UNBELIEVABLE people are voting for this guy. I mean, yes, this isn't really a surprise to anyone, even his voters. But there is a shocking component to seeing it verified by people.

Two former Trump administration officials have gone on record to deliver alarming new details about his approach to providing disaster relief to American citizens.

In an interview with E&E News, Mark Harvey, Trump’s one-time senior director for resilience policy on the National Security Council staff, revealed that the former president heavily resisted signing off on disaster aid to wildfire-afflicted California because it had voted heavily against him in the 2016 presidential election.

Harvey says he finally convinced Trump to authorize disaster relief to the state one time by pulling up voting results showing a significant concentration of Republican voters in Orange County.

“We went as far as looking up how many votes he got in those impacted areas... to show him these are people who voted for you,” Harvey explained.

Harvey added that Trump only saw providing disaster relief solely through the lens of his own political benefit.

"There’s no empathy for the survivors," he said. "It is all about getting your photo-op, right? Disaster theater to make him look good.”

Harvey's account was backed up by fellow former Trump official Olivia Troye, who revealed that she often had to go to Vice President Mike Pence to get Trump to fulfill his basic duty to provide help to Americans struggling in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

She also warned that this would only be worse in a second Trump term where there wouldn't be anyone like her or Harvey to curb Trump's worst impulses.

Link

Italian soccer club Lazio has fired their falconer Jose Barnabe for posting pictures of his surgically enhanced penis. Oddly enough, they did not fire him but suspended him in 2021 when he made fascist salutes and chanted, "Duce, Duce", at a match.
https://apnews.com/article/lazio-eagle-falconer-fired-cc2e23c88825aa76f2759e5144f6caec

He is hurt after just 2 passes as a Jet

Rather than trying to make sense of the other idiotic thread on the topic.

No extra engines had been placed in the Palisades, where the fire broke out about 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 7, officials said. The department pre-positioned nine engines to the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood that were already on duty, expecting that fires might break out there. Officials said they moved more engines “first thing in the morning” to also cover northeast L.A.

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As legislators this week continue their consideration of a slate of bills aimed at reshaping higher education in Iowa — taking aim at diversity, equity and inclusion programming, course offerings and accrediting agencies — one lawmaker Wednesday called on Iowa’s community colleges to consider offering bachelor’s degrees.



Iowa’s 15 community colleges — under Iowa Code — offer two-year programs leading to associate degrees, along with technical and vocational programming offering certificates, in-service workforce education and career training for high school students, among other things.


Iowa’s public and private colleges and universities — on the other hand — offer four-year bachelor’s degrees and, in some cases, master’s and doctorate degrees.




“There is unmet demand for baccalaureate education in specific disciplines, especially in rural Iowa and industries not adequately served by Iowa’s public and private four-year institutions,” Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, wrote Wednesday to the state’s community college presidents and trustees.


“Iowa’s community colleges are uniquely positioned to address gaps in workforce training and education by potentially offering baccalaureate degrees in select high-demand fields.”


Collins, who chairs the Iowa House’s new Higher Education Committee, in his letter called on the community colleges to conduct a “comprehensive study on the feasibility of establishing baccalaureate degree programs at Iowa’s community colleges.”


The study, according to Collins, should at a minimum:

• Identify unmet workforce needs and academic disciplines that community colleges could help address through new baccalaureate programs;
• Analyze community colleges’ capacity and resources to support such programming — including faculty, facilities and accreditation requirements;
• Explore funding models for the added programming — including state appropriations, tuition and other potential sources;
• Review best practices and outcomes from other states that allow community colleges to confer bachelor’s degrees;
• Assess the potential impact on underserved students, including those who are place-bound or who live in rural Iowa;
• Evaluate possible tuition costs, financial aid options and affordability for students;
• And consider workforce outcomes, including job placement rates, employer satisfaction and the regional economic impact.

Collins, in his letter, asked the community college presidents to submit an “interim report” to the committee by May 31 — including potential baccalaureate degree models.


He requested a final report — including recommendations — come to the committee by Oct. 31 “for the consideration of the committee before the beginning of the 2026 legislative session.”


That report, according to Collins, should include the following:

• A detailed feasibility assessment of offering bachelor degrees across Iowa’s community colleges;
• Scope and structure recommendations;
• A cost-benefit analysis — including funding needs and potential economic returns;
• And any legislative and regulatory changes Iowa would need to make to implement community college-based baccalaureate programs.

“Iowa’s community colleges have been an incredible partner in addressing the emerging workforce needs of the state, while controlling costs and delivering an affordable product to Iowa students,” Collins wrote. “Evaluating the feasibility and impact of Iowa’s community colleges’ ability to offer baccalaureate degree programs will provide the Higher Education Committee the information it needs to thoroughly evaluate such an idea, and determine this potential role for Iowa’s community colleges.”

‘No more than an associate degree’​

Under Iowa Code, community colleges are defined as a “publicly supported school which may offer programs of adult and continuing education, lifelong learning, community education, and up to two years of liberal arts, preprofessional, or occupational instruction, partially fulfilling the requirements for a baccalaureate degree but confers no more than an associate degree.”


But 24 states now have authorized community college baccalaureate degree programs, according to a 2024 report from the Community College Baccalaureate Association. West Virginia was first in 1989, and the number stayed in the single digits into the 2000s. Since that time, a dozen more states have approved community college bachelor’s degrees — including California, Colorado and Ohio.


Among the earlier adopters was Florida, which today offers bachelor’s degrees at all 28 of its community colleges, and Washington, with 33 or 34 of its community colleges conferring bachelor’s degrees, according to the report.


In total, 187 community colleges nationally offer baccalaureate programs. Iowa and most of its surrounding states — except Missouri — are among the half of the United States not offering bachelor’s degrees at their community colleges.


Representatives from states not conferring community college bachelor’s degrees told researchers, per the report, they wanted to maintain “good working relationships with instate universities and worr(ied) (community college baccalaureate programs) may disrupt plans to improve transfer.”


Another state noted community colleges were awarding fewer associates degrees in the wake of COVID-19, reducing interest in adding bachelor’s degrees until their enrollment recovers.


In Iowa, total community college enrollment in fall 2024 increased 1.4 percent collectively to 86,582 students — although that remains well below the peak of 106,596 in fall 2010. And the percentage of total students who are enrolled full time is continuing to drop — from 82 percent in 1973 to 33 percent in 2024, when 67 percent were enrolled part-time.


In recent years, Iowa’s community colleges and public and private colleges and universities have been increasing their collaboration to make it easier for students to transfer and earn four-year degrees.


Tuition — like at Iowa’s public universities — has continued to rise across the community colleges.


The average cost for instate students, including fees, per credit hour bumped up from $194 in the 2021 budget year to $219 in the current year — a 13 percent increase. During the same period, the average cost of instate enrollment at Iowa’s public universities increased 15 percent to $445 per credit hour.


Iowa Code requires community college tuition for instate students to remain below that charged by the public universities.

Here’s a Good Place for Elon Musk’s DOGE Dept. to Start Downsizing Government: More than 14,000 Federal Employees Accessed Americans’ Private Financial Data Over 3 Million Times to Target Conservatives and Trump Supporters​

Phone says we have a chance at 50 here in Dallas county with a light west wind..... real feel will be upper 30s....

You? They could care less.
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Yeah, it's a moot point now. But what say you?

Former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack is headed back to Iowa to lead the World Food Prize Foundation after stepping down as U.S. Agriculture Secretary under former President Joe Biden.



The World Food Prize Foundation announced Tuesday that Vilsack will serve as the organization’s chief executive officer, beginning March 1.


“As CEO, Vilsack will leverage his extensive leadership and diplomatic experience to enhance the Foundation’s global impact in food security and sustainable agriculture,” according a press release.




The Democrat replaces another former Iowa governor to lead the Des Moines-based group that strives to alleviate world hunger and honors the work of international leaders for their efforts and achievements in global food security with an annual prize.


Republican Terry Branstad, the former U.S. ambassador to China and longtime Iowa Republican governor, will retire as president of the World Food Prize Foundation at the end of January.


Vilsack served nearly 12 years as the nation’s top ag official under two presidencies, first under President Barack Obama and then under Joe Biden, making him the second longest serving U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, surpassed by fellow Iowan James Wilson. Wilson served under three presidencies, from 1897 to 1913.


He served as Iowa governor from 1999 to 2007.





Each spring, the World Food Prize awards a $500,000 prize. Established in 1986 by Iowa native and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug, the annual award recognizes individuals who have improved the quality, quantity or availability of food.


The World Food Prize also hosts an international symposium that attracts leading agricultural experts from around the world to discuss global food security. The foundation also hosts a youth institute for high school students to explore and solve hunger and food security issues, as well as the Iowa Hunger Summit.


Borlaug was a leader in the “Green Revolution,” developing wheat varieties resistant to disease and that could adapt to a range of growing conditions.

There is an Iowa City connection.

Triumph knows dog shit when he sees it😂!
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Just watching Purdue/Tenn... Smith looks a little beefier but fairly similar sizes (unless I'm wrong, lol) ...