President Donald Trump's United States of America

[Lennox970]

I don't make predictions, I just look at the facts. So I don't know if this is just a pressure tactic or a preparation for an air assault campaign. I don't know what their plan is for securing strategic assets (or if they even have a plan). But what we know for sure is that they are certainly building up military presence in the region to at least have an option for a crushing air strike campaign.

Fresh round of air asset redeployment towards Iran.

F-35s:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2016905564391968827

more Growlers:
https://www.itamilradar.com/2026/01...gnaling-renewed-middle-east-deployment-cycle/

Yes, exactly that. For a threat to be effective, it has to be credible, so putting everything in place for a full-on campaign. What the objectives would ultimately be remains to be seen. Remaining nuclear programme infrastructure, military/IRGC capabilities, leadership? Regime change - possibility, but I wouldn't put money on it. The lessons of Iraq (regime change, boots on the ground) or Libya (regime change, no boots on the ground) are probably a fair warning. And I don't think there is any US stomach - from the majority of both the Republican base and Democrats, for another nation-building project in a distant land. And knocking out the Ayatollah regime and leaving a regional vacuum will be equally painful and the US would not be forgiven.

I know the Shah-designate had a high Western profile during the recent unrest, but I am unsighted on what credible and capable post-Ayatollah governance exists within Iran. Organized opposition certainly hollowed out, but there is no doubt now about increasing internal discontent with the status quo. The regime's own calculation may be a significant factor if they assess US action as being existential for the Islamic leadership. They may well use the 80s playbook of inflicting maximum regional pain - closing the Gulf, to draw in and leverage other actors. I am sure the US is now trying to leverage those same actors behind the scenes. N.B. China (China’s Crude Oil Imports by Country).

An Iran that forswears a nuclear programme, on top of its recent loss of regional allies, could be transformational for the ME. The period after the Iran-Iraq/Kuwait wars was comparatively stable, with a resistant (but bottled up) Iraq and a chastened Iran.

Sit back with the popcorn and watch.

 

[Admiral Beez]

View attachment 711743

How does this stop fentanyl? That’s the only justification Trump gave for tariffs against Canada. If it’s not an emergency act, tariffs are acts of Congress. These mid terms can’t come soon enough.

 

[zang]

Was Carney aware that this was an irritant for Gulfstream? He needs to be asked that question because if he was then he should never have allowed it to get to this situation. In Trump's first term he put 300% tariffs on the Bombardier C-Series jet which doomed sales in the US and Bombardier was forced to sell the program to Airbus for $1.

Yeah, lets certify aircraft that have been certified in their home country with safety exemptions all because another country says we should.

 

[PL1]

Yeah, lets certify aircraft that have been certified in their home country with safety exemptions because another country says we should.

Indeed. And there are recent issues with FAA certification where the company has/had been allowed to self-certify some aspects. See the Boeing 737-Max.

EASA and Transport Canada are not rubber stamping bodies.

 

[zang]

Indeed. And there are recent issues with FAA certification where the company has/had been allowed to self-certify some aspects. See the Boeing 737-Max.

That's not to mention DoGE cuts to FAA make anything coming out of that agency from 2025 onwards highly suspect of lack of due diligence and expertise.

 

[kEiThZ]

There is no good reason for Transport Canada not to follow the lead of the FAA

Key events in the troubled history of the Boeing 737 Max

Boeing’s 737 Max is a more fuel-efficient version of the American aerospace company’s popular 737, the best-selling airliner ever.

apnews.com

If you don't do your homework properly, your friends are going to check twice before accepting your work in good faith.

 

[EBT]

Key events in the troubled history of the Boeing 737 Max

Boeing’s 737 Max is a more fuel-efficient version of the American aerospace company’s popular 737, the best-selling airliner ever.

apnews.com

If you don't do your homework properly, your friends are going to check twice before accepting your work in good faith.

Huh? I posted above that the FAA grounded the 737 max for almost 2 years https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threa...s-united-states-of-america.26622/post-2344891

"To those who say "this is all about safety" I have trust in the FAA. In the past the FAA has not been reluctant to ground American made aircraft over safety concerns. I remember in 1989 when the FAA grounded all Douglas DC-10's after the crash of American Airlines Flight 191in Chicago. More recently I recall the grounding of all Boeing 737 MAX aircraft that lasted almost two years during which time Boeing could not make deliveries"

 

[kEiThZ]

Huh? I posted above that the FAA grounded the 737 max for almost 2 years https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threa...s-united-states-of-america.26622/post-2344891

Regulators aren't concerned as much with what happens after an accident as what led to the accident in the first place. The FAA actually delegated certification authority to the companies themselves. It's partly what led to that disaster.

My background. Served as a unit flight safety officer in one of my jobs.

 

[thettctransitfanatic]

Epstein files latest: More than three million pages set to be released

The US Department of Justice is releasing more than three million pages from the Epstein files. Follow the latest here.

news.sky.com

Epstein files latest: More than three million pages set to be released​

The US Department of Justice is releasing more than three million pages from the Epstein files.

More than three million pages of Epstein files released​

US deputy attorney Todd Blanche has now started the news conference in Washington.
"I'm here today to talk about the department's compliance with its production obligations," he says.
"We are also releasing today a letter we are transmitting to Congress and various internal protocols associated with our review."
He says the department of justice is producing "more than three million pages, including more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images in total".
"That means the department produced approximately 3.5 million pages in compliance with the act."

Deputy attorney general outlines what details have been withheld​

Todd Blanche is now explaining the details that won't be released.
"The categories of documents withheld include those permitted under the act to be withheld, files that contain personally identifiable information of victims, personal and medical files and similar files," he says.
"The disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy."
And on redactions, he says there have been "extensive redactions" to images and videos to protect victims.
"With the exception of Maxwell, we did not redact images of any man unless it was impossible to redact the woman without also redacting the man," he adds.

'Mistakes are inevitable'​

Todd Blanche is now talking about the magnitude of the task to redact information.
"The attorney general, the director of the FBI, and our partners throughout this administration work hard every single day to protect the most vulnerable among us with the protection of this magnitude," he says.
"Mistakes are inevitable.
"We, of course, want to immediately correct any redaction errors that our team may have made."
He explains that the Department of Justice has established an email and inbox for victims "to correct redactions and any concerns when appropriate".

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

Journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort taken into custody after Minnesota church protest​

From https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/30/politics/don-lemon-custody

Two independent journalists, Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, have been arrested in connection with a protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Lemon and Fort were live-streaming as dozens of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters rushed into Cities Church on January 18, interrupting a church service and leading to tense confrontations.

Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday announced said four people total had been arrested “in connection with the coordinated attack” at the church.

The other two individuals Bondi named were Trahern Jeen Crew and Jamael Lydell Lundy.

Court records related to the arrests were not immediately available. Lemon, a former CNN anchor who now hosts his own show on YouTube and other platforms, is expected to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Friday.

Lemon was in L.A. to cover the Grammy Awards and was arrested after 11 p.m. local time in a hotel lobby in Beverly Hills.

“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” Lemon’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement Friday morning. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable.”

“Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest, and that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case,” Lowell added. “This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.”

Lemon has repeatedly said he was present at the demonstration as a journalist, not as an activist. In a video of the episode that he posted to YouTube, Lemon said, “I’m just here photographing, I’m not part of the group… I’m a journalist.”

Fort made the same points in a Facebook Live stream when federal agents arrived at her home early Friday morning.

“This is all stemming from the fact that I filmed a protest as a member of the media,” Fort said before she surrendered to agents.

“We are supposed to have our constitutional right of the freedom to film, to be a member of the press,” she said. “I don’t feel like I have my First Amendment right as a member of the press because now federal agents are at my door arresting me for filming the church protest a few weeks ago.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement that the arrests are “deeply troubling,” adding: “In Minnesota, we do not treat journalists like criminals for doing their jobs. No one should be arrested merely for holding a camera, asking hard questions, or telling the public what we have a right to know.”

A previous attempt to charge Lemon​

Videos of the church disruption spurred widespread outrage, particularly from allies of the Trump administration, some of whom publicly pressured Bondi and other officials to take action.

The DOJ first attempted to charge eight people, including Lemon, last week. A magistrate judge rejected those charges against five of the people including Lemon, saying that there was insufficient evidence to charge.

The judge, however, encouraged prosecutors to take the case to a grand jury and seek an indictment. And Lemon on his YouTube show that the government would try again to charge him.

“Keep trying,” Lemon said. “That’s not gonna stop me from being a journalist. You’re not gonna diminish my voice.”

It is highly unusual for the Justice Department to criminally charge a reporter, though it is not without precedent. Those cases are heavily scrutinized before the decision to bring charges is made, and often face extended legal battles over whether the reporter is protected by the First Amendment before the case makes it to trial.

Still, senior DOJ officials immediately — and publicly — asserted that Lemon would face charges after the incident at the Minnesota church. Lemon did not have a right to be on the church’s private property, they said, adding that interrupting a church service may have impeded churchgoers’ constitutional rights to express their religion.

On Friday morning, FBI director Kash Patel called what happened a “coordinated targeting” of the church.

Press freedom advocates condemn arrests​

Press freedom groups blasted the arrests of the two reporters on Friday.

“These arrests under bogus legal theories for obviously constitutionally protected reporting are clear warning shots aimed at other journalists,” said Seth Stern, the chief of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation. “The unmistakable message is that journalists must tread cautiously because the government is looking for any way to target them.”

Stern told CNN “the answer to this outrageous attack is not fear or self-censorship. It’s an even stronger commitment to journalism, the truth, and the First Amendment. If the Trump administration thinks it can bully journalists into submission, it is wrong.”

Katherine Jacobsen, the US, Canada and Caribbean Program Coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, said Lemon’s arrest “should alarm all Americans.”

“As an international organization, we know that the treatment of journalists is an indicator of the condition of a country’s democracy. The United States is doing poorly,” Jacobsen said.

Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the nonprofit advocacy group Public Citizen, called the action against Lemon an “authoritarian breach” and an “egregious violation of the First Amendment.”

“Reporters in America are free to view, document, and share information with the public,” Gilbert said. “This arrest is a constitutional violation, an outrage, an authoritarian breach, and utterly appalling.”

CNN also issued a statement in defense of Lemon, who was terminated by the network in 2023.

“The FBl’s arrest of our former CNN colleague Don Lemon raises profoundly concerning questions about press freedom and the First Amendment,” the network said. “The Department of Justice already failed twice to get an arrest warrant for Don and several other journalists in Minnesota, where a chief judge of the Minnesota Federal District Court found there was ’no evidence’ that there was any criminal behavior involved in their work. The First Amendment in the United States protects journalists who bear witness to news and events as they unfold, ensuring they can report freely in the public interest, and the DOJ’s attempts to violate those rights is unacceptable. We will be following this case closely.”

 

[picard102]

There is no good reason for Transport Canada not to follow the lead of the FAA which is the most trusted and respected aviation authority in the world.

A) It's not the most respected aviations authority in the world. Just the most well known.

B) The good reason is that we are a separate country. Why are you bending the knee to Americans so readily when half your posts are unhinged outrage for Carney not telling Trump to eat dog poo?

 

[Full Metal Junkie]

If the new National Security Strategy is anything to go by, it's going to be Cuba before Greenland

Trump admin is tightening the noose on Cuba:

Countries supplying oil to Cuba threatened with US tariffs

Trump signs executive order ramping up pressure on Havana's oil supplies in wake of US abduction of Venezuela's Maduro.

www.aljazeera.com

They are trying to establish a de facto oil embargo. Mexico has picked up the slack to supply Cuba with oil following the Maduro incident. US is trying to stop it. By some estimates, Cuba has 2-3 weeks worth of oil left. Their economy is already in tatters, oil embargo will lead to its complete collapse.

US is currently busy with their Iran endeavors, they might just let the Cuban situation simmer there for a few months. But they are going to come back to it soon enough.

 

[Towered]

Trump admin is tightening the noose on Cuba:

Countries supplying oil to Cuba threatened with US tariffs

Trump signs executive order ramping up pressure on Havana's oil supplies in wake of US abduction of Venezuela's Maduro.

www.aljazeera.com

They are trying to establish a de facto oil embargo. Mexico has picked up the slack to supply Cuba with oil following the Maduro incident. US is trying to stop it. By some estimates, Cuba has 2-3 weeks worth of oil left. Their economy is already in tatters, oil embargo will lead to its complete collapse.

US is currently busy with their Iran endeavors, they might just let the Cuban situation simmer there for a few months. But they are going to come back to it soon enough.

Yep - Cuba is done.

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

Journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort taken into custody after Minnesota church protest​

From https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/30/politics/don-lemon-custody
View attachment 711822

...two political activist/politicians where arrested too over this. All black. And without any just cause apparently.

 

[Full Metal Junkie]

New batch of Epstein files:

The Pedophile in Chief is implicated. I wonder what the statute of limitation is on a statutory rape of a 13-year-old.