Originally a comment by Nullius in Verba on Signing a truce with starvation and disease.

I’d like to try highlighting one small reason our political discourse so often feels frustratingly fruitless.

Our dominant political factions represent opposed paradigms of government, and the arguments one side finds compelling simply cannot and will not move the other. In order to make an argument that is compelling to the other side of a conversation, one must understand what matters to them. Unfortunately, we tend to simply repeat ad nauseam arguments that address questions that matter to us, rather than consider the questions motivating our interlocutors. This is a kind of fallacy of irrelevance—one that’s often hard to see, because the premises are … Read the rest

It’s odd how oblivious journalists (and no doubt the people who read them) can be about misogynist insults. CNN for instance:

Darren Beattie, a former Donald Trump speechwriter who was fired in 2018 after CNN revealed he spoke at a conference attended by White nationalists, has been elevated to a top job at the State Department, multiple sources familiar with the move told CNN.

…

Beattie also has made a series of racially charged comments, writing in one tweet last year, “Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work. Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men.”

Yes, that’s “racially charged,” aka

Balancers v slashers.

The battle is between legacy government and the legal checks and balances that have held it together for generations, a system Democrats are vociferously trying to defend — including in court — and Trump’s new order, aimed at tearing down the status quo with the fast-paced, slash-and-burn tactics of venture capital and big tech, where breaking things in the name of innovation is celebrated.

Yeah clearly breaking things is always good, no matter what the things are or why they exist or how anyone will replace them. When you come to a fork in the road, break everything. It never goes wrong!

In addition to being the primary owner of X, Musk is the chief executive

This is all great.

When Elon Musk set about “feeding U.S.A.I.D. into the wood chipper,” as he put it, it wasn’t only supporters of President Trump’s “America First” agenda who were cheering the dismantlement of the foreign aid agency.

The Kremlin was, too.

“Smart move,” Dmitri A. Medvedev, a former Russian president who is currently the deputy chairman of the country’s security council, chimed in from Moscow, which for years had chafed at the U.S. Agency for International Development’s actions before forcing it out of the country in 2012.

In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is closely aligned with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, celebrated what he called an end to the funding of “globalist” organizations in

Another massive lurch down:

The Trump administration said Tuesday that it is pulling almost all U.S. Agency for International Development workers off the job and out of the field worldwide, moving to all but end a six-decade mission to shore up American security by fighting starvation, funding education and working to end epidemics.

The administration notified USAID workers in emails and a notice posted online, the latest in a steady dismantling of the aid agency by returning political appointees from President Donald Trump’s first term and billionaire Elon Musk’s government-efficiency teams who call much of the spending on programs overseas wasteful.

Well, I consider much of what Elon Musk does evil, so we have to shut him … Read the rest

Might as well just pour it down the drain.

The US Army Corps of Engineers opened two dams on Friday in Central California and let roughly 2.2 billion gallons of water flow out of reservoirs, after President Donald Trump ordered the release with the misguided intent to send water to fire-ravaged Southern California.

Trump celebrated the move in posts to Truth Social post on Friday and Sunday, declaring, “the water is flowing in California,” and adding the water was “heading to farmers throughout the State, and to Los Angeles.”

There are two major problems, water experts said: The newly released water will not flow to Los Angeles, and it is being wasted by being released during the wet

Yes he would.

Bill Gates: Musk wouldn’t be telling USAID workers to say home if he knew what it does

Sure he would. Of course he would. He is not a nice man.

Anyway, if he doesn’t know what it does, what business does he have meddling with it in any way? How hard would it have been to find out what it does?

Billionaire Bill Gates said in an interview early Tuesday that Elon Musk “wouldn’t be telling” employees at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) not to come to work if he “really knew” what it does.

“I give billions of dollars to the same thing that USAID does. I go out in the field and

Exactly.

Today in Montréal. pic.twitter.com/u94Tv9715s

— Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) February 4, 2025

… Read the rest

Why is no one stopping him?

The billionaire tech magnate has never been elected to office or been confirmed by the Senate for a high-level government job, but in the span of a few days, Musk has still gained access to sensitive federal data through his position as head of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency project, or DOGE, to push a far-reaching agenda and potentially spark a constitutional crisis. 

Musk has embraced Silicon Valley’s most notorious instincts to “move fast and break things” in a lightning battle to muscle into the computer systems and power structures of federal agencies. 

But the government of a large powerful country isn’t Silicon Valley. We don’t actually want things broken. … Read the rest

Michael Tomasky on our new overlord:

It literally sounds like the plot of a dystopian science fiction movie: The richest man in the world befriends—and helps finance—another rich man who becomes president of the United States, who then gives his plutocratic benefactor carte blanche access to the operations of the federal government. The bedlamite billionaire instantly zeroes in on the obscure little office that oversees the writing of all the government’s checks, thus ensuring that he has the power to bring down the U.S. and global economy and even, if he so wishes, topple said president.

Oh, and—he’s also a right-wing extremist who recently spoke to the far-right German political party whose leaders say things like “Hitler and the

And the lawless interloper finds the time to advertise his lawless interloping on his soshul media toy.

Newest at top.

Exactly https://t.co/w93Y5NC6PG

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025

The corrupt politicians “protesting” outside the USAID building are the ones getting money from USAID.

That’s why they’re there – they want your stolen tax dollars! https://t.co/5yVDqg0mjw

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025

Excellent action by @RepMTG! https://t.co/h8DPjDLo0f

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025

… Read the rest

The BBC has been live reporting on Musk’s coup:

Democratic lawmakers have gathered outside USAID headquarters in Washington DC.

They are now speaking about how they believe shutting down USAID is a “clear and present danger” to US national security.

Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, says that closing this agency will only aid US adversaries and cites Russian President Vladimir Putin’s celebration of its closure.

The legislators also point out that it’s plain illegal.

Democrat[ic] lawmaker Gerry Connolly says “no-one elected Elon Musk to dismantle” USAID.

“Congress created this agency,” he says. “If you want to change it, you’ve got to change that law. It’s a matter for Congress to deal with, not an unelected billionaire oligarch

Crime scene:

Staffers of the U.S. Agency for International Development were instructed to stay out of the agency’s Washington headquarters, and yellow police tape and officers blocked the agency’s lobby on Monday, after billionaire Elon Musk announced President Donald Trump had agreed with him to shut the agency.

USAID staffers also said more than 600 additional employees had reported being locked out of the aid agency’s computer systems overnight. Those still in the system received emails saying that “at the direction of Agency leadership” the headquarters building “will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, Feb. 3.” The agency’s website vanished Saturday without explanation.

I don’t think any of that is normal process. It looks more like a … Read the rest

This is just one small part of it but it’s intensely creepy.

USAID logos and photos showing the humanitarian work the agency does around the globe were removed from its offices last week, multiple sources familiar with the situation told CNN.

“All of the visuals have been taken down. These are like large-scale photos of our work in developing countries that are in our lobbies, in our galleys, in communal kitchens, hallways,” a USAID employee said. “An order also came down to individual bureaus and offices to remove all USAID artwork and signage.”

It’s so ugly. So brutal. So mean. It says “Fuck all this humanitarian shit about feeding people, vaccinating people, rescuing people, protecting people.”

I get that humanitarian … Read the rest

More on Musk’s determination to smash everything that helps anyone other than Elon Musk:

Elon Musk, who is heading Donald Trump’s efforts to shrink the federal government, has said they are working to shut down the foreign aid agency USAid, in a social media discussion on X early on Monday.

The conversation, which included former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Republican senator Joni Ernst and Mike Lee, began with Musk saying they were working to shut down the United States Agency for International Development (USAid).

“It’s beyond repair,” Musk said, adding that Trump agreed it should be shut down.

Who is he to say that? How does he get to decide that? Why are there no barriers?

USAid is

More gleeful tormenting of women who don’t believe men are women.

A Kirkcaldy nurse told an employment tribunal today she was “shocked” the first time she saw a transgender doctor in the female changing room.

What kind of “transgender doctor” you flaming idiots? It is your job not to obscure crucial facts.

A&E worker Sandie Peggie is suing NHS Fife after she was rapped following a confrontation with Dr Beth Upton – who identifies as a woman – in December 2023.

Rapped? Is that some Scottish idiom? Does it mean rebuked? Punished? It doesn’t seem to be a typo for raped.

She recounted her experience on the first day of the hearing in Dundee, where she was also grilled by

The Wall Street Journal on Musk’s war on the US government:

Elon Musk’s allies are moving swiftly to exert control over vast swaths of the U.S. government, as they demand access to sensitive information at federal agencies and lay out plans to block spending they deem excessive.

Musk, the billionaire adviser to President Trump who runs the Department of Government Efficiency, oversaw a successful effort by his representatives to get direct access to a payment system that distributes trillions of dollars to Americans each year. And individuals working for DOGE accessed the U.S. Agency for International Development following a clash with security officials. 

The moves marked the start of a far-reaching campaign by Musk to upend the federal government

Well, this doesn’t sound good.

Musk Says Trump Wants to Shut Down U.S. Foreign Aid Agency

I still don’t get how Musk is the boss of us.

Elon Musk said early Monday that President Trump believes the U.S. Agency for International Development should be shut down, adding to the questions over the administration’s plans for the U.S. government’s lead agency for humanitarian aid and development assistance.

Mr. Trump has stopped short of saying the agency should be dissolved. Mr. Musk said during an event broadcast on X, his social media platform, that he had discussed U.S.A.I.D. in detail with the president who agreed “that we should shut it down.”

“I want to be clear,” Mr. Musk added. “I actually checked

Crappy deceptive sloppy manipulative writing steps up to assist wild claims yet again.

Headline:

Trump claims there are only ‘2 genders.’ Historians say that’s never been true

That is, the reporter, Alexandra Mae Jones, was able to find more than one historian willing to say that’s never been true – but it comes across as historians in general, historians as a group, say that’s never been true. Guess what: they don’t. (There’s also the usual manipulation of talking about “genders” instead of sexes. If you mean eccentric hair, sure, kid, lots of historians will agree that eccentric hair is nothing new.)

Subhead:

History is filled with examples of people changing genders or living between genders, historians say

Blah blah. Again, … Read the rest

Here’s something I didn’t know. Sidhbh Gallagher, the “yeet the teets” butcher, fled Indiana after a young girl died of an embolism after some “yeeting.” The girl’s parents filed a lawsuit that names Gallagher, who is happily yeeting away in Florida.

Check out the glam photo of her on her self-promotion.

Dr. Gallagher is dedicated to bringing cutting-edge care combined with a patient centered approach to Miami. She specializes in body contouring including breast augmentation, lift and reduction as well as drain-free tummy tucks and liposuction.

In addition, Dr. Gallagher offers labiaplasty and mommy makeovers. She also has a special interest in non-surgical facial rejuvenation and lip enhancement with injectables. Dr. Gallagher’s practice combines her academic background and artistic skill