Recent posts

#1

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by Baron von Schtinkenbutt - Today at 06:13:20 PM

That's what we're gonna have to rename the White House to after this shitshow is over.

#2

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by Tonitrus - Today at 05:59:56 PM

How about landfills?  "The Trump Dump".

#3

Off the Record / Re: Refractory Gauls, or the F...

Last post by Crazy_Ivan80 - Today at 05:51:02 PM

a youth? or a "youth"?

#4

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by garbon - Today at 05:23:47 PM

Blue states gotta start renaming sewage plants.

#5

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by The Brain - Today at 04:35:24 PM

Unlike the federal government sewage plants are useful. And they don't post videos of a former president and first lady as apes.

#6

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by HVC - Today at 04:21:47 PM

Blue states gotta start renaming sewage plants.

[Officials pressed Schumer to help rename Penn Station and Dulles Airport for Trump.]

#7

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by Baron von Schtinkenbutt - Today at 04:08:09 PM

Apparently Dorito Donnie is trying to get Penn Station and Dulles named after him as well.

Officials pressed Schumer to help rename Penn Station and Dulles Airport for Trump.

The Trump administration has sought to pressure Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, to help name New York's Penn Station and Washington Dulles International Airport after President Trump in exchange for releasing billions of dollars he has frozen for a rail tunnel under the Hudson River.

Top administration officials have told Mr. Schumer in recent weeks that the money would be released if he agreed to name the facilities in Mr. Trump's honor, according to four people familiar with the private conversations. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the private discussions.

The push to rename the station and the airport for Mr. Trump comes as the president, who recently put his name on the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, has been on a renaming spree and has appeared increasingly preoccupied with his legacy.

The Trump administration began withholding funds for the new tunnel connecting New York City and New Jersey, a $16 billion project, in October. The agency overseeing its construction moved to halt ongoing work on Friday as money was running out.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Schumer met at the White House last month to discuss the frozen funds.

Though he is the top Senate Democrat, Mr. Schumer has no direct oversight over either transportation hub and rebuffed the request, according to two of the people.

The White House and the Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The conversations were first reported by Punchbowl News.

Mr. Trump, known for affixing his name to New York City high-rises and Atlantic City hotels, has appeared to be undertaking a similar drive on a national scale during his second term. Beyond the Kennedy Center, Mr. Trump and his allies have stamped his name on the U.S. Institute of Peace and public-facing federal projects like investment accounts for American children and TrumpRx, a website that will help Americans buy medication directly from drugmakers.

But withholding money from the tunnel over the names of Penn Station, the busiest train station in the country, would be a significant escalation of the effort to ensure Mr. Trump's legacy, tying it to a project that would have massive ripple effects across the East Coast.

The project, known as Gateway, sits at the heart of the Northeast Corridor rail route that runs from Boston to Washington and is the most-used passenger line in the United States. It includes the construction of a new two-track tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey, which are linked by 116-year-old tunnels in such poor condition that trains are often delayed, creating a bottleneck.

Supporters of the project say the new tunnel would be crucial to avoiding a disruption in rail service around New York City that they believe would have drastic effects on the national economy.

The tunnel has been under construction for more than a year, with the federal government expected to fund about $12 billion of its cost. But the Transportation Department said in October that it would withhold money until the project could be reviewed to make sure that its contracts followed with new federal rules targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

That announcement came in the middle of a 43-day government shutdown, timing that seemed intended to pressure Mr. Schumer and Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the House Democratic leader, into making a deal. More recently, White House officials again suggested the fate of the project was tied to negotiations over funding the government.

The Gateway Development Commission, the agency overseeing the construction, sued the federal government this week over $205 million in payments for work on the tunnel. But the halt to construction on Friday could leave roughly 1,000 workers without jobs.

"Work on the Gateway Tunnel is now halted, with federal funding still frozen," Governor Kathy Hochul, Democrat of New York, said on Friday. "Thousands of jobs on the line. Billions in economic benefits at risk. All because Donald Trump is on a revenge tour."

Mr. Trump, a former real estate developer who frequently casts himself as a master builder, has also set his sights on redeveloping Dulles Airport in Virginia, which the federal government owns. The Transportation Department said in December that it was soliciting proposals to renovate the facility.

Mr. Schumer could not unilaterally change the airport's name. Though some House Republicans have advanced a bill that would rename it after Mr. Trump, the measure has yet to advance.

The senator also has little influence over Penn Station, which is owned by Amtrak.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, criticized the Trump administration for threatening the Gateway project. "These naming rights aren't tradable as part of any negotiations, and neither is the dignity of New Yorkers," she said in a statement.

#8

Off the Record / Re: The AI dooooooom thread

Last post by crazy canuck - Today at 03:49:56 PM

Agreed, but that is not how the front page story reported it.

#9

Gaming HQ / Re: The NEW New Boardgames Thr...

Last post by Darth Wagtaros - Today at 03:39:00 PM

I almost wanna play this. But not enough to actually play it.

#10

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by mongers - Today at 03:34:19 PM

The CIA World Factbook is gone.

https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/spotlighting-the-world-factbook-as-we-bid-a-fond-farewell/

One of CIA's oldest and most recognizable intelligence publications, The World Factbook, has sunset. The World Factbook served the Intelligence Community and the general public as a longstanding, one-stop basic reference about countries and communities around the globe. Let's take a quick look into the history of The World Factbook. 

Over many decades, The World Factbook evolved from a classified to unclassified, hardcopy to electronic product that added new categories, and even new global entities. The original classified publication, titled The National Basic Intelligence Factbook, launched in 1962. The first unclassified companion version was issued in 1971. A decade later it was renamed The World Factbook. In 1997, The World Factbook went digital and debuted to a worldwide audience on CIA.gov, where it garnered millions of views each year.

The World Factbook appealed to researchers, news organizations, teachers, students, and international travelers. Some readers even inquired whether their preferred geographic designation or world entity could be included on the high-profile site.

Finally, only CIA insiders would know that officers donated some of their personal travel photos to The World Factbook, which hosted more than 5,000 photographs that were copyright-free for anyone to access and use.

Though the World Factbook is gone, in the spirit of its global reach and legacy, we hope you will stay curious about the world and find ways to explore it... in person or virtually.

Just ordered me a recent hard copy print of it, just in case you know; what will the web be like in three years time?