Open Thread

What’s on your mind?

Comments

[santamonica811]

My latest feel-good fantasy: It's Jan 2029, and President Rubio has been sworn in. (Or, President Harris, or President Sanders...doesn't matter if it's a Dem or a Rep). Big announcement from the White House.
"We've decided that the new Trump ballroom is indeed ugly, and detracts from the White House. Additionally, it's politically divisive. It did cost a bucketload to construct. But it's gonna cost only about $25-50,000,000 to tear down. And we got a check from George Soros for the full amount, and demolition starts next week. It will be completely gone within 14 days. A beautiful bigger rose garden will be back within several months."
Even better would be, "Elon Musk has decided to fund the entire cost of the demolition. He's indicated that he deeply regrets his role inside the Trump administration, he knows that actions speak louder than words, and so he's going to pay for the removal of the Trump Eyesore."

Now, I think the above is obviously completely unrealistic (in the sense of either of those two filthy-rich men paying for the ballroom's demolition on their own. But I do think there is a non-zero chance that a new President might say, "The ballroom was put up as a vanity project with zero Congressional input. I (the new President) am going to get rid of it on my own in the same way."

{Hey, at least the thought of it puts me to sleep with a smile on my face.}

[Martinned]

What do you mean cost of demolition? I thought we've now established that the president can do with the armed forces whatever he likes, foreign or domestic? Why not simply have them use the ballroom for target practice?

[Brett Bellmore]

I can't say it's totally a fantasy: Look at the German government paying good money to implode cooling towers, just to make sure that if a future government comes to its senses about nuclear power, restarting the reactors will be extra expensive.

[Commenter_XY]

It is nihilism, at it's core.

[Michael P]

Are you going to replace the ballroom with permanent tents and Port-A-Potties on the lawn?

It's replacing temporary tents and Port-A-Potties. State events are bigger than there were decades ago, but we've been asking foreign dignitaries to use chemical toilets for decades because we don't have a space like this. But sure, go ahead and fantasize about turning the pages back to using White Outhouses.

[Swede425]

You sound totally fine.
No, really.

[Stephen Lathrop]

santamonica811 — Have you yet seen the new splash of gilded gee-gaw above the door leading into the Oval Office? Or the large gilded script beside the door, announcing, "The Oval Office." The new decorative ensemble makes the door to the Oval Office look like the entry to a pastry shop in a glitz-afflicted mall.

I do not want that torn down. I want it preserved, and moved to the Smithsonian.

Maybe for a display on American constitutionalism, with emphasis on the 25th Amendment.

[Frank Drackman]

Shouldn’t Alternative History be set in the past??

[Commenter_XY]

An impression from a 'not lawyer' of the oral argument yesterday in Learning Resources, Inc., et al. v. The Donald (heh)....wow, wow, wow. It is well worth listening to. I had not fully appreciated how big the scope of the ruling could be wrt separation and scope of Executive art2 power. Annoyingly (to me), Sauer sounded like he needed a cough drop or a sip of water. Did he have a cold or something?

Suppose SCOTUS agrees with LRI and rules against POTUS Trump and his administration: The tariffs must go! What actually happens from that point?

Pragmatically, how do you unwind trillions of dollars in country to country agreements regulating global commerce under a new trade framework, when you are a superpower? And then the private company to company agreements based on that same legal framework? It is not as simple as saying, "Ooops, here is a refund check" to 197 countries.

[OpinionsVary]

"It is not as simple as saying, "Ooops, here is a refund check" to 197 countries."

Well obviously not. It's the US based importers who pay tariffs and hence get any checks.

And while that many checks isn't easy, the government seemed to think rebate checks where perfectly doo-able when arguing for a stay of the lower court rulings. It was part of their argument a stay of the orders was appropriate.

[Martinned]

Congratulations, you've discovered why prediction markets show very different prices for "the Supreme Court will strike down the tariffs" and "the money will be refunded".

[Fist of Etiquette]

I may start to infest this area of Reason. I haven't decided yet.

[Frank Drackman]

Not sure who (the) Zoran Mandamn-he resembles more, Qusay or Uday Hussein. I'm willing to give the guy a chance though but I'm not really enthusiastic about his Pogrom.

Frank

[Malika la Maize]

JFC:

An American father and his teenage son died after being stung by swarms of venomous wasps on a zip-lining tour through the tropical forests of northern Laos last month.

Daniel Owen, 47, originally from Idaho Falls, Idaho, and his son Cooper, 15, were visiting from Haiphong, Vietnam, where Mr. Owen was the director of QSI International School and Cooper was a student.

The attack occurred on Oct. 15 at an adventure park near the city of Luang Prabang, north of the Thai border… Asian giant hornets, also known as murder hornets, sting with a venom that contains neurotoxins and tissue-destroying enzymes that can be fatal, especially for those who receive multiple stings.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/world/asia/laos-wasp-attack-father-son.html

[Frank Drackman]

Oh, THAT kind of "Wasp"
I was imagining swarms of George Will/Plimpton/Tucker Carlson's with those John Lennon Glasses, Bowties, and White Shoes engulfing the 2 Hayseeds(HT Hobie-stank).
I think I'd rather take the Insect variety.

Frank

[Michael P]

Murder hornets have illegally immigrated to the United States and preyed on innocent, hard-working American bees.

[Mr. Bumble]

Now Thursday Open Thread is back?
Will every day be an open thread day?

[Martinned]

Why not? There are plenty of comments. What else are we going to comment on? Those inane Josh posts? Prof. Volokh quoting (but not commenting on) a dozen judgments about anonymisation or AI hallucinations per week?

[Frank Drackman]

Like the NCAA "March Madness" (and soon to be CFB "December Madness") sometimes more isn't better.

[apedad]

And yet here you are.

[Mr. Bumble]

...and you, and me and the usual suspects.

[Frank Drackman]

That old "Better to rule in Hell......."

[Martinned]

Since perpetual peace has now broken out in Palestine, maybe there is now bandwidth to discuss the (arguably) even worse conflict that's going on at the moment, in terms of the sheer scale and scope of war crimes that are being committed, the war in Sudan.

Because I know you all like it if I explain things from the US point of view, let me start there. You could simplify the chain of causation as follows:

- The US says/implies that the Gulf States cannot count on it for their security needs. Let's focus on military needs, mineral resources, and food.

- The UAE starts making friends with African regimes that have all three. In doing so, it has an obvious dislike for regimes that are affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.

- In Sudan, the old civil war in Darfur periodically blows up again, with the old Janjaweed militias having been reformed into the Rapid Support Forces.

- If you're MbN, the obvious move is to give the RSF lots of modern weapons, most of them Chinese made, but also US made, so that they can do genocide with drones and armored vehicles instead of horses and camels.

- If/when the US tells MbN to knock it off, MbN has no reason to give a crap. What is the US going to do? Be an even less reliable ally?

- The EU is definitely not going to tell the UAE to stop, because they've got their hands full with Russia. If our gas isn't going to come from Russia, it needs to come from the Gulf. (Primarily Qatar, but also the rest of the Gulf.) Norway has lots of gas, but it's not sufficient to meet Europe's needs, at least not until we finish installing a lot more renewables infrastructure.

- Result: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/30/world/sudan-massacres-rsf-rebels-darfur-intl

[Frank Drackman]

Just realized it was you guys who started South Africa, haven't you done enough to those poor people?

[Mr. Bumble]

Please don't bring up inconvenient truths about the Netherland's bloody and colonial past.

[Michael P]

The EU is definitely not going to tell the UAE to stop, because they've got their hands full with Russia.

So much for the theory that governments can do two things at once. Even my 11-year-old can walk while chewing gum, rubbing his stomach and patting his head.

[Mr. Bumble]

Can he do the Johnny Jellybean salute?

[Swede425]

Thanks for the tulips and windmills.
That's where you peaked.
Other will take it from here.

[Mr. Bumble]

...and a belated Happy Guy Fawke's Day (Nov. 5).

[apedad]

Child Exploitation Enterprise, Supporting Terrorists, Producing and Distributing Child Pornography, and Other Crimes

A federal grand jury in the District of Arizona has returned a 29-count superseding indictment against Baron Cain Martin, known online as “Convict” (among other monikers), 21, of Tucson, Arizona. The superseding indictment charges Martin with participating in a child exploitation enterprise, conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, conspiring to kill, kidnap or maim persons in a foreign country, producing child pornography (five counts), distributing child pornography (11 counts), coercing and enticing minors to engage in sexual activity (three counts), cyberstalking (three counts), animal crushing and distribution of animal crush videos, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Martin has been in federal custody since his arrest on federal charges on December 11, 2024.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/arizona-leader-violent-extremist-network-764-charged-running-child-exploitation-enterprise

He's 21 years old?!?

Seems like a lot of work.

Couldn't he have just run a couple of meth labs instead?