Trump administration 2024-2028

[The Bread Guy]

More on that from the US DoJ info-machine:

Five Men Arrested and Charged in Plot to Attack and Kill Government Officials and Others Attending the Ultimate Fighting Championship at White House

The Justice Department announced today charges against five men for an alleged plot to carry out an attack to kill government officials and others attending the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Freedom 250 event held at the White House last Sunday.

www.justice.gov

More on this, with some court docs attached.

The UFC match plot: how a far-right group tried to assassinate Trump at his own event

Court files show how men connected through TikTok and encrypted apps planned attack on White House UFC fight

www.theguardian.com

 

[Underway]

Watched a podcast featuring Mexican media reporting it is Canada not participating in CUSMA prep meetings and being generally absent in this.

We are not getting the full truth from Canadian media.

Because the US is starting with Mexico and intentionally excluding us. Quite literally this was said on multiple Canadian, US and Mexican news outlets during and interview buy the US trade negotiator in March and again in May. This is old news from March reframed from a biased perspective.

 

[Good2Golf]

The only tool the US has at this point, other than pulling the 6-month exit trigger, is to add more tariffs to Canada and Mexico independent of many other countries, to force Canada and Mexico to begs the knee outside of any CUSMA protection.

 

[brihard]

The only tool the US has at this point, other than pulling the 6-month exit trigger, is to add more tariffs to Canada and Mexico independent of many other countries, to force Canada and Mexico to begs the knee outside of any CUSMA protection.

Which, thus far, has not fared well in court challenges.

 

[mariomike]

If the gloom and doom in the Canadian chat room aren't enough ,

Time Magazine

Jul 2, 2026

How Americans Are Feeling About the U.S. as the Country Turns 250

With the country's landmark Semiquincentennial anniversary approaching, polls show that many Americans are harboring negative feelings about the state of the U.S.––and its future.

time.com

How Americans Are Feeling About the U.S. as the Country Turns 250​

As the U.S. celebrates its 250th birthday, polls show that many Americans are harboring negative feelings about the state of the country—and its future.

Most Americans feel the U.S. is off track​

American pride is at a record low, and fractured​

Many Americans believe democracy and constitutional rights are threatened​

Most feel the “American Dream” is out of reach​

 

[The Bread Guy]

Because the US is starting with Mexico and intentionally excluding us. Quite literally this was said on multiple Canadian, US and Mexican news outlets during and interview buy the US trade negotiator in March and again in May. This is old news from March reframed from a biased perspective.

You don’t trust that guy on some podcast allegedly quoting Mexican media? Oh ye of little faith ..,

 

[Good2Golf]

If the gloom and doom in the Canadian chat room aren't enough ,

Time Magazine

Jul 2, 2026

How Americans Are Feeling About the U.S. as the Country Turns 250

With the country's landmark Semiquincentennial anniversary approaching, polls show that many Americans are harboring negative feelings about the state of the U.S.––and its future.

time.com

How Americans Are Feeling About the U.S. as the Country Turns 250​

As the U.S. celebrates its 250th birthday, polls show that many Americans are harboring negative feelings about the state of the country—and its future.

Most Americans feel the U.S. is off track​

American pride is at a record low, and fractured​

Many Americans believe democracy and constitutional rights are threatened​

Most feel the “American Dream” is out of reach​

So long as they’re not a performer in the Freedom 250 state fair stage they should still be okay…

552K views · 17K reactions | The Freedom 250 rehearsal stage falling apart is the perfect analogy for the Trump administration. | The Lincoln Project

The Freedom 250 rehearsal stage falling apart is the perfect analogy for the Trump administration.

www.facebook.com

 

[Brad Sallows]

I’m still scratching my head at the Republicans’ histrionics about how counting ballots postmarked no later than election day somehow threatens election integrity over only counting those that arrive by election day. A postal ballot is a postal ballot. Argue issues with that, sure, but the fixation on that date is weird.

I'll assume that's a serious question.

The people upset about mail-in ballots are upset about the window of opportunity for fraud which is created when it's possible to count most of the votes on election night, and then have an interval during which someone intent on fraud could, knowing exactly what gap has to be overcome, manufacture votes to do just that. It's thought to be a lot easier than trying to find a few missing boxes of ballots in someone's trunk on election night. If all the votes have to be in by midnight of election day, then it's possible to count the number of ballots even without examining the contents of the ballots and put a hard ceiling on the total ballot count.

It's usually wrapped up with chain-of-custody weaknesses: an in-person ballot collected from and returned to a poll worker at a polling station has a much tighter chain of custody than ballots shotgunned out by mail that can be collected and returned ("harvested") by people other than those to whom the ballots were sent, using means that by definition are outside the control of election officials.

"Well, fraud never almost never happens." Of course, of course, but elections are like ethics: a polity only has free and fair elections as long as there is no appearance of impropriety as well as no actual impropriety; and, it would only be possible to know how much fraud there is if all jurisdictions were energetic about seeking it. What goes on in the US is puzzling, because one team largely favours voting controls that in most cases are unremarkable elsewhere (including Canada), while the other team resists.

Observe everything that goes on in US politics, particularly to capture the big prizes, and then posit a theory that fraud isn't part of the mix. I wish its proponents luck.

 

[lenaitch]

Stages falling apart; pond scum and peeling paint. Why do I get the sense Trump is just the Grifter-in-Chief enabling other grifters. What's next, the plaster or stucco on the new ballroom will be papier mache? I'm more and more reminded of the Simpson's monorail episode.