Trump Presidency

[fiksal]

should RFK have a thread of his own now?

On Sunday, the Department of Health and Human Services secretary posted shirtless photos of himself swimming in Washington D.C.’s Rock Creek with his grandkids for Mother’s Day. It’s a cute enough scene, except, of course for the fact that swimming is banned in Rock Creek because, according to the National Park Service, “Rock Creek has high levels of bacteria and other infectious pathogens that make swimming, wading, and other contact with the water a hazard to human (and pet) health.”
...

Rock Creek’s water quality issues are hardly a secret. One 2021 report found “high E. coli values, indicating sewage pollution,” likely resulting from “antiquated sewers that have long since passed their useful life.” Earlier this month, DC Water announced it would undertake an emergency repair of a major sewer line, putting Rock Creek at even further risk of contamination, after finding a 200-foot-long crack in a section of piping that dates back to the 1800s.
...
(Kennedy) This is a man who swears by raw milk, who has questioned whether germs cause disease...

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/rfk-jr-rock-creek


so does it mean his kids are dumb too that allowed this?

There would be serious consequences if those were my kids

[esd]

At Ars Technica a local said that was actually a separate stream from rock creek so may not be as bad as the creek itself.

Personally I think the brain worm is trying to breed (some parasites change host behaviour to get the host eaten or in the right place to continue the life cycle. Rat lungworm is one example)

[matthewfarmery]

I read that, but decided not to post in case we get a shooting match again. But this is just outrageously silly, its beyond belief. But this is a man who sees germs in a different light to the rest of us. (and not in a good way) If his kids get poisoned, Then RFK will certainly be to blame. Clearly out of his mind.

[mr.WHO]

Personally I think the brain worm is trying to breed (some parasites change host behaviour to get the host eaten or in the right place to continue the life cycle. Rat lungworm is one example)

That would be some Black Mirror level sh*t - a guy controlled by parasite tries to make easier for parasite to spread.

[esd]

Personally I think the brain worm is trying to breed (some parasites change host behaviour to get the host eaten or in the right place to continue the life cycle. Rat lungworm is one example)

That would be some Black Mirror level sh*t - a guy controlled by parasite tries to make easier for parasite to spread.

Toxoplasma gondii already does. It makes humans more likely to take risks. In rats it makes them less scared of predators (to the point of being attracted by cat urine!), causing them to get eaten, continuing the cycle with the predator as intermediate host. Humans catch it from cats. And it is far from the only one.

[fiksal]

why even swim in any creek unless you are absolutely sure it's clean

it's even a question with large bodies of moving water, not just small

EDIT:
I went back to check the park warning, it applies to all water in the park

https://www.nps.gov/rocr/planyourvisit/ ... y-safe.htm

[matthewfarmery]

Probably because of one person's different view on how stuff is spread. and a strong immune system makes you immune to anything.

Or is trying to prove a point that the water is safe, but why drag the kids? If it was him alone, then it probably shouldn't be such a concern, but to have kids swim there, when its dangerous, that is another matter entirely.

[fiksal]

Personally I think the brain worm is trying to breed (some parasites change host behaviour to get the host eaten or in the right place to continue the life cycle. Rat lungworm is one example)

That would be some Black Mirror level sh*t - a guy controlled by parasite tries to make easier for parasite to spread.

Toxoplasma gondii already does. It makes humans more likely to take risks. In rats it makes them less scared of predators (to the point of being attracted by cat urine!), causing them to get eaten, continuing the cycle with the predator as intermediate host. Humans catch it from cats. And it is far from the only one.

interesting read, thanks

[esd]

Or is trying to prove a point that the water is safe, but why drag the kids? If it was him alone, then it probably shouldn't be such a concern, but to have kids swim there, when its dangerous, that is another matter entirely.

Same reason John Gummer fed his daughter a beef burger during the BSE crisis (1990) or the family of the kid who died of measles saying not to vaccinate because their other kids are fine - proving a (wrong) point is more important than the kid.

[felter]

Kind of explains how he so easily caught that Brain Worm in the first place, if he is willing to swim in human faeces.

Meanwhile, Trump signed one of those stupid orders demanding drug companies sell their products cheaper, The Americans know that they are being overcharged for their prescription drugs, especially compared to other countries, but those other countries have actual working health care systems and do deals with those drug companies, while Trumps tactics is to tell them what to do, but then again we have to remember Trump isn't actually known for being able to make good and proper deals. The bit I liked the most is he said

look into importing drugs from foreign countries where they are sold at lower prices

He has just spent the last few months trying to put a stop to this type of trading (and is failing), and now he is telling them to do it, hypocrisy knows no bounds.

[Chips]

"Who'd swim in..." - you'd be amazed. We have "wild swimmers" in the UK who bemoan the pollution as they exercise their right to swim in the rivers and bodies of water around the UK. But they still do it. Willingly.

The fact that for decades it's being published how dire our water companies are, so not a "leaking pipe" -- but outright pouring of raw untreated sewage into the waterways for the majority of the year... in the millions of hours (so not even gallons...) -- and it's not even during extreme weather - when there'd been no rain for weeks, they were still pumping raw untreated sewage into the waterways.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-6 ... 0in%202023.

Sewage spills into England's lakes, rivers and seas by water companies increased slightly in 2024 to 3.614 million hours up from 3.606 million hours in 2023. However, the Environment Agency said that the total number of spills were down - meaning that on average spills in 2024 were longer in duration.

Hell, it's not even the rivers...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cewd24kjg2go

People in parts of North Yorkshire have been told to boil their tap water after tests showed it contained high levels of a type of bacteria.

Yorkshire Water said it had issued a "boil order" for its customers in High Bentham, Low Bentham and Burton in Lonsdale following the discovery.

Anyway... enough of how dreadful our waterways are - back to the weird one

It's one thing for him to take a dip when you can only assume he is fully aware of the risks, it's entirely another to put your Grandkids into the s... soup. I can only assume his kids were well aware of what was going on and fine with it. Crazy.

As for him having his own thread - it'd just be a comical "what's he saying now..." insanity; like those old "Tales from the support desk" with stories of ridiculous users.

[matthewfarmery]

7.6 Million Would Lose Health Insurance Under GOP Plan

Politico: “The Medicaid portions of the GOP megabill would lead to 10.3 million people losing coverage under the health safety net program and 7.6 million people going uninsured, according to estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.”

While billionaires get their tax cuts. And Trump accepts $400 million luxury plane from Qatar. pure and simple corruption. This should be causing an outrage. and against presidential rules. But Trump says its fine to accept this gift, I wonder how many bugs it will be carrying?

[burger1]

US spent $220 billion more in trumps first 100 days than previous year. Spending was increasing and during the start of his term spending hadn't ramped up yet nor the bit in savings trump made.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-prom ... lion-more/

Autism registry in the US. Might use it for something bad.

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/08/nx-s1-53 ... e-medicaid

He described autism as "a preventable disease" and said his agency would find the root cause of the disorder by September. - it's mainly genetic just an fyi.

US ports still not expecting regular shipments due to trade war, tariffs and port fees. Traffic should be greatly reduced meaning layoffs at docks, trucking, retailers, etc... A trickle down effect.

Nvidia likely moving headquarters to Taiwan from the US.

https://www.guru3d.com/story/nvidia-con ... ouncement/

[clakclak]

US spent $220 billion more in trumps first 100 days than previous year. Spending was increasing and during the start of his term spending hadn't ramped up yet nor the bit in savings trump made.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-prom ... lion-more/

Autism registry in the US. Might use it for something bad.

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/08/nx-s1-53 ... e-medicaid

He described autism as "a preventable disease" and said his agency would find the root cause of the disorder by September. - it's mainly genetic just an fyi.

US ports still not expecting regular shipments due to trade war, tariffs and port fees. Traffic should be greatly reduced meaning layoffs at docks, trucking, retailers, etc... A trickle down effect.

Nvidia likely moving headquarters to Taiwan from the US.

https://www.guru3d.com/story/nvidia-con ... ouncement/

As Republicans seemd to be fond of renaming things, it might be about time that RFK renamed the National Institutes of Health to the Committee for the Scientific Registering of Hereditary and Congenital Illnesses to more accutely reflect its purpose. They is even allready a template for documents so they could safe some money there. Elon would love it.

[matthewfarmery]

Trump Will Set Tariff Rates for Other Nations in Weeks

“President Donald Trump said he would set tariff rates for U.S. trading partners ‘over the next two to three weeks,’ saying his administration lacks the capacity to negotiate deals with all of its trading partners,” Bloomberg reports.

“Trump said Friday that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick ‘will be sending letters out essentially telling people’ what ‘they’ll be paying to do business in the United States.’”

In other words, things are not going to plan, and pushing his ideas to someone else, and who will take the blame if things go bad. LOL. Lets see how long things last before someone does another U turn.

Edit

So Trump recently fired the head of FEMA, so a new boss has been appointed, but said

FEMA Head Admits He Has No Plan for Hurricane Season

“The newly appointed head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency acknowledged in private meetings that with two weeks to go until hurricane season, the agency doesn’t yet have a fully formed disaster-response plan,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

This is going to be bad, especailly when Trump has also fired many weather services personal as well. Plus they don't believe in climate change. So this is going to be REAL bad.

And to top things off,

Air Traffic Control Facilities Are Understaffed

“More than 90 percent of the country’s 313 air traffic control facilities operate below the Federal Aviation Administration’s recommended staffing levels,” the New York Times reports.

“As of earlier this month, 285 facilities — which include traffic control towers and other locations — were below staffing thresholds set by the F.A.A. and the union. At 73 of those facilities, staffing is so low that at least a quarter of the work force is missing.”

Trump fired those staff, while Trump will happily Biden and its Biden's fault that this is happening. So yeah, America is quickly going to hell in a handbasket.

[matthewfarmery]

So the fools in Trump admin are threatening to increase tariffs again, unless other countries start talking

Bessent Warns Tariffs Will Snap Back

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday warned that the reciprocal tariffs on trading partners could go back to the rate slapped on them on “Liberation Day” last month if they don’t engage in good faith negotiations, The Hill reports.

At this point, no country is going to bother doing business with America, trying to force things this way, will only result in americans getting the shaft. trump is trying to run America like a business and is failing.

[clakclak]

Republicans plan to cut 1 trillion (yes trillion) in medicaid and food stamps. The cuts are roughly equal to the GDP of a country like Poland or Saudi Arabia.

Source: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/05/21/poli ... posed-cuts

[matthewfarmery]

Yup, So a large part of SS has been chopped, it was going to happen. But now it has. plenty will suffer as a result, while the ultra rich will get tax cuts. Oh yes, Trump has a new plane. but it wasn't offered as a gift, Trump demanded it. And it will cost millions for a private contractor to tear it to pieces to retrofit it to something useable, and to get rid of any listening devices that might be present. All on the tax payers expense.

[Observe]

Republicans plan to cut 1 trillion (yes trillion) in medicaid and food stamps. The cuts are roughly equal to the GDP of a country like Poland or Saudi Arabia.

Not exactly. The $1 trillion would be spread out over 10 years. The annual GDP of Poland is approx. $811 billion and Saudi Arabia is around $1 trillion. Cuts therefore would amount to about $110 billion per year - not $1 trillion. Furthermore, the idea is to cut waste, fraud, and abuse and also focus on work requirements for some recipients.

Yup, So a large part of SS has been chopped, it was going to happen. But now it has.

Not true.

[Vertigo 7]

Ahh yes, "Waste, Fraud, and Abuse"... that latest ditty the MAGA morons are chanting these days. Right up there with the greatest hits such as "But Obama!" and "Lock her up!" and "They're eating the dogs!", and of course, my personal favorite "Law and order!"

Tell me, if they're so worried about "Waste, Fraud, and Abuse", why did the MAGA fools elect a con artist, convicted felon and rapist to the Oval Office? And why are they trying to sneak provisions in this budget bill to make it illegal for federal courts to hold him and his cronies in criminal contempt when they fail to comply with court orders?