National, Regional and Local News

[ti-amie]

Why her in particular? I assume most other European golfers have wives or girlfriends too.

I read the entire article and the author seems to be at a loss too.

[ti-amie]

Aaron Rupar
‪@atrupar.com‬
STEPHANOPOULOS: The Democratic proposal is designed to prevent millions of Americans from losing their health insurance, losing Medicaid coverage, or paying higher healthcare premiums. Why are you against that?

MIKE JOHNSON: That's an absurd statement

STEPHANOPOULOS: It's a factual statement

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3m24zqsnxjs2j

Aaron Rupar
‪@atrupar.com‬
STEPHANOPOULOS: Hold on a second. Answer the question. As Speaker, do you believe it's appropriate to use American cities as training grounds for the military, calling those people 'the enemy within'?

JOHNSON: I'm not comment on your characterization of what the president said.

S: Those are quotes

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3m2545dkqf22j

Video at the links

[dryrunguy]

I saw the interview live. George gave the middle finger to the concept of capitulation, which has been discussed here recently.

[ti-amie]

Radley Balko
‪@radleybalko.bsky.social‬
Arkansas police pulled over an Indian GrubHub driver wh ois married to a U.S. citizen. They found a bottle of Opium-brand perfume, arrested him for narcotics possession, and turned him over to ICE, where he was held for 30 days.

He has now been stripped of his immigration status.

https://www.bentoncourier.com/news/traf ... 1de83.html

‪@gottalaff.bsky.social‬
· 1d
"The Arkansas State Crime Lab later confirmed the substance was not a narcotic, and charges were dropped.
... 'It was just cologne.'"

[ti-amie]

Jess Piper
‪@piperformissouri.bsky.social‬
“They asked for a sword, and we said, ‘Well, we do have swords, but we can’t give them away because they’re museum artifacts,’” said Todd Arrington, forced to resign as head of Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library.”

[ti-amie]

‪Mrs. Betty Bowers‬
‪@mrsbettybowers.bsky.social‬
· 3h
The obscene face of Christian Nationalism: outlandish untaxed wealth in defiance of Jesus. Oh, and this time, slave laborers, too! Glory! ...

[ti-amie]

Senator Ron Wyden
‪@wyden.senate.gov‬
Video taken one hour ago outside the Portland ICE facility of the violent insurrectionists in question

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

Carl Quintanilla
‪@carlquintanilla.bsky.social‬
“.. On closer inspection, however, it turned out that the image was not a photograph of a real event in Portland, but instead a fabrication created by combining two photographs of scenes that unfolded in South America nearly a decade apart ..”

@theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...



Before a federal judge blocked Donald Trump from putting members of California’s national guard on the streets of Portland, Oregon, late on Sunday, the state’s Republican party welcomed the planned deployment in celebratory posts on social media.

“President Trump on Sunday deployed 300 California National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon after a judge ruled that the Oregon National Guard could not be deployed to keep federal facilities and personnel in Portland safe,” Oregon Republicans wrote on their official Facebook, Instagram and X accounts.

On all three platforms, the statement was illustrated with an image that seemed designed to support Trump’s false claim that protests against immigration sweeps in Portland are so out of control that the city is “burning to the ground”. On one side of the image, a line of police officers held riot shields; on the other, a crowd of young men held up flares that lit up a night sky filled with red smoke.

On closer inspection, however, it turned out that the image was not a photograph of a real event in Portland, but instead a fabrication created by combining two photographs of scenes that unfolded in South America nearly a decade apart.

The image of the police officers comes from a photo of “South American riot police” that was uploaded to the Getty Images archive in 2008. A clear visual clue that the photograph was not taken in Portland was that the first officer’s shield is marked “Policia”, the Spanish or Portuguese word for police.

The description on the Getty website does not specify the country it was taken in, but another, similar image uploaded a few days later by the same photographer says that it was taken in Ecuador. The initials of an Ecuadorian police unit from that time are visible on a third photograph in the set.

The image of the fiery demonstration that the officers seem to float above in the composite shared by the Oregon Republican party turned out to be another image from the free archive site Pexels. It was taken by a Brazilian photographer in 2017.

When a Guardian reporter pointed out on social media that the image was not a genuine photograph of the generally small and tame protests outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Portland, the Oregon Republican Party’s X account replied: “We’re not reporters, just bad memers.”

[ti-amie]

‪Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis‬
‪@kendrawrites.com‬
· 9h
This image is from Los Angeles in 1992. What are you doing here?

‪CNN‬
‪@cnn.com‬
· 15h
"President Donald Trump and his top aides are using the word 'insurrection' more frequently to describe anti-ICE protests in places like Portland," writes Zachary B. Wolf. cnn.it/4pWYmzr

[Owendonovan]

What is the appropriate protest/action to all this?
There's virtually no action and whole lot of "Look what's going on everybody, I see it too" from elected officials, followed by condemnation and then it's over and nothing's changed.

[ti-amie]

Media including Fox News overwhelmingly reject Pentagon press policy

The network, which is generally supportive of the Trump administration, has joined ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN in not signing the Defense Department press policy.
Updated
October 15, 2025 at 10:51 a.m. EDTtoday at 10:51 a.m. EDT

By Scott Nover

Fox News, along with ABC, CBS and NBC, did not sign the Defense Department’s press policy by Tuesday’s deadline, having earlier in the day denounced the new regulations in a joint statement that included CNN, which previously said it would not sign.

“Today, we join virtually every other news organization in declining to agree to the Pentagon’s new requirements, which would restrict journalists’ ability to keep the nation and the world informed of important national security issues,” the news networks wrote. “The policy is without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections. We will continue to cover the U.S. military as each of our organizations has done for many decades, upholding the principles of a free and independent press.”

Fox’s dissent is notable considering the Trump-friendly views of many of its opinion hosts, whose ranks previously included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The policy prohibits journalists from accessing or soliciting information the Defense Department doesn’t make available for them and revokes Pentagon press credentials from those who will not sign on. The new rules have drawn an anguished chorus of detractors across the ideological spectrum since they were announced last month.

The TV networks joined many other outlets in saying no, including The Washington Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, Reuters, Bloomberg News and the Atlantic. Right-wing outlets including Newsmax, the Washington Times, the Daily Caller and the Washington Examiner also declined to sign, along with a raft of defense-related trade publications. (A list of outlets’ stances on the rules is below.)

As of Tuesday’s 5 p.m. deadline, only the MAGA-friendly One America News had said it would sign the policy.

The result, the Atlantic’s Nancy Youssef wrote Monday on X, is that reporters will take part in an unprecedented clearing out of the Defense Department’s gargantuan headquarters in Northern Virginia. “Starting Wednesday, for the first time since the Pentagon opened in 1943, there will be likely no major news outlets accredited to cover the [department], the one spending nearly $1 trillion of taxpayer money.”

The Pentagon Press Association, which represents the Pentagon press corps members, formally asked the Defense Department on Monday to reconsider the new rules.

“There is no need or justification for [the Pentagon] to require reporters to affirm their understanding of vague, likely unconstitutional policies as a precondition to reporting from Pentagon facilities,” the PPA said in a statement. “The Pentagon’s required acknowledgment is particularly problematic because it demands reporters to express an ‘understanding’ that harm inevitably flows from the disclosure of unauthorized information, classified or not — something everyone involved knows to be untrue.”

The Defense Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Hegseth defended the new rules in a brief appearance at the White House on Tuesday with President Donald Trump. “It’s commonsense stuff, Mr. President,” he said. “We’re trying to make sure national security is respected, and we’re proud of the policy.”

Trump indirectly endorsed Hegseth’s more restrictive regulations in a brief exchange with the media,

“You walk around the White House talking to anybody that can breathe,” he told a reporter. “But I find that when it comes to war and now our great Department of War … it bothers me to have soldiers and, even, you know, high-ranking generals walking around with you guys on their sleeve asking — because they can make a mistake, and a mistake can be tragic.”

In a message to The Post late Tuesday, Hegseth’s lawyer, Tim Parlatore, said the media’s objections to the policy were overstated. “The only issue is where you ask a DoW employee to commit a crime to give [unauthorized information] to you,” he said, using an acronym for the Trump administration’s rebranded Department of War. “Beyond that narrow circumstance, it is fair game.”

On Tuesday, the mood at the Pentagon press facilities was grim, according to credentialed journalists who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Journalists emptied out their desks of items that in some cases had been accrued over decades. Networks picked up broadcasting equipment to lug back to their bureaus. Through it all, there was an air of sadness but also resilience, people said. “Everyone is united but disappointed that it’s come to this,” one reporter said.

“Most reporters just feel determined to keep doing their jobs,” another said. “It’ll make it harder for sure. But I think everyone understands this is about a defense secretary who is actually quite thin-skinned.”

“Camaraderie is still really good among the reporters,” another correspondent said. “If any press corps knows how to cope with gallows humor, it’s absolutely this one.”

Liam Scott and Maegan Vazquez contributed to this report.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... ss-pledge/

[ti-amie]

Reporters leave Pentagon en masse after refusing to sign on to new rules

After turning in their press credentials, journalists covering the Defense Department walked out rather than comply with its restrictive new policies.
October 15, 2025 at 6:07 p.m. EDTToday at 6:07 p.m. EDT


Reporters walk out of the Pentagon together Wednesday after turning in their credentials. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

By Scott Nover

The nation’s military and defense journalists exited the Pentagon in unison Wednesday afternoon, having had their accreditation revoked after refusing to agree to the Defense Department’s new restrictions on their newsgathering activities.

The new rules, which among other things bar reporters from soliciting information that the government hasn’t authorized for them, prompted journalists from The Washington Post and dozens of other outlets to turn in their press credentials and decamp for possibly the last time during Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s tenure.

More than 30 members of the Pentagon press corps walked out of the building together before the 5 p.m. deadline, crossing a foot bridge and descending a long staircase that empties out on the northeast end of the five-sided building.

“This is a sad day for those who support a free press,” said Nancy A. Youssef, a staff writer for the Atlantic and a longtime Pentagon correspondent. “But I’m incredibly honored to be part of a press corps that stuck together and was committed to protecting our First Amendment rights.”

The Defense Department cited security concerns in putting forward the new regulations, which include provisions to curtail the media’s access to large parts of the department’s vast headquarters where they were previously allowed to circulate.

In a statement, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said: “The guidelines in the memo provided to credentialed resident media at the Pentagon reaffirms the standards that are already in line with every other military base in the country. These are basic, common-sense guidelines to protect sensitive information as well as the protection of national security and the safety of all who work at the Pentagon.”

Negotiations with the Pentagon Press Association over the new policy led to some changes but didn’t fully allay media members’ concerns. The PPA said Wednesday that most of its members had not signed on to the new policy “over its implicit threat of criminalizing national security reporting and exposing those who sign it to potential prosecution.”

The press corps spent the day clearing their desks, in some cases carting out remnants of years in the building — a yellowed Rolodex; a red-, white- and blue-corded Ameritech phone from the 1996 Democratic convention in Chicago. A pale sticky note clinging to a pile of folders that read: “Rumsfeld trip to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan. Dec. 20-25, 2005.”

Television networks tore down their broadcast booths, full of technical gear and soundproofing equipment, that had been used for live shots from the Pentagon. Journalists lugged out boxes and rolled suitcases full of gear. Hand trucks and black roller bins carried the bulk of personal belongings and even trash.


CBS crew members pack up the contents of their broadcast booth in the press area of the Pentagon on Wednesday. (Kevin Wolf/AP)

The mood was heavy — reporters hugged and some shed tears. “It kind of reminds me of a college dorm move-out without the happiness of summer,” said one reporter, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak.

Another said they were thanked throughout the day by civilian staffers and military personnel within the Pentagon. “I’m shocked by the number of people stopping me in the hallway today to say ‘Goodbye’ and ‘Thank you,’” the reporter said. “Generals and admirals and people telling me that they appreciate us. People I don’t even know.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... new-rules/

[ti-amie]

This daily fresh hell thing is exhausting...

[ti-amie]

Top military officer central to Trump’s drug war will step down early
Adm. Alvin Holsey, the head of U.S. Southern Command, has been in his job less than a year. Such assignments typically last three years.
Updated
October 16, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. EDT 23 minutes ago


Adm. Alvin Holsey, head of U.S. Southern Command, speaks in Panama City in April. (Franco Brana/AFP/Getty Images)

By Dan Lamothe
,
Tara Copp
and
Noah Robertson

The U.S. military’s top officer overseeing operations in Central and South America will leave his assignment well ahead of schedule, officials said Thursday — an abrupt, surprising departure as President Donald Trump shows interest in extending his administration’s campaign of violence against drug cartels in the region.

Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, the head of U.S. Southern Command, will retire at the end of the year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement posted on social media. Holsey has been in the job less than a year, arriving last November for what is typically a three-year assignment.

Hegseth did not disclose a reason for the move, instead expressing “deepest gratitude” to the admiral for his 37 years of service and crediting him with “a legacy of operational excellence and strategic vision.” Hegseth acknowledged the move minutes after the New York Times reported that Holsey was expected to exit prematurely.

A spokesperson for U.S. Southern Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Spokespeople for Hegseth did not respond to questions.

A recent surge of U.S. military activity in the region, coupled with the administration’s pervasive threats against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, has fueled speculation that Trump may be preparing to forcibly remove him from power.

In an interview Thursday, Rep. Adam Smith (Washington), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said it increasingly appeared the Trump administration was preparing for war with Caracas.

“Who in America wants to go to war with Venezuela?” Smith said, noting Congress had not authorized such a conflict. “Not too many.”

Smith said his staff was sending questions to the Pentagon related to Holsey’s resignation and would push for a public hearing on the matter. But he said he doubted his Republican colleagues would agree to hold one, especially during the government shutdown.

Two people familiar with the matter said Hegseth had grown disenchanted with Holsey and wanted him to step aside. The scrutiny began about a month ago — around the time that the Trump administration began ordering deadly strikes on alleged drug boats off the coast of Venezuela, they said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue.

It was not clear Thursday at what rank Holsey will retire. He will leave the service well short of the three years required to retire as a four-star admiral.

News of the admiral’s impending departure follows an announcement by Trump on Tuesday that U.S. forces had killed six people suspected of drug smuggling in international waters off the coast of Venezuela. The attack marked at least the fifth operation of its kind since September — accounting for nearly 30 deaths, Trump and Hegseth have said.

Some in Congress, which has the sole authority to declare war and has not formally authorized the use of deadly force in Latin America, have pushed back against the administration’s actions. Still, Senate Republicans last week narrowly defeated an effort led by Democrats that would have blocked the U.S. military from continuing the strikes.

Sen. Jack Reed (Rhode Island), the Senate Armed Services Committee’s top Democrat, said in a statement Thursday that Holsey’s abrupt exit “sends an alarming signal of instability within the chain of command” and warned against any “unwise and dangerous” intervention in Venezuela.

“Admiral Holsey’s resignation only deepens my concern that this administration is ignoring the hard-earned lessons of previous U.S. military campaigns and the advice of our most experienced warfighters,” Reed’s statement said.

Spokespeople for the Republican chairs of the House and Senate Armed Services committees declined or didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Holsey’s retirement marks the latest abrupt departure of a senior U.S. military officer as Trump and Hegseth sweep away what they consider too much emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion. The departure of Holsey, one of the only Black four-star officers in the military, follows the firing of numerous other senior officers this year, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top admiral in the Navy, the admiral in the Coast Guard, and the No. 2 officer in the Air Force. A disproportionate number of those affected have been women.

Hegseth late last month delivered an unprecedented lecture to senior U.S. military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, ordering commanding generals and admirals from across the globe to hear him call for a renewed focus on military standards, including physical fitness. He warned that anyone who is not on board with the administration’s vision for the military should leave.

“I look out at this group and I see great Americans, leaders who have given decades to our great republic at great sacrifice to yourselves and to your families,” Hegseth said. “But if the words I’m speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign. We would thank you for your service.”


https://www.washingtonpost.com/national ... eth-trump/