#Seniors Government Contribution

[margaretlsgp]

KAFASI AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent Program [Video]

[zvaigzdelasas]

[Haaretz is Israeli Private Media]

[According to] a senior [IDF] air force officer[...]

[M]ost of the air force's equipment in the war so far was bought from American companies using U.S. military aid.[...]

With Congress' approval, the Biden administration has sent over unprecedented emergency military aid of $14 billion, on top of the regular annual U.S. military aid of $3.8 billion. Washington has also sent another $500 million for Israel's air defense systems – Iron Dome, David's Sling and Arrow.[...]

The senior air force official told Haaretz that without the Americans' supply of weapons to the Israel Defense Forces, especially the air force, Israel would have had a hard time sustaining its war for more than a few months.[...]

The Iranians thus made clear [in their attack] that they intended to very seriously damage the Nevatim Air Base in the south, where Israel's F-35 squadrons are based. Iran also launched a number of surface-to-surface missiles at the Mount Hermon base in the far north as a deception, but they missed the target.

Thus, the air force's planes and air defense systems inflicted a serious defeat on the Iranians. But this was also done with the vital help of American, British and French planes, and reportedly also from Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and with the coordination of radar and warning systems between Israel and those five countries.[...]

The Arab and wider international cooperation with Israel remains the most important component of the defense of Israel's skies – and this happened at a time when some government officials were disparaging our friends. This cooperation provided the most important contribution to the Iranian failure. We can safely estimate that many of the interceptions were done by foreign militaries.

"What do you even expect Biden or Kamala to do? Israel doesn't even need the US really" [2 Sep 24]

[thewertsearch]

AG: It was kind of an intense sym8iotic thing, a particularly demanding lusus-troll relationship, and only really strong kids are supposed to 8e a8le to handle it.

Sure. Symbiotic. Let's.... let's go with that.

AG: I really didn't think I would make it. I was sure I'd fail, and my lusus would either get angry and eat me, or she'd just die and then I'd 8e culled.

It's a dark thought, but I did wonder if Vriska could have just quietly euthanized the spider. It's not like she really depended on it after infancy - quite the opposite, in fact.

Also - why does Alternia even prosecute trolls for killing a lusus? They clearly don't care if trolls kill each other. I guess the monsters are more valuable than the children.

AG: 8ut then I saw a shooting star one evening. AG: I tracked down where it landed, and found a chest with my sign on it.

Sounds like a Sburb meteor to me - but Vriska obviously didn't find her own ancestor in the chest, so this wasn't one of the Player or Guardian meteors.

Perhaps her ancestor was hiding in her session, just like Grandpa Harley. If so, she could have arranged for an extra meteor to get sent down during the Reckoning.

AG: A sign is an insignia we must wear, specific to our class. Each class has a huge alpha8et of signs, so when someone shares yours, you know you have a lot in common. I was so excited to see it.

If you didn't know about your ancestor beforehand, how did you get your sign in the first place?

I guess the Empire could just DNA-test every troll at birth, and add them to a database. Then, if your DNA is sufficiently close to a troll who came before, you get their sign.

What happens, then, if you don't have a recorded ancestor? Do you get a random sign? A new one? Does the government just assign you a sign that sort of matches your DNA?

The Marquise certainly looks like Vriska writ large. She doesn't really resemble any other troll - although her massive hair does being Gamzee to mind, and her vampiric fangs evoke Kanaya. I'll lock in a guess that those are the trolls she contributed DNA to.

AG: She documented all of her amazing adventures as she sailed around the world, commanding a notoriously deadly fleet of Gam8lignants. AG: It was so thrilling reading it. It really felt like she wrote it just for me, like she was talking right to me and telling me how to 8e like her. She even left notes on where she 8uried treasure and stuff, which I followed l8er when I started RPing. I found her dice that way, and so many other gr8 things.

She was also clearly aware of her descendant's strange fate, did what she could to prepare her for Sgrub's trials, and equipped her with a grossly overpowered weapon to ensure she'd be a winner.

...mind you, Vriska's dice are only as overpowered as they are because she can rig their outcome. Did Serket Senior even predict her descendant's Title ability?

EB: it really sounds like our situations are not so different! […] EB: i never even knew my nanna. […] AG: You had it so easy! You don't have to go hunting for clues a8out your ancestors at all. AG: There was a picture of her hanging RIGHT THERE on the wall of your hive. […] AG: Your lives are so simple and easy. It must 8e really nice 8eing a human, even though you're all so weak. AG: 8ut may8e it's ok to 8e weak, if that's what's normal.

Vriska has no idea how huge it is that she was able to say that.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

What do you think has happened behind closed doors at invictius for something like that to leak?

Sorry to answer an ask with another ask, but this ⬇️ anon (who beat this ⬆️ anon to my inbox by just a couple of minutes) sums it up perfectly:

In addition to these things, there was also the shakeup at Vancouver Invictus Games earlier this year (that saw two people involved in preparing for the events quit) and the leaks that The Hague IG and Dusseldorf IG both came in very over budget with ballooning security/personnel costs that's assumed to be the Sussexes' expenses, rather than inflation.

Not to mention the total absence of senior government leaders and members of the royal family supporting the 10th anniversary service of thanksgiving.

So yes. There's a lot going on behind the scenes at Invictus Games. It could be all of these things. It could be any combination of these things. It could be none of these things.

But all of it could contribute to Invictus Games confirming they pay for the Sussexes' security costs.

[kp777]

By Max Richtman

Common Dreams - Opinion

July 30, 2024

Even after nearly six decades of Medicare’s overall success, we must continually protect it from conservatives’ attempts to cut and privatize the program.

Before Medicare was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson 59 years ago today, nearly half of American seniors had no hospital insurance. Private insurance companies were reluctant to cover anyone over 65. Even fewer seniors had coverage for non-hospital services like doctor’s visits. Many of the elderly were forced to exhaust their retirement savings to pay for medical care; some fell into poverty because of it. All of that changed with Medicare.

In Medicare’s first year of coverage, poverty decreased by 66% among the senior population. From 1965, when Medicare was enacted, to 1994, life expectancy at age 65 increased nearly three full years. This was no coincidence. Access to Medicare coverage for those who were previously uninsured helped lift seniors out of poverty and extend their lives.

As with Social Security, workers would contribute with each paycheck toward their future Medicare benefits. Upon putting his signature on this new program, a keystone of the Great Society, President Johnson declared, “Every citizen will be able, in their productive years when they are earning, to insure themselves against the ravages of illness in old age.”

Project 2025, the right-wing blueprint for a second Trump presidency, would gut traditional Medicare by accelerating privatization and repealing drug price negotiation.

Medicare has been improved several times over the decades. In 1972, Americans with disabilities (under 65 years of age) became eligible for Medicare coverage—along with people suffering from chronic kidney disease needing dialysis or transplants. In 2003, prescription drug coverage was added to Medicare (though the program was prohibited from negotiating prices with drugmakers). The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 finally empowered Medicare to negotiate prices with Big Pharma—and lowered seniors’ costs by capping their out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs and insulin.

Nearly 60 years after it was enacted, Medicare is one of the most popular and efficient federal programs. Ninety-four percent of beneficiaries say they are “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their quality of care. Unlike many other federal programs, Medicare spends less than 2% of its budget on administrative costs.

Medicare isn’t perfect. It should be expanded to cover dental, hearing, and vision care. More urgently, though, the privatized version of the program, Medicare Advantage (MA), is gobbling up a larger share of the program despite myriad problems, including MA insurers overbilling the government and denying care that’s always offered by traditional Medicare. The Biden-Harris administration has been working to hold those private plans more accountable, but much remains to be done to protect traditional Medicare from efforts toward privatization.

Even after 59 years of Medicare’s overall success, we must continually defend Medicare against conservatives’ attempts to cut and privatize the program. Our founder, Rep. James Roosevelt, Sr. (D-Calif.), son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, knew that Medicare (along with Social Security) would need continuous advocacy to withstand assaults from antagonistic political forces. That’s why the word “preserve” is in our organization’s name.

Many conservatives opposed Medicare from the start, labeling it “socialism” and “socialized medicine.” In 1962, Ronald Reagan warned that if Medicare were to be enacted, “One of these days you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children, and our children’s children, what it once was like in America when men were free.”

Today, the onslaught continues. The House Republican Study Committee’s (RSC) 2025 budget proposes to cut Medicare by an estimated $1 trillion over the next decade. The RSC would replace Medicare’s current system with vouchers, and push seniors into private plans that can and do deny coverage. Project 2025, the right-wing blueprint for a second Trump presidency, would gut traditional Medicare by accelerating privatization and repealing drug price negotiation.

Democrats by and large support protecting and even expanding Medicare. President Joe Biden tried to add dental, vision, and hearing coverage in his Build Back Better Act, but encountered resistance from Republicans and centrist Democrats. It’s still a laudable goal.

Republicans, for the most part, advocate cutting Medicare benefits and privatization. We endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, because she knows the importance of Medicare to America’s seniors and people with disabilities—and has vowed to protect them. Former President Donald Trump, on the other hand, has been rhetorically all over the map on this topic, telling CNBC he is “open” to “cutting entitlements” but claiming to support Medicare. (His budgets as president called for billions of dollars in Medicare cuts.)

The 59th anniversary of Medicare is both an occasion for celebrating the program’s enormous successes over the past six decades—and a time to defend Medicare in the marbled halls of Washington, D.C., and at the ballot box this November.

Max Richtman is president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. He is former staff director at the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging.

[satellitebroadcast]

Senior Hamas leader Osama Hamdan to Al-Aqsa Channel: Telegram

Negotiations started with 5 main points represented by the following: Ceasefire, withdrawal of the occupation, relief for the displaced and reconstruction, lifting the siege, and a prisoner exchange deal. Stopping the aggression is our top priority. "Israel" is still stalling up to this moment. We informed the mediators after the invasion of Rafah that the zionist enemy does not want a ceasefire. The occupation has placed new conditions for accepting the agreement and has backtracked on what it had previously agreed upon. The delegation informed the mediators of our opinion today. The occupation is talking about repositioning in the Philadelphia Corridor and non-Palestinian management of the Rafah crossing. The American administration is planting false hope by talking about an imminent agreement for electoral purposes. We will not accept any retractions from what we agreed upon on July 2nd, nor any new conditions. If it were not for this people, the resistance would not have emerged; it is this people who produced and supported it, and made sacrifices beyond description. These sacrifices compel us to achieve the best results and not follow the path of concessions. Despite the severe oppression by the occupation and the pain that grips us for our people, the resistance continues to confront bravely. We held multiple meetings with the factions to come up with a national vision and to agree on a Palestinian government. The sacrifices made by Hamas are part of the sacrifices of the Palestinian people, and with every martyr that ascended, the movement grew and expanded. The assassination of leaders is a loss for us, but it is a gain for them (the leaders), and we grow stronger with the martyrdom of our leaders, who are not afraid to give everything for the land and the cause. The movement remains determined to continue on this path and achieve success. We will not trade the safety of any of our leaders at the expense of our people.

The resistance in Iraq, despite its difficult circumstances, took the initiative and made contributions, and we look forward to its evolving role, as it carried out an operation a few days ago that hit a target in Haifa. The Axis has proven in this war that its connection, efforts, and commitment to the cause of Palestine are not just political rhetoric or fraternal sympathy, but a reality and actual action, as it has succeeded in dragging the entity into a true attrition process. The resistance in the region has taken matters further with its reactions. The circles supporting the zionist entity have become doubtful about the viability of continuing their support for the occupation. We are concerned with the development of resistance action in the West Bank because the occupier is one and the battle is one, and this development comes in support of Gaza and protection for the West Bank. Our people must understand that confronting the enemy is not a choice, as the enemy imposes confrontation upon you, and one cannot stand idle; the natural and rational behaviour is to respond to this aggression and defend oneself. The factions forming this government have a strategy to expel the Palestinian people from their land, and we are engaged in a battle for survival on our land. All means of resistance must be used to confront this enemy, and resistance is the only way to achieve liberation. Today, prisoners are living under harsh and difficult conditions, including being beaten, and they are forced to listen to the "israeli" national anthem around the clock, despite the fact that our prisoners are prisoners of war who should be afforded special treatment and governed by international rules for the treatment of prisoners of war, but the occupation does not apply any of these, instead increasing its attacks, crimes, and abuse against them. The enemy must not feel secure anywhere; it must suffer problems from the sons of the nation and all the free people of the world. There are several countries that have stood by, supported, and upheld the steadfastness of our people; we thank them and appreciate their actions despite the differences between them. There are also countries that have stood helpless, and we hope they overcome this paralysis, and there is a group that decided to be a partner with the enemy, providing it with food and supplies, insisting on continuing normalization with it and building relations despite all its crimes. If they witness a resistance operation, they raise their voice against it; we say to them, this will not save you nor help you, and those who tie themselves to this entity will disappear with it and lose as it loses. We will not stop until our land is liberated and this entity is removed from it.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

The Southern Hemisphere, where it’s winter, has been really hot too

Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, and Australia had heat waves in the past few months. Now spring begins.

It’s been a hot, brutal, record-breaking summer across much of the world, and it’s not quite ready to let go as late-season heat waves bake parts of the United States, the United Kingdom, North Africa, and the Middle East.

The long goodbye is a fitting cap to a season of deadly heat that contributed to severe drought in some areas and torrential rainfall in others. High temperatures also set the stage for wildfires in Greece and Turkey, Canada, Hawaii, and Louisiana.

But at least people north of the equator can look forward to some relief as autumn and winter set in. The 850 million people in the Southern Hemisphere, on the other hand, are emerging from some of their hottest winter temperatures on record and bracing for even more heat as the warmer seasons begin.

In fact, the weather was pretty much like summer in June, July, and August across parts of South America, Africa, and Australia. Peruvians went to the beach last month as temperatures reached 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Similarly balmy weather engulfed Paraguay and Chile. Buenos Aires, Argentina, reached 86°F, the hottest August temperature in at least 117 years. The heat was downright dangerous in Brazil as thermometers ticked above 100°F. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology confirmed this month that Australia experienced its hottest winter since record keeping began more than a century ago. Even down near the South Pole, warmer air and water have led to the lowest sea ice extent on record around Antarctica.

“Some of these set new records by a large margin, also known as ‘record shattering’ extremes,” explained Michael Grose, a senior research scientist at CSIRO, Australia’s government science agency, in an email.

Continue reading.

[aimeedaisies]

Princess Anne visit reveals how UK-Norway alliance helped to stop Nazis building atomic bomb

Royal trip highlights secret operation where a Norwegian team infiltrated a hydroelectic plant used by Germans to make ‘heavy water’

Hannah Furness, Royal Editor, 26 May 2024, 5:13pm

Princess Anne visits the Home Front Museum in Oslo CREDIT: Per Ole Hagen/Getty Images

The Princess Royal has visited the site of a secret operation to stop the Nazi atomic bomb in Norway as she celebrated the “very special people involved” in the country’s wartime relationship with the UK.

The Princess spent two days in Norway, with a visit to the site of the little-known Operation Gunnerside where she laid flowers at the memorial.

The Second World War operation in 1943 saw a Norwegian team dropped by parachute to infiltrate a hydroelectric plant where the Nazis were developing “heavy water” to build an atomic bomb.

They destroyed the containers, escaping on skis for the 200 miles to Sweden, with the Special Operations Executive (SOE) action later considered the most successful sabotage of the war.

Soon afterwards, German forces attempted to move the remaining supplies of heavy water, which were used to create a heavy hydrogen isotope to use as a moderator in nuclear reactors, by ferry the Hydro. It was sunk by a resistance bomb with passengers including Norwegian families on board.

During her visit, the Princess met a senior local police officer who had a relative who survived the Hydro sinking, as well as members of the Norwegian armed forces.

The royal visit was intended to raise public awareness of the operation, and was arranged by John Andrews and Dr Tony Insall, the British author of Secret Alliances: Special Operations and Intelligence in Norway 1940-1945.

In a speech at the Industrial Workers Museum in Vemork, where there is a memorial to Operation Gunnerside, Princess Anne said: “There is always more that can be done to remind future generations just how remarkable the wartime relationship between our two countries was and the very special people involved.”

The Princess, who is patron of the Anglo-Norwegian Resistance Commemoration Project, went on to launch a competition to select a Norwegian sculptor to create a statue to “commemorate the bravery of those Norwegians and British who risked their lives in the campaign to restore freedom in Norway”.

Previously she had met Joachim Rønneberg, a leading figure of the Norwegian resistance, and members of the Linge Company, a Norwegian unit of the SOE.

“I know, from having spoken to Joachim and others, just how important Op Gunnerside was in disrupting the supply of heavy water to the Germans and helping to prevent Germany from acquiring atomic weapons,” said the Princess.

“But success came at a cost, and we remember the tragic loss of life of both commandos and air crew involved in Op Freshman, the first attempt to sabotage the plant which sadly failed.

“We remember also those who died later on the Hydro ferry. The building we are standing in today and the displays in the main museum are a wonderful tribute to those brave men and those who helped them who risked everything.”

Writing about the visit, Dr Insall and Mr Andrews said: “At the end of World War Two neither the British nor Norwegian governments made any public acknowledgement of the close cooperation between SIS [Secret Intelligent Services] and SOE, and the Norwegian resistance groups, the Linge Company and Milorg.

“This was unfortunate given the significant contribution of their work to the Allied war effort but was due to the secrecy surrounding British intelligence operations.

“The situation has now changed, and it has become possible to acknowledge the extent of the remarkable achievements on which Britain and Norway cooperated.”

[margaretlsgp]

AmeriCorps Seniors RSVP 50th Anniversary Celebration [Video]

[mariacallous]

As delegates arrived at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee earlier this week to officially nominate former president Donald Trump as their 2024 candidate, a right-wing policy think tank held an all-day event nearby. The Heritage Foundation, a key sponsor of the convention and a group that has been influencing Republican presidential policy since the 1980s, gathered its supporters to tout Project 2025, a 900-plus-page policy blueprint that seeks to fundamentally restructure the federal government.

Dozens of conservative groups contributed to Project 2025, which recommends changes that would touch every aspect of American life and transform federal agencies—from the Department of Defense to the Department of Interior to the Federal Reserve. Although it has largely garnered attention for its proposed crackdowns on human rights and individual liberties, the blueprint would also undermine the country’s extensive network of environmental and climate policies and alter the future of American fossil fuel production, climate action, and environmental justice.

Under President Joe Biden’s direction, the majority of the federal government’s vast system of departments, agencies, and commissions have belatedly undertaken the arduous task of incorporating climate change into their operations and procedures. Two summers ago, Biden also signed the Inflation Reduction Act, the biggest climate spending law in US history, with the potential to help drive greenhouse gas emissions down 42 percent below 2005 levels.

Project 2025 seeks to undo much of that progress by slashing funding for government programs across the board, weakening federal oversight and policymaking capabilities, rolling back legislation passed during Biden’s first term, and eliminating career personnel. The policy changes it suggests—which include executive orders that Trump could implement single-handedly, regulatory changes by federal agencies, and legislation that would require congressional approval—would make it extremely difficult for the United States to fulfill the climate goals it has committed to under the 2015 Paris Agreement.

“It’s real bad,” said David Willett, senior vice president of communications for the environmental advocacy group the League of Conservation Voters. “This is a real plan, by people who have been in the government, for how to systematically take over, take away rights and freedoms, and dismantle the government in service of private industry.”

Trump has sought to distance himself from the blueprint. “Some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal,” he wrote in a social media post last week.

However, at least 140 people who worked in the Trump administration contributed to Project 2025, and policy experts and environmental advocates fear Project 2025 will play an influential role in shaping GOP policy if Trump is reelected in November. Some of the blueprint’s recommendations are echoed in the Republican National Convention’s official party platform, and Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts says he is “good friends” with Trump’s new running mate, Senator J. D. Vance of Ohio. Previous Heritage Foundation road maps have successfully dictated presidential agendas; 64 percent of the policy recommendations the foundation put out in 2016 had been implemented or considered under Trump one year into his term. The Heritage Foundation declined to provide a comment for this story.

Broadly speaking, Project 2025 proposals aim to scale down the federal government and empower states. The document calls for “unleashing all of America’s energy resources” by eliminating federal restrictions on fossil fuel drilling on public lands, curtailing federal investments in renewable energy technologies, and easing environmental permitting restrictions and procedures for new fossil fuel projects such as power plants. “What’s been designed here is a project that ensures a fossil fuel agenda, both in the literal and figurative sense,” said Craig Segall, the vice president of the climate-oriented political advocacy group Evergreen Action.

Within the Department of Energy, offices dedicated to clean energy research and implementation would be eliminated, and energy efficiency guidelines and requirements for household appliances would be scrapped. The environmental oversight capacities of the Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency would be curbed significantly or eliminated altogether, preventing these agencies from tracking methane emissions, managing environmental pollutants and chemicals, or conducting climate change research.

In addition to these major overhauls, Project 2025 advocates for getting rid of smaller and lesser-known federal programs and statutes that safeguard public health and environmental justice. It recommends eliminating the Endangerment Finding—the legal mechanism that requires the EPA to curb emissions and air pollutants from vehicles and power plants, among other industries, under the Clean Air Act. It also recommends axing government efforts to assess the social cost of carbon, or the damage each additional ton of carbon emitted causes. And it seeks to prevent agencies from assessing the “co-benefits,” or the knock-on positive health impacts, of their policies, such as better air quality.

“When you think about who is going to be hit the hardest by pollution—whether it’s conventional air, water, and soil pollution or climate change—it is very often low-income communities and communities of color,” said Rachel Cleetus, policy director of the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit science advocacy organization. “The undercutting of these kinds of protections is going to have a disproportionate impact on these very same communities.”

Other proposals would wreak havoc on the nation’s ability to prepare for and respond to climate disasters. Project 2025 suggests eliminating the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service housed therein and replacing those organizations with private companies. The blueprint appears to leave the National Hurricane Center intact, saying the data it collects should be “presented neutrally, without adjustments intended to support any one side in the climate debate.” But the National Hurricane Center pulls much of its data from the National Weather Service, as do most other private weather service companies, and eliminating public weather data could devastate Americans’ access to accurate weather forecasts. “It’s preposterous,” said Rob Moore, a policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Action Fund. “There’s no problem that’s getting addressed with this solution, this is a solution in search of some problem.”

The document also advocates moving the Federal Emergency Management Administration, which marshals federal disaster response, out from under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security, where it has been housed for more than 20 years, and into the Department of the Interior or the Department of Transportation. “All of the agencies within the Department of Interior are federal land management agencies that own lots of land and manage those resources on behalf of the federal government,” Moore said. “Why would you put FEMA there? I can’t even fathom why that is a starting point.”

The blueprint recommends eliminating the National Flood Insurance Program and moving flood insurance to private insurers. That notion skates right over the fact that the federal program was initially established because private insurers found that it was economically unfeasible to insure the nation’s flood-prone homes—long before climate change began wreaking havoc on the insurance market.

Despite the alarming implications of most of Project 2025’s climate-related proposals, it also recommends a small number of policies that climate experts said are worth considering. Its authors call for shifting the costs of natural disasters from the federal government to states. That’s not a bad conversation to have, Moore pointed out. “I think there’s people within FEMA who feel the same way,” he said. The federal government currently shoulders at least 75 percent of the costs of national disaster recovery, paving the way for development and rebuilding in risky areas. “You are disincentivizing states and local governments from making wise decisions about where and how to build because they know the federal government is going to pick up the tab for whatever mistake they make,” Moore said.

Quillan Robinson, a senior adviser with ConservAmerica who has worked with Republicans in Washington, DC, on crafting emissions policies, was heartened by the authors’ call for an end to what they termed “unfair bias against the nuclear industry.” Nuclear energy is a reliable source of carbon-free energy, but it has been plagued by security and public health concerns, as well as staunch opposition from some environmental activists. “We know it’s a crucial technology for decarbonization,” Robinson said, noting that there’s growing bipartisan interest in the energy source among lawmakers in Congress.

An analysis conducted by the United Kingdom–based Carbon Brief found that a Trump presidency would lead to 400 billion metric tons of additional emissions in the US by 2030—the emissions output of the European Union and Japan combined.

Above all else, Segall, from Evergreen Action, is worried about the effect Project 2025 would have on the personnel who make up the federal government. Much of the way the administrative state works is safeguarded in the minds of career staff who pass their knowledge on to the next cadre of federal workers. When this institutional knowledge is curbed, as it was by budget cuts and hostile management during Trump’s first term, the government loses crucial information that helps it run. The personnel “scatter,” he said, disrupts bottom-line operations and grinds the government to a halt.

Although Project 2025’s proposals are radical, Segall said that its effect on public servants would echo a pattern that has been playing out for decades. “This is a common theme in Republican administrations dating back to presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan,” he said. “What you do is you break the government, make it very hard for the government to function, and then you loudly announce that the government can’t do anything.”

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Madeline Peltz at MMFA:

In January, Ohio senator and Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance said that Heritage Foundation president and Project 2025 architect Kevin Roberts “is somebody I rely on a lot who has very good advice, very good political instincts.

[...] The Heritage Foundation is leading Project 2025, a far-right staffing and policy initiative backed by more than 100 conservative partner groups that seeks to remake the federal government into a vehicle for Trumpism. The proposals in the project’s policy book, Mandate for Leadership, would severely diminish reproductive, LGBTQ, and civil rights, implement draconian immigration policy, and crush climate change mitigation efforts. The Trump campaign has attempted to distance itself from Project 2025 as it becomes increasingly toxic, in spite of numerous well-documented ties between the Trump campaign and the project. A CNN review found that there are “nearly 240 people with ties to both Project 2025 and to Trump,” and at least 140 former Trump administration staffers contributed to the project. Vance brings his own close ties to Project 2025 and Heritage. In October 2023, Roberts and Vance wrote a joint op-ed in The Hill titled “Don’t hold up Israel aid to further Ukraine War funding.” Vance reposted the op-ed to his official Senate website.

Vance has also made multiple public appearances with Roberts. In March 2024, he spoke on a Twitter Space with Roberts, Johnny Burtka, president of Partner 2025 partner Intercollegiate Studies Institute, research director of Project 2025 partner Center for Renewing America Micah Meadowcroft, and Antonin Scalia, senior advisor at the Manhattan Institute.

Ohio Senator and Trump VP pick J.D. Vance praises Project 2025 architect and Heritage President Kevin Roberts as “somebody I rely on a lot who has very good advice, very good political instincts.”

Wonder why we call the Trump/Vance ticket the Project 2025 ticket?

[sotwk]

Would you mind talking a bit more about Theodred? I loved your headcanons, by the way! Do you think he would have gotten a lot of attention from the women of Rohan who were interested in him simply because he was a prince? And what kind of high standards, in your opinion, did he have when it came to finding a wife and a queen? What kind of qualities would he be looking for? Thank you so much!

Thank you so much, Anon! I appreciate your kind words and high praise, since I am no expert on Rohan (or the race of Men), but I try my best in my contributions. :)

More Théodred Headcanons! (SotWK AU-based, of course)

Elfhild, Théodred's beloved mother, was a full-blooded Rohirrim from a barely above middle-class family. Her marriage to Théoden was a successful love match. Although Elfhild passed away (at childbirth) before Théodred got the chance to know her, he heard endless stories from both high-born and common folk about her kindness, wisdom, and strength, and he idolized her.

Théodred was also often told of how much Idis took after their mother. As a result, he looked up to his sister (who was 5 years his senior) and modeled her good examples, particularly her humility, gentleness, and dedication to the welfare of their people.

What qualities did Théodred look for in a wife/Queen? Someone like his mother and sister (see above). Definitely tough shoes to fill!

All the people of Rohan LOVED Théodred. They respected and trusted him as though he were already their king, and would have followed him to any battlefield, to any end. Full of wisdom and integrity, he could not be corrupted as easily as his father. This made him very dangerous in Saruman's eyes, which was why the White Wizard could not allow him to live.

What set Théodred apart from his forebears was his more pacifist, less militant nature. He had a generous and forgiving heart and would choose mercy over vengeance. He was loathe to jump into battle or start wars, for as long as it could be avoided. Saruman used this quality (I hate to call it weakness) against him.

He definitely drew a lot of attention from the women of Rohan; pretty much all of them were smitten with the Prince. If a poll had been taken, he would easily have beaten out Éomer as the most desirable husband. And this was not because of his princely status; his genteel nature simply made him more approachable.

In his pursuit of a wife, Théodred's rank as heir to the throne actually worked against him. The few women he entered into serious relationships with could not handle the pressure of being measured against a man so adored and placed high on a pedestal. Théodred was always gentle and encouraging towards his potential Queens, but his zeal for work and determination to serve and put Rohan above all else ended up intimidating them all. How does one keep up with a saint??

(Here is where my HC may get controversial.) If there were women who pursued Théodred for his title, they were noblewomen of Gondor, driven either by their own ambitions or that of their parents or lords. The chance to rise to the Queenship of Rohan by marriage like Morwen Steelsheen famously did, was probably tempting to many noble houses. It fact, it was another Morwen (daughter of Húrin the Tall,) who came closest to a betrothal with Théodred. But when Théodred realized that a Gondorian wife would have principles too different from his own when it came to governing Rohan, he began to dismiss all political matches pushed before him, which diminished his options even more.

SotWK Fancast: Charlie Hunnam as Théodred

Thank you again for the Ask, Anon! I am grateful there are folks like you who care about my thoughts and keep me encouraged. <3

[good-old-gossip]

U.S. Government is DOING EVERYTHING to UNDERMINE UNRWA!!!

As the humanitarian situation deteriorates inside Gaza, a non-profit in the US is facing a legal battle that could see it lose the ability to be a major source of donations to the UN agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).

A coalition of pro-Israel groups in the US and families of the captives being held in Gaza is suing Unrwa USA over accusations that the non-profit is “aiding and abetting terrorism” and giving money to Hamas through its financial support to Unrwa.

They claim Unrwa USA helped to fund the 7 October attacks against Israel. Lawyers representing Unrwa USA filed a motion last week urging the court to dismiss the case on the grounds that the lawsuit does not provide any evidence to support its allegations.

“This case is about UNRWA USA, and the Complaint does not factually allege that a single cent of UNRWA USA’s contributions was allocated for any Hamas-related activities, much less to aid and abet the October 7 attacks,” the motion said.

Unrwa USA’s legal team told MEE that while they believe the lawsuit lacks merit, it serves as both a distraction to the ongoing crisis in Gaza and will drain the charity’s resources.

“A goal of these accusations is to distract and also a goal of these lawsuits, in my view, is to really drain the resources of groups,” said Diala Shamas, a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, one of the organisations working in defence of Unrwa USA.

“While organisations like Unrwa USA are doing really important work trying to direct maximum humanitarian support to Palestinians in Gaza at a time that they need it the most, they’re being distracted by having to defend against these lawsuits,” Shamas told Middle East Eye.

The lawsuit is not alone or unique in its accusations that a Palestinian charity is guilty of supporting terrorism.

Over the past two decades, there have been numerous lawsuits inside the US that have gone after Palestinian charities with such allegations.

“This lawsuit is a sort of small sliver of a much larger story. And that larger story is the use and abuse of US terrorism laws to suppress solidarity with Palestinians and Palestinian advocacy and political expression, as well as Palestinian humanitarian support,” Shamas said.

[pinksbrickwall]

What Night in the Woods Means to Me (As an Angsty College Grad)

I remember playing Night in the Woods for the first time during my freshman year of college, and while I thought the art style looked nice and the dialogue was well written, I can't recall ever really giving it another thought. A lot's happened in the three years that's passed since then--I've met new people, learned new things, and have made steps (however small) towards preparing myself to become a proper adult-- a contributing member of society. And yet, through it all, I could never quite shake the feeling that--for all my efforts--I was no better equipped to deal with the harsh realities of the adult world as a college senior than when I was a freshman. Which is why, during my final few months leading up to my graduation, this game ended up affecting me in the profoundly monumental way that it did.

Night in the Woods is, in my opinion, a game about powerlessness. The setting of Possum Springs itself is trapped in a perpetual state of decay, both from a lack of government funding as well as from the devastation left behind by natural disasters. Every character living in Possum Springs, from the four central characters to the various NPCs you can interact with in town, suffer as a result of this unstoppable decay. Bea is trapped in a state of limbo, working a job she hates to support her broken father. Angus and Gregg work minimum wage jobs to escape a town which holds no future for them. The ending of Selmers' questline involves her reciting a poem about how much she despises the billionaires who take opportunities away from the communities they've never given so much as a passing thought.

Mae herself couldn't fit in at college, can't fit in at home, and everyone's always reminding her of all the things she should have done as the only person in her family with the privilege of a college education. She can barely control her own actions, much less muster up the confidence or will to pursue any given path in life, and it's clear just how much this eats away at her throughout the game. It can be taxing to not have a clear place in the world; it can be exhausting to not have a goal in life when the future once seemed so straightforwards. The cosmic horror aspect of Night in the Woods may seem out of place at first in such a seemingly low-key story, but I think it fits the game on a thematic level; when the world seems like its leaving you behind, when you have no agency over how you choose to live your life, existence can sometimes seem monstrous in nature. In recent years, I've often felt as if life was constantly passing me by, and it's repeatedly discouraged me from doing the things I know I should be doing. Following Mae's journey towards being a more empathetic and open person was kind of eye-opening; it was as if my all my pent-up uncertainty had manifested into physical form, and I felt a little less alone in the world.

The ending of Night in the Woods isn't granular. There's no magic solution to Possum Spring's financial troubles; Gregg and Angus are still leaving for a better place; Bea is still in a state of career limbo; Mae is still riddled with guilt and uncertainty. But I always manage to find little glimpses of hope through the ways these doomed characters interact with one another and find comfort in each other's existence. In the face of a monstrous existence, it's the little things which end up mattering the most.

[kp777]

By Brett Wilkins

Common Dreams

July 5, 2024

"Trump is now desperately trying to run from his deep ties to Project 2025... MAGA extremists' radical wish list for a second Trump term," President Joe Biden's campaign said.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday attempted to distance himself from a conservative coalition's agenda for a far-right takeover of the federal government, prompting derision from observers who underscored close ties between the presumptive 2024 Republican nominee and the blueprint's authors.

Trump took to his Truth social media platform to claim the knows "nothing about Project 2025," a sweeping initiative spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation to boost the power of the presidency and purge career federal civil servants, who would be replaced with Trump loyalists.

"I have no idea who is behind it," Trump added, a claim that numerous observers quickly countered.

In an email entitled, "Donald Trump & Project 2025: One and the Same," Democratic President Joe Biden's reelection campaign said that "Trump is now desperately trying to run from his deep ties to Project 2025—the Heritage Foundation's 900-page deeply unpopular manifesto drafted by former Trump officials that offers Americans a preview of MAGA extremists' radical wish list for a second Trump term."

"Project 2025 is the extreme policy and personnel playbook for Trump's second term that should scare the hell out of the American people," Biden campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement. "Project 2025 staff and leadership routinely tout their connections to Trump's team, and are the same people leading the [Republican National Committee policy platform, Trump's debate prep, campaign, and inner circle."

"Trump's Supreme Court and Project 2025 have designed the playbook for Trump to achieve his dream of being a dictator on day one, with unchecked, imperial power," Moussa added. "Allowing a self-absorbed convicted felon that kind of power would be devastating for our democracy and middle-class families. This November, voters must stop Trump from turning the Oval Office into his throne room."

As CNN detailed Friday:

Paul Dans, the head of Project 2025, was chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management during the Trump administration, and the group's roadmap for the next administration includes contributions from others who have worked for the former president, including his former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, former acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli, and former deputy chief of staff Rick Dearborn. John McEntee, Trump's former director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office and one of his closest aides while in office, is also a senior adviser for the project.

Mother Jones Washington, D.C. bureau chief David Corn said: "This is B.S. Christian nationalist Russell Vought, who is one of the Trump allies in charge of the GOP platform effort, is a coordinator of Project 2025. Trump is gaslighting once again."

Others noted that Trump's own Make America Great Again, Inc. super PAC is running ads highlighting Project 2025.

Critics have called Project 2025 a "blueprint for autocracy"—an assessment bolstered by last week's U.S. Supreme Court ruling bestowing the president with what experts described as king-like powers, which Trump's advisers have reportedly vowed to exploit if he wins November's election.

The Associated Press reported last month that a right-wing group allied with the presumptive GOP nominee was drafting a list of federal employees who are disloyal or insufficiently dutiful to Trump, an undertaking compared with the McCarthyite anti-communist crusade during the second Red Scare in the 1950s.

Kevin Roberts, who heads the Heritage Foundation, raised eyebrows earlier this week after he said that the coming right-wing "revolution" will "remain bloodless if the left allows it to be," which some observers took as a thinly veiled threat of violence.

In his Friday Truth post, Trump said that he disagrees with some of Project 2025's agenda and that "some of the things they're saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal."

"Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them," he reiterated.

Journalist Mehdi Hasan responded to Trump's claim in a social media post saying, "What's revealing about Donald Trump loudly disavowing Project 2025 and falsely denying any knowledge of it is that clearly he knows how damaging it can be to his election bid."

"So why on earth did neither Biden nor the CNN moderators bring it up at the debate last week?" he asked.

[girlactionfigure]

Post-Shabbat update:

👉 One of the most senior terrorist commanders in Jenin was eliminated in an overnight Israeli air strike on the northern Samaria city. The IDF rarely uses Air Force strikes against targets in the so-called "West Bank."

👉 At least 21 Hamas and allied terrorists were eliminated since this morning in expanded IDF operations in northern and southern Gaza.

👉 Iron Dome intercepted 5 Gaza rockets fired at the coastal city of Ashkelon.

---

One-by-one: The IDF targeted another senior Hezbollah official on the Lebanon-Syria border. His fate is still unknown.

Under siege: Hezbollah launched a number of attack on the Israeli border region, though the intensity was less than in previous days.

No horizon:American mediators informed Lebanon that they would not return in the short-term as there was little point in negotiating with Hezbollah at this time.

---

Trouble in paradise: War Cabinet minister Benny Gantz will give an urgent press conference this evening. He's expected to set firm red lines to his continued participation in Netanyahu's government.

End the war? Opposition leader Yair Lapid is urging Gantz to quit Bibi's government immediately. And that would mean the government falls, and the war ends in line with the current American policy of seeking a long-term truce and hostage-prisoner exchange.

Huge victory: On Arab social media, there's rampant talk of the imminent fall of Netanyahu's gov't and an end to the war, resulting in a "huge victory" for the Palestinians.

‼️ Were the war to end today under present circumstances, that would indeed be perceived, and perhaps even constitute a victory for Palestinian terrorism.

💥 And that would in turn make all but inevitable the next terrorist invasion of Israel.

War Cabinet minister Benny Gantz has given Netanyahu three weeks (until June 😍 to present a workable plan and that will meet the following goals:

1️⃣ Return all the hostages.

2️⃣ Topple Hamas and ensure Israeli security control in Gaza.

3️⃣ Along with maintaining Israeli security control, establish an American-European-Arab-Palestinian administration that will manage civilian affairs in Gaza and lay the foundation for a future government that is not Hamas or Abbas.

4️⃣ Return the residents of the north to their homes by September 1 and rehabilitate the Western Negev.

5️⃣ Promote normalization with Saudi Arabia as part of a comprehensive move that will create an alliance with the free world and the Arab world against Iran.

6️⃣ Advance legislation that would compel all Israelis to serve the state and contribute to the national effort - ie. military conscription for ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Netanyahu responds harshly to Gantz for causing a political rift in the middle of a war, and asks three pointed questions:

1️⃣ Is he ready to complete the operation in Rafah to destroy the remaining Hamas battalions, and if so, how is it possible that he is threatening to dismantle the emergency unity government in the middle of the operation?

2️⃣ Is he opposed to Palestinian Authority rule in Gaza, even without Mahmoud Abbas?

3️⃣ Is he ready to accept a Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza as part of the normalization process with Saudi Arabia?

---

Netanyahu goes on to stress that his own position on all three critical issues is already clear:

👉 He is determined at all costs to destroy Hamas; 

👉 He opposes the entry of the Palestinian Authority into Gaza; and

👉 He rejects the establishment of a Palestinian state that will inevitably become a terrorist haven (even for the sake of normalization with Saudi Arabia).