because i know this will get angrily shared approximately one million times, i am begging you to please read the second, third and fourth paragraphs before putting the outrage pedal to the floor
— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) December 20, 2024 at 4:48 PM
What might have, should have, been… Per the Associated Press:
President Joe Biden is abandoning his efforts to provide some protections for transgender student athletes and cancel student loans for more than 38 million Americans, the first steps in an administration-wide plan to jettison pending regulations to prevent President-elect Donald Trump from retooling them to achieve his own aims.
The White House expects to pull back unfinished rules across several agencies if there isn’t enough time to finalize them before Trump takes office. If the proposed regulations were left in their current state, the next administration would be able to rewrite them and advance its agenda more quickly.
As the pending Biden regulations are withdrawn, nothing prevents Trump from pursuing his own regulations on the same issues when he returns to the White House, but he would have to start from scratch in a process that can take months or even years.
“This isn’t the way I wanted it to end,” said Melissa Byrne, an activist who has pushed for student debt cancellation. “Unfortunately, this is the most prudent action to take right now.”
She blamed Republicans for putting the Biden administration in this position. “It’s a bummer that we have a GOP that is committed to keeping working-class Americans in debt,” Byrne said…
In documents withdrawing the student loan proposals, the Education Department insisted it has the authority to cancel the debt but sought to focus on other priorities in the administration’s final weeks. It said the administration would focus on helping borrowers get back on track with payments following the coronavirus pandemic, when payments were paused.
“The department at this time intends to commit its limited operational resources to helping at-risk borrowers return to repayment successfully,” the agency wrote.
For the regulation on transgender students, the department said it was withdrawing the proposal because of ongoing litigation over how Title IX, the landmark law preventing sex discrimination, should handle issues of gender identity. In addition, the department said there were 150,000 public comments with a range of feedback, including suggestions for modifications that needed to be considered…
The pair of student loan proposals expected to be withdrawn Friday represented Biden’s second attempt at widespread debt cancellation after the Supreme Court rejected his first plan.
One of them is a proposal from April that would have provided targeted debt relief to 30 million Americans. It laid out several categories of borrowers eligible for relief. Borrowers who saw their balances balloon because of interest would have had their accrued interest wiped away. Those who had been repaying loans for 20 years or more would have gotten their loans erased.
That proposal was halted by a federal judge in September after Republican-led states sued, and it remains tangled in a legal battle.
The second rule being withdrawn is a proposal from October that would have allowed the Education Department to cancel loans for people facing various kinds of hardship, including those struggling with steep medical bills or child care costs…
Although Biden did not achieve the sweeping loan cancellations that he initially promised, his administration has forgiven an unprecedented $180 billion in federal student loans through existing programs.
“Because of our actions, millions of people across the country now have the breathing room to start businesses, save for retirement, and pursue life plans they had to put on hold because of the burden of student loan debt,” Biden said in a statement.
On Friday, officials announced they were erasing debt for another 55,000 workers — including teachers, nurses and law enforcement officials — through Public Service Loan Forgiveness. The program promises to cancel loans for borrowers who spend 10 years in government or nonprofit jobs…
Friday Night Open Thread
sab
This is a democracy and the voters have spoken, and the majority want things to suck for a while.
Balconesfault
The voters who told pollsters that these were important issues for them didn’t turn out.
As SAB said … 77 million turned out to elect Trump. Less showed up for Harris.
hells littlest angel
@sab: A plurality, but yeah.
Elizabelle
Maybe this will be a painful lesson that voters who care will have to learn.
The next few months/years watching The Felon/Musk maladministration are going to be lit.
Write those appreciation letters to Joe and Kamala! It has to be devastating to be forced not to follow through on good and hard fought plans.
Baud
@sab:
100%
Geminid
Letting bygones be bygones? From Al Arabiya English:
These remarks were made by US diplomat Barbara Leaf in a call to reporters after she met with Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Damascus yesterday. Leaf is Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, and al-Sharaa is the de facto leader of Syria.
Ahmed al-Sharaa was radicalized as a young man by the US invasion of Iraq, and he took up arms and moved there to fight the US forces George Bush sent. Then when the Syrian Civil war broke out in 2011, al-Sharaa returned to Syria as “Mohammed al-Jolani” and established an Islamist military force affiliated with al-Qaeida. US authorities declared the bounty along the way.
Now Ahmed al-Sharaa is world famous for leading the rebel forces that toppled the Assad regime two weeks ago.
Baud
@Geminid:
A reverse bin Ladin.
Splitting Image
Blasphemy. The outrage machine must not be denied.
Baud
@Splitting Image:
It won’t be.
sab
OT: Ali Velshi does a weekly segment on banned books. I don’t much follow popular culture so most of this has been over my head. But a couple of weeks ago he had Jodi Picoult on. One of her books had been banned. She thought it was about one sex scene. I think she was wrong. The whole book was against bully culture in high school. RWNJs think bullying is a useful life skill their kids need to get ahead. Challenging bullying is challenging their whole way of life and who they are.
Jodi Picoult has written a lot of books and I am plowing through them all. Wow!
sab
@sab: “House Rules” is really making me tear up.
Geminid
@Baud: Security analyst Levent Kemal observed in a December 15 post:
“…configuration practices…”?! Here Levent Kemal is talking like a social scientist, which I believe he is.
Levent Kemal wasn’t saying that HTS and al-Sharaa are not governing because they are, standing up basic services and food distribution, bringing expat Syrian doctors home etc. They are also keeping order in a nation the size and population of Florida that is awash in weapons.
Kemal is a very shrewd and seasoned observer of Middle Eastern Islamist groups and also of the larger politics of the region. What he is saying is that al-Sharaa is leading a transition government in fact, and that he intends to leave long-term questions of power and governance to an elected civil government.
NotMax
@Geminid
🎵 Que Será, Sharaa.
//
David_C
Good description into the nuances of rule making in the federal government. It made me think that maybe the Project 2025 crew will overestimate their ability to enact their agenda. The tools that groups on the right used to stymie rule making are still there for the good guys to apply pressure.
Baud
According to Blue sky, the guy who killed a bunch of people in Germany was a Musk fan.
TBone
@Baud: goddamn his eyes
MagdaInBlack
@Baud: I’m seeing stuff on reddit saying the same.
MagdaInBlack
@TBone: Off topic ( of course ) but are you familiar with these women on fire and their podcast? I feel you’d like them.
https://www.youtube.com/@hysteriapodcast
Do check out their series ” This Fuckin’ Guy”
Eta: to make it on topic, they have a “fuckin guy” about elon.
TBone
So the home euthanasia org that vet referred me to doesn’t service my locale. They referred me to someone who does, and that guy has not returned my call. Dragging Josey into his terror of the carrier and the car and the vet hospital for this seems fucked up. Praying that the guy calls me back before we have to do that. Stomach doing flip flops at *waves hand all of this and President Tusk.
Geminid
@Geminid: From Middle East Eye reporter Ragip Soylu:
“Fidan” would be Hakan Fidan, Turkiye’s Foreign Minister. The report does not specify exactly who was warned, but Hakan Fidan met with the Russian and Iranian Foreign Ministers in Qatar around the time the rebels were preparing to attack Hama and Homs.
This warning would have been taken seriously because both the Turkish Army and Air Force are second largest in NATO, and are trained and equipped to Nato standards.
The Syrian civil war has been a major challenge for Turkiye for over 13 years, and it seems they were determined to help it end quickly and with a minimum of fighting.
MagdaInBlack
@TBone: well fuk, I’m sorry.
TBone
@MagdaInBlack: thank you! Sounds like it’s right up my alley, I will use it for necessary distraction and my tenuous hold on sanity today.
There are too many that fucking guys on the planet at this time!
Thank you for remembrance
TBone
@MagdaInBlack: thanks, I still have hope. Josey is not yet fully there, but the time approacheth…
Baud
@MagdaInBlack:
My initial worry was false flag. Turns out it was a true flag.
WTFGhost
@TBone: Friend, there’s only one thing that merits your attention, and it’s not fuckwittery.
Also, if you haven’t already, look for pet hospice care – they also often do in-home euthanasia. It might add an option or two.
p.a
ergo, disturbed individual. Nothing to see here, move along.
MagdaInBlack
@Baud: Ya and Elon has now suspended the guys account. This fukin guy.
Professor Bigfoot
@sab: I think you’re really on to something there– that seems to be another thread through Confederate culture.
Bullying is central to conservative culture, isn’t it?
Geminid
@Baud: There was a report in Der Spiegel to that effect. Clash Report said:
A person who’d read some of the man’s social media posts said:
Shalimar
@sab: Those I have talked to justify bullying by claiming they are “helping” the victims be tougher. Just outright evil.
TBone
@WTFGhost: thanks. Where I live, such precious few resources in this area are stretched really thin, to the breaking point. People here favor dogs (cats are merely an afterthought, which is how we got Josey in the first place). I’ll not give up my search today and I know the squeaky wheel gets the oil.
WTFGhost
MagdaInBlack
@Professor Bigfoot: I agree, esp. about it being part of conservative culture. Bullying, in all its forms, is how one enforces conformity and eliminates the non-conforming,
Princess
Young people decided they were willing to pay back all their student loans themselves so long as it led to a free Palestine.
(I’m pro paying back the loans and pro a two state solution leading to an independent Palestine fwiw. My target is the terrible reasoning with respect to voting third party/not voting at all I saw from young people, and not so young, all around me.)
MagdaInBlack
@TBone: Goes well with Saturday morning wake ‘n’ bake ‘n’ coffee.
TBone
H.ello
E.nlightened
L.oving
P.resence
(I need you)
MagdaInBlack
@TBone: See above ^
TBone
@MagdaInBlack: hugs and gratitude
Hubby is emotionally not doing well with any of this, his cat from his former life that he blended into our cat family had to be euthanized a couple of years ago and the assistant at the vet hospital was clumsy with the needles and the whole thing was a nightmare for him. So he’s another worrying aspect and trying hard to be helpful but mostly missing the mark.
GAH
Josey is his favorite
Baud
@Geminid:
Are they talking about Elon or the German guy?
Professor Bigfoot
@TBone: Damn, that sucks mightily. Sending love.
TBone
Repost from last night:
Comment lifted from elsewhere regarding the Christmas market attack today in Germany
TBone
@Professor Bigfoot: Hank you!
(A friend’s dad died the other day, who was a beloved dad to me too, named Hank. Funniest man evah).
So now I say Hank you (since autocorrect stepped in to remind me when I typed “thank” to you that there are forces at play beyond my control and sometimes they work for good).
Dorothy A. Winsor
@sab: My book club read Mad Honey by Picoult. One of the characters is trans.
Professor Bigfoot
@TBone: Welp– all I can say is hank you, too, you’ve put a big stupid smile on my face for the morning.
Wishing good for Josey and Mr. Bone and you; this ol’ world is a difficult place sometimes, and we only get through it with the love of family and friends.
And pets.
TBone
Today’s mood music courtesy of Kris Kristofferson
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XI4m27E6wN8
He was a diamond in the rough
This is what Hank was too
TBone
@Professor Bigfoot: I feel hugged and I feel love.
That is a priceless gift and why I will never give up.
MagdaInBlack
@Baud: You do raise a good point.
Matt McIrvin
@Shalimar: I’m pretty sure that’s why the gym teachers I had usually let it happen. Bullying was necessary to make us men and punish the weirdos and the weak for not fitting in.
In an age when super-rich oppressors often present as “nerds” I sometimes see people on the left decide this was a good idea after all. Unless you think it’s worthwhile to punish people for being born with cerebral palsy, it’s not.
Baud
Time for decent Germans to join Blue sky.
catclub
A little late for that.
catclub
‘Voters who care’
This is like when Adlai Stevenson said, ‘But I need a majority’
catclub
@Baud:
Yes.
TBone
Goals achievement level: obtained
https://bsky.app/profile/fancysplace.bsky.social/post/3ldrvlkqgss2i
Don’t just be part of the problem, be the entire problem.
Starfish (she/her)
How many people showed up to elect President Musk?
TBone
@Matt McIrvin: That big, red dodgeball left a mark on us. Once, right on my forehead.
MagdaInBlack
@TBone: Saved.
Starfish (she/her)
@Baud: Wait. I thought this was the War on Christmas that Fox News promises us every year.
lowtechcyclist
@TBone:
I dearly hope that you are able to find someone who will do home euthanasia where you live. But if nothing is available and going to the vet is the only choice, would you be able to get someone to drive you while you carry Josey in your arms? That would at least mean you wouldn’t have to inflict the cat carrier on him. If you’ve got a small blanket to snuggle him in as you do so, maybe that would help too.
Starfish (she/her)
@TBone: Oh, I am so sorry that Josey is suffering.
Professor Bigfoot
@catclub: Good luck getting white Americans to give a good goddamn about anything other than themselves, their convenience, and their pocketbooks; and the sure knowledge that they are superior.
Professor Bigfoot
@TBone: DAGNABBIT, I reckon Fancy’s Place decided I was a Musk ox or something, on accounta I’m blocked.
Ah, the downsides of Bluesky’s thermonuclear block function.
SomeRandomGuy
MagdaInBlack
@catclub: Trying to cover his own tracks.
Starfish (she/her)
@Baud: That man is a weirdo.
https://x.com/DrTalebJawad
MagdaInBlack
@Starfish (she/her): So his account is not suspended?
I was mistaken.
Another Scott
@David_C: +1
Too many people don’t realize how many steps are required, and how long it takes, for things to happen in the federal government. I know of a federal facility that has been working on renovating some old buildings for 15+ years and they’re still not done. (It’s part of an official 75+ year upgrade plan, that has probably stretched out to 100 years by now.) People would be amazed by how much paperwork, and how many signatures, can be required to buy a $15 widget that qualifies for the “simplified” acquisition process.
One of the very good things about our Federal government is that it is not easily whipsawed by changes in majorities. There is a lot of inertia, and a lot of required process steps – by design. That is frustrating when we want and need it to work quickly to do good, but it’s a protection when the monsters want to do evil.
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Liminal Owl
@TBone: oh, damn. I haven’t been reading much lately, and I thought Josey was doing better. I’m so sorry.
CliosFanBoy
@TBone:
I am so sorry.
TBone
@lowtechcyclist: thank you. If he’s capable of a struggle, it is not yet time. If he’s really suffering and incapable of struggling, that in my arms car ride will be the route we take.
However, I just now found a new name of a vet that says they usually come within two days, and DO euthanasia house calls primarily on nights and weekends by appointment.
I got an auto reply right away and am awaiting further word from that new person. Josie is still purring with human touch, although not moving much or eating now. He appears to be sort of comfortable, resting. Maybe this will occur naturally but if not this new name has given me hope for assistance.
TBone
Hank you errybuddy!
Liminal Owl
@TBone: virtual hugs if you want any. Much sympathy to both of you.
kalakal
@TBone: So sorry to hear all that you’re all going through. I really hope the home visit comes through. Virtual hugs to Josey and yourselves
Kay
He was wrong about one thing (and only one thing) – you can avoid realizing how bad it is. The US has been diligently avoiding recognizing how bad it is for two years. I bet not reading the Gaza reports helps.
Chief Oshkosh
@TBone: I hope the guy calls you back. These are long-shots, but maybe check with veterinarian schools or vets who have more agricultural practices. Tough on the weekend and near a holiday, but sometimes oddball solutions work. Good luck.
Another Scott
@Baud: My J and her sister were just over in Switzerland and Germany to see some Christmas markets a couple of weeks ago – they didn’t go up to Magdeberg. She remarked that somewhere in Germany (Heidelberg?) that they did go had lots of police/military with machine guns walking around and blocking streets at the market. (And that Google Maps at one point was directing them to drive through the middle of a market to get to their destination…) I wonder if German intelligence had specific warnings about a possible attack like this. :-( Dunno.
Peace and comfort to the innocents.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Another Scott
@TBone: It’s hard. :-( I’m glad you have found help.
Here’s hoping his passing is peaceful.
Remember the good times.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Starfish (she/her)
@Kay: People can be smug and dunk on college students if they don’t read anything about the issue.
I just read parts of this on how Amnesty International decided that what is happening in Gaza is genocide, and how it takes more than targeted killings of members of some group. It discusses various killings that were a lot of killing but not genocide.
Torrey
@TBone:
I am so sorry to hear this. It is sad for you, but Josey is so lucky to be in your care. (This is the part of being the human in the relationship that I truly hate, but it’s our job. You and Josey are in my thoughts.)
Edited to delete suggestion: you’ve already found what looks like a good vet.
Eunicecycle
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I have read most of Jodi Picoult’s books. Both Nineteen Minutes and Leaving Time made me ugly cry.
Kay
@Starfish (she/her):
Yup. Netanyahu can’t go to Poland. They’ll turn him over for war crimes (that means they’ll follow the law)
Poland argues, sensibly and rationally, that they (Poland) want Putin prosecuted for the same war crimes so it would be nuts not to apply that to Netanyahu.
The US, the UK and Israel are the only countries who deny reality now – the entire rest of the world acknowledges reality.
MomSense
@Starfish (she/her):
Anyone who looks honestly at U.S. actions with respect to Gaza instead of statements comes to the same determination. It’s unforgivable how we have enabled this genocide.
Paranoid Android
@Baud: Loads of Germans are already there. I found almost my entire former twitter bubble.
Kay
@Starfish (she/her):
Netanyahu is popular in Israel. The Biden Administration even failed there. He’s PM for life. Not surprising really – the United States has essentially validated his war crimes.
Their performance re: Gaza was so bad I now doubt whether the stated aims were actually the stated aims. I wonder if we gave cover to Israel so they could complete ethnic cleansing and occupy Gaza while telling the US public we were seeking a ceasefire.
I know it’s usually incompetence rather than malice but this was SO bad I think it’s reasonable to suspect actual malice towards Palestinian civilians.
TBone
@Professor Bigfoot: the meme says
When you’re mixed with intelligence, ‘hood shit, realness, confidence, wokeness, and revolutionary, you’ll always be a problem for others.
You fit the bill!
Paranoid Android
@Another Scott: There was a very similar attack on a Christmas market in Berlin 10 years ago. Most larger markets have enhanced security now. Mostly discreet barricades or sandbags to keep vehicles out. This has been the norm for a while, sadly.
Doug R
@sab:
Plurality.
49.8%
TBone
All you jackals have my undying gratitude for listening, and walking, virtually through this pain with me. Every good thought and word matters.
We will be okay together. Because of you.
frosty
@TBone: That college you live near has a pre-veterinary major. Give them a call too.
Starfish (she/her)
I would like to thank Dick Durbin for giving us the gift of the report on Supreme Court corruption and specifically calling out John Roberts for not appearing before the committee or doing the things he is supposed to be doing.
CaseyL
@TBone: That interval between making the decision and figuring out how to do it is awful. My heart goes out to you, and Josey, and Mr. TBone.
I had one unsuccessful experience with home euthanasia (wound up having to take the kitty to her regular vet the next day to have it done), and am not sure I would try again. Hopefully you have a more graceful, gentle, and peaceful resolution for Josey.
TBone
@frosty: great idea! Hank you
Geminid
@Kay: Benjamin Netanyahu is not popular in Israel. If Netanyahu were popular he’d call a new election. But polling consistently shows his coalition losing and he’s afraid to call for one. Instead he’s clinging to his current coalition’s mandate for dear life.
This Netanyahu government was never popular. The November, 2022 election showed an electorate split 50-50 between pro-and anti- Netanyahu parties, pretty much like the previous four did. But in 2022 two of the anti Netanyahu parties fell below the 3.25% threshold and 6% of the total vote was stranded.
The government Netanyahu was able to form was well below water in approval on October 6, 2023; approval plummeted in the weeks after and so did his.
Netetanyah’s popularity has recovered some in the last two months, but it’s got a long way to go before he’s popular. He is still unpopular and a substantial majority of Israelis say they want him out of politics.
TBone
@CaseyL: I’m so sorry you had a bad time. It is always a coin toss. But we at least know when that time comes. You’re so right about the in between time, it’s the worst.
I have never tried in home before because my cats are not so afraid of carriers and cars. They traveled back and forth on weekends to the cabin with me for years and know that a car ride doesn’t necessarily mean a vet trip. Josey has no such prior experience.
All we can do is try and persevere, spitting and hissing in the face of fear.
Kay
@Geminid:
Just a couple more Blinken Units and Netanyahu will be gone right?
Do you know how many times the State Department told the US public they were close to an agreement? Eleven times. They tanked their own credibility, along with any credibility the US has.
At some point there’s going to be a reckoning. The US can’t silence domestic dissent forever. The whole rest of the world knows what we participated in in Gaza. There will be an accounting of the Biden Administrations actions re: Gaza. They aren’t going to be able to bury it.
Kay
@Geminid:
We care so much for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza we have two (2) employees who focus on Gaza, and even they are completely ignored, so much so that they resigned in disgust at the gaslighting from the Biden Administration.
Omnes Omnibus
@Kay: Trump isn’t popular in the US and yet he is president-elect. Geminid’s statement can be true with being a prediction that Netanyahu will be out of power soon.
Kay
@Geminid:
I just think there should be an apology issued to the much-maligned and now silenced students. Every single allegation they made has proved true.
Because spoiled brat Americans didn’t want to hear it doesn’t make it less true. Hillary Clinton should apologize to them. She insulted them and her analysis of the situation was WRONG. They were right.
Kay
Betting against US college students on issues of fairness and ethics is dumb. They’re always right. Kids have an innate sense of fairness and justice. If children marched under a flag the flag would read “fair”. Talk to any middle schooler about a conflict – they understand proportional force, the moral imperative to protect innocent bystanders to a fight, mitigating factors, etc.
It isn’t that 20 year olds develop it in liberal colleges. Its that they haven’t yet lost what they came in with.
in the hills
@TBone: being old,I only rescue senior dogs.
which can be heart breaking,and expensive.
but I do have a nearby friend and vet who comes to the house
for the final act.
i dip into my drug stash for a oxycontin,insert it into a steak
breakfast on the final morning,and cuddle until the doc arrives.
at least my dog friends have a peaceful trip across
the bridge.
Kay
@Omnes Omnibus:
Netanyahu is more popular now than he was prior to the Biden Administration’s claims not to support him, while actually supporting each and every escalation he has engaged in.
By their own measure they failed. Unless that wasn’t an objective. That’s absolutely possible too. The State Department now lie on a near daily basis on Gaza in press avails. Joe Biden is STILL denying the 20,000 dead children although two brave dissenters in his own State Department extensively documented it – no one read it.
TBone
@in the hills: oh, don’t give me any ideas, hubby has such a stash…but if worse comes to worst and I need to act immediately…Hank you. Your Plan C is a security blanket for Josey & me to remember I have agency if I need to use it that way.
Omnes Omnibus
@Kay:
Okay.
Geminid
@Kay: If Netanyahu can keep his coalition intact he’ll be Prime Minister until he has to call elections in 2026.
That doesn’t mean he’s popular in Israel though. You are either misleading people on that question or you are being being misled.
Geminid
@Geminid: Israeli journalist Noga Tarnopolsky, two days ago:
Tarnopolsky accompanied the post with a screenshot of a TV presenter showing a bar graph of the trust ratings.
Netanyahu and his allies keep trying to unload blame for Netanyahu’s mistakes onto the IDF and the security services but this strategy is not working. His government is still unpopular and so is he.
Citizen Alan
@MagdaInBlack: so he’s trapped in the same limbo I am. My twitter account got suspended three or four years ago because I hurt some maga scums feelings. And it turns out that deleting your twitter account outright is one of the things that you are not allowed to do whilw your account is suspended.
Citizen Alan
@Professor Bigfoot: bullying is a subset of cruelty, so yes.