CURRENT EVENTS July 14 - July 31

[Zoo_View]

“The Trump administration illegally withheld funding from a roughly $12 billion federal child care program known as Head Start, according to congressional investigators, who said that President Trump and his top aides had wrongly interrupted the flow of money enacted by Congress.

The disruption appeared to be resolved by June, according to the Government Accountability Office, a legislative oversight agency. But its conclusions, published Wednesday, still referenced reports showing that the government’s actions may have caused immense financial hardship to some child-care services, which struggled to receive federal aid for about three months.

… The Head Start program funds child care and other services for families in poverty, serving roughly 800,000 children up to age 5, according to recent federal estimates. Even though the safety-net initiative has long enjoyed bipartisan support, Mr. Trump considered proposing its full elimination as part of his fiscal blueprint for 2026, calling its curriculum “radical.”

The president ultimately backed off the idea once he issued his full budget this spring. But some Head Start centers still began to report significant difficulties in getting federal funds that Congress had already approved.…”

In the ‘70’s, my Mom helped create Head-Start programs all across Eastern North Carolina.

She was often on the road from Monday morning to Thursday late afternoon.

She traveled with a pediatrician - a black woman who was a Duke Med alum. She also traveled with a psychologist/social worker who was Jewish and had a Brooklyn Jewish accent despite her Ph.D. and a first and last name that even North Carolinians knew was Jewish.

Mom and her colleagues learned that Mom would check them into the motel and go get their food.

Upon showing her Driver’s License, on multiple occasions, the clerk or Proprietor often said, “Chapel Hill…….you have a ni***r mayor.”

When Mom was helping set up Head Start programs in eastern North Carolina, the local whites considered Head Start a subsidy to help ni***rs……forget that their own kids had illiterate, impoverished parents and Head Start wasn’t limited to black kids.

Poor whites have long viewed Head Start as a subsidy geared to blacks.

 

[Zoo_View]

I have to say, this may be one of the more humiliating of the thousands of humiliating moments in either of Trump's terms.

calla, any comments on this one?

MAGAts (and Trump) will use this “cost overrun” to justify firing Powell.

 

[nycfan]

In the ‘70’s, my Mom helped create Head-Start programs all across Eastern North Carolina.

She was often on the road from Monday morning to Thursday late afternoon.

She traveled with a pediatrician - a black woman who was a Duke Med alum. She also traveled with a psychologist/social worker who was Jewish and had a Brooklyn Jewish accent despite her Ph.D. and a first and last name that even North Carolinians knew was Jewish.

Mom and her colleagues learned that Mom would check them into the motel and go get their food.

Upon showing her Driver’s License, on multiple occasions, the clerk or Proprietor often said, “Chapel Hill…….you have a ni***r mayor.”

When Mom was helping set up Head Start programs in eastern North Carolina, the local whites considered Head Start a subsidy to help ni***rs……forget that their own kids had illiterate, impoverished parents and Head Start wasn’t limited to black kids.

Poor whites have long viewed Head Start as a subsidy geared to blacks.

My dad ran a community action program that included Head Start for several decades in western NC starting in the 70s.

 

[Zoo_View]

My dad ran a community action program that included Head Start for several decades in western NC starting in the 70s.

Your Dad likely knows my Mom…..or the woman with the grant that she’d won and controlled…….Ann Sanford……unlike most myths about Head Start, neither Ann Sanford nor my Mom got wealthy off Head Start contracts.

I doubt your father made millions off of Head Start.

My Mom grew up in Gainesville, FL, back when Florida was Alabama/Georgia. She wasn’t shocked at anyone in North Carolina saying, “Chapel Hill….you have a n****r mayor.”

A couple years later I was at a swim meet at Johnson Memorial Y in Charlotte.

Oddly, this was a BIG meet in North Carolina. Why oddly? The shittiest pool I ever was in……25 yards, no gutters to control waves…… FIVE, FIVE, FIVE fucking lanes. A crappy pool had six lanes. Five lanes? WTF!

Somehow, early in the first day, I started flirting with this cute girl from Charlotte…..the somehow is she was flirting back…..I was thinking, “Damn!”

There is A LOT of idle time at swim meets…..she was cute…..I was 14…….

Then she says, “You’re from Chapel Hill. Do you like UNC Basketball?”

Me: “Yes! Go Heels!”

Her: “UNC’s coach is a “n****r” lover.”

All of a sudden she wasn’t that cute.

 

[nycfan]

Your Dad likely knows my Mom…..or the woman with the grant that she’d won and controlled…….Ann Sanford……unlike most myths about Head Start, neither Ann Sanford nor my Mom got wealthy off Head Start contracts.

I doubt your father made millions off of Head Start.

My Mom grew up in Gainesville, FL, back when Florida was Alabama/Georgia. She wasn’t shocked at anyone in North Carolina saying, “Chapel Hill….you have a n****r mayor.”

A couple years later I was at a swim meet at Johnson Memorial Y in Charlotte.

Oddly, this was a BIG meet in North Carolina. Why oddly? The shittiest pool I ever was in……25 yards, no gutters to control waves…… FIVE, FIVE, FIVE fucking lanes. A crappy pool had six lanes. Five lanes? WTF!

Somehow, early in the first day, I started flirting with this cute girl from Charlotte…..the somehow is she was flirting back…..I was thinking, “Damn!”

There is A LOT of idle time at swim meets…..she was cute…..I was 14…….

Then she says, “You’re from Chapel Hill. Do you like UNC Basketball?”

Me: “Yes! Go Heels!”

Her: “UNC’s coach is a “n****r” lover.”

All of a sudden she wasn’t that cute.

He probably did know her, he was very active in local and state poverty programs and politics to support Head Start, meals on wheels, adult daycare etc. Definitely did not get rich in that job.

I wish I could ask him about knowing your mom but he died of cancer nearly 30 years ago.

 

[nycfan]

 

[nycfan]

 

[heelinhell]

MAGAts (and Trump) will use this “cost overrun” to justify firing Powell.

Trump will not fire Powell, but he will continue to dangle the possibility as a distraction to keep the media chasing that shiny object.

The onsite press conference with Powell was humiliating for Trump when he produced bogus numbers and Powell called him out on it. I think Trump eventually will try to find another shiny object to distract from the Epstein scandal.

 

[lawtig02]

Seems like ten years ago now but anyone remember this story, which would have sunk pretty much any other administration?

Hegseth sent classified info from battlefield commanders on Signal chat

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced backlash in Washington after his Signal texts were revealed after a journalist was accidentally added to the chat.

www.usatoday.com

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth divulged classified information in March from battlefield commanders about the U.S. attack on Houthi rebels in a chat on the commercial messaging app Signal, according to a U.S. official.

The Washington Post reported on July 23 that the Pentagon Inspector General, which is reviewing the matter, has evidence that the information Hegseth shared detailing the timing of U.S. airstrikes came from a classified email.

The message was classified as secret information when Gen. Erik Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command, sent it to Hegseth, a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly, told USA TODAY.

The Pentagon stood by its contention that the information Hegseth revealed on the Signal chat, which had inadvertently included a journalist from The Atlantic, wasn't secret.

"The Department stands behind its previous statements: no classified information was shared via Signal," Sean Parnell, the Pentagon's chief spokesman, said in a statement. "As we've said repeatedly, nobody was texting war plans and the success of the Department's recent operations – from Operation Rough Rider to Operation Midnight Hammer – are proof that our operational security and discipline are top notch."

 

[nycfan]

 

[nycfan]

 

[05C40]

Trump will not fire Powell, but he will continue to dangle the possibility as a distraction to keep the media chasing that shiny object.

The onsite press conference with Powell was humiliating for Trump when he produced bogus numbers and Powell called him out on it. I think Trump eventually will try to find another shiny object to distract from the Epstein scandal.

Your "humiliating" description would be more apt if the person to whom it was applied: a) was capabably of feeling such an emotion, b) had the intellectual capacity to understand that numbers were a thing that could be something other than bogus, c) had long demonstrated that making a fool of himself in public was not something that he cared about, and d) was not the object of a cult who had long ago deemed him to be inerrant.

 

[dukeman92]

MAGAts (and Trump) will use this “cost overrun” to justify firing Powell.

That's what the whole dog and pony show was for.

 

[heelinhell]

Your "humiliating" description would be more apt if the person to whom it was applied: a) was capabably of feeling such an emotion, b) had the intellectual capacity to understand that numbers were a thing that could be something other than bogus, c) had long demonstrated that making a fool of himself in public was not something that he cared about, and d) was not the object of a cult who had long ago deemed him to be inerrant.

Without a doubt Trump experiences the sting of humiliation and being made to look like a fool in public . In the psych biz we call it sustaining a narcissistic injury.

 

[heelinhell]

Trump just can't get the media to chase a different shiny object

I wonder if Hillary is thinking about sending Trump a post on his truth social:

remember " but her e-mails" that contributed to your victory in 2016 ? I feel for you Donnie...I truly do

 

[heelinhell]

So Trump is off to Scotland to spend 10 million of taxpayer money promoting his golf courses which will increase the total golf taxpayer tab to 52 million so far this year.

I would be interested to hear from calla and ram regarding this expenditure of our taxpayer money, but I'm pretty sure there will be no response

Trump Set To Spend $10 Million Of Taxpayer Money To Market His New Scotland Golf Course

The five-day trip will also raise his second-term golf tab to $52 million in just six months. He spent $152 million during his first term.

www.huffpost.com

 

[ZenMode]

this was probably already posted, but it's hilarious. Powell is having none of Trumps BS. I think he's trying to get fired.

 

[Mulberry Heel]

Trump will not fire Powell, but he will continue to dangle the possibility as a distraction to keep the media chasing that shiny object.

The onsite press conference with Powell was humiliating for Trump when he produced bogus numbers and Powell called him out on it. I think Trump eventually will try to find another shiny object to distract from the Epstein scandal.

If Trump does fire Powell I do think that will rock Wall Street and likely cause the biggest plunge in the stock market yet. Which is why it likely hasn't happened already, and may not happen. Instead Trump 2.0 will probably just try to pressure Powell and find ways to make him miserable and force him out.

 

[lawtig02]

So Trump is off to Scotland to spend 10 million of taxpayer money promoting his golf courses which will increase the total golf taxpayer tab to 52 million so far this year.

I would be interested to hear from calla and ram regarding this expenditure of our taxpayer money, but I'm pretty sure there will be no response

Trump Set To Spend $10 Million Of Taxpayer Money To Market His New Scotland Golf Course

The five-day trip will also raise his second-term golf tab to $52 million in just six months. He spent $152 million during his first term.

www.huffpost.com

Just as a reminder, and again, this is not photoshopped --

 

[heelinhell]

If Trump does fire Powell I do think that will rock Wall Street and likely cause the biggest plunge in the stock market yet. Which is why it likely hasn't happened already, and may not happen. Instead Trump 2.0 will probably just try to pressure Powell and find ways to make him miserable and force him out.

Powell is not leaving before his term is over because he is a man of integrity and dedicated to making decisions in the best interest of our country's economy.