#trump shuttle

[tomorrowusa]

Donald Trump has sent the federal government into a state of turmoil with his mass firings, flood of dubious executive orders, and appointments of alarmingly incompetent individuals. And when something goes wrong because of his own malfeasance, he resorts to flimsy scapegoating rather than accept responsibility.

A US Army helicopter collided with an airliner just a few days after a frequently drunk sex abuser picked by Trump became Defense Secretary.

At Daily Kos, Emily Singer writes about Pete Buttigieg's response to Trump's demented tirade about the crash.

Buttigieg then said Trump bears some of the blame for the crash, as he is in charge and has already taken actions to make the skies less safe. "President Trump now oversees the military and the [Federal Aviation Administration]," Buttigieg continued. "One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped keep our skies safe. Time for the President to show actual leadership and explain what he will do to prevent this from happening again." At the time of the crash, there was no head of the FAA, as Trump's co-President Elon Musk had forced out the previous administrator because the FAA fined Musk's company SpaceX.

Yep, Elon Musk's billionaire ego may have contributed to the deaths of 67 people in this week's crash.

Trump also gutted an aviation safety committee days before the crash, getting rid of a three-decade-old safety committee that was created by Congress after the 1988 PanAm 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. Because the committee was created by an act of Congress, Trump couldn’t get rid of it, but he did fire all of its members, which will make the committee unable to do the work of looking into airline safety issues, the Associated Press reported. Kara Weipz, the president of Victims of Pan Am Flight 103, said a statement that Trump’s gutting of the safety commission, “will undermine aviation security in the United States and across the globe.”

Trump only cares about keeping oligarchs happy and himself out of prison. Public safety and health mean nothing to him.

Alexander Sammon at Slate writes...

t marks the first major crisis of the nascent Trump presidency, and one with particularly bad optics for the president. In his war with the administrative state and in his determination to gore federal spending, Trump had already fired the heads of the Transportation Security Administration and the Coast Guard and gutted a key aviation safety advisory committee, all just 10 days before the crash. As the Daily Beast reported, Federal Aviation Administration head Michael Whitaker stepped down on Jan. 20, after Elon Musk, the spear tip of Trump’s “cost cutting” spree, demanded that he quit.

Firing public safety officials so Elon Musk can play James Bond villain is the mark of a malicious moron, not a leader.

Trump doesn't have a great history with airplanes. He once had an airline called Trump Shuttle. One serious accident can be found in news archives.

Trump Jet Crash-Lands; No Injuries

Trump Shuttle lasted only three years and never made a profit. It sits on the shelf of Trump business failures along with Trump Vitamins, Trump Steaks, and Trump University.

A broader matter is the existence of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). It's directly on the other side of the Potomac River from Washington and suffers from congestion and understaffing. It probably shouldn't even be there but it's very convenient for politicians who prefer not to commute to the better equipped Dulles Airport.

USA Today says...

The airport is particularly popular among lawmakers because it's more convenient to their Capitol Hill offices than either Dulles International Airport (IAD) or Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI). [ ... ] "DCA is currently at capacity and at risk of being seriously overburdened should there be changes to the slot and perimeter rules," the Coalition to Protect America’s Regional Airports said in April. "Moreover, any changes to the slot and perimeter rules threaten to undermine the access of regional airports and their communities to the D.C. area, as well as increase delays, traffic, congestion, noise, and safety concerns." [ ... ] The airport's longest and main runway, Runway 1/19, is 6,869 feet long, which today is considered a relatively short runway for a major airport. Because the other two runways are much shorter, most airplanes use 1/19, making it the single-busiest runway in the country, according to airport officials. According to air traffic control data, Flight 5342 was on final approach for one of the shorter DCA runways, Runway 15/33. Due to safety and noise considerations, the FAA generally requires aircraft flying around the Washington, D.C., area to travel above the Potomac, which concentrates traffic in a narrow area. Aircraft are generally required to stay above or below certain altitudes in the area to reduce noise impacts on both residential and tourist areas, including the National Mall.

With fewer federal workers and reduced regulation which Trump and his filthy rich libertarian extremist broligarchs demand, expect more disasters.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Courtney Hagle at MMFA:

In an October 18 interview with Donald Trump, Fox host George “Tyrus” Murdoch praised the former president for chartering a plane for the late South Africa President Nelson Mandela in the 1990s, adding that it’s “hard” for Trump to “talk about the good things you’ve done.” Some others in conservative media joined in, suggesting that Trump assisted Mandela for the sake of generosity and goodwill. In reality, as Washington Post columnist Glenn Kessler explained, the plane chartered for Mandela was not Trump’s personal private jet but a Boeing 727 from Trump Shuttle, “an airline that Trump briefly owned before it was essentially seized by the banks because he failed to make payments on his loans.” Kessler noted that Mandela was charged $130,000 to use the plane by Trump Shuttle, which was already in financial trouble and was preparing to be sold.  Speaking to Trump in an OutKick interview titled “Manhood is under ATTACK!” Tyrus said Mandela “was trying to come to the United States. The United States government wasn’t helping him, no one was helping him. You chartered a 727 plane for the entire trip. … Why is it hard for you to talk about the things you've done?”  Trump responded humbly: “I love doing it. I don't need praise for it.” 

[...] Some right-wing media joined in, lauding Trump’s generosity after the Trump campaign pushed the clip. 

During Friday’s interview with Tyrus on Outkick’s Maintaining With Tyrus, Donald Trump claimed to charter a plane for Nelson Mandela for the sake of generosity and goodwill… but in reality, Mandela was charged $130,000 for using the Trump Shuttle.

From the 10.18.2024 edition of Outkick's Maintaining With Tyrus:

[galerymod]

A myth (more rarely mythus, obsolete mythe, plural myths, from ancient Greek μῦθος, "sound, word, speech, tale, legendary story, tale", Latin mythus) is in its original meaning a narrative. In religious myths, the existence of humans is linked to the world of gods or spirits.

Myths claim validity for the truth they assert. This claim to truth has been criticised since the Greek Enlightenment by the pre-Socratics (e.g. Xenophanes, around 500 BC). For the Sophists, myth stands in contrast to logos, which attempts to justify the truth of its assertions through rational evidence.

In a broader sense, myth also refers to people, things or events of high symbolic significance or simply a false idea or lie*.

For example, the adjective "mythical" is often used in colloquial language as a synonym for "fabulous-vague, fabulous or legendary".

Wikipedia

How can it be that a man who describes himself in public as a successful businessman worth billions cannot pay a financial penalty and that someone wants to vouch for him?

Trump can't pay 450 million dollars

In February, former US President Trump was fined 450 million dollars in New York for fraud. Now his lawyers have announced: Trump cannot pay. According to his lawyers, former US President Donald Trump is currently unable to guarantee payment of a fine of more than 450 million dollars from a fraud trial. Despite great efforts and negotiations with around 30 companies, it has not yet been possible to obtain such a guarantee, according to a letter from his legal team to the competent court in New York. Several US media outlets unanimously quote from the letter, arguing that it would be "practically impossible" to make the payment on time.

Trump has received a refusal from 30 bail companies, according to a letter from his lawyers to an appeals court on Monday. Many would not provide collateral in excess of 100 million dollars and would not accept real estate as collateral.

Forbes magazine estimates the property entrepreneur's total assets at 2.6 billion dollars. Trump recently stated that his cash assets totalled around 400 million dollars.

"I thought he was a billionaire? Is he lying to the public or the court?" Law professor Andrew Weissmann poses the question of questions on X in relation to Donald Trump's liquidity: How much is there to the image of the self-made billionaire?

How much money does Trump himself have?

Last year, Trump testified in court that he had a cash fortune of around 400 million US dollars. The latest legal documents indicate that he does not have anywhere near that amount of money at his disposal, Professor of Business Law Will Thomas from the University of Michigan. However, he and the Trump Organisation would have significantly more assets at their disposal. His largest asset holdings are tied up in property. If Trump is unable to pay in other ways, he could be forced to sell some of his properties, according to Professor Thomas. His lawyers want to prevent this and warn that Trump would have no way of buying them back if he is successful with his appeal.

Where could the money come from?

Without liquid funds, there are two options for Trump to prevent enforcement for the time being.

Guarantees: A guarantee would probably be the only solution for him. This would allow him not to have to sell anything for the time being. At the same time, guarantors require collateral and often only accept cash or shares in return - not property. Trump also needs to find someone who is prepared to guarantee an enormous sum of over 550 million dollars.

Donations or campaign funds: He is also receiving support from private sources, but the sums are nowhere near enough. Trump supporters are collecting money for him on the internet, with over a million private donations having been collected so far.

Again and again, it is also about money from Trump's election campaign. Federal law prohibits Trump from using campaign funds for personal purposes. However, it is legally unclear to what extent campaign money from political action committees (PACs) and funds from the Republican National Committee (RNC) fall under this. But even these funds would be far from sufficient.

If he loses the aura of the successful billionaire self-made businessman, he also loses his aura of success.

mod

This kind of legal action would not only be a serious blow to Trump's finances, but also to his image, as he always praises himself as a brilliant businessman.

The biggest bankruptcies* of Donald Trump

It was always visible to everyone, but as long as you can keep generating capital, the myth can be maintained

Trump Ice

In 1995, Donald Trump founded the Trump Ice Natural Spring Water brand (Trump Ice for short) - his own brand of bottled drinking water. However, the sales figures were not particularly good. After missed payments to the producer and a lawsuit against Trump Ice in this connection, production was discontinued. Today, only bottles with collector's value are sold on eBay and the like.

Trump Steaks

Donald Trump founded his own steak company in 2007. The company was to be dedicated exclusively to selling his favourite food and running a steakhouse in Las Vegas. The prices for the steaks varied between 199 and 999 US dollars. Despite such bargain prices, the company had to close in the same year. The steakhouse was shut down after the health department found 51 health code violations.

Trump University

In 2005, Donald Trump opened "Trump University" - a distance learning university specialising in the real estate industry that was not officially recognised as a university. Enrolment cost up to 35,000 US dollars, but many of the course instructors, who were allegedly selected by Donald Trump himself, often did not have the appropriate qualifications. The school had to be closed down for good in 2011. Thousands of students filed a lawsuit against the former US president, who relented in 2017 and offered a settlement despite his supposed innocence. This was confirmed by the US Court of Appeal in 2018 and secured compensation of USD 25 million for the more than 4,000 ex-students.

New Jersey Generals

In 1984, Donald Trump bought his own football team, the New Jersey Generals. However, they did not play in the famous National Football League, the NFL, but in the smaller offshoot, the United States Football League (USFL). Just one year later, the team was bankrupt and the entire United States Football League with it. Trump had tried with all his might to bring about a merger of the UFSL with the NFL. This prevented Donald Trump from taking over a team in the NFL.

Trump Vodka

According to Donald Trump himself, he does not drink alcohol. However, this did not stop him from launching his own premium vodka on the market in 2005. However, production was discontinued in 2011.

Trump Magazine

Donald Trump made several attempts to land a hit in the luxury magazine segment. After two failed attempts, he launched the quarterly "Trump Magazine" in 2007, which covered topics such as yachts and other toys for the rich. However, the magazine was cancelled in 2009.

Gotrump

In 2006, Donald Trump ventured into a search engine for luxury travel. It included private jets, tickets for exclusive events and supposedly personal recommendations and travel tips from Donald Trump. However, it was shut down again after just one year due to poor reviews.

Trump: The Game

Trump tried twice to establish himself on the board game market with the board game "Trump: The Game", but failed twice. The game is, of course, about money. The game first came onto the market in 1989, but was discontinued shortly after its release. In 2005, he tried a new edition in collaboration with Parker Brothers, but this version also failed.

Trump Shuttle

In 1989, Trump bought his own airline, "Trump Shuttle". The airline was to fly business people back and forth between New York, Boston and Washington. The interior of the Boeing 727 was elegantly furnished with maple panelling and chrome seat belt buckles, and gold fittings were installed in the toilets. However, the luxury was too expensive for the passengers. Three years later, the over-indebted company was sold to US Airways.

Trump Entertainment Resorts

With the company "Trump Entertainment Resorts", Donald Trump operated several casinos in the gambling metropolis of Atlantic City, including: Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza and Trump Marina. All were closed between 1999 and 2016, and the company filed for bankruptcy three times between 2004 and 2014. In 2014, debts are said to have totalled around 1.8 billion US dollars. Trump himself withdrew completely from the company in 2016 and sold his shares to billionaire Carl Icahn.

Trump Mortgage

In April 2006, Donald Trump announced the founding of his own mortgage bank, Trump Mortgage, at a press conference. He predicted a rosy future for his endeavour and that the bank would soon become the largest lender for home loans in the USA. However, as with "Trump Magazine", the timing was not exactly fortunate. Just one year later, the former US president's mortgage bank had to file for insolvency.

[cynicalclassicist]

And I don't think much of that interviewer either, fawning all over that fascist conman.

[genericpuff]

no one:

the mold in rowling's brain: pronouns are an invention made up by writers to sell more pronouns

[autumngracy]

"Trump is better for the economy, though!"

Aside from almost every major economist agreeing that Trump's economic plans would actually make things far worse than they are now, this man can't even manage his campaign's, his businesses', OR his personal finances.

Case in point, here a list from Public Opinion of his failed business endeavors:

"Trump's companies have filed for bankruptcy at least six times. This is no exaggeration. Digital World noted this in its SEC filings. This excludes additional business failures that might not have declared bankruptcy, but closed owing vendors, employees and others."

"For the record, here are some of Trump's noteworthy business failures."

Trump Airlines — Trump borrowed $245 million to purchase Eastern Air Shuttle. He branded it Trump Airlines. He added gold bathroom fixtures. Two years later Trump could not cover the interest payment on his loan and defaulted.

Trump Beverages — Although Trump touted his water as "one of the purest natural spring waters bottled in the world," it was simply bottled by a third party. Other beverages, including Trump Fire and Trump Power, seem not to have made it to market. And Trump's American Pale Ale died with a trademark withdrawal.

Trump Game — Milton Bradley tried to sell it. As did Hasbro. After investment, the game died and went out of circulation.

Trump Casinos — Trump filed for bankruptcy three times on his casinos, namely the Trump Taj Mahal, the Trump Marina and the Trump Plaza in New Jersey and the Trump Casino in Indiana. Trump avoided debt obligations of $3 billion the first time. Then $1.8 billion the second time. And then after reorganizing, shuffling money and assets, and waiting four years, Trump again declared bankruptcy after missing ongoing interest payments on multi-million dollar bonds. He was finally forced to step down as chairman.

Trump Magazine — Trump Style and Trump World were renamed Trump Magazine to reap advertising dollars from his name recognition. However, Trump Magazine also went out of business.

Trump Mortgage — Trump told CNBC in 2006 that "I think it's a great time to start a mortgage company. … The real-estate market is going to be very strong for a long time to come." Then the real estate market collapsed. Trump had hired E.J. Ridings as CEO of Trump Mortgage and boasted that Ridings had been a "top executive of one of Wall Street's most prestigious investment banks." Turned out Ridings had only six months of experience as a stockbroker. Trump Mortgage closed and never paid a $298,274 judgment it owed a former employee, nor the $3,555 it owed in unpaid taxes.

Trump Steaks — Trump closed Trump Steaks due to a lack of sales while owing Buckhead Beef $715,000.

Trump's Travel Site — GoTrump.com was in business for one year. Failed.

Trumpnet — A telephone communication company that abandoned its trademark.

Trump Tower Tampa — Trump sold his name to the developers and received $2 million. Then the project went belly-up with only $3,500 left in the company. Condo buyers sued Trump for allegedly misleading them. Trump settled and paid as little as $11,115 to buyers who had lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Trump University or the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative — Trump staged wealth-building seminars costing up to $34,995 for mentorships that would offer students access to Trump's secrets of success. Instructors turned out to be motivational speakers sometimes with criminal records. Lawsuits and criminal investigations abound.

Trump Vodka — Business failed due to a lack of sales.

Trump Fragrances — Success by Trump, Empire by Trump, and Donald Trump: The Fragrances all failed due to being discontinued, perhaps as a result of few sales.

Trump Mattress — Serta stopped offering a Trump-branded mattress, again likely due to slacking sales.

Truth Social — This existing Trump business owes big money, and may well be breathing its last.

And then of course is his long history of stiffing contractors, restaurants, and even entire cities for their event venues he used for his rallies—as well as some of his own followers—

—such as the case where he promised a greiving hispanic American family that he would pay for the burial of their daughter, Vanessa Guillén, a servicewoman who had been brutally murdered by a fellow soldier at Fort Hood in 2020, but later told his chief of staff not to pay for it after learning it would cost $60,000, reportedly saying "It doesn’t cost 60,000 bucks to bury a fucking Mexican!"

[nevadancitizen]

-> CH. 1: A SILENT DOG & STILL WATERS

synopsis: the soviet union has been producing robots for a long time based on a miracle compound: polymer. but that was invented in 1941. the current year is 2038, and, due to rising tensions in the arctic, americans aren't as kind to soviets as they once were. it's too bad you're a russki, and it's really too bad that you work in cybersecurity. and honestly, with the case fowler has put you on, you're at risk of losing your job. it doesn't help that you're stuck with lieutenant hank anderson and some new android apparently called connor.

word count: 2.6k

ships: Connor/Reader, Hank Anderson & Reader

notes: based on an au i literally had a dream about. it's basically d:bh with elements of atomic heart :P this ch. is half exposition and half hank being an alcoholic lolololol

HEAD OF FALSE SECURITY MASTERLIST

The Soviet Union had always been very good at spying on and stealing American technology. They did so with the atomic bomb, the B-29 superfortress, and the space shuttle – with no lack of effort on America’s side of trying to keep them secret. 

But one thing set the USSR above the rest: polymer. A miracle compound that formed the backbone for every technological evolution that came after. It mimics a human neuron, including its ability to interpret input signals. With tinkering from top Soviet scientists (and a whole lot of luck), a gigantic neural network was established, the maximum computing power of which was orders of magnitude higher than the power of a conventional network.

With polymer, the Soviets reigned supreme as the only real international superpower. The other countries could play at being powerful, but the USSR was top dog – and she wasn’t keen on letting the others forget.

But that was in the past. And the past is boring. That was in 1941, and something you learn about in history class. Polymer is now regularly sold and traded and built upon and shared. After the Cold War ended, it was expanded outwards and is no longer a precious commodity. It was even needed to build a modern technology – androids. Ones that could pass the Turing test, unlike the TER-A1 Tereshkova (which was a human-looking robot, sure, but one that had an unsettling, unmoving mask for a face). 

And androids are simply better than Soviet bots. They’re versatile and able to be mass-produced without specialization development. They’re not big and clunky like the chimpanzee-esque MA-9 Belyash and can still accomplish the same installation, plumbing, and welding work. They can do the same agricultural work an ARU-31/6 Rotorobot can do without the risk of accidentally endangering humans while in use.

Again, they’re simply better. In the current year of 2038, American androids just trump similar Soviet tech in every way.

But that doesn’t mean that the Soviets aren’t still trying. They’ve invaded the Arctic with intent to claim the land, heavy with NA-T256 Natasha bots and the claim that the “heavy-duty ground-based loader bots can squeeze up to five liters of blood from a human body in under twenty seconds,” as a deterrent to American forces.

And this action has made your workplace a hell away from home.

Even though you immigrated from Chelomey, Russia to Detroit, Michigan in 2027, before all this business went down, people still eyed you warily – like you secretly enjoyed living under communism and the ever-watching eye of the Kremlin. Like you were just itching to get your grubby little paws on American secrets so you could report them to Comrade Molotov and a beautiful girl back home called Katya. Yeah, right.

These small, under-the-breath and glance-of-the-eye accusations weren’t helped by your current occupation: as a screen jockey for the Head of Cybersecurity of the Detroit Police. They acted like you hadn’t worked just as hard as everyone else for your position – for your polymer glove and the privileges that came with it.

Polymer gloves have come a long way from their prototype in 1955. They’re a single fingerless glove – one glove, as a person doesn’t need two – with an adjustable wrist strap. In the middle of the palm is a small silver star that can retract to expose prehensile, tentacle-like wires that can interface with terminals and other technology. 

But it doesn’t stop there – with a single gesture (holding your hand out and making an “L” shape) the glove can scan the surroundings of the user. Paired with an artificial polymer retina, the user can have information about the environment that they otherwise wouldn’t have. 

And, of course, you’re outfitted with the top versions of both – on the precinct’s credit card, obviously. 

But, again, you’re just a screen jockey. One of the best, but still just a worker bee that reports to a higher-up. There’s little to no interaction with the other departments, as cybersecurity is mostly isolated without any related crimes. Maybe cyberterrorism, but cases of that are few and far between. 

And you thought that’s all you’d ever be until you heard Fowler’s bellowing voice call your last name.

When you pop your head up from behind your terminal, you see him standing halfway through the glass door to his office. You swallow and trot over, a nervous idea tickling the back of your mind. Is he mad? Did you do something wrong? Shit… did you accidentally leak something?

You push open Fowler’s door and slowly shut it behind you. He’s sitting behind his desk, stark against the blue-grey backdrop of the wall behind him. His constantly furrowed brow and permanent frown lighten a little when he sees you.

You fold your hands behind your back politely. “Yes, sir?”

Fowler gestures to the seat in front of his desk. “Go ahead and take a seat.”

Oh, fuck. Oh, shit. You definitely did something wrong.

You walk over and sit in the chair. It screeches with a horrible sound.

You lean back in the chair and cross your arms. “What is this about, sir?”

Fowler leans back in his chair and drags a hand down his face. Immediately, the worst things pop into your head. You fight the urge to worry your bottom lip. 

“You have experience with androids, yes?” Fowler asks, but it doesn’t sound like a question – rather, a statement.

“Yes, sir.” You nod.

“And you have experience with Lieutenant Hank Anderson?” 

Your eyebrows furrow a little, but you still nod. “Yes, sir.”

Fowler turns to his terminal. “How do you feel about him?”

You bite your bottom lip as you think, then let it slip from your teeth. “I don’t know what you want me to say. He’s my friend. He is still a valuable member of the force, even if he has presented a few problems in the past couple of years.”

Fowler laughs. “A few?”

“Ah…” You smile, but it’s a bit forced. “More than a few. A lot. More problems than solutions, if I’m being honest.”

“That’s just how it goes sometimes.” He shrugs and sighs. “Do you know about the new case he’s been assigned?”

“Yes, sir,” you say. “He won’t shut up about it.”

He hums and leans forward, resting his chin on folded hands. “Always one for discretion, that one.”

You duck your head, instead looking down at your lap. “Yeah. But I think he can do better – be the cop he was before.”

“An optimistic Soviet.” Fowler laughs lowly. “That’s a new one.”

You just clench your jaw and meet his eyes. “What is this about? If you’ve called me in just to poke fun at me and gossip about Hank, I’d like to go back to my desk. Uh, sir.”

“No, no.” He holds a hand up. “Tell me what you’ve heard about Hank’s case.”

You think for a second. “Deviant androids murdering their owners. It sounds like it would’ve been labeled self-defense if it was a human-on-human crime, but…” you shrug. “I’m not in Homicide. I’m in Cybersecurity.”

“Well, you’re getting some experience.” Fowler pulls a cord from his terminal, one you recognize as a port compatible with a polymer glove. “You’re on the case.”

“I’m on the case?!” You repeat in disbelief. “Sir, I – I don’t –”

He holds up a hand for the second time. “I don’t want to hear it. You’re the best screen jockey with the most field experience I can spare.”

He gestures with the cord still in his hand. “Now, c’mon. Jack in and download the files.”

You swallow your objections and outstretch your gloved left hand. The thin metal of the star retracts, and the prehensile wires extend towards the port, waving like blades of grass. The ends of all six find their homes in the port, still wiggling like black tapeworms. 

Documents appear in the corner of your eye, one after another, like pop-up ads. You blink hard to dismiss them, then disconnect.

Fowler feeds the cord back into his terminal, then leans back in his chair. 

He looks over at you. “What’s that one saying you Soviets say? Something about champagne.”

You look up at him, then down to your glove. The star retracts, then goes back to its original position, like it was winking at you. “He who doesn’t take risks won’t drink champagne.”

“Well, I hope you have a taste for harder liquor,” Fowler says. “Hank’s at having a drink somewhere nearby. Go find him.”

And Lord, did you know right where to find Hank. 

On the door to Jimmy’s Bar is a firm warning, reading: NO ANDROIDS ALLOWED – OWNERS WILL BE PROSECUTED. You just hope that they don’t extend the same kindness to russkis. 

When you open the door, everyone in the bar turns to look at you. You nod and, once they see who you are, turn back to their conversations or nursing their drinks. 

You spot Hank at the bar with what looks like a Tennessee whiskey. You sidle up onto the barstool next to him, easing into the creaky seat. As you drape your rain-speckled coat on the back of the chair, you glance at the clock on the wall. It reads just before twenty past eleven.

“Bartender?” You call. Your thick accent immediately catches his attention, and so does the money you slide onto the bartop. “Vodka, please.”

The bartender, presumably Jimmy, picks up a bottle of Stolichnaya from the shelving behind him. “This good?”

You nod. “More than good.”

He pours vodka into a tumbler glass, then pushes it across the bar. You accept it readily, and the tiny sip you take gives your throat a nice burn on the way down.

“A Soviet and vodka,” Hank mumbles against the lip of his glass. “Like a moth to a flame.”

“It’s what my mother served with dinner,” you say. “I’m just glad Jimmy’s got enough sense not to keep us from his bar.”

Hank chuckles and raises his glass to that.

“Fowler’s gone beyond the pale.” You sip at your drink. “Have you heard?”

“Yup.” He sighs, setting his drink on the bartop harder than necessary. “Don’t know why a kid like you has business with an old timer like me.”

“Oh, believe me,” you say, your voice heavy with sarcasm. “It’s nice to visit, but it’s better to be home. I don’t know what he’s thinking. A Cybersecurity worker partnering up with someone in Homicide? Next, we’ll have androids doing our thinking and philosophy instead of our laundry and dishes.”

Hank snorts into his drink. “Hell, with all these runaways? They might as well be.”

“I mean, I can see his line of thinking.” You swirl the vodka in your glass, watching the way it catches and reflects the low light of the bar. “Cybersecurity, androids… makes sense, but me? A russki? With all that’s happening in the Arctic? If we don’t do well, my job is on the line.”

Hank sips his whiskey. “It really sounds like Fowler’s settin’ you up to fail.”

“Setting us both up to fail.” You correct and mirror him, sipping at your vodka. 

The sound of the door opening and the rain outside cuts into your conversation. Nothing you’d usually take a glance at, but what puts you off is the sudden silence of the bar. Bars shouldn’t be silent – especially not Jimmy’s.

You look over your left shoulder and see a nice looking man that’s just walked through the door. He looks a bit dorky, sure, and a bit like a lost puppy dog, but that could look nice on certain guys. And the asymmetrical tuft of loose hair that’s escaped his hair gel looks –

There’s a blue triangle just above where his left breast pocket would be. On the other side of his blazer reads RK800 in even, white text. He’s an android, not a man. He meets your gaze and you inhale sharply.

Your eyes return to your drink, and so does Hank’s. This isn’t what you want to deal with right now – or ever, actually. It’s Jimmy’s establishment, so it’s Jimmy’s problem.

But still, as soon as the android saw you, he started making a beeline for you. His footsteps are quick, measured, and even. 

“Excuse me,” he says, putting a hand on your shoulder. He addresses you by your title, and your gut clenches.

“No.” You try to wave him off. “No English. Sorry.”

“Officer, you passed each of your TestEaFL’s with flying colors,” he says, narrowing his eyes a little. “You can speak English perfectly fine.”

You cringe a little, but then a thought strikes you – how would this android have access to the scores of your Test of English as a Foreign Language? But before you can ask, he’s turned to Hank and started speaking.

“Oh, Lieutenant Anderson.” He moves so that he’s standing beside Hank. “Just the other person I was looking for.”

He glances between the two of you. “My name is Connor. I’m the android sent by CyberLife. Captain Fowler said that you were both having a drink nearby. I was lucky to find you at the fifth bar.”

You snort and your eyebrows shoot up. If you didn’t know better, you’d say that there was a hint of… something other than monotone indifference in his voice.

“What do you want?” Hank grinds out.

“You were assigned a case early this evening. A homicide, involving a CyberLife android.” Connor glances at you, like he’s reminding you that you were also assigned this case. “In accordance with procedure, the company has allocated a specialized model to assist investigators.”

“Well, I don’t need any assistance.” Hank jabs a thumb at you. “I’ve got all the unwanted assistance I need right here, and I don’t need any more. ‘Specially not from a plastic asshole like you. So just be a good lil’ robot and get the fuck outta here.”

“He’s right,” you chime. “And it doesn’t really look good to have androids investigating androids. What if you snap, too?”

“I will not.” Connor meets your eyes, and you can almost see the switch flick in that little android brain. Great, now it’s your turn to be grilled.

He circles so that he’s standing beside you and leans down a little, putting his hand on the bartop. You keep your eyes down, firmly on your drink. 

“I’m sorry, Officer, Lieutenant, but I must insist,” he says. “My instructions stipulate that I have to accompany both of you.”

“You know where you can stick your instructions?” Hank chimes in with a throaty laugh.

You glance over at Connor, who looks thoroughly confused. You smile and bring the glass to your lips. 

“No,” Connor says. “Where?”

Your throat seizes around the sip of vodka you were trying to take, causing you to cough it out as you try to suppress your laughter. You slam down the glass (effectively spilling most of it) and bring a hand to your chest, trying to ride it out as Hank pats your back.

“чёрт возьми!” You wheeze, your voice hoarse. Your chest burns. “Oh, fuck.”

You wipe your eyes as the burn dulls, still coughing slightly. Connor purses his lips before coming to a conclusion. 

“You know what?” He offers. “I’ll buy you both one for the road.”

“You better,” you say. “You made me spill mine.”

“Bartender!” Connor calls, and slips money onto the bartop. “The same again, please.”

“See that, Jim?” Hank says. “Wonders of technology. Make it a double.”

Jimmy pours a healthy amount of Jack Daniels into Hank’s glass, and starts to pour Stolichnaya into yours. You cut him halfway with a raised hand and a “Someone’s gotta drive us home safe.”

You knock back your drink, then let out a low whistle at the nice burn. Hank follows soon after and sighs heavily. 

He leans back and looks over at Connor. “Did you say homicide?”

[mariacallous]

So for the Coachella rally, Trump shuttled in thousands of his voters, but didn't provide any shuttles back (presumably to keep them from leaving his rally early). They got stranded there last night, because of course. It was a two-hour walk back to the parking lot for them. I love when bad things happen to bad people.

https://x.com/notcapnamerica/status/1845465160141472190

[crazy-pages]

A company owned by two of Donald Trump’s top mega-donors has routinely brought dozens of its workers from Mexico to staff its warehouses in Wisconsin and other locations even though they do not appear to have permission to work in the US.

This is not a contradiction. ICE is the bogeyman these employers use to keep their undocumented workers in line and ununionized. If they ever feel like their workers are starting to get uppity, or just feel like terrorizing them to keep them in line, ICE is the tool they use to do that. Just send them in to raid a trailer parkor a company provided housing block, ruined a few dozen lives, and in doing so terrorize the rest of them or their replacements into submission.

And if enforcement ever gets so intense they run out of desperate people coming to the US for work? Well the deportation wait times will just get longer, and the 14th Amendment will be used to pressgang them back into the same jobs as legally enslaved prisoners. Pressganged prisoners are already the source of a lot of United States manufacturing labor.

I need to make this really clear, we are not identifying a hypocrisy and these employers are not going to get what's coming to them when their workforce gets deported. This is the point. This Is how they maintain control. Part of the reason it's been getting more intense is because migrant farm workers have actually gotten better at organizing even in the face of these terror tactics so these employers are doubling down.

[elbiotipo]

Genuine question why can't NASA just build another Apollo? why bother designing a new spaceship when you already have one you know it works?

They can't *literally* build Apollo again because the tools and hardware for building Saturn V and such are long gone, they were replaced by the Shuttle during the 70s-80s. And that was supposed to be alright as the Shuttle was supposed to be next generation (though it ultimately failed at that). And then the Shuttle was supposed to be replaced by the Space Launch System or SLS which was supposed to be like, Apollo 2 (I used supposed a lot sorry)

The main thing about this is that the US congress by law requires using the SLS in all the Moon missions, even though it's a piece of shit rocket that sucks. There are many reasons why it sucks so much, but the main reason in my opinion is that the SLS and the Orion spacecraft are built by Boeing and Lockheed-Martin. And if those names haven't already raised alarm bells... well, to summarize everything, both Boeing and Lockheed-Martin are incredibly rich and powerful corporations contracted by the US government for everything, mostly "defense" (war) but also space.

So what do these corporations do? They bribe, eh, lobby the US congress so that NASA has to work with THEM and ONLY them, and they deliver subpar, costly, piece of shit products to keep sucking US state money, with the excuse that "space is hard", which it is, but they have no excuse for the expenses. And they're also competing with SpaceX, which Musk is bad on its own way, but it only furthers the corporate infighting.

And I mean these products are terrible and expensive. The cost of building and launching a SLS is ridiculous for something that the Soyuz has been doing since the 1970s. The whole "Gateway" flying circus is because the Orion capsule cannot go to the Moon by itself. I really need to stress that they built a Moon capsule that, unlike Apollo, CANNOT GO TO THE MOON. So they need to go through all this incredibly complex Rude Goldberg machine just to go to the Moon.

Many space-interested people in the US see this as an example of state bureaucracy and overspending, which is kind of true, but from my opinion, it only shows how the military-industrial complex and these war megacorporations has the US "civilian" government grabbed by the balls. Meanwhile, Trump's Space Force has no problem into getting good hardware and launches.

[theangryfeministwriter]

If you are voting because of the economy and wanting to put a “business man” in the White House- please remember….

Donald Trump is a failed businessman. He has 6 bankruptcies- Trump Taj Mahal (1991), Trump Plaza and Casino (1992), Plaza Hotel (2006), Trump Castle Hotel and Casino (1992), Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts (2004), and Trump Entertainment Resorts (2006).

Donald Trump has plenty of other failed business ventures. Trump Shuttle Inc, launched in 1989 and defaulted on its loans in 1990 and ceased to exist by 1992. Trump University, founded in 2005, faced multiple lawsuits and investigations and ultimately ceased operations in 2011. Trump Vodka was introduced in 2005 but closed by 2011. Other failed ventures include Trump Mortgage, LLC, (started in 2006, ended in 2007), GoTrump.com (started in 2006, ended in 2007), and Trump Steaks- which discontinued sales only two months after it’s launch.

If you’re worried about the economy- we are currently under Trump’s Tax Code- passed in 2017 and is to be discontinued in 2025. His tax breaks for the upper 1% have failed to produce the promised outcomes- and instead have resulted in extreme economic hardship for the low and middle class, while the extremely wealthy have only gotten richer.

I am genuinely curious- what then, is the appeal of Donald Trump? What has he actually done that has made American’s lives better?

Kamala Harris has described actual policy changes- like expanding the child tax credit program, making legislation to end price gouging, and offering funding for first time home buyers. Donald Trump’s “business man” approach and failed tax code have done nothing but hurt the middle class and expand the national debt.

Why do you continue to defend him when your sole purpose of voting for him is the economy- that he has clearly failed at fixing?

[eugenedebs1920]

When a company decides they want to take their business venture forward and have it publicly traded, the Securities and Exchange commission (SEC) mandates the heads or owner of the company file a S-4 registration statement. This gives possible investors a background on the owners of the stock in questions past business dealings. Did they exceed expectations for growth in their previous companies? Was there any litigation or leans? What were the profit margins? This enables investors to make an educated and thoughtful decision before investing.

Since the 80’s it has been Trump’s priority to portray wealth. The golden decor, the foreign model wife, huge 747s with his name plastered on them, his name plastered on buildings, hotels and skyscrapers worldwide. This giving the illusion of success. What’s lesser known is often the buildings that bare his name do not belong to him nor are they financially affiliated with him. Some are. Some are just a marketing stunt that the name, Trump, brings luxury to, or used to, mind.

When the idea of making Truth Social a publicly traded company was introduced it was mandated that a S-4 registration statement be made public before the SPAC, Digital World Acquisition Corp could move forward with the merger of Truth Social and Technology Group Corp. it reads as follows.

Entities associated with President Trump have filed for bankruptcy protection. The Trump Taj Mahal, which was built and owned by President Trump, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1991. The Trump plaza, the Trump Castle, The Plaza Hotel, all owned by President Trump at the time, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1992. THCR, which was founded by President Trump in 1995, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2004. Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc, the new name given to Trump Hotels and Casino Resort after its 2004 bankruptcy, declared bankruptcy in 2009. While all the forgoing were different businesses than TMTG, there can be no guarantee that TMTG’s performance will exceed the performance of those entities.

It continues,

Trump Shuttle, Inc, launched by president Trump in 1989, defaulted on its loans in 1990 and ceased to exist by 1992. Trump University, founded by President Trump in 2005, ceased operations in 2011 amid lawsuits and investigations regarding the company’s business practices. Trump vodka, a brand of vodka produced by Drinks Americas under license from the Trump Organization, was introduced in 2005 and discontinued in 2011. Trump Mortgage,LLC a financial services company founded by President Trump in 2006, ceased operations in 2007. GoTrump.com, a travel site founded by President Trump in 2006, ceased operations in 2007. Trump Steaks, a brand of steak and other meats founded by President Trump in 2007, discontinued sales two months after its launch. While all these businesses were in different industries than TMTG, there can be no guarantee that TMTG’s performance will exceed the performance of these entities.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. It’s all a lie. An illusion. Smoke and mirrors. The fortune Trump’s father left to him, Trump squandered quicker than he could recover, leading to a lifetime of shady deals, loans from foreign banks, failed get rich schemes and grifting.

Oh my the grift is strong in that one. From digital trading cards, NFT’s, ugly sneakers, bobble head dolls, $100k watches, madeIn china, sold from a strip mall in Wyoming, there’s ornaments, a $60 Bible, also made in china for $4, where the gold edged pages stick together, heck! He’ll even sell you a piece of the suit he was wearing when he was shot at in PA.

Another financial stronghold of Trump is to simply screw over people. Whether it’s not paying contractors who worked on his properties, not paying employees at his hotels, confiscating their tips as well, suing models who worked at his agencies for defamation, a charity, The Trump Foundation, was found guilty of fraud, stealing from those in need to line his pockets, or trying to cut out the very people who created his TMTG company in the first place. Trump doesn’t seem to care who he stiffs, as long as it benefits him.

The new and most lucrative venture is campaign donations. Whether it’s billionaire oligarchs who are buying favor, or little old Mr and Mrs MAGAdonia, Trump will happily take your money.

Lord knows he needs it. Between owning his rape victim 90 some million dollars and counting. The over half a billion dollars he scammed from New York he has to pay back. The hundreds of millions of dollars in lawyer fees. Not to mention upcoming cases and his lavish lifestyle. Things might get tight.

As you can see it’s a fake. A failed businessman who couldn’t just take the money his father left him and sit on an investment. He wanted fame. He wanted power.

After a lifetime of pursuing fame and power, a lifetime of fraud, cheating, grifting, ripping people off, and skirting the system has come back to haunt him. Accountability is knocking. Eventually it will kick in the door.

[rjzimmerman]

Trump’s Oil and Gas Donors Don’t Really Want to ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’. (Wall Street Journal)

Excerpt from this Wall Street Journal story:

Donald Trump wants oil companies to “drill, baby, drill” on the first day of his presidency, but his fossil-fuel benefactors have a different agenda.

Many of the tycoons who backed the Republican’s victorious campaign say what they need help with is shoring up demand for their products—not pumping more fossil fuels, which they have little incentive to do.

They are pushing for policies that would lock in fossil-fuel use, such as easier permitting for pipelines and terminals to shuttle fossil fuels to new markets. They also favor eliminating Biden administration policies meant to put more electric vehicles on the road. 

Under President Biden, shale companies produced record amounts of oil and natural gas as crude prices rebounded from the pandemic’s depths and then soared after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But the industry is also confronting the early stages of a long-term shift away from fossil fuels, as well as concerns that gasoline consumption has peaked in the U.S.

Trump handed shale donors their first big return on investment by nominating Liberty Energy Chief Executive Chris Wright, a fracking booster and fossil-fuels champion, to lead the president-elect’s Energy Department. 

When Dan Eberhart, the CEO of oil-field services firm Canary, met with Trump during a fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida this summer, Eberhart had a unique request. He asked Trump to push back on the International Energy Agency, the influential, Paris-based energy forecaster. The agency has predicted global oil demand will peak by the end of the decade, earning scorn from GOP lawmakers who dubbed the group an “energy transition cheerleader.” 

“You need to stop acting like fossil fuels are the devil,” Eberhart said in an interview, referring to the IEA’s stance. 

A spokesperson for the IEA said it remains “focused on its key missions of energy security and energy transitions, based on the mandates from our member governments.”

Many of Trump’s oil and natural-gas supporters favor easing regulations that govern drilling. The changes would include scrapping rules targeting methane emissions, getting new permits to frack on federal land and eliminating climate disclosure rules.  

But some donors grimace when they hear Trump promise that under his watch, crude-oil producers would open the floodgates. He has also promised to cut Americans’ energy costs by 50% or more. 

Oil backers’ skepticism stems from the fact that Wall Street has successfully pressured chronically indebted frackers to stop burning through cash, and return it to shareholders via buybacks and dividends instead of reinvesting it to frack more wells.  

[stellanslashgeode]

https://ktla.com/news/california/attendees-describe-absolute-chaos-after-trumps-southern-california-rally/

Apparently the reason there were only 3 shuttle busses on the return run after Trump’s Coachella rally was because the crowd was so violent.

[lichqueenlibrarian]

I liked Deep Domain, there were several moments I thought were carried off terribly well, but I think the latter part of the book suffers a bit from So Much happening.

The setup with Captain Kirk feeling worn out and giving serious thought to going home after they finish up with Akkalla I thought was well done. You do get this great sense of tiredness and doubt in himself, carried over from the Motion Picture where he wonders if he’s gone stale, if his reactions aren’t what they would’ve been before he took the promotion to Admiral. Akkalla’s crisis is interesting- they have a guérilla band of activists, a rival planet disregarding the treaty they have and rampantly poaching sea life, and a corrupt government whose ineffective Publican is being manipulated by his closest aide/lover/brigadier. The brigadier is actively plotting the overthrow of the government to put herself at the top.

Midway through the book the brigadier’s plotting feels like it just drops away? The focus shifts to one of the Akkallan scholars, Llissa Kkayn and her estranged father Zzev who happens to be a member of the Cape Alliance (the aforementioned guérilla environmentalist types), and the Enterprise is drawn into solving the mystery of the wwafida, a mythical species of sentient aquatic life whose fossils are strangely similar to the land dwelling Akkallans’ bones.

I think after setting up an ineffectual government head and giving him an evil but sexy brigadier who is manipulating him AND the Akkallan people, dropping that plotline so McCoy can turn a man into a wwafida (conveniently they're revealed to be telepathic so they can communicate with Spock), is a bit strange. I was more invested in the political mess, and how they were going to exonerate the scholars and scientists after all the misinformation from the government.

The threat of the other planet and the brigadier’s scheming are both wrapped up almost as an afterthought? The Enterprise intercepts a harvest team, fires some shots across the mothership’s nose and tells them to quit it. The Publican gets a call from Kirk that’s basically “we have enough evidence of the wwafida to convince the Federation that your planet needs an investigation” and the Publican just… folds. The brigadier who until now has been murdering, manipulating and fucking her way to power (I love her for it honestly) gets a call to stop her military action against the harvest ships/the Enterprise’s shuttle, and NONE OF HER SOLDIERS BACK HER?? They fuckin knock her out and go back to the mainland for trial without batting an eye.

I was expecting a little more drama out of that, if I’m going to be frank. It felt a bit rushed, which is sad because there were so many cool parts. Jim and Llissa explore an underwater cave and find a cache of bones and artefacts implying the existence of the wwafida and that they have some sort of culture. Spock and Chekov are kidnapped and then are held prisoner by the government and used in a trumped up trial to defend the actions taken by the Publican. The brigadier is so delightfully amoral I wanted to see more of her being the villain.

I liked this book, I just feel like it could’ve had less going on and still been good.