Brutal Realist

The State Department Just Made It A Lot Cheaper For Americans To Give Up Citizenship — HuffPost It is now about 80% cheaper for Americans to formally renounce their U.S. citizenship.

No surprise since they’ve been disappearing people like crazy recently.

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Trump-backed voter ID bill faces GOP resistance as Tillis vows to stop it — Fox News Senate Republicans are ready for a floor battle over a voter ID bill despite internal divisions, with Sens. Thom Tillis , R-N.C., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, in opposition.

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WADA to weigh barring Trump, US officials from LA Olympics and possibly World Cup over unpaid dues — The Associated Press The World Anti-Doping Agency is considering rewriting its rules to try barring President Donald Trump and all U.S. government officials from attending the LA Olympics in 2028.

This makes my heart smile…

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EPA moves to weaken pollution limits on chemical used to sterilize medical equipment — The Associated Press The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed weakening air pollution limits for a chemical used to sterilize medical equipment.

Making cancer great again?

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Utah measles outbreak speeds up but there are few changes to daily life — NBC News Health officials in the outbreak's epicenter are relying on social media and talk radio to reach residents. Many aren't listening.

Ugh.

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State Department slashes fee to renounce US citizenship by 80% to $450 — The Associated Press The State Department has slashed by about 80% the fee for Americans to formally renounce their U.S. citizenship.

Why is it so hard to revoke citizenship when they deport citizens anyway?

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Iran war deprives US farmers of affordable fertilizer as spring planting looms — Reuters Farmers in the U.S. and Canada, who were already worried about prospects for another year ​of low profits or losses, now could have spring planting disrupted as they struggle to find fertilizer, and p...

MAGA, suckers!

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Flu vaccines didn't work that well in the US, officials find — The Associated Press As the U.S. flu season winds down, health officials say the flu vaccine didn’t work very well. It had one of its worst effectiveness rates in more than a decade.

Maybe it’s because we have RFK in charge and he didn’t let anybody update anything.

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I can’t imagine why he keeps getting passed over for that Nobel Peace Prize.

Oh, honey . . . just because you played dress-up at a fake "military academy" that your parents sent you to because you were such an unmanageable, obnoxious teenager doesn't mean you were in the miliary. You had that duty, but lied to get out of it.

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Live Nation Staff Slack Messages Revealed: ‘Robbing Them Blind, Baby’ — HuffPost The live music giant tried to keep the embarrassing messages from public view, arguing they would prejudice the jury in its antitrust trial.

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Dark money group offers influencers $1,500 for posts attacking Chicago Democratic primary candidate Progressive House candidate Kat Abughazaleh told MS NOW the secretive campaign is “filled with false and defamatory claims.”

HOLY SHIT.

A dark money group, hidden behind a bunch of shell companies, is paying influencers thousands of dollars PER POST to attack @katmabu.bsky.social on social media a month before her election.

Thank you to the people who declined the money and went forward with this. So who's behind this?

US job openings rise to a better-than-expected 7 million despite sluggish labor market — The Associated Press U.S. job openings rose to nearly 7 million in January, better than expected at a time when the American labor market has looked sluggish.

That’s because they keep disappearing all the hard workers in our country.

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Only in Ohio. FFS.

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DOGE Employee Allegedly Stole SSA Data on a Thumb Drive A DOGE engineer allegedly walked out with 500 million Americans' data on a thumb drive. When someone said it was illegal, he said Trump would pardon him.

Social Security numbers. Race and ethnicity. The whole thing. On a thumb drive.
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In Tehran, hope for change turns to panic: 'They are turning the country into ruins' — NBC News The war's impact has been most severe in the capital, a bustling, densely packed metropolis home to 10 million people.

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Trump Makes FATAL Mistake QUIETLY AXING KEY Policy YouTube video by Katie Phang

Trump law-lackey/Dep. AG, Todd Blanche, quietly rescinded a Biden-era DOJ policy requiring approval for “no-knock” searches of homes that was implemented after Breonna Taylor's murder.

My take on why this decision will lead to more deaths at the hands of law enforcement.

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Iran-backed Iraqi group claims responsibility for downing US military aircraft — Reuters The Islamic Resistance ​in Iraq, ‌an umbrella group of ​Iran-backed ​armed factions, claimed ⁠responsibility for ​downing a U.S. ​military refueling aircraft in western ​Iraq ​on Thursday.

“Iran-backed”. Please stop. This phrase has been used to demonize Iranians for decades.

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Tell Your Senators: Protect our Democracy, Vote NO on the SAVE Act Contact Congress today!

Tell your Senators: Oppose the SAVE Act. The stakes are too high to sit this one out!

RFK Jr.’s Very Bad Week — KFF Health News HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had another tough week. In addition to Kennedy having rotator cuff surgery, the nomination of his ally to become surgeon general is teetering, the controversial hea...

Ha ha! Did he hurt his shoulder in that stupid jean-wearing workout video?

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The president has likely known from the start that what he’s doing is illegal - and when the Supreme Court told him to stop, instead of focusing on putting money back in Americans’ pockets, he found new ways to set illegal tariffs. This is un-American.

22 People Connected To Jeffrey Epstein Have Died Under Mysterious Circumstances - uInterview "There were a lot of people entrapped and entangled through Epstein’s web, and many of those people are gone now - dead," private investigator Ed Opperman tells the National Enquirer earlier this week...

The rich and the untouchable

Democrats are trouncing Republicans in state elections since Trump took office — POLITICO Voter turnout in state elections over the last 14 months has Republicans concerned as the midterms approach.

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They’re actually made in Tucson, Arizona by Raytheon. Some of the components are made in Dayton, Ohio, but they are not assembled there. Ohioan speaking here.

Five reasons oil prices won't snap back from Iran war — POLITICO Tanker backlogs, damaged energy infrastructure and threats in the Strait of Hormuz could keep gasoline prices elevated.

Narrator: trump, trump, trump, trump and trump.

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US military refueling plane goes down in Iraq and rescue is underway — The Associated Press An American military refueling plane has gone down in Iraq and rescue efforts are underway. U.S. Central Command said Thursday that the KC-135 aircraft is part of the operation against Iran, but the c...

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Iran's new supreme leader vows to block Strait of Hormuz in first statement — BBC News A message attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei also says Iran will continue targeting US bases in the region.

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Pentagon Tells Congress First Week of Iran War Cost More Than $11.3 Billion

Pentagon officials told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing that they estimated the cost of the war against Iran had exceeded $11.3 billion — in the first six days alone, according to three people familiar with the briefing.

Pentagon tells lawmakers Iran war costs top $11.3bn – but true price unknown — Guardian US The US already spent more than $11.3bn in first six days of conflict, but price tag does not include all spending

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