bill failed.

[MustacheAndaHalf]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fact-check-yes-obama-and-biden-had-faa-hire-people-with-intellectual-psychiatric-severe-physical-disabilities/ar-AA1yb6Ar?cvid=d61d06d25e7e4a729315ce7afb266bba&ei=5

"The first is that there's never one single thing to blame for disasters, especially when it involves airliners; so much redundancy is built into the system that numerous things have to go wrong, either simultaneously or over a period of time, for a crash to happen. The second is that nobody -- nobody -- knows what caused the disaster in the first 24 hours."
...
"From 1989 to 2013, the Collegiate Training Initiative program was a pipeline to a career in air traffic control. The program aimed to ensure future air traffic controllers had the skills and knowledge necessary to carry out the job," the Washington Times reported in May 2024.

"More than ten years ago, the Obama Administration scrapped 1000 qualified candidates. The administration’s justification was that the pool of applicants was not diverse enough, so they would be purged from consideration. Instead of hiring candidates with the most competency, individuals were elevated for hiring consideration based on their race."

---

Pilots have commented it can be difficult to distinguish airplane lights (at night) with so many other lights near an airport.

The most plausible explanation I've heard is that the pilot thought they saw the airplane land, but it was the wrong plane.  And then they proceeded thinking the airplane landed, unknowingly heading into the path of the landing plane.

Just a quick note that the ultimate source for that article, "The Western Journal" is a far-right internet outlet according to the following media bias sources:
https://www.allsides.com/news-source/western-journalism
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/western-journalism/

Wikipedia describes their alignment as conservative an a bit more digging reveals they are owned by Liftable Media Inc, which also runs Conservative Tribune, Liberty Alliance and the religious website Liftable.com.

In other words, I am suspicious of a "fact check" that aligns with Trump's rhetoric coming from this particular source. I would not be surprised if their fact check was in fact a complete fabrication.

It's this sort of stuff that leads me to think Microsoft (i.e. MSN and the news feed in Windows) is just as conservative a media repeater as X.

I followed a link from earlier in the thread to arrive there - see below (*).  When I checked the history of the relevant FAA program, it matched the statements made in that article.  There was a change to use "biodata" during the Obama Administration, which sounds like a way of adding race to the criteria.  And those who were already accepted had to re-apply using the new criteria, which sounds like where the "1,000" fired candidates comes from.  I would have to dig much further to compare word for word, but a government source seems to confirm what was said in that article.

https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/oamtechreports/201907.pdf#page=34


(*)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-was-challenged-after-blaming-dei-for-the-dc-plane-crash-heres-what-he-said/ar-AA1y8Q7a

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fact-check-yes-obama-and-biden-had-faa-hire-people-with-intellectual-psychiatric-severe-physical-disabilities/ar-

[Travis]

My wife works in the regulatory world. She just got word that the EPA just laid off all employees in their first year of hire.

CNN confirmed today. 1100 probationary (first year) employees told they could be fired immediately.

[PeteD01]

...

I followed a link from earlier in the thread to arrive there - see below (*).  When I checked the history of the relevant FAA program, it matched the statements made in that article.  There was a change to use "biodata" during the Obama Administration, which sounds like a way of adding race to the criteria.

...

"Biodata" does not refer to race at all but is an unfortunate neologism standing for "biographical data".

It's not a nefarious concept to inject incompetent applicants into a competitive field, but a tool that allows applicants to be considered who might be systematically disadvantaged within legacy application processes but might have the potential for high performance.

There is nothing fishy about it unless one thinks that evening out the playing field is a bad thing.

Biodata

With respect to industrial and organizational psychology, since the respondent replies to questions about themselves, there are elements of both biography and autobiography. The basis of biodata's predictive abilities is the axiom that past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour.[4] Biographical information is not expected to predict all future behaviours but it is useful in personal selection in that it can give an indication of probable future behaviours based on an individual's prior learning history.[5] Biodata instruments (also called Biographical Information Blanks) have an advantage over personality and interest inventories in that they can capture directly the past behaviour of a person, probably the best predictor of his or her future actions.[citation needed] These measures deal with facts about the person's life, not introspections and subjective judgements.[6]

Over the years, personnel selection has relied on standardized psychological tests.[7] The five major categories for these tests are intellectual abilities, spatial and mechanical abilities, perceptual accuracy, motor abilities and personality tests. The mean correlation coefficient for a standardized test of g (intellectual ability) and job performance is 0.51.[8] A review of 58 studies on biodata found coefficients that ranged from 0.32 to 0.46 with a mean validity of 0.35 The mean validity of interviews was found to be 0.19. research has indicated a validity coefficient of 0.29 for unstructured interviews and 0.31 for structured interviews but interview results can be affected by interviewer biases and have been challenged in a number of different court cases.[9]

Biodata has been shown to be a valid and reliable means to predict future performance based on an applicant's past performance. A well-constructed biodata instrument is legally defendable and unlike the interview, is not susceptible to error due to rater biases or the halo effect. It has proven its worth in personnel selection as a cost-effective tool.[10]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodata#:~:text=Biodata%20is%20the%20shortened%20form,jobs%2C%20grants%2C%20and%20marriage.

[Radagast]

Btw. you can also book a ship travel on freight ships. Don't ask me about the comfort though (most likely empty crew cabins) and it definitely is not cheap either. They take nearly hotel prices (at least that one time I looked into that).

This is fascinating to me. Please share if you have more details. I cannot imagine it being a thing in the litigious US.

I have done this. Liverpool to Philadelphia in 10 days. Narrowly selected over Le Havre to South Carolina or some such.
Pros:
You can say you did it
Big rooms
Crew very excited to have you onboard
The deep ocean looks different than the near/shallow ocean, especially in a storm, in a way that awe struck landlubber me

Cons:
Shower seemed to have no U-bend
Expensive
It takes 10 days
Nothing to do for 10 days
Fairly seasick for 10 days so the above point didn't matter much
Cutlery and others slide off table in big waves
Immigration officials very suspicious of young people arriving this way

Others:
We were a little late because we sheltered behind an island for a while as a storm went past
You eat meals prepared by the ship cook for the crew
I recall we could have walked around the bridge any time. Crew is glad for something different and the water views are good (looks like water anyway).
Crew likely speak English and pretty good chance are Philippino

[Travis]

Elon and his cronies basically have carte blanche to walk into federal agencies and tear it all apart.

[urlhttps://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-government-tech-workers-gsa-tts/[/url]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-aides-lock-government-workers-out-computer-systems-us-agency-sources-say-2025-01-31/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/01/31/elon-musk-treasury-department-payment-systems/

https://federalnewsnetwork.com/management/2025/01/trump-administration-directs-opm-career-leaders-to-prepare-for-70-cut-to-staffing-programs/

Billionaire business owner with a mountain of conflicts of interest on his sleeve walking into Treasury and demanding to see confidential data like he owns the place...

[Travis]

Are you an FBI agent who investigated Trump? Fired

Are you a prosecutor who had a Jan 6th rioter case? Fired

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/01/31/jan6-prosecutors-fired-dc-martin/

[MrGreen]

"Elon Musk is reportedly taking control of the inner workings of US government agencies"

https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/31/elon-musk-is-reportedly-taking-control-of-the-inner-workings-of-us-government-agencies/

Truly unbelievable stuff. It reminds me of the scene from Live Free or Die Hard where Justin Long's hacker character is all excited about a fire sale and when it actually happens and everything is falling apart, he realizes how awful the reality is as Bruce Willis' character is saying, "these are people's lives, you jackass!"

[GuitarStv]

Are you an FBI agent who investigated Trump? Fired

Are you a prosecutor who had a Jan 6th rioter case? Fired

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/01/31/jan6-prosecutors-fired-dc-martin/

Makes sense.  Why would you keep employing someone who viciously attacked those patriots in court for no reason at all?