Thoughts on the Trump presidency

[najaB]

I renewed my ESTA last week due to having a new passport. There is a question asking for any Social Media accounts but it isn't compulsory to answer. This question has been on there for at least the last few years IIRC

Yeah, the question was if they had yet changed it to mandatory. Thanks to yourself and @Krokodil for confirming that it hasn't. I'll renew mine before it does.

 

[nw1]

It is ironic that the Federal US is now behaving just like its old enemy, the Soviet Union, in some ways.

 

[najaB]

Obviously the Administration will try to play it as a great success but it seems that the people of Minnesota have successfully stood up to the goons and forced them to back down:

US border tsar Tom Homan said the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota will end, telling reporters that President Donald Trump has approved his request to conclude the operation.

"I will also remain in Minnesota a little longer to oversee the drawdown, to ensure its success," Homan said during the news conference on Thursday morning.

Homan said Minnesota has become "less of a sanctuary state" since local officials have cooperated more with federal immigration officers.

Minneapolis immigration enforcement operation to 'conclude', officials say

Two US citizens were killed in Minneapolis during the crackdown dubbed "Operation Metro Surge".

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[brad465]

How on earth has Darwinism not got to this guy yet:

Robert F Kennedy Jr admits he used to 'snort cocaine off toilet seats'

The US health secretary made the confession to podcaster Theo Von during an episode of his show, This Past Weekend, as he opened up about his past drug use.

news.sky.com

Robert F Kennedy Jr has said he is "not scared of a germ" because he "used to snort cocaine off of toilet seats".

The US health secretary, often called RFK Jr, made the confession to podcaster Theo Von during an episode of his show, This Past Weekend.


It came as the pair discussed their shared history of drug abuse, and attending support meetings together before they got cancelled during COVID. They later formed a "pirate" group that continued meeting during the pandemic.

Mr Kennedy reflected on his decades in recovery from alcohol and substance abuse.

He said: "I'm not scared of a germ... I used to snort cocaine off of toilet seats."

"I know this disease will kill me," he continued, referring to addiction.

"Like, if I don't, if I don't treat it, which means for me going to meetings every day. It's just bad for my life."

Protect Our Care, a non-profit fighting for affordable healthcare in the US, called for Mr Kennedy to step down after the interview.

In a statement, it said he was "the most dangerous, in over his head, ill-suited person ever to lead such an important federal agency that has life-and-death power".


Brad Woodhouse, the organisation's president, offered a one-word response: "Resign."

 

[jon0844]

How on earth has Darwinism not got to this guy yet:

Robert F Kennedy Jr admits he used to 'snort cocaine off toilet seats'

The US health secretary made the confession to podcaster Theo Von during an episode of his show, This Past Weekend, as he opened up about his past drug use.

news.sky.com

Are we absolutely sure he's not already dead, and simply being moved around by use of animatronics?

 

[Krokodil]

Are we absolutely sure he's not already dead, and simply being moved around by use of animatronics?

It would explain his voice

 

[nw1]

Yet more evidence that the Federal US Government is a joke and an international laughing stock, albeit an authoritarian laughing stock with an iron fist which thrives on oppression.

 

[martin butler]

Is this man actually more stupid than Trump, If so, that might explain in part why he got the job,

In the future I'm half expecting the Kennedy clan to disown him saying, no he wasn't one of us

 

[Tester]

Is this man actually more stupid than Trump, If so, that might explain in part why he got the job,

In the future I'm half expecting the Kennedy clan to disown him saying, no he wasn't one of us

No need to wait - they already have!

 

[nw1]

Is this man actually more stupid than Trump, If so, that might explain in part why he got the job,

In the future I'm half expecting the Kennedy clan to disown him saying, no he wasn't one of us

No, Trump is more stupid for appointing him in the first place.

 

[Tester]

No, Trump is more stupid for appointing him in the first place.

Kennedy originally ran for the presidency as an independent, but subsequently threw in his lot with Trump.

One imagines that there was a deal.

 

[jon0844]

Kennedy originally ran for the presidency as an independent, but subsequently threw in his lot with Trump.

One imagines that there was a deal.

Yes a deal or a threat, which when it comes to Trump's Mafia style operation may be the same thing.

 

[brad465]

Kennedy originally ran for the presidency as an independent, but subsequently threw in his lot with Trump.

One imagines that there was a deal.

Yes a deal or a threat, which when it comes to Trump's Mafia style operation may be the same thing.

Kennedy was polling relatively well for an independent during Biden's campaign troubles, something like 10-15%, but as soon as Biden withdrew, Kennedy's polling collapsed. It was soon after this that Kennedy announced he would stand down and back Trump (i.e. when Biden was in, Kennedy's vote spit favoured Trump, but once Harris took over, the remaining vote split more favoured Harris).

 

[dorsetdesiro]

Is this guy the one who claimed to Trump that paracetamol & circumiscion causes autism?

 

[najaB]

Is this guy the one who claimed to Trump that paracetamol & circumiscion causes autism?

It's hard to know what he claims or believes.

Unfortunately it's not difficult to see the results:

(YouTube video covering the current measles outbreak in North Carolina)

 

[Richard Scott]

It's hard to know what he claims or believes.

Unfortunately it's not difficult to see the results:

(YouTube video covering the current measles outbreak in North Carolina)

To be fair this has been on the cards for a while with falling immunisation rates.

 

[najaB]

To be fair this has been on the cards for a while with falling immunisation rates.

Yes. And he's been very prominent in the anti-vaccination movement for years.

 

[Richard Scott]

Yes. And he's been very prominent in the anti-vaccination movement for years.

Oh I don't disagree with that and, in addition, some doctor making false links with autism?
These aren't recent, though, and effect is now being felt.
Hopefully people will start to see through these ridiculous claims and get their children vaccinated now that measles is on the rise?

 

[DelW]

Oh I don't disagree with that and, in addition, some doctor making false links with autism?
These aren't recent, though, and effect is now being felt.
Hopefully people will start to see through these ridiculous claims and get their children vaccinated now that measles is on the rise?

The (now ex-) doctor in question was British. It's a problem here too, even without someone like RFK pushing the anti vaccine mantra:

UK loses measles elimination status

Decision made after outbreaks in 2024, when there were nearly 3,000 cases in England and Wales.

www.bbc.co.uk

The UK has lost its measles elimination status, the World Health Organization has announced.
The move was based on the spread of cases in 2024 when there were 3,600 suspected cases.
Elimination status means there is no sustained transmission so this decision was largely expected, given the scale of the outbreaks in 2024.
There were more than 1,000 cases last year as well. The move is also a reflection of the fact vaccination rates are below the 95% threshold required to achieve herd immunity - when enough people in a community are vaccinated against a disease, making it hard for the pathogen to spread.

Boost uptake​

The UK was first declared measles-free in 2017, but lost the status two years later, before regaining it after spread of the virus was almost halted completely in 2021 - although that was mainly because social distancing during the pandemic.
Outbreaks in late 2023 meant measles started spreading more quickly again, leading to the surge in cases in 2024.
Vaccination uptake at the end of 2024 was 92% for the first dose and just below 85% for the second dose.

 

[JohnMcL7]

Yeah, the question was if they had yet changed it to mandatory. Thanks to yourself and @Krokodil for confirming that it hasn't. I'll renew mine before it does.

I put my ESTA request in this evening and the social media section was still optional, it was approved in a couple of hours. I think it's a good idea to get it done sooner rather than later even though they may revoke existing ESTAs if they change the rules

 

[Krokodil]

What are the fees at the moment?

 

[Richard Scott]

The (now ex-) doctor in question was British. It's a problem here too, even without someone like RFK pushing the anti vaccine mantra:

UK loses measles elimination status

Decision made after outbreaks in 2024, when there were nearly 3,000 cases in England and Wales.

www.bbc.co.uk

Don't disagree with that either but a documentary I watched a while back said that statement had an effect on vaccination rates in US too.

 

[DelW]

Don't disagree with that either but a documentary I watched a while back said that statement had an effect on vaccination rates in US too.

There's a saying along the lines of "each generation forgets the lessons its grandparents learned". When I was growing up in the 1950s, diseases like polio were life-threatening (as measles can be in serious cases) and vaccination was welcomed by virtually all parents. Those diseases were eliminated in the West, and so people have now forgotten their seriousness. Regrettably that's true in Britain though possibly to a lesser extent than in the USA, where, like almost everything else, the issue has been politicised.

I'm baffled what motivates RFK and his ilk to deny the widely accepted evidence though. Trump is plainly motivated by his extreme greed and his thirst for unfettered power, and he appoints incompetents so they don't show him up. But many of the rest of his administration seem to have sociopathic tendencies too.

 

[Harpo]

What I have witnessed among wider family here in the UK is that the easy availability of misinformation and quackery on (anti?) social media destabilises confidence in vaccinations, and other areas of medicine, with no equal and opposite reaction from official sources.

The US appears to have the double whammy of official sources aligning with the antis.

 

[Krokodil]

There's a saying along the lines of "each generation forgets the lessons its grandparents learned".

George Washington himself recognised the value of vaccination. He suffered badly from smallpox on Barbados while his brother (who had been innoculated by the British Army) did not catch it. So during the revolutionary war he had his men innoculated.

Back in those days it was quite crude, basically shoving ground up scabs up one's nostril. But it was effective enough.

 

[edwin_m]

I think RFJ Jr actually believes what he says. The Kennedy family has been affected by multiple tragedies which may have had some effect on his attitudes, and I note that like most politicians his higher education was not in science. If you have a mentality that the state does not care for the population and is trying to cover things up, and are only exposed to limited and specific sources of "information", it's evidently possible to believe that and treat any official rebuttal as part of the conspiracy.

 

[JohnMcL7]

What are the fees at the moment?

Around $40/£31 for the ESTA.

 

[Annetts key]

There's a saying along the lines of "each generation forgets the lessons its grandparents learned". When I was growing up in the 1950s, diseases like polio were life-threatening (as measles can be in serious cases) and vaccination was welcomed by virtually all parents. Those diseases were eliminated in the West, and so people have now forgotten their seriousness. Regrettably that's true in Britain though possibly to a lesser extent than in the USA, where, like almost everything else, the issue has been politicised.

I'm baffled what motivates RFK and his ilk to deny the widely accepted evidence though. Trump is plainly motivated by his extreme greed and his thirst for unfettered power, and he appoints incompetents so they don't show him up. But many of the rest of his administration seem to have sociopathic tendencies too.

My thoughts are, it's because they don't understand the principles of science and don't like being told what to do. They mistrust scientists and other professionals.

Trump especially just wants things that suit him done, it doesn't matter how they are done or any reasoning against these things that may exist. He's not a details man. Things he doesn't understand or want to understand, or where it interferes with being bribed or making money don't get supported. So other examples are COVID19, climate change science, renewable energy sources, independent democratic countries, independent free and fair elections in the USA and elsewhere, Congress having powers, check as and the justice/ court system.

Hence he has surrounded himself with people who have similar views to himself, and those who he thinks will be loyal to him. The fact that they are incompetent or don't have the knowledge, skills or are able to take advice from the team below them is irrelevant to him.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Feb 2026 ==

What I have witnessed among wider family here in the UK is that the easy availability of misinformation and quackery on (anti?) social media destabilises confidence in vaccinations, and other areas of medicine, with no equal and opposite reaction from official sources.

The US appears to have the double whammy of official sources aligning with the antis.

This problem of disinformation is getting worse and looks to continue getting worse. As well as damaging the reputation of the medical profession, it's also affecting other areas. And there is an increasing risk that it may affect democracy as well. For a democracy to work, the voters need to be able to tell fact from fiction.

With the ever increasing lies, disinformation and propaganda on social media sites and platforms and the use of AI to help make convincing photos, audio tracks and videos, it's getting harder for voters to filter out the rubbish from the facts. And certain politicians / political parties join or add to the confusion with their own disinformation.

Only now are many Americans working out how much Trump lied during the last election. And even now, plenty of MAGA supporters still think the sun shines out of Trumps backside. And he still continues to lie and cause chaos and destruction of both American society and the global world order.

 

[nw1]

Around $40/£31 for the ESTA.

Around triple the 2011 price, when (IIRC) it was $14 / £9. Isn't it going up to something obscene too, like $100 or thereabouts? And in 2004, it was, of course, precisely $0 to fill in a card on the plane just before you landed. Much more visitor-friendly, but we can't have that in the modern world, can we...

Clearly trying to rinse visitors for all they're worth. Tourist money would be better spent on supporting local businesses than propping up the border which is an inconvenience, rather than a benefit, to visitors. One could argue that the border should be fully funded by the US taxpayer, as they are the ones who supposedly benefit from it.

The US, of course, sadly are not alone - it seems the rest of the world have aped their approach of getting visitors rather than taxpayers to raise additional funds for border control, including, I'm embarrassed to say, the UK.

By contrast I don't have a problem with tourist tax added to hotel prices, in which visitors pay a bit towards council services in the area in which they are visiting. That is going towards services which visitors actually benefit from.

Another topic, but I wonder what countries still just allow entry to visitors by passport stamp, no more, no less? Presumably not many, as AFAIK most countries in the traditionally more open West now have stringent controls, even to nationals of supposedly friendly countries.

 

[najaB]

And in 2004, it was, of course, precisely $0 to fill in a card on the plane just before you landed. Much more visitor-friendly, but we can't have that in the modern world, can we...

Flipside: the benefit of advance information systems (ESTA, CTA, ETA, etc.) is that people who are ineligible to travel using a visa-waiver programme know that they need to apply for a visa in advance, rather than finding out when they're standing in passport control.