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Devries Rumors Getting Louder

Seems like a lot of open speculation.

Less Stupid Trumper Posters

As anyone who has been on this board during presidential administrations from each party knows that the side not in power generally has more fun on "offense" as opposed to "defense". And now that we're more than a few weeks in of the sides switching, I'm wondering if anyone has found any less stupid Trumper posters to play with?

My impression is that most of the Trumpers are not worth engaging. There's some amusement in terms of a watch this poster play with their own poop sort of thing, but actually engaging has way too much of a 'punching down' element that limits the joy. I recently noticed a poster - golfhacker - who seems less stupid and has mentioned facts and reality a few times, which are promising terms coming from Trumpers, so I think there's some potential there.

Have you found any less stupid Trumpers to engage with that doesn't feel like you're picking on the poor stupid kid?

Hockey/NHL guys: Four Nations Face-Off

Anyone else looking forward to this? IMHO, hockey went from the worst “all star” format of the biggest five major leagues, to the best. The Six Nations rugby tournament is fantastic, and this has potential to be a bit like that. International hockey is fantastic, and the NHL finally isn’t getting in its own way. It was stupid to keep NHL guys from the last Olympics, as it was the best tournament in the Winter Olympics. Now there’s another tournament that can serve as off year build-up, and grow interest in NHL players. Rosters just dropped today…

Reality

I have been a passionate Hawkeye fan since graduating from the university 50 years ago.

Iowa football and basketball games were appointment TV for me. I either loudly cheered or yelled at what I was seeing on the screen. I religiously read the message boards, posted some things that in hind-sight I should not have said, wore Hawkeye apparel, even put out an Iowa flag on game days. It was always my hope that some day -- ONE DAY -- Iowa football would compete for a national championship and that Hawkeye men's hoops would at least make the Final Four.

After seasons of dashed hopes and unrealized expectations, I have come to realize:

- Iowa football will never compete for a national championship.

- Beyond Lute Olson's 1979-1980 team, Iowa basketball will never make the Final Four.

Reality. I no longer get upset about it. I can find other things to do on Saturdays or game nights. I can flip on the TV if I want. But no need shortening my life getting worked up watching Iowa sports.

Why does it appear like every political rule favors Republicans?

I may not have phrased that perfectly but it always seems like Democrats are easy to block when trying to do things - even Tuberville was able to simply block military appointees by himself. Then when Republicans are jamming things through, or Trump can just fire judges or anyone he wants, the democrats just cry about it and use words to fight but accomplish next to nothing to slow things down.

Democratic leaders are really good at “hope” though. Republicans are far better at political rules and games than the Democrats are, imho.
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I Relied on a Handgun In My Nightstand for Home Defense, and It Was a Mistake. Here’s What I Do Now.

When it comes to home defense, most people think of a nightstand gun – a loaded pistol sitting within arm’s reach, ready for action if an intruder dares to step inside. It’s a solid plan, no doubt, but let’s be honest – it’s not enough.
A simple handgun might be a good first step, but why stop there when you could have a fully equipped, battle-ready defense system that would make any home invader wish they’d picked another house?

Vance Insults Europe: We ‘Survived’ Greta Thunburg, You Can Deal With Elon Musk

What a POS he is:

JD Vance compared Elon Musk with Swedish environmental crusader Greta Thunberg while launching a blistering attack on European leaders in a speech at a security conference in Germany.

The vice president berated European governments on free speech, immigration, and democratic values, insisting they should listen more to the voice of voters.



“And trust me, I say this with all humor,” he said. “If American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunburg scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.”

The crack was met with silence and Donald Trump’s running mate got muted applause as he demanded more from leaders at the Munich Security Conference to protect their borders while the United States handled the rest of the world.

Participants in the packed room were stunned as Vance departed from the usual security topics to launch a series of stinging criticisms against America’s European partners.

He started by saying: “While the Trump administration is very concerned with European security and it believes we can come to a reasonable settlement between Russia and Ukraine and we also believe that it is important in the coming years for Europe to step up in a big way to provide for its own defense.”




But he went on to detail what he saw as a lowering of democratic values in Europe.

What he was most worried about in Europe, he said, was “not about Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor. What I’m worried about is the threat from within.

“The retreat in Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values it shares with the United States of America.”

Free Throw Shooting at #8 Ohio State

Check this out. I would argue that if we make our FTs in regulation, we likely win the game today.

We shot 50% (4-8) from the FT line in the first half.

Lucy, Hannah & Guyton were a combined 2-6 (33%) from the FT line in the 1st half.

In regulation, Lucy was 6-10 (60%) from the FT line. Caitlin would have been 9-10 or 10-10.


Free Throws, by Quarter:

QTR 1:...........1-2 (Lucy was 1-2)
QTR 2:.........3-6 (Hannah 0-2; Guyton 1-2)
QTR 3:..........7-9 (Lucy was 2-4)
QTR 4...........4-5 (Lucy was 3-4)

OT:.................2-2

TOTAL.......17-24 (71%)
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  • Poll
poll - have you ever had a security clearance and access to classified stuff

have you ever had a security clearance and access to classified stuff

  • Yes

    Votes: 14 36.8%
  • No

    Votes: 17 44.7%
  • Secret

    Votes: 5 13.2%
  • Top Secret (TS)

    Votes: 4 10.5%
  • TS/SCI

    Votes: 1 2.6%
  • NATO Secret

    Votes: 2 5.3%
  • TS/SCI (SAP)

    Votes: 2 5.3%
  • Other - explain yourself

    Votes: 5 13.2%

I don't know squat about this, but all this CIA, FBI, etc. stuff makes me wonder if people are just talking out of their asses. I looked this up and just threw some stuff out there. I'm sure someone will explain how I screwed up the poll.

**Unlimited choices**

DOGE is dispatching agents across U.S. government

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are sending representatives to agencies across the federal government, four people familiar with the matter said, to begin preliminary interviews that will shape the tech executives’ enormous ambitions to tame Washington’s sprawling bureaucracy.

In recent days, aides with the nongovernmental “Department of Government Efficiency" tied to President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team have spoken with staffers at more than a dozen federal agencies, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media. The agencies include the Treasury Department, the Internal Revenue Service and the departments of Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services, the people said.

At the same time, Musk and Ramaswamy have significantly stepped up hiring for their new entity, with more than 50 staffers already working out of the offices of SpaceX, Musk’s rocket-building company, in downtown Washington, two of the people said. DOGE aims to have a staff of close to 100 people in place by Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, they said.


While much about DOGE remains unclear — including who is paying the salaries of these staffers or exactly how DOGE representatives work with the formal transition team — the agency outreach reflects intensifying efforts by Musk and Ramaswamy to propose what they say will be “drastic” cuts to federal spending and regulations. Even as the scale of their project grows, Musk and Ramaswamy are encountering a slew of obstacles, including reluctance among congressional Republicans to approve deep budget cuts and a skeptical career civil service.
Two government employees said remarks Musk and Ramaswamy have made about the civil service have made them wary of the entire DOGE effort. Longtime civil servants — some who have built their careers learning the intricacies of the federal bureaucracy — are an awkward fit with Silicon Valley’s fast-moving and disruptive culture. Many in Washington regard the tech entrepreneurs as arrogant or naive about the complexity of reining in government.
The U.S. presidential transition process traditionally involves teams from the incoming administration working with existing agency staff and officials on the transfer of power, including regular briefings. This year’s changeover is far smoother than it was four years ago, when the process was complicated by Trump’s refusal to recognize the results of the election. But the uncertain status of DOGE relative to the rest of the Trump transition team has raised new questions about who precisely is speaking for the incoming administration.


In a potential nod to the myriad challenges facing DOGE, Musk has begun tempering certain promises in his bid to achieve sweeping reform by reinventing the federal bureaucracy, eliminating entire agencies, shrinking the federal workforce and slashing historic sums from the federal budget. In an interview Wednesday night at CES, the tech trade show in Las Vegas, he said DOGE may fall short of his initial aim to cut $2 trillion in federal spending.
“I think we’ll try for $2 trillion. I think that’s like the best-case outcome,” he said. “But I do think that you kind of have to have some overage. I think if we try for $2 trillion, we’ve got a good shot at getting $1 [trillion].”
The idea of a commission to cut waste and regulation, long discussed among conservatives, was taken up by Musk and Trump during last year’s presidential election. Musk put $277 million toward electing Trump and other Republicans in 2024, and Trump has made the billionaire one of his most powerful advisers. After the election, Trump named Musk and Ramaswamy as DOGE’s co-leaders, assigned to identify government waste that the White House Office of Management and Budget would try to cut.


For a project named as a joking reference to a meme-based cryptocurrency, DOGE has taken numerous steps since the election to build a very real Washington operation. Over the past several weeks, DOGE has been deluged by applications that have poured in through direct messages on X, Musk’s social media site, where the group put out a public call for “super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.”

That led to swarms of applicants who sought to bring their experience and credentials to the attention of Musk or Ramaswamy. In a blog post, Vinay Hiremath, co-founder of the tech company Loom, described four “intense and intoxicating” weeks of DOGE-related work after he became involved.
Although he ultimately decided not to relocate to Washington for a job with DOGE, Hiremath said he had been added to multiple groups on the encrypted messaging app Signal, where DOGE is conducting much of its initial work. Hiremath did not respond to requests for comment.


The crowdsourced callouts were followed by postings for more specific roles: Just after Christmas, DOGE said it was looking for IT, HR and financial staffers for full-time, salaried positions. This week, it put out a request for software engineers and information security engineers for full-time roles, advising applicants to send over “a few bullet points demonstrating exceptional ability” along with their cellphone numbers. On X, some users have listed their IQ scores in replies to Musk and DOGE and said they included them in their applications.
Key leadership roles have also fallen into place. Steve Davis, the Boring Company president who oversaw steep cost-cutting at Twitter (now X) after Musk bought it, is helping to oversee the entire effort, and deputies have been recruited to focus on narrower aspects of its agenda, such as legislation and regulation, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Emil Michael, a former Uber executive, is one of the people overseeing the effort to cut regulations, according to one person familiar with the matter, also speaking on the condition of anonymity to reflect matters not yet made public. Trump has announced the appointment of Katie Miller, former press secretary and communications director for former vice president Mike Pence, to DOGE. Trump also said in December that Bill McGinley, the former White House Cabinet secretary whom he’d previously named as White House counsel, would serve instead as DOGE counsel.


It remains unclear exactly how DOGE will drive change. The White House budget request applies to spending in fiscal 2026, which doesn’t begin until Oct. 1. Spending for the rest of the current fiscal year is being hashed out on Capitol Hill by congressional Republicans who already have voted overwhelmingly to boost spending for the Defense Department — an agency DOGE has vowed to target.
Numerous party officials, meanwhile, are quietly wary of approving big spending cuts at the same time they are working to extend the expiring provisions of Trump’s 2017 tax legislation, which would reduce revenue by trillions of dollars. And it’s not clear how much weight Musk’s star power will carry on Capitol Hill, where federal spending is often prized for its benefits to hometown constituents. The limits of Musk’s influence were revealed in late December when Congress revised a stopgap spending bill he criticized but passed separate legislation to implement many of the specific provisions he lambasted.
As Musk’s emissaries begin to make contact with federal officials, critical questions remain unresolved about the group’s authority and responsibilities. The two federal employees expressed confusion about what DOGE is assigned to do — including whether it has Trump’s full backing.


“Every administration has to establish a relationship with its career people, because it’s the career people who keep the government going,” said Bill Hoagland, senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank. “I think this is an important foray, but given what they have stated, it will be difficult for some career individuals to be cooperative with the DOGE people, who are not elected and are more advisers than political appointees.”

Rasmussen: More Americans Now Say US Is On the 'Right Track,' Breaking a 20-Year Streak of Pessimism

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