America - The Official Thread

[TexRex]

ThE pArTy oF pErSoNaL ReSpOnSiBiLiTy!!i!

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Jesus ****ing Christ.

 

[CTznOfTime]

Meanwhile god forbid poor people from receiving aids for their health, education or housing needs ....

These poor people really need to get better at working harder and stop complaining ...

So the rich can go gambling and lose money to be later compensated and fully supported by the government for their lack of responsibility...

Maga

 

[UKMikey]

I only just heard about MAGA's vendetta against Bishop Marian Budde and the Georgia Congressman who called for her to be deported somewhere for asking Trump to be merciful to the weak.

"Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?" -- Henry II

“𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳” -- President Harry S. Truman, address to Congress, Aug 1950

“First they came for the bishops” -- Not Pastor Martin Niemöller

 

[Pupik]

The American electorate decided to give Trump another shot at the being-in-charge thing because it all worked out so well the last time ... and under Biden groceries had become more expensive. The old New World Order is going to be replaced by the new Trumpy World Order.

Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos.

 

[TB]

Mike's not pulling any punches here!

Senator Rips Into RFK Jr. — And Gets Him To Admit He Spread A Conspiracy Theory

Pretty sure Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) won't be supporting Kennedy's nomination.

www.huffpost.com

Unlike other jobs we are confirming around this place, this is a job where it is life and death. ... It is too important for the games that you are playing, Mr. Kennedy. I hope my colleagues will say to the president that out of 330 million Americans, we can do better than this.

 

[McLaren]

RFK Jr. could flat out admit, "Yeah, I spread a conspiracy. Yeah, I compared the CDC's work to Nazi death camps. And yeah, I played a role in Samoa".

And the Republicans will just approve him b/c that does nothing but "own" the Dems.

 

[Blitz24]

RFK Jr. could flat out admit, "Yeah, I spread a conspiracy. Yeah, I compared the CDC's work to Nazi death camps. And yeah, I played a role in Samoa".

And the Republicans will just approve him b/c that does nothing but "own" the Dems.

That's the sad thing. All you need is 2 or 3 Republicans to have a brain/spine but apparently they don't have one. Maybe they can ask where RFK Jr. got his brain worm from and join him.

 

[Famine]

This will probably develop into its own thread, but:

Washington DC plane crash: Passenger jet collides with helicopter and crashes into river

Takeoffs and landings are halted at Washington DC's Ronald Reagan National Airport as emergency services respond.

www.bbc.co.uk

American Airlines-operated Bombardier CRJ700 heading to Reagan collides with US Army Black Hawk on approach. Plane has crashed into the Potomac, no word on the helicopter.

 

[Keef]

This will probably develop into its own thread, but:

Washington DC plane crash: Passenger jet collides with helicopter and crashes into river

Takeoffs and landings are halted at Washington DC's Ronald Reagan National Airport as emergency services respond.

www.bbc.co.uk

American Airlines-operated Bombardier CRJ700 heading to Reagan collides with US Army Black Hawk on approach. Plane has crashed into the Potomac, no word on the helicopter.

You beat me to it. This is the first deadly accident for a US air carrier since Colgan in 2009.

Spoiler: Incident footage

Spoiler: Incident footage

Flight Aware

Edit: While I haven't personally landed at DCA, I'm a little familiar with their procedures, and have been a passenger several times. It looks like the PSA flight was landing on runway 33 which points northwest. They were in visual conditions so likely accepted a visual approach, which requires visual separation from traffic via eyeballs and pilot judgement as opposed to ATC control. They likely would've programmed the GPS runway 33 approach into the avionics, using the data to intercept a stable turn and descent to the runway. They were over the eastern bank of the river turning left toward the runway where the collision occurred. Even at night with lights ablaze, it would've been very difficult to spot traffic below the nose or next to the plane due to the pilot's high workload and concentration at that point. The helicopter was also likely visual over the river which is usually how helicopters operate, visual at low altitudes. Another factor is VFR rights of way which in this case would be given to the airliner as it's the less maneuverable craft - almost everything has right of way over helicopters which carry a high burden of responsibility for traffic avoidance.

In the videos above, the bright light is probably the airliner's landing light, so we're seeing it descend toward the camera. The dim light is probably the helicopter.

I'm not trying to speculate on responsbility here, just highlighting the fact that there are definitely phases of flight where pilots are primarily responsible for traffic avoidance, and we're all trained with knowledge and standards on how to conduct that. The majority of approaches I fly in a jet are "visual" backed up with avionics data and while at some airports in some airspaces we have an expectation of safe traffic separation, some other airports and airspaces are much more complex and less predictable. Obviously airports are places aircraft converge which makes them the most intense areas to operate. Even at very busy ones, our training from private pilot to ATP should allow us to see, avoid, and understand predictable choices that other aircraft will make.

 

[CTznOfTime]

 

[Pupik]

Just caught up with this accident, and the icy dark Potomac River is an awful way to go. My condolences to those affected.

American Airlines has reported 60 passengers and 4 crew members were aboard the aircraft coming from Wichita, Kansas.

Edit: incorrect info removed, my apologies

 

[CTznOfTime]

Not sure I fully get what they are saying here :


Edit:




https://youtu.be/DX8FSU4MswM?si=mGhwlNNTaXNFv9ht

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

 

[Scaff]

Trump's going to send civilians to Gitmo.

If you're being deported and the US can't get a country to take you, off to Gitmo you go.

Trump Says He Plans To Open Guantanamo Bay Detention Center For Migrants Living In U.S. Illegally

Trump made the announcement right before he signed the Laken Riley Act into law as his administration’s first piece of legislation.

www.huffpost.com

 

[CTznOfTime]

Trump's going to send civilians to Gitmo.

If you're being deported and the US can't get a country to take you, off to Gitmo you go.

Trump Says He Plans To Open Guantanamo Bay Detention Center For Migrants Living In U.S. Illegally

Trump made the announcement right before he signed the Laken Riley Act into law as his administration’s first piece of legislation.

www.huffpost.com

So survivor island ??
Can anyone ever be free from it ?

So many questions... And probably will never be any answers from this administration...

They may as well just execute anyone they feel like it...

 

[McLaren]

Cramming 30,000 people into a site that's only had 800 prisoners throughout its history is going to take a lot of concentration.

 

[p78]

Maybe he's counting on some dying during transport?

 

[EngieDiesel]

The more of these giant arm-flailing proclamations that come out in such a short time, the more I'm convinced that Trump knows full well the vast majority aren't going to stick and he's just using them as a smoke screen so the media won't pay attention when he starts pushing through less bombastic infrastructure bills designed to funnel government funds into his own pockets. After all, when you've got mass deportations and 1,000,000,000% tariffs on the table, who's going to bother questioning a bunch of long-term construction projects (that just happen to be pre-assigned to construction companies that he has a controlling stake in)?

That his sycophants are jumping on the crazy train too works out even more in Trump's favor if this is true, as they'll draw away even more attention and he obviously doesn't give a damn if they get swept out in midterm elections due to their abject stupidity.

 

[Fezzik]

And today people find out there is already a migrant detention centre at Guantanamo Bay (seperate from the military prison), where immigrants picked up at sea have been held by successive US governments. Trump isn't opening one, he's expanding the existing facility.

 

[Famine]

I know that there's fascination with this stuff, but please try to avoid directly embedding videos of the incident. This is a long-standing rule at GTPlanet: we don't really want to watch people die, thanks.

Not sure I fully get what they are saying here :

The helicopter was asked to confirm it could see the jet and to pass behind it.

 

[Scaff]

And today people find out there is already a migrant detention centre at Guantanamo Bay (seperate from the military prison), where immigrants picked up at sea have been held by successive US governments. Trump isn't opening one, he's expanding the existing facility.

Indeed, it has, but the scale is vastly different. Between 2020 and 2023, it held a total of 37 people, which would see (based on the EO) an increase of nearly 1000%. It's also been widely condemned for its facilities and treatment of people detained in it at its current level of use. It's quite a change of scope and scale, and one that I seriously doubt will result in an increase in the standards of detention.

Guantánamo Bay: the US prison camp in Cuba Trump is eyeing for illegal migrants

The facility has in the past two decades been used to deal with prisoners accused of terrorism-related offences with few ever charged or convicted

www.theguardian.com

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-he-will-instruct-homeland-security-pentagon-prepare-migrant-facility-2025-01-29/

 

[TexRex]

Bill criminalizing votes for immigrant sanctuary policies ‘constitutionally suspect’ • Tennessee Lookout

A Tennessee measure aimed at arresting local officials who support sanctuary city policies for immigrants is 'constitutionally suspect.'

tennesseelookout.com

As Gov. Bill Lee’s immigration enforcement plan moves swiftly through the Tennessee Legislature, one component of the bill — aimed at arresting local officials who support sanctuary policies for immigrants — drew scrutiny Tuesday.

Included in the governor’s wide-ranging proposal to coordinate with the Trump Administration on mass immigrant detentions and deportations is a provision that creates a Class E felony for public officials who vote to adopt or enact sanctuary policies. Sanctuary policies can shield undocumented immigrants and limit cooperation with enforcement action.

The felony charge, punishable by up to six years in prison and a $3,000 fine, would apply to any public official who votes in favor of a sanctuary law, policy or on non-binding resolutions.

Sen. Todd Gardenhire, the Republican chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, blasted the provision Tuesday as a “dangerous precedent.”

“We are a Republic, and a Republic is one that we elect people to vote the way they feel like is best for the district, the city, county or the state,” he said.

“If we set the precedent of penalizing any elected official for voting their conscience, whether it’s good or bad, then we set a dangerous precedent for the future,” he said.

Democrats characterized the provision as a “slippery slope” that could be invoked in future legislation to criminalize votes on any controversial issue.

“It is alarming we are sitting here talking about felonizing elected officials taking votes on behalf of their constituency,” Sen. Heidi Campbell, a Nashville Democrat, said. “Boy, this is a slippery slope and be careful what you wish for if you vote for this.”

Gardenhire was in the minority among Republicans who dominate the Senate Judiciary Committee he chairs. They quickly shot down Gardenhire’s efforts to amend the bill to remove criminal penalties before voting to advance it in the legislature.

Sanctuary policies are already prohibited by a 2019 Tennessee law that sought to prevent local governments from adopting sanctuary city status —as some other Democrat-led cities across the country have done.

The 2019 Tennessee law gives citizens the right to file civil suits challenging any jurisdiction’s adoption of sanctuary policies and the state the power to withhold funding over violations.

“When the state banned sanctuary cities, its remedies were to deny cities grants and to seek a court order,” said Ken Paulson, director of the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University.

“Here the state is trying to control the actions of duly-elected officials through the police power,” he said. “That’s a dramatic escalation.”

One national government accountability expert said he knew of no other state law that threatened to prosecute public officials for how they cast a vote.

“It’s an unprecedented power grab and criminalization of political discourse,” said Dan Vicuña, director of redistricting and representation for Common Cause, a Washington, D.C. advocacy group.

“It puts at risk the basic right to local representative and democratic government,” he said.

And local legal experts, among them the legislature’s own attorney, said the provision may be “constitutionally suspect.”

“Generally speaking Tennessee courts have found legislative bodies have legislative immunity for acts that serve part of their legislative function and that legislative immunity extends to local legislative bodies,” Elizabeth Insogna, a Legislative attorney, told the committee.

“It’s possible that a criminal provision that is enforced against a member of a legislative body may be constitutionally suspect,” she said. “It would be up for a court to determine.”

John Vile, professor of political science and Dean of the University Honors College at Middle Tennessee State University said “legislators should heed Article 1” of the Tennessee Constitution, which establishes a “Declaration of Rights” for citizens and their elected representatives.

“I don’t know of any other laws, state or federal, that penalize elected officials on the basis of how they vote,” he said. “This seems to defeat the whole purpose of democratic-republican (representative) government.

Republicans however noted the criminal penalties are aimed at elected officials attempting to pass legislation already outlawed in Tennessee.

“I think everybody would agree that’s something that elected officials should be prohibited from doing, or should not do,” said Sen. Kerry Roberts, a Springfield Republican. “The fact there’s a consequence for it, I personally don’t have a problem with that, because they ought not to be doing it in the first place. It’s illegal.”

Only two current laws provide criminal penalties for lawmakers acting in their official capacities, according to Stephen Crump, executive director of the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference. One longstanding law allows criminal charges to be brought against county commissioners who fail to adequately fund local jails. Other lawmakers may be charged if their vote violates official misconduct statutes.

Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, in an emailed statement, said the criminal penalties “reflect the overwhelming belief of our constituents, who have made it clear that they expect us to work in lockstep with the Trump administration to enforce federal immigration laws.”

“Requiring localities and public officials to comply with federal law is not a matter of political opinion,” the statement said. “It reflects a commitment to upholding the rule of law and ensures consistency between federal and state efforts to address immigration challenges.”

Johnson’s statement noted that, should the bill succeed, ultimately, be up to judges to decide how to weigh the law.

“Should an elected official choose to enact a sanctuary policy and be charged under this legislation, I am confident that a court would carefully consider whether absolute legislative immunity applies to acts that are criminal under both state and federal law.”