DL Open Thread: Wednesday, May 14, 2024
Trump And A Few Of His Friends:
President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pose for a photo at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025. | Alex Brandon/AP:
When President Donald Trump, flanked by Arabian horses, entered the Saudi Arabian Royal Court for an opulent state visit on Tuesday, he was met by an entourage of American business leaders representing a strikingly high-profile cross-section of the economy.
Dozens of CEOs of the world’s largest banks, hedge funds, defense contractors, tech firms and energy companies flew thousands of miles to Riyadh, where they descended on a lavish lunch with the president and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Elon Musk was there, as was his restaurateur brother, Kimbal. So were the CEOs of Google, OpenAI, Nvidia, Uber, Blackrock, Blackstone and dozens of other moguls representing Fortune 500 companies or their own family offices.
Absolute Corruption Corrupts Absolutely.
BTW, Joe Connor wrote the following here yesterday:
I know one thing the Trump coin is straight up theft not really Crypto and I suspect Crypto will be in my life for the remainder of same.
A struggling technology company that has ties to China and relies on TikTok made an unusual announcement this week. It had secured funding to buy as much as $300 million of $TRUMP, the so-called memecoin marketed by President Trump.
GD Culture Group, a publicly traded firm with a Chinese subsidiary, has only eight employees, its public filings show, and recorded zero revenue last year from an e-commerce business it operates on TikTok, the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.
But on Monday, GD Culture Group became the latest business with foreign ties to seize on Mr. Trump’s crypto venture, which channels profits directly to the Trump family and has generated conflicts of interest that have alarmed ethics experts. (Memecoins like $TRUMP are a type of cryptocurrency based on an online joke or celebrity mascot and have traditionally not had any utility beyond speculation.)
Bribes, bribes, bribes. Good thing that DOJ is on the case…
Meanwhile, Democrats Waffle. As in, maybe Biden hurt Democrats:
Pete Buttigieg said President Joe Biden’s decision to seek a second term “maybe” hurt Democrats and that “with the benefit of hindsight, I think most people would agree that that’s the case.”
But Biden’s former transportation secretary also tried to turn the page Tuesday night as he makes moves toward another presidential run in 2028, saying his party is “not in a position to wallow in hindsight” and using a packed town hall here to warn against counting on backlash to President Donald Trump in future elections.
Gee, how the fuck is it possible that a guy who had lost his mental faculties while his staff was quietly shopping around for a wheelchair could have conceivably hurt the Democrats? Everybody’s talking now, now that the damage has been done and the books are coming out. Thanks for nothing. Which reminds me–the Rethugs turned Hunter’s every move and even some dubious dealings from a Biden Bro into a scandal, and the Democrats won’t turn Trump’s serial corruption into an everyday meme? Perhaps after the Party’s insider chair gets rid of David Hogg, he’ll have more time to devote to, uh, something, anything. A real Dem would start by making Trump own his constituency as evidenced by the photo up top. W-what’s that? They also contribute to Democrats? Uh, never mind.
Make Those ICE Thugs Take Off Their Masks. Post Of The Day:
They are suddenly everywhere all at once — waiting for hours in unmarked cars before pouncing in their blue jeans and untucked shirts, never wearing a badge but almost always donning a ski mask or a full-blown balaclava, even on 80-degree days. They epitomize America’s de-evolution from G.I. Joe to Mort from Bazooka Joe, but with less maturity than that, as they push around teenage girls and octogenarians, and are barely believable when they command, “We are the police!”
These dubious tactics — which are meant to intimidate undocumented immigrants and the American people writ large — instead reek of the agents’ own fear and paranoia. That came to a head last Friday in a shocking incident in which these masked desperados went wild over a lawful inspection of Newark’s new ICE detention facility by three New Jersey members of Congress and the city’s mayor, Ras Baraka.
The mayor was there to check out the facility’s alleged multiple violations of Newark law, but instead masked agents arrested him, charged him with “trespassing,” and detained him for several hours. After the chaotic scene, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told CNN that the congressional group had “stormed” the ICE facility, that a Congress member had “body slammed” a female ICE agent, and that all three lawmakers might be arrested.
The feds’ promised video didn’t reveal any “body slamming,” but it did show these face-hiding 298-pound weaklings jostling 80-year-old U.S. Rep. Bonnie Coleman Watson. If these craven agents ever formed a hip-hop group, they’d have to call them, ICE Low-T.
Read the whole thing. You’ll learn about ‘bromotherapy’, which has nothing to do with seltzer.
Yep, We’re Starving ‘Em. So What?:
For months, Israel has maintained that its blockade on food and fuel to Gaza did not pose a major threat to civilian life in the territory, even as the United Nations and other aid agencies have said a famine was looming.
But Israeli military officers who monitor humanitarian conditions in Gaza have warned their commanders in recent days that unless the blockade is lifted quickly, many areas of the enclave will likely run out of enough food to meet minimum daily nutritional needs, according to the defense officials. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive details.
Because it takes time to scale up humanitarian deliveries, the officers said that immediate steps were needed to ensure that the system to supply aid could be reinstated fast enough to prevent starvation.
I’m sure the Usual Suspects here (both of them) would take umbrage were I to drop in a photo of emaciated Jews in a German WW II Concentration Camp. That was genocide. This is genocide.
Sad: “Former New Castle County Council President Soundly Defeated In School Board Race”. She can get back to doing what she does best–having her car stolen from under her nose.
It’s Official: Hospital Cost Review Board Doomed To Failure:
In a statement, DHSS Secretary Josette Manning said “a billion dollar increase in total health care expenditures in just one calendar year is significant, concerning, and unsustainable, especially in a time when states can no longer rely on federal health care funding.”
But the primary body appointed to study and reduce costs, the Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board, has launched this year to a rocky start. Soon after its creation, one of the state’s largest hospital systems sued the state challenging the board’s existence.
Doesn’t help that Gov. Meyer has appointed hospital foxes to guard the henhouse:
The board faces an added wrinkle with Delaware’s new governor, who has ties to the state’s most influential hospital system and has shown less enthusiasm about the board than his predecessor. Soon after his inauguration, Gov. Matt Meyer appointed two longtime ChristianaCare executives to the board after Carney appointed five of the seven voting members on his way out of office.
Hey, if Ray Seigfried hadn’t gotten elected, Meyer might have appointed him as well. Although–Ray supported Bethany.
Just read through the back-and-forth cited in the article. Ain’t nothing good coming out of this Review Board.
What do you want to talk about?
