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Sunday Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Sun Aug 03, 2025 at 06:39:19 AM EST
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Time fo a new open thread. The floor is yours, you pick the topics. All topic welcome.

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    Unemployed actor (5.00 / 1) (#42)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 07, 2025 at 02:24:37 PM EST
    has bright future with ICE

    maybe Mel Gibson, James Woods and Jon Voight will join him

    Ex-Superman actor says he's becoming ICE agent

    So (none / 0) (#1)
    by Ga6thDem on Sun Aug 03, 2025 at 08:45:20 AM EST
    new report that Donald Trump gave Prince Andrew a list of girls link

    If the appeals court (none / 0) (#2)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Aug 03, 2025 at 09:10:02 AM EST
    finds Trump can not just make up tariffs, and the SC agrees, Neil Katyal says the law is pretty clear, what happens then?

    Do all the tariffs just disappear?

    Obviously I hope they pull the plug of tariffs but I think it would be total chaos.  

    Orange mussolini (5.00 / 3) (#7)
    by Chuck0 on Sun Aug 03, 2025 at 10:31:36 AM EST
    is claiming a national emergency exists and he is exercising emergency powers.

    I don't see how ANY court can agree that Brazil prosecuting Bolsonaro is a "national emergency" and justifies a 50% tariff.

    Parent

    My understanding is that the tariffs (none / 0) (#4)
    by Peter G on Sun Aug 03, 2025 at 09:28:21 AM EST
    would revert to whatever level was last approved by Congress, which has the lawful power to set tariff rates, not the President.

    Parent
    It's only power if Congress actually asserts it. (5.00 / 1) (#19)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Aug 04, 2025 at 08:03:13 AM EST
    Anything otherwise in the eyes of this regime is merely a suggestion or a request that can - and most likely will - be ignored.

    Parent
    Right (none / 0) (#5)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Aug 03, 2025 at 09:31:58 AM EST
    But something tells me it would not be so simple.

    Even if he just drags his feet.  What if he refuses?

    Just spitballin here.

    Parent

    Do you think (none / 0) (#6)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Aug 03, 2025 at 09:34:37 AM EST
    the SC will agree with Neil Katyal?

    As a non lawyer the law does seem pretty clear.

    Parent

    If the court (none / 0) (#13)
    by Ga6thDem on Sun Aug 03, 2025 at 02:42:34 PM EST
    overturns the tariffs and says Trump can't do tariffs what then? It seems they were overturned before and Trump just ignored the courts. I imagine he would just ignore the courts again, the GOP will do nothing about the situation and businesses will not have a clue if there are tariffs or not tariffs.

    As I understand it, the whole situation is already a logistical nightmare because entire computer systems have to be changed every time the idiot opens his mouth and changes the number.

    Parent

    Yikes (none / 0) (#8)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Aug 03, 2025 at 11:53:43 AM EST
    But I've been waiting for this.  The real Kompromat.

    Trump should not think that the video archive of his past immoralities is only in the hands on Mossad

    That's also (none / 0) (#9)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Aug 03, 2025 at 11:56:19 AM EST
    a very interesting way of putting it.  Suggests other reasons for Trump's slavish devotion to Beebee

    This could get really good.  Maybe there is a pee tape.  

    Parent

    Any Links With Substance? (none / 0) (#10)
    by RickyJim on Sun Aug 03, 2025 at 01:55:40 PM EST
    For the past couple of weeks, I've been seeing claims on Youtube from Max Blumenthal, Phil Giraldi and others, that the solution to the Epstein mysteries involves Israel.  However, they don't supply the how, what and why. All they say are things like Ghislaine's father was buried in Israel after a big state funeral.  If you find a serious explanation, please post.

    Parent
    Well (none / 0) (#11)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Aug 03, 2025 at 02:14:24 PM EST
    Epstein is suspected of being a spy who's game was kompromat.  If he was my first guess would be a spy for Israel.  So all thise hours of video of celebrities and politicians with minors would be the property of Beebee.

    Just a wild guess.


    Parent

    Also (none / 0) (#12)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Aug 03, 2025 at 02:17:03 PM EST
    Maxwell makes even more sense as a spy because yes, hed dad is buried in Mount of Olives Cemetery. Which is like Jewish Arlington.

    Parent
    Ghislaine's (none / 0) (#15)
    by Ga6thDem on Sun Aug 03, 2025 at 02:48:58 PM EST
    father was believed to be Mossad. And Epstein met her father back in the early 80's apparently. Don't know if that actually means anything but I think that's where some of this comes from.

    Parent
    I just googled (none / 0) (#17)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Aug 03, 2025 at 05:22:40 PM EST
    "Epstein mysteries involves Israel"

    There's quite a bit.  

    Here's one

    US media barely touches Epstein links with Israeli intelligence
    Jim DeBrosse The Electronic Intifada 25 July 2025



    Parent

    Why, for sure it would involve Israel! (none / 0) (#18)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sun Aug 03, 2025 at 06:47:02 PM EST
    That's because Jews will not replace us - or at least, that's what some white guys carrying tiki torches said while on their way to try and save a Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, VA. But first, we need to unregulate the inflationary conspirionism - or, so a convicted felon in the White House told me.

    Remember, RickyJim, it doesn't have to make any sense to you at all to still be oh so real in MAGA's parallel universe - a mystical place of magical thinking where Haitians are eating the dogs and cats, Russian president Vladimir Putin is our friend, French president Emmanuel Macron is married to a drag queen, illegal immigrants comprise over half the population of California, powerful CIA lasers hidden in Chile can burn down the town of Lahaina, Donald Trump is a friggin' business, economic and foreign policy guru, a Slovenian emigre can find a rich sugar daddy and rise to become America's very first First Lady with her own soft-core p0rn portfolio, and everything bad that happens can always somehow be blamed on Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Bill and Hillary Clinton and of course, the Mexicans.

    One day in the future, when my grandchildren ask me, "Oh, sage and wise Grandfather, how did America come to flounder and lose its way?" - well, that's probably as good an explanation as any.

    Aloha. ;-D

    Parent

    I think (none / 0) (#14)
    by Ga6thDem on Sun Aug 03, 2025 at 02:47:04 PM EST
    more than likely they are just screwing with his mind.

    What is more surprising to me is that France likely has a lot of information on Epstein and has kept mum. England must have a bunch of evidence too.

    Speaking of France I can't believe Candace Owens is so stupid as to have done an entire multi part documentary on Macron's wife saying she is a man. I guess when you get away with lying for so long you get bolder and bolder about it.

    Parent

    If that's the case, ... (4.00 / 1) (#21)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Aug 04, 2025 at 02:02:44 PM EST
    Ga6thDem: "Speaking of France I can't believe Candace Owens is so stupid as to have done an entire multi part documentary on Macron's wife saying she is a man. I guess when you get away with lying for so long you get bolder and bolder about it."

    ... then Barack Obama ought to likewise sue DNI Tulsi Gabbard, AG Pam Bondi, President Donald Trump and Fox News for publicly and falsely insinuating that Obama concocted "the Russia hoax" and was therefore guilty of treason.

    There's certainly ample, publicly available and well-documented evidence proving the Trump campaign's ties with Russian intelligence services were no hoax. The false accusations of treason are both knowing and intentional, and the Obamas need to call them out.

    The increasingly brazen impunity with which Trump & Co. continue to lie about others is, as you noted, the direct result of them having gotten away with it for so long without suffering any real consequences. It's become their go-to weapon of choice and further, that sort of behavior has been proliferating throughout the GOP.

    However, there is E. Jean Carroll's $88.5 million verdict against Trump in federal court for his false public claim that she lied about being sexually assaulted by him 35 years ago, and that $787.5 million settlement which the Murdoch family and News Corp. reached with Dominion Systems after Fox News defamed that company repeatedly on the air and lied about the 2020 election results. So, there is legal precedent here. The Obamas ought to lawyer up and file suit for defamation.

    Let's face it, there are really very few things more defamatory than a U.S. president and his regime having knowingly and falsely accused a political adversary in public of treason, with the clear and painfully obvious intent to damage that person's public reputation and cause them pain and irreparable harm. And honestly, the Obamas aren't the only ones being defamed here. For the country's sake, Trump & Co. need to be held to legal account.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Have you seen (none / 0) (#22)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Aug 04, 2025 at 02:47:31 PM EST
    Chief of War?

    Parent
    I'm hooked (none / 0) (#23)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Aug 04, 2025 at 04:06:13 PM EST

    The story of the unification of the Hawaiian Islands from an indigenous perspective; a Hawaiian war chief joins a campaign to unite the warring islands in order to save them from the threat of colonization.



    Parent

    No, I haven't seen it. (none / 0) (#52)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Thu Aug 07, 2025 at 09:41:38 PM EST
    The mortal threat posed to native Hawaiians and their independence came not from aggressive foreign powers but rather, a more innocuous but very deadly source - namely, syphilis, yellow fever and measles. western disease reduced the indigenous population from an estimated 800,000 in 1778 to about 50,000 in 1890.

    Most western histories of the Hawaiian Islands declined to acknowledge the following because issues related to human sexuality were politely discouraged in polite academic discussion during the 19th century. But honestly, according to Hawaiian oral histories, it was the introduction of gonorrhea and syphilis to the Hawaiian population during Captain Cook's first arrival and landfall on the Big Island in January 1778 that earned him a far less friendly - and ultimately, fatal - reception when he returned 11 months later in November.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Russia had/has (none / 0) (#16)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Aug 03, 2025 at 03:05:48 PM EST
    a famously Kompromat Hotel.  Trump stayed there.
    It's all in the dossier.

    Why wouldn't they have the real deal.

    Parent

    Jen Taub (none / 0) (#20)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Aug 04, 2025 at 08:48:05 AM EST
    says it's likely that Russia has some Epstein information. There is a Palm Beach detective that emigrated to Russia that was in the police department from 2005-2008.

    Parent
    How big is our tent? (none / 0) (#24)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Aug 04, 2025 at 04:29:10 PM EST
    Marjorie Taylor Greene Threatens to Leave the GOP
    August 4, 2025 at 12:30 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 106 Comments

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) told the Daily Mail that she feels that the Republican party has lost touch with its base, and suggested she may abandon the party entirely.

    Said Greene: "I don't know if the Republican party is leaving me, or if I'm kind of not relating to Republican party as much any more. I don't know which one it is."

    Not that (none / 0) (#25)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue Aug 05, 2025 at 09:09:49 AM EST
    big. LOL.

    However it shows that the conspiracy theorists may be tiring of Trump not proving their theories.

    Parent

    Interesting (none / 0) (#26)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue Aug 05, 2025 at 02:20:36 PM EST
    article in the NYT today about Epstein's townhouse in NY. Not only are there pictures of the ones we have known but also the Pope, Mick Jagger & some others. There was another birthday collection in 2016 but by then most had found out about his sex trafficking and didn't contribute except for Mort Zuckerman and Noam Chomsky to name a couple.

    also there were no cameras in the massage room so likely there would be no compromising video from there. It seems the only compromising video if there is any would be coming from Palm Beach.

    Holy hell (none / 0) (#27)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Aug 05, 2025 at 03:01:35 PM EST
    Trump Says Migrants `Naturally' Do Farm Work
    August 5, 2025 at 11:46 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 272 Comments

    President Donald Trump told CNBC that migrants are "naturally" able to do farm work in a way American citizens can't.

    Said Trump: "These people do it naturally -- naturally. I said, what happens if they get it to a farmer the other day? What happens if they get a bad back? He said, `They don't get a bad back, sir, because if they get a bad back, they die.' I said, that's interesting, isn't it? In many ways, they're very, very special people."

    Wasn't that lovely? (none / 0) (#54)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Fri Aug 08, 2025 at 01:21:44 AM EST
    Archie Bunker: "What I'm sayin' is your coloreds, as is well-known, they run faster, they jump higher, they don't bruise so easy. And because of their, whaddya call it, jungle heritage, they see better - it's great for night games."

    I swear, the amount of casual racism and ignorance that Donald Trump can pack into a one-minute-long public comment never fails to astonish me. This is like something Archie Bunker would have said to Mike and Gloria on "All in the Family."

    ;-D

    Parent

    Not goin away (none / 0) (#28)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Aug 05, 2025 at 03:02:29 PM EST
    House Panel Subpoenas Epstein Files
    August 5, 2025 at 10:35 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 71 Comments

    "The House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed the Department of Justice for files in the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein," the AP reports.

    "It's part of a congressional probe that lawmakers believe may show links to President Donald Trump and other former top officials."

    "The Republican-controlled committee also issued subpoenas for depositions with former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and eight former top law enforcement officials. The committee's actions showed how even with lawmakers away from Washington on a monthlong break, interest in the Epstein files is still running high.

    It Ain't Gonna Go Away (5.00 / 2) (#34)
    by vml68 on Tue Aug 05, 2025 at 11:15:39 PM EST
    LINK

    Parent
    This is wonderful (none / 0) (#37)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 07, 2025 at 12:37:24 PM EST
    I put it on Facebook a couple of days ago.

    Parent
    It's popping up all over (none / 0) (#38)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 07, 2025 at 01:05:06 PM EST
    Since I posted it I've seen several other angles.

    Several people were filming I guess

    Parent

    Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer (none / 0) (#39)
    by Peter G on Thu Aug 07, 2025 at 01:49:58 PM EST
    longtime (decades, that is) favorites of mine.

    Parent
    They (none / 0) (#30)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue Aug 05, 2025 at 08:39:24 PM EST
    think this is going to distract from Trump being in the files. They also always think calling the Clintons is going to work out for them yet they usually get their butts handed to them. Trump is having his toadies call all his "enemies". They aren't calling Acosta who did the sweetheart deal.

    Parent
    This subpoena might not produce (none / 0) (#32)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Aug 05, 2025 at 09:10:02 PM EST
    all the stuff but when the whole House votes to release the files it will make more waves.

    They have all but assured it's going to be boyed on.

    All this Congressional vacation has done is make a news hole that's filled with Epstein.

    Parent

    sorry (none / 0) (#33)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Aug 05, 2025 at 09:11:07 PM EST
    all but assured it's going to be VOTED on.

    Parent
    That is (none / 0) (#35)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Aug 07, 2025 at 11:55:59 AM EST
    true. It seems that if congress had voted and just released the files before leaving it might have worked out better for them.

    At this point nobody seems to be buying what they are attempting to be selling like Maxwell saying she didn't see Trump do anything. Which literally means nothing coming from what she considers "nothing"

    Parent

    She has never admitted (none / 0) (#36)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 07, 2025 at 12:36:52 PM EST
    to her own crimes.  It's a disgrace they are even talking to her and it's pretty clear almost everyone gets that.

    The number of people wanting everything disclosed is in the high 70s and low 80s.

    There are not many topics in this country that 80%  agree on.

    Parent

    U Mass (none / 0) (#41)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 07, 2025 at 02:16:16 PM EST
    Of those who are aware of the case, 70% believe a list of Epstein's clients exists, 67% believe Trump and Epstein were once good friends, 63% believe the Trump administration is hiding information, and 59% believe a special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate how the Epstein case was handled. 81% those who believe the administration is hiding information said Trump is to blame

    link

    Parent

    Releasing the files (none / 0) (#45)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 07, 2025 at 04:34:47 PM EST
    would probably have been better for House Republicans.

    Apparently no one cares what's better for them or they would not have been forced to vote on that awful bill.

    I think this "list" is a problem for wayyyyy more that Trump.  Epsteins clients were really a who's who of the richest most powerful men on earth.
    The literal 1%.

    I think the pressure to keep them sealed is coming from a lot more than just Trump and the DOJ.  We are talking about titans of tech and industry and prime ministers and presidents and royalty.

    And I think it's all about to blow.

    Parent

    Mark Elias was talking about the "list" (none / 0) (#46)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 07, 2025 at 04:37:57 PM EST
    yesterday.  He said the idea there was an FBI investigation of this man and his business and a spreadsheet does not exist of his contacts and clients is laughable.

    Of course there is a "list"

    Parent

    The reps are (none / 0) (#47)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Aug 07, 2025 at 05:06:44 PM EST
    Supposed to be selling the bill over the break. So my rep but up his sales pitch and all he mentioned was the extension of the middle class tax cuts. He acted like there was nothing else in the bill. Lol.

    I have thought the same thing about the files. Just learned this week that Epstein set Peter Theil Up in business.

    Parent

    A detail (none / 0) (#48)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 07, 2025 at 05:13:44 PM EST
    in one of the stories about all the cameras in his house was how many photos he had with important people and world leaders.

    Parent
    This (none / 0) (#49)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 07, 2025 at 06:25:36 PM EST

    Every Celebrity in Photos from Inside Jeffrey Epstein's Townhouse



    Parent

    I saw that the other day. (none / 0) (#50)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Aug 07, 2025 at 07:04:21 PM EST
    A few surprises like Mick Jagger and the pope. And he cut Maxwell out of the picture with Trump.

    Parent
    Yes (none / 0) (#51)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Aug 07, 2025 at 07:05:15 PM EST
    but oddly didn't have any cameras in the massage room where everything went down.

    Parent
    An interesting vid (none / 0) (#29)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Aug 05, 2025 at 03:16:51 PM EST
    talking about Russia Trump and Epstein.

    Russia is showing Malaria's X rated photos on state tv!

    Russia has the dirt

    Russia (none / 0) (#31)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue Aug 05, 2025 at 08:40:18 PM EST
    ran those same photos of Melania right after the election to let Trump know they were watching him.

    Parent
    Excellent (none / 0) (#40)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 07, 2025 at 02:11:54 PM EST
    Steve Bannon Secretly Plotting Presidential Bid
    August 7, 2025 at 3:07 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

    Steve Bannon is in the early stages of planning an audacious run for president in 2028, the Daily Mail reports

    Very true (none / 0) (#43)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 07, 2025 at 02:38:51 PM EST

    South Park is having a blast dragging the hell out of Team Trump

    If you have not seen this week's Kristi Noem episode drop whatever you are doing and watch it.

    I expect a new cabinet member (none / 0) (#44)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 07, 2025 at 02:40:18 PM EST
    next week.

    Im looking forward to Steven Miller.

    Parent

    I have my own pet name for Stephen Miller: (none / 0) (#53)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Thu Aug 07, 2025 at 09:44:09 PM EST
    Kmart Goebbels.

    Parent
    South Park is number one show in streaming (none / 0) (#55)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Aug 08, 2025 at 08:20:40 AM EST
    Per Flix Patrol, Criminal Minds has been knocked off the top of the Paramount+ streaming charts by South Park. With the new deal minted between the streaming giant and Park County, the animated showis officially back at Paramount+ worldwide, which has led to a massive jump in the series' streaming analytics. At the time of writing, South Park and Criminal Minds hold the number one and two spots on the list of top streaming series

    Parent

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