Conquer Club

jusplay4fun wrote:The matter of Mahmoud Khalil is now in the hands of the courts.

His status depends on whether the Administration can prove that Mahmoud Khalil engaged in promoting a terrorist organization.

Unless they have a smoking gun they haven't shown, they'll have a hard time doing that. They'll have to prove not just that he promoted a terrorist organization (which he didn't, but is 100% legal anyway) but that he provided material support (e.g. solicited donations to Hamas, coordinated the shipment of equipment to Hamas, engaged in Hamas training or recruiting, was receiving financial compensation from Hamas for his activities, etc.).

Rep. Lisa McClain calls out CNN host for 'the sky is falling' narrative, says people need to 'relax'
Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., argued that the media plays a major role in spreading panic among the American populace for partisan purposes.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment ... 30b7&ei=30

What is going on here?













I am sure that pee rat enjoyed ALL of these.

Thirteen character references have been filed by professors and students of Columbia University supporting the release of Mahmoud Khalil whom the Trump Administration is claiming is terrorizing Jewish students at Columbia (though has yet to say specifically what he's doing to terrorize Jews). Here are some excerpts:

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap ... 0.56.6.pdf

Letter 1 wrote: I am writing in support of Mahmoud Khalil. My name is [REDACTED] and I am an
American Jewish woman who believes in the importance of Israel as a Jewish
homeland. I have known Mahmoud Khalil for over two years, since January 2023 as his
professor, colleague, and friend. I have always known Mahmoud as someone working
to be part of the solution towards a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Palestine and
Israel.

I can state with full confidence that Mahmoud has never expressed support for Hamas,
nor has he ever endorsed any form of extremism. Over the course of our extensive
interactions, I have had numerous conversations with him about human rights, justice,
and the student protests and I can personally attest to his commitment to nonviolence.

Letter 2 wrote: My name is [REDACTED] and I am writing this letter in support of Mahmoud Khalil. I
am currently a junior at Columbia University.

Judaism has always been central to my identity. I attended Jewish preschool, went to
Hebrew school multiple times a week until my Bar Mitzvah in 2017, celebrated Shabbat every
Friday, and was raised with strong Jewish values.


From the moment I met Mahmoud 16 months ago, he has been nothing short of a selfless
friend and an inspiring mentor.

Letter 3 wrote: My name is [REDACTED], I am a Jewish student at Columbia University writing in support
of my friend, Mahmoud Khalil. I am writing this letter because I know that if I ever needed him to
do it for me, he would, and so much more, because that’s the kind of person Mahmoud is. We
know each other through sharing space more times than I can count, at protests and at
community events and at concerts and Shabbats. He is someone who I trust implicitly. He is
someone who always puts himself between those around him and danger, and he does it
without thinking and without flinching.

"Ease Up On Those Acid-Filled Beakers": Many Iconic Far Side Jokes Were All About Disproportionate Escalation
First Published: November 27, 1991

jusplay4fun wrote:

"Ease Up On Those Acid-Filled Beakers": Many Iconic Far Side Jokes Were All About Disproportionate Escalation
First Published: November 27, 1991

I heard that the president travelled to Palm Springs to play golf in a motorcade with a cost of around $4 millon.

Is this the streamlined costs you speak off? (How much did it cost before $5 million?)

kennyp72 wrote: Is this the streamlined costs you speak off? (How much did it cost before $5 million?)

Worse than that, federal probationary workers at eight agencies who were recently fired now have to be hired back with backpay and are sitting drawing administrative leave pay.

For the record, I support cutting the size of the federal workforce but even I knew the slipshod way they did it (claiming all probationaeers had inferior performance) was never going to pass a court challenge.

So now, not only is the federal workforce not cut, it's actually cost more than had we not even tried to cut it at all.

As soon as I get a chance to update my tracker I'm downgrading Trump to 4 points remaining before he loses support. (Probably 3 because I haven't got around to Yemen yet.)

saxitoxin wrote:

kennyp72 wrote: Is this the streamlined costs you speak off? (How much did it cost before $5 million?)

Worse than that, federal probationary workers at eight agencies who were recently fired now have to be hired back with backpay and are sitting drawing administrative leave pay.

For the record, I support cutting the size of the federal workforce but even I knew the slipshod way they did it (claiming all probationaeers had inferior performance) was never going to pass a court challenge.

So now, not only is the federal workforce not cut, it's actually cost more than had we not even tried to cut it at all.

Yuppers. But JP4F is still going to scream "Cost Savings!"

Dukasaur wrote:

saxitoxin wrote:

kennyp72 wrote: Is this the streamlined costs you speak off? (How much did it cost before $5 million?)

Worse than that, federal probationary workers at eight agencies who were recently fired now have to be hired back with backpay and are sitting drawing administrative leave pay.

For the record, I support cutting the size of the federal workforce but even I knew the slipshod way they did it (claiming all probationaeers had inferior performance) was never going to pass a court challenge.

So now, not only is the federal workforce not cut, it's actually cost more than had we not even tried to cut it at all.

Yuppers. But JP4F is still going to scream "Cost Savings!"

Claiming savings will be difficult to prove to skeptics; much of that (Proving that savings were achieved) will be both political and based on what accounting method is done.

I will say that BOTH the Federal budget and workforce has become bloated, too large, and too inefficient. What Trump, with the help of Elon Musk, has done so far, is to disrupt that status quo. A more efficient, less expeditious approach may have been better, but the momentum and disruption would not be as significant. There are many quotes of Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, and other Democrats complaining about government inefficiencies and wastes that I have recently heard, BUT they DID NOTHING to reverse or FIX that when they had a chance to do so. They were too concerned about:
1) DEI
2) keeping the Government workers happy, hoping that they would vote Democrat.

Many claims of government inefficiencies were focused on Medicaid, some 1/3 of expenditures were called such. AND that entitlement is growing. Failure to control expeditures for Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security COULD bankrupt this country. Those entitlement programs need MASSIVE reform and have need that for a long time. Congress continues to keep "kicking down the road" those needed reforms.

September 14, 2011
Vice President Biden Announces Over $2 Billion in Anti-Waste Measures at Cabinet Meeting
New Initiatives Led by Campaign to Cut Waste Will Save Medicaid Waste & Strengthen Partnership with States to Reduce Improper Unemployment Insurance Payments

WASHINGTON – At the White House today, Vice President Biden convened a Cabinet meeting to discuss waste reduction at federal agencies as part of the Administration’s Campaign to Cut Waste. The Vice President announced a new initiative to fight waste in Medicaid that is estimated to save taxpayers over $2 billion, unveiled new efforts to track state progress in reducing improper Unemployment Insurance payments, and directed each Cabinet secretary to undertake a waste and efficiency review that will target unnecessary, wasteful, and inefficient federal spending.

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/th ... res-cabine

Total Medicaid spending growth slowed to 5.5% in FY 2024 and is expected to slow further to 3.9% in FY 2025. While state Medicaid officials identified unwinding-related enrollment declines as the most significant factor driving changes in total Medicaid spending, they also noted a number of upward pressures on total spending. This included enrollment increases from eligibility changes such as 12-month continuous eligibility for children or overall state or Medicaid eligible population growth, the higher health care needs of enrollees that retained coverage during unwinding, and rate increases.

https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brie ... 2024-2025/

Nailed it.

ConfederateSS wrote:Even George Bush jr....Said.... Pluto is a Planet...... ConfederateSS.out!(The Blue and Silver Rebellion)...

I mean if junior said it then shit… who are we to argue?

My OP tracker is now updated. Trump only has 3 points left before I commit to voting third party in 2026 and 2028.

However, he can still earn points back.

The Yemen attacks may cost a loss of two points to him, though. Even Marjorie Taylor Green -- who nailed crazy before Nancy Mace showed-up on scene -- is denouncing it.

saxitoxin wrote: The Yemen attacks may cost a loss of two points to him, though. Even Marjorie Taylor Green -- who nailed crazy before Nancy Mace showed-up on scene -- is denouncing it.

BTW - I couldn't figure out why even lunatic MTG was against the criminal and unlawful bombing of Yemen. Then I did some digging ... ahhhh, okay ...

for those who were waiting for more cartoons:



who elected the Auto-Pen?









As expected the Courts are being used for such purposes. There are too many sacred cows out there.

AND: Did you hear that Chuck Schumer suspended his book tour?





Enough, for now.

Reality:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2312HV2/

Poor Liberal Dems search for something to appeal to voters, and








they jump all over a big "nothing burger: