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cliffside

cliffside's Journal
cliffside's Journal
November 13, 2024

Trump Taps Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to Slash Government ... share article

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/12/us/politics/elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Zk4.h5lr.8-vZJxTQbPKS&smid=url-share

"The two wealthy entrepreneurs will lead what the president-elect called the Department of Government Efficiency, which he said would seek “drastic change.” But the announcement left a lot unanswered.

How do you slash, cut, restructure and even dismantle parts of the federal government?

If you’re President-elect Donald J. Trump, you turn to two wealthy entrepreneurs: the spaceship-inventing, electric-car-building owner of a social media platform and a moneymaking former pharmaceutical executive who was once one of your presidential rivals.

Mr. Trump said on Tuesday that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead what he called the Department of Government Efficiency. It will be, he said, “the Manhattan Project” of this era, driving “drastic change” throughout the government with major cuts and new efficiencies in bloated agencies in the federal bureaucracy by July 4, 2026...."



November 4, 2024

It's only been 50 years since women had the right to their own credit ...

https://fortune.com/2024/10/31/50-years-since-women-got-the-right-to-their-own-credit/

We're not going back, some of us remember ... my first CC was Macy's which was a big deal back then.

"– Credit report. Less than a week before voters head to the polls and have the chance to elect Kamala Harris as the United States’ first female president, there’s a milestone that shows how radical that achievement would truly be.

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the legislation that for the first time made it illegal for banks to require women to have a male cosigner to receive a credit card, loan, or mortgage. Before this legislation was signed into law five decades ago this week, not only couldn’t women access credit—but the credit history went to the male cosigner, meaning that if a woman divorced, she would be starting from scratch with no credit history. This inequality persisted for more than a decade after the Equal Pay Act of 1963.

... Tory Burch, the fashion designer, wrote an op-ed for Time recalling her own experience. She remembers when her mom proudly came home with her first credit card in her own name in 1974. “I often think about the effects of constantly seeing someone else’s name where yours should be—the small, daily reminder that your life, your decisions, your destiny are being dictated by someone else,” Burch writes. That’s an experience Harris would be of the right generation to remember, too; she would have been about 10 years old when this legislation was signed into law.

With tensions rising ahead of an uncertain election, it’s easy to get wrapped up in predictions and worries. This fortuitously timed anniversary gives us the opportunity to reflect on how far we’ve come—even if, in 1974 and 2024, these milestones were both long overdue..."

November 1, 2024

Israel has damaged or destroyed nearly a quarter of buildings in Lebanon's south

https://wapo.st/3YvrpwT

"... Most of the demolitions there appear to have begun on or around Oct. 14. From Oct. 16 to at least Sunday, the Golani Brigade, which first entered Lebanon on Oct. 2, was active in and around Ayta al-Shab, according to videos released by the IDF. The brigade deployed to Gaza last year and was tied in Israeli media to a series of controversial demolitions in the north of the enclave.

The number of buildings damaged or destroyed in the village tripled while the brigade was active in Ayta al-Shab, according to The Post’s analysis of the data provided by Scher and Van Den Hoek. By Saturday, nearly half of the village lay in ruins.

... About two miles away, in the village of Ramyeh, a video geolocated by The Post shows soldiers celebrating a controlled demolition that included the village mosque. Two gray plumes of smoke cascade into the air.

In another verified video, shot near the concrete wall separating Israel from Lebanon, an Israeli soldier films a mosque in the village of Dhayra. When he gives the all-clear, the towering minaret sinks, along with the surroundings buildings, into a pile of dust..."
November 1, 2024

Duplicate, delete nt

October 25, 2024

These Key Swing States Don't Count Mail Ballots In Advance--Results May Take Days

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/10/23/these-key-swing-states-dont-count-mail-ballots-in-advance-results-may-take-days/

Personally I'm hoping for early 11/6 results, I did hear Wisconsin believes their results will be early morning on the 6th. Holding any celebrations until Wednesday at some point, maybe an early happy hour that day.

"TOPLINE Americans may be waiting days to know the outcome of the presidential election if the vote count is as close in battleground states as polling suggests, as several key swing states don’t allow officials to start processing or counting mail-in ballots until Election Day—meaning it could take days to know who won....

... Pennsylvania: The state will be one of the slowest to release results from mail-in ballots because officials can’t start processing absentee ballots—taking steps like removing ballots from envelopes and verifying voter signatures—until the morning of Election Day, and cannot record any vote totals until after polls close at 8 p.m.

Wisconsin: Wisconsin also doesn’t start processing its mail ballots until Election Day, meaning it will take longer to report the results..."

September 25, 2024

Congress Passes Short-Term Spending Bill to Avert a Shutdown

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/us/politics/house-short-term-spending-bill.html?unlocked_article_code=1.NU4.GZ3M.NRedMzvPxcZn&smid=url-share

Full article at link.

"In a pair of votes in quick succession, the House and Senate moved to keep federal funding flowing through Dec. 20. But they punted a bigger spending fight to the end of the year...

In a pair of votes in quick succession, lawmakers in both chambers overwhelmingly voted to pass the measure to keep federal funding flowing through Dec. 20. The Senate vote was 78 to 18. All the “no” votes were Republicans...

Less than two hours before, the House approved the bill in a 341 to 82 vote, with a majority of the Republican conference and all Democrats present linking arms to pass the legislation...

Speaker Mike Johnson again turned to Democrats to supply the bulk of the votes after conservatives in his own conference said they would not support the legislation because it would not cut spending and did not include a measure imposing new proof-of-citizenship requirements on voter registration..."
September 24, 2024

Mark Cuban says Trump's call for 200% tariffs on John Deere tractors is 'insane' and a 'good way to destroy a legendary

https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-cuban-trump-call-200-percent-tariffs-john-deere-insane-2024-9

"Billionaire investor Mark Cuban doesn't think former President Donald Trump's call for 200% tariffs on agriculture equipment company John Deere is a good idea.

"This lack of understanding of business is insane," Cuban wrote in an X post on Monday.

In June, John Deere announced that it would shift some of its production — specifically, the manufacturing of skid steer loaders and compact track loaders — from Dubuque, Iowa, to Ramos, Mexico, by the end of 2026.

But imposing such a hefty tariff on John Deere, Cuban said, would be counterproductive..."

September 24, 2024

Israeli Strikes in Lebanon Kill Hundreds as Warplanes Target Hezbollah

Video
https://nyti.ms/3XR9odw

Link to full article ...

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/23/world/middleeast/israel-hezbollah-lebanon-strikes.html?unlocked_article_code=1.NE4.IvHJ.tVYtepZZXGSq&smid=url-share

"Dozens of Israeli fighter jets bombed Hezbollah targets in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday, killing hundreds and wounding more than a thousand others, Lebanese officials said, in the deadliest attacks in the country since 2006, when Israel and Hezbollah fought their last all-out war.

As Israeli warplanes raced through Lebanon’s skies, Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese militia backed by Iran, launched its own barrage at Israel. Air-raid sirens there rang out repeatedly as roughly 250 rockets and other munitions crossed the border, according to the Israeli military. Most of the projectiles were intercepted by Israel’s antimissile defense system, and there were no immediate reports of deaths or serious casualties.

The widespread airstrikes in Lebanon — and warnings by Israel to Lebanese to flee areas where it said Hezbollah was stashing weapons — set off fear and confusion among civilians. Many pulled their children from school and left home. Cars clogged main roads to Beirut, the capital, as people fled cities, towns and villages in southern Lebanon, where many of the heaviest strikes landed, witnesses said.

Lebanon’s health ministry said the bombardment had killed at least 492 people, including at least 24 children, and injured more than 1,600. The ministry, which counts casualties reported to hospitals, did not say how many of the dead were Hezbollah fighters."

September 24, 2024

DNC Chair Jaime Harrison optimistic about turning the Sunshine State blue: "Florida is in play"

https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/jaime-harrison-democratic-national-committee-chair-optimistic-about-turning-florida-blue/

"... "Florida is in play," Harrison told CBS News Miami in an interview Saturday. "Florida, Florida, Florida."

"For the first time in 30 years, you have Democrats running in every seat in the state House, the state Senate, and [at] the congressional level," he added.

Both Miami-Dade and Broward counties went for President Biden in 2020, while former President Donald Trump won the state by about three percentage points that year.

Florida has about 5.38 million registered Republicans and 4.35 million registered Democrats, according to the latest numbers from the Florida Department of State's website. There are also about 3.54 million unaffiliated voters..."


September 17, 2024

New details of Trump family crypto project released, including who can buy in

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/16/trump-crypto-world-liberty-financial.html

"The team behind World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s new crypto project, have unveiled a key detail: Who can buy the forthcoming tokens it plans to release, and how shares will be allotted.

Twenty percent of the project’s tokens will be allotted to the founding team, 17% of tokens will be set aside for user rewards, and the remaining 63% of the coins will be available for the public to purchase.
For over a month, Republican former President Donald Trump and his family have been pumping up the secretive digital currency platform, promising that it will do many things at once..."


https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/16/technology/trump-crypto-world-liberty-financial.html

Donald Trump Rolls Out His New Cryptocurrency Business

...Mr. Trump has promoted the project since August, but its exact purpose remains unclear. On the livestream, he did not address the business directly, deferring to his partners. One of them has described himself as “the dirtbag of the internet,” while another used to teach classes on how to seduce women.

...Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog group, said that if Mr. Trump is elected, his involvement in the crypto venture would create serious conflicts of interest. The Securities and Exchange Commission has argued that virtually all cryptocurrencies are unregistered securities and ought to be regulated like stocks traded on Wall Street.

Mr. Trump “would be able to push regulatory agencies to favor businesses he is involved in,” Ms. Brian said. Ethics experts have said that his ownership of the social media company raises similar issues...

...Steve Witkoff, a real estate magnate and close friend of Mr. Trump, and his son Zach are both involved in World Liberty Financial, according to the white paper. The elder Mr. Witkoff was golfing with Mr. Trump on Sunday when the U.S. Secret Service stopped the apparent assassination attempt on the former president at his golf course in Palm Beach, Fla..."

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Formerly slipslidingaway before the hack
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