Political Watch

[Thumpalumpacus]

Yabut someone's already fucked her brains out, clearly.

Yabut, you know she's a screamer.

"Get OFF me!" counts, then?

[Deesse23]

Moscow:

Jaques Tilly, german sculptor of floats for carnival, was sentenced to 8 1/2 years prison "in absentia". He was convicted of "hurting religious feelings and spreading false information about the russian military forces."

Tilly commented:

They are scared of pappmache. They are making fools of themselves and dont see how embarrassing that is, how scared they are of satirical critique

[brewerb]

Moscow:

Jaques Tilly, german sculptor of floats for carnival, was sentenced to 8 1/2 years prison "in absentia". He was convicted of "hurting religious feelings and spreading false information about the russian military forces."

Tilly commented:

They are scared of pappmache. They are making fools of themselves and dont see how embarrassing that is, how scared they are of satirical critique

Russians have feelings?

[Dānu]

Our reporting started, like much of our work, in a spreadsheet. As I parsed through federal court data, I noticed something odd: Within months of President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, prosecutors began filing obscure charges related to trespassing on military property — so many, in fact, that more cases were filed in 2025 than in the prior decade.

Nearly all of these charges originated from cases along the U.S. southern border, where last spring, the White House designated large swaths of land as national defense areas. Putting them under military authority allowed troops to play an unprecedented role in apprehending undocumented immigrants; federal soldiers are generally barred from enforcing the law on domestic soil. If you were caught in one of these zones, the government could also now prosecute you for breaking federal laws, including one enacted in 1909 to keep spies away from arsenals.

https://www.propublica.org/article/milit...ts-charges

[Dānu]

With the United States at war with Iran and embroiled in conflicts around the world, the White House asked Congress on Friday to approve about $1.5 trillion for defense in the 2027 fiscal year. If enacted, that amount would set military spending at its highest level in modern history.

The request, which arrived as part of President Trump’s new budget, would amount to a roughly 40 percent increase from what the United States spent on the Pentagon this fiscal year. The administration coupled the proposal with a call for $73 billion in cuts spread across many domestic agencies, including the elimination of key federal health, housing and education programs, some of which serve minority groups and the poor.

White House Seeks 40 Percent Increase in Military Budget

[Thumpalumpacus]

I wouldn't be surprised if some of that money was turned upon us here in America to ensure "election security" for mid-terms or 2028. 40%!

[Dānu]

In a statement, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said Trump’s “energy dominance agenda prepared us to meet this moment.”

“The President made clear that the Operation Epic Fury is in its final stages and we are quickly achieving our military goals,” she said. “In the meantime, the Administration has taken several significant actions to mitigate short-term disruptions and stabilize the energy markets.”

Still, among traders and analysts who once hung on Trump’s every word, there’s far less willingness to buy into his optimism now that they’re seeing more real-world impact.

If Trump declares victory and leaves the Middle East in the next few weeks without reopening the strait, he will effectively cede one-fifth of the world’s oil supply to Iran. That would put the regime on even stronger financial footing than before, allowing Iran to charge oil tankers a hefty toll to use the strait — and determine which country’s shipments get through.

Under that scenario, analysts project, oil prices are expected to remain above $90 per barrel well beyond the end of the war, or roughly one-third higher than where prices sat before the conflict began.

But other options could yield even worse outcomes. If Trump instead chooses to escalate and follow through on his threats to bomb Iran’s energy infrastructure, it would immediately worsen the oil shortage and fan fears of widespread retaliation — which could effectively shatter the global energy trade and push prices to never-before-seen highs.

Either way, energy experts said, oil prices are going to stay significantly higher than the $60-per-barrel level the US enjoyed earlier this year — and no amount of reassurances from Trump is likely to change that at this point.

“I don’t think there’s any going back to pre-war gas prices, at least not this year and probably not for a couple years,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “With each passing day, and the longer the hostilities continue, the more damage is done.”

https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/02/politics/...r-whiplash

[Dānu]

The $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program included in President Donald Trump's tax-and-spending law last year was billed by Republicans as a way to help hospitals in rural areas. Last summer, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted it as the "biggest infusion in history" for rural hospitals and pledged it will "restore and revitalize these communities."

Hospitals and health industry experts have warned that while the fund — $10 billion per year allocated across all states for five years — offers some support to struggling rural hospitals, it won't save them. One reason is that the sum doesn't come close to offsetting the $137 billion that rural hospitals expect to lose over the next decade, according to health research nonprofit KFF. Millions of people are expected to lose Medicaid benefits as a result of new Medicaid work requirements going into effect in 2027 — changes the Trump administration has maintained will crack down on fraudsters rather than cut off eligible enrollees.

Administrators say the new $50 billion fund is not meant to shore up ailing rural hospitals or maintain the status quo, but to transform rural health care through tech, workforce and other innovations. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz in a December video said it "gives states the tools to design solutions that last, not Band-Aids that fail."

The White House echoed that Wednesday, saying the fund is intended to fund "big ideas" to improve rural health care access long-term.

A Nebraska hospital in peril shows how a Republican-led rural health fund is coming up short

[brewerb]

My wife said that there are rumors on the internet that Trump is at Walter Reed hospital today.

[Dānu]

Trump is giving Iran 48 hours to open the Strait of Hormuz. What happened to "we don't need it, if Europe wants that oil they should come and take it"? What an ass.

[Thumpalumpacus]

My wife said that there are rumors on the internet that Trump is at Walter Reed hospital today.

pleasepleasepleaseplease

[Fireball]

Maybe he's just chillin'. 

[brewerb]

Maybe he's just chillin'. 

In the morgue?

[Fireball]

Maybe he's just chillin'. 

In the morgue?

Hey, a guy can hope!

[Thumpalumpacus]

When's his next scheduled public appearance?

[Fireball]

When's his next scheduled public appearance?

I vote for the Capitol Rotunda, in state...with some cat piss thrown by an "admirer". 

[Thumpalumpacus]

When's his next scheduled public appearance?

I vote for the Capitol Rotunda, in state...with some cat piss thrown by an "admirer". 

When is that, and does he cancel? That's my point.

I remember as a youth both Andrupov and Chernenko suffering big health problems and "Kremlin-reading" by public appearances. If Trump misses an appearance tomorrow, what does that mean? His team of yes-people will be wanting to keep the gravy-train on the tracks, after all.

ETA: Looks like nothing public until Monday.

[SYZ]

My wife said that there are rumors on the internet that Trump is at Walter Reed hospital today.

As concerns about Trump's health surfaced on social media yesterday,
the White House issued an urgent statement. The message came as
an old video of the 79-year-old's motorcade was being shared on X,
the platform formerly known as Twitter, with users saying that he was
hospitalised.

However, upon examining the clip carefully and reverse searching it,
[we] found that the footage is from after the 2024 Butler assassination
attempt on Trump. The video is not from Saturday 4 April.

 —The Hindustan Times, 5 April 2026.

[Fireball]

I vote for the Capitol Rotunda, in state...with some cat piss thrown by an "admirer". 

When is that, and does he cancel? That's my point.

I remember as a youth both Andrupov and Chernenko suffering big health problems and "Kremlin-reading" by public appearances. If Trump misses an appearance tomorrow, what does that mean? His team of yes-people will be wanting to keep the gravy-train on the tracks, after all.

ETA: Looks like nothing public until Monday.

I wasn't clear. I meant lying in state, in a coffin.

[Thumpalumpacus]

When is that, and does he cancel? That's my point.

I remember as a youth both Andrupov and Chernenko suffering big health problems and "Kremlin-reading" by public appearances. If Trump misses an appearance tomorrow, what does that mean? His team of yes-people will be wanting to keep the gravy-train on the tracks, after all.

ETA: Looks like nothing public until Monday.

I wasn't clear. I meant lying in state, in a coffin.

I took your point I was just asking seriously.

[Minimalist]

My wife said that there are rumors on the internet that Trump is at Walter Reed hospital today.

To close it down?

[SYZ]

Trump added to a turbulent Saturday with a racially charged
immigration post on Truth Social, repeating a slogan popular
among white nationalists—just hours after threatening Iran
with an apocalyptic 48-hour ultimatum.

Earlier in the day, Trump warned that "all Hell will reign down"
on Iran if they didn't make a deal or reopen the Strait of Hormuz
within 48 hours, signing off with "Glory be to GOD!"

Hours later, he pivoted to domestic messaging with equal intensity:
"If you import the Third World, you become the Third World!" he
posted. "AND THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN TO THE UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA AS LONG AS I AM PRESIDENT."

The phrase, long circulated in far-right circles and previously used
by Trump adviser Stephen Miller, frames immigration from developing
nations as an existential threat to American civilisation. It's often
referred to as Great Replacement theory.

[brewerb]

Melania Trump blasts claims about Jeffrey Epstein and her

First lady Melania Trump on Thursday blasted what she described as an array of false claims about her and notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“I am not Epstein’s victim,” Melania Trump told reporters in a statement at the White House that ended without her taking questions. “Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump.”

“I have never had any knowledge of Epstein’s abuse of his victims,” she said of the late sex offender, who was previously a friend of President Trump’s. “I was never involved in any capacity. I was not a participant.”

“The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today,” Melania Trump said. “The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility, and respect. I do not object to their ignorance, but rather, I reject their mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation.”
....

“Fake images and statements about Epstein and me have been circulating on social media for years now,” she said. “Be cautious about what you believe: These images and stories are completely false.”

“I’m not a witness or a named witness in connection with any of Epstein’s crimes,” the first lady said.
“My name has never appeared in court documents ... victim statements or FBI interviews surrounding the Epstein matter,” she said.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/09/jeffrey-...trump.html

Is this an attempt at CYA because something is coming?

[Dānu]

[SYZ]

...Is this an attempt at CYA because something is coming?

I'd say a definite "yes".