Extreme Commanders

USDA scholarship for students at historically Black colleges suspended


WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal scholarship aimed at boosting students from underserved and rural areas attending historically Black colleges and universities has been put on hold.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture suspended the 1890 Scholars Program, which provided recipients with full tuition and fees for students studying agriculture, food or natural resource sciences at one of 19 universities, known as the 1890 land grant institutions.
https://apnews.com/article/hbcu-agricul ... a7cf720584

'Nightmare for all of us': Anxiety grows among Social Security recipients

President Donald Trump was asked at a press conference this month if there were any federal agencies or programs that Elon Musk’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency wouldn’t be allowed to mess with.

“Social Security will not be touched,” Trump answered, echoing a promise he has been making for years. Despite his eagerness to explode treaties, shutter entire government agencies and abandon decades-old ways of doing things, the president understands that Social Security benefits for seniors are sacrosanct.

Still, the DOGE team landed at the Social Security Administration this week, with Musk drawing attention for his outlandish claims that large numbers of 150-year-old “vampires” are receiving Social Security payments. DOGE has begun installing its own operatives, including an engineer linked to tweets promoting eugenics and executives with a cut-first-fix-later philosophy, in multiple top positions at the Social Security Administration.

Their first wave of actions — initiating the elimination of 41 jobs and the closing of at least 10 local offices, so far — was largely lost in the rush of headlines. Those first steps might seem restrained compared with the mass firings that DOGE has pursued at other federal agencies. But Social Security recipients rely on in-person service in all 50 states, and the shuttering of offices, reported on DOGE’s website to include locations everywhere from rural West Virginia to Las Vegas, could be hugely consequential. The closures potentially reduce access to Social Security for some of the most vulnerable people in this country — including not just retirees but also individuals with severe physical and intellectual disabilities, as well as children whose parents have died and who’ve been left in poverty.

The Social Security Administration, headquartered just outside Baltimore, has more than 1,200 regional and field offices — nearly a fifth of all of the federal government’s offices nationwide. There are 119,000 visitors to these brick-and-mortar facilities every business day. Many of them do not have high levels of computer and internet literacy and need someone to help them through all the legalese of a nearly century-old social program with a wonky user interface. This is also where elderly people can apply for Medicare, which doesn’t have physical outposts of its own. And it’s where hearings are held — due process provided — for beneficiaries who believe that they have been unfairly kicked off of desperately needed assistance.

“It’s where people access government,” said Kathleen Romig, a longtime expert on the program at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities who recently served at the Social Security Administration in a temporary capacity.

In the event of more Social Security office closures like the ones that the Trump administration has begun pursuing — the president is broadly moving to close a range of offices and has even floated the idea of terminating every single federal lease — it is disproportionately poor people with lower levels of education who will become less likely to apply for and get help, research on past closures has found.

Click on the link for the full article

Sarge wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2025 12:49 pm

Jumbo wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2025 11:40 am

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/21/politics ... index.html

The boogey man of the DEI concept.

Let socially stunted 17 year old incel tech prodigies lead in personnel management for the Pentagon!

wimmens and negroes go first!

Getting back to the warrior mindset, instead of catering to confused men. I know this upsets liberals.

.

I've been ignoring your nonsense mostly, though you keep quoting me and playing your little shtick.

"Warrior mindset"..you mean keyboard warriors?

Frankly, bluntly, your comments over the years have almost never bore much relation to any generally intelligent or decent (in all definitions of the word) form of conservatism.

Personally, I generally like intelligent and decent conservatism.

I've been a registered independent since my first vote in 72. Voted for several gop presidents, inc. both bushes (all candidates have had serious flaws to me) and have been less invested in a candidates party up and down a ballot than to his words and deeds.

Now, in trump/maga world, it's hard for me to support the gop at all, anywhere, though I still have a lot of issues with the Dem party, too. But right now there's no contest in who I favor there so have to be clear about that.

But I am more in line with an Adam Kizinger, among others, who I've been celebrating since he first went to Congress. I certainly like his version of gop/conservative infinitely more than this current dominant manifestation of maga and those who find cause to support trump.

The extremes of both wings of our political dodo bird are replete with failings, but it's hard to get lower than the version of "the right wing" you present.

Your animated and unfailing embrace of "alternate facts", use of garbage sources, perpetual trolling, terminal hypocrisy, and of course the multiple examples of outright bigotry and racism that were common features of your content on ES before that kind of crap (from right or left keyboard kommando klowns) finally started to get dealt with there, is simply a toxic detriment to a better society imv.

The fumigation of that kind of rancid crap from ES certainly yielded vastly improved conversations for intelligent conservatives, moderates, liberals, and all the other "labels."

However, while I'm at it, I kinda feel like congratulating you on your choice of using the term "middle easterners" in a post where you were railing about the kind of people European countries were letting in, while we were giving those allies financial support in service to our strategic interests.

Using the term "middle easterners", while still suggesting your likely leanings on certain matters, is a vast improvement over terms like "towel heads" from the "turd world", which were two of your favorites phrases (among many other bigoted, racist, and other "ism-issues") you routinely posted in early ES days.

I hope you experience some (what I would call) growth in your views someday. It's an option available to all of us and I include myself and am ever mindful to challenge my own positions.

But you are done here. You went way out of the way from the start to show why you got booted from forums in the past, and contributed to at least one forum deciding to just close down political discussions entirely. I wish wellness for you.

Here is a nice, consolidated video/breakdown of all the townhalls that backfired on the GOP. I didn't know there were this many, maybe even more out there:

At this current rate (it's only been a month ffs), I can't see town halls being a thing much longer as these Congress people will likely end up fearing for their life if they are a Trump ass kissing politician.

The call will be coming from inside the house, so to speak, when their base is cut off from Social Security and Medicare/caid and those savings cover the top 1% getting a tax cut.

Talk about someone who projects a "just punch me" vibe.

Sarge wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2025 12:49 pm

Jumbo wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2025 11:40 am

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/21/politics ... index.html

The boogey man of the DEI concept.

Let socially stunted 17 year old incel tech prodigies lead in personnel management for the Pentagon!

wimmens and negroes go first!

Getting back to the warrior mindset, instead of catering to confused men. I know this upsets liberals.

Damn, you haven't changed a bit...like you was in a time capsule or something...lolz...

Who awaken thy? How tf did you even find us?

There's a difference between keeping convo honest and straight trolling...

Judge largely blocks Trump’s executive orders ending federal support for DEI programs

A federal judge on Friday largely blocked sweeping executive orders from President Donald Trump that seek to end government support for programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.

U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson in Baltimore granted a preliminary injunction blocking the administration from terminating or changing federal contracts they consider equity-related.

Abelson found that the orders likely carry constitutional violations, including against free-speech rights.

Trump signed an order his first day in office directing federal agencies to terminate all “equity-related” grants or contracts. He signed a follow-up order requiring federal contractors to certify that they don’t promote DEI.

The White House didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment Friday evening.

The plaintiffs — including the city of Baltimore and higher education groups — sued the Trump administration earlier this month, arguing the executive orders are unconstitutional and a blatant overreach of presidential authority. They also allege the directives have a chilling effect on free speech.

“What’s happening is an overcorrection and pulling back on DEI statements,” attorney Aleshadye Getachew said during a nearly three-hour hearing Wednesday.

Click on the link for the full article

Brave wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2025 4:51 pm

I'm pretty sure that would be illegal. So please, go for it and let's have another dozen lawsuits.