Saturday, April 26, 2025
Christ What An Asshole
Later Usha enjoyed an evening visit to the Colosseum — which her husband had also been scheduled to attend before a last-minute change of plan — where she was given a personal tour of the arena, famous for its gladiatorial combats and naval battles, by Alfonsina Russo, the director.tl;dr he asked them to shut down the whole Colosseum for a private tour then didn't even show up.
Lesser mortals unlucky enough to have booked their own visit had to make do with a refund — but not all of them had got the message. There were chaotic scenes as some would-be visitors tried to open the gates surrounding the building, while others climbed over the fences, ticket in hand, trying to force their way in. Some chanted “shame” or anti-American slogans when they learnt the reason for the closure, Italian media reported.
Among the disappointed was Stephen Fishler, 58, a businessman from New York who arrived with his family in good time for his 6pm slot, but was turned away without explanation. “What does he think he is, special?” complained Fishler, himself a Trump voter. “JD should have waited until the Americans who had tickets had their visit and then gone in.” His wife, Anila, tried to calm him down and blamed the Italians.
Adults
Pete Hegseth wants Donald Trump to see him as a fighter amid the negative stories swirling around the defense secretary, two U.S. officials told NBC News, and has been focusing more on public and television appearances — including on his old network, Fox News — in which he can speak directly to the president.I am too a big boy!!!
...
...As he battles to keep his job amid a flood of reports about his behavior and infighting in his Pentagon, Hegseth’s behavior has become “erratic,” and he seems increasingly “insecure” about his job and standing in the administration, leading him to frequently reinforce to staff that he can’t allow himself to be fired, according to two officials familiar with the situation.
Seems Bad
A federal judge in Louisiana expressed concern on Friday that the Trump administration had deported a 2-year-old U.S. citizen to Honduras “with no meaningful process” and against the wishes of her father.Aside from the specific case, it is good that even a nutty Trump-appointed MAGA judge can assert that last bit.
In a brief order issued from Federal District Court in the Western District of Louisiana, Judge Terry A. Doughty questioned why the administration had sent the child — known in court papers only as V.M.L. — to Honduras with her mother even though her father had sought in an emergency petition on Thursday to stop the girl from being sent abroad.
“The government contends that this is all OK because the mother wishes that the child be deported with her,” wrote Judge Doughty, a conservative Trump appointee. “But the court doesn’t know that.”
Asserting that “it is illegal and unconstitutional to deport” a U.S. citizen, Judge Doughty set a hearing for May 16 to explore his “strong suspicion that the government just deported a U.S. citizen with no meaningful process.”
Friday, April 25, 2025
And The Universities
Many of them were unenrolling students as soon as they they were made aware..
The Trump administration has restored the student visa registrations of thousands of foreign students studying in the United States who had minor — and often dismissed — legal infractions.
The Justice Department announced the wholesale reversal in federal court Friday after weeks of intense scrutiny by courts and dozens of restraining orders issued by judges who deemed the mass termination of students from a federal database — used by universities and the federal government to track foreign students in the U.S. — as flagrantly illegal.
Management
Somewhat tangential the specifics of our friend Mr. Hegseth, but I do think a tremendous problem with the structure of society is that many people thrust into management roles aren't just unqualified but are actually extremely unsuited for those positions.
ABC News has confirmed that in at least two separate meetings Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accused top-ranking military officers of leaking to the media and threatened to polygraph them.
According to one person familiar with the exchanges, Hegseth was upset by media reports that he had planned a briefing for Elon Musk on China.
In a meeting with Adm. Christopher Grady, who was serving as then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Hegseth yelled “I’ll hook you up to a [expletive] polygraph!”
Even if you're facing insubordination and rebellion, is this a smart way of dealing with it?
Clean On OPSEC
Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, had an unsecured internet connection set up in his Pentagon office so that he could bypass government security protocols and use the Signal messaging app on a personal computer, two people familiar with the line told the Associated Press.
Interventions
Most notable was discussion of the current testing levels. Musk, asked about challenges, said that they are now at a level where interventions are rare enough that it’s hard to find new problems. It was stated that “we can go many days without getting a single intervention, so you can’t easily know if you are improving.”"Our cars are so good they don't have anything else to learn, and this is a problem."
While a precise number was not given, twice Musk suggested it was around 10,000 miles, the distance a typical car drives in a year. He worries that as they get to 20,000 and 30,000 it will take a long time with their Austin test fleet to get new issues to learn from.
If this were close to being true, in a way that normal people would understand it, then they would have achieved their goals.
Are You Ready To Beg Yet, Mr. Trump
(Bloomberg) -- Tariffs are starting to hit American meat exports, with China making its biggest cancellation of pork orders since 2020, according to Thursday data from the US Department of Agriculture.
The cancellation of 12,000 metric tons of US pork was the most since the Covid-19 pandemic roiled global supply chains. For the week, overall US pork export sales fell to the lowest level since October.
Thursday, April 24, 2025
Go, King
Not enough people enjoy pissing off the Harry Potter lady.
Pedro Pascal has strongly criticised JK Rowling following her public celebration of a UK Supreme Court decision that trans women are not legally women.
The Last of Us actor left a pointed comment on Instagram under a post by activist Tariq Ra’ouf, who had urged a boycott of all future Harry Potter projects in response to Rowling’s stance.
...
In his video, Tariq called Rowling’s actions “awful and disgusting” and said: “It has become our mission as the general public to make sure that every single thing that's Harry Potter related fails...because that awful disgusting s**t, that has consequences.”
Pascal not only liked the post but added his own take in the comments: “Awful disgusting S**T is exactly right. Heinous LOSER behavior.”
Pascal's sister is trans.