#MyThoughts

ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-25

Really gross that #trump is in Scotland at all (sorry, my Scottish friends), but also that he is visiting a brand new golf course of his over there while being a sitting president of the #USA with (of course) none of his assets in a blind trust.

#MyThoughts #USpol

ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-24

It would be fantastic if the president wasn’t the one to appoint leaders and board members to independent agencies, judges to federal courts, and justices to the Supreme Court.

…throwing it out there— we rely on some sort of honor system that a person granted WAY too much power won’t abuse it ~

#USA #usgovernment #USpol #MyThoughts

ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-23

We could stop buying stuff...

#USA #MyThoughts

~ Supreme Court Lets Trump Fire Consumer Product
Safety Regulators ~

nytimes.com/2025/07/23/us/poli

Supreme Court Lets Trump Fire Consumer Product
Safety Regulators
The court's order was the latest in a series of emergency rulings on the scope of the presidents power over independent agencies.
Listen to this article • 7:16 min
Learn more
WARNING:
CHOKING HAZARD - small parts.
HELLO KITTY
Image: Toys in a store

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/us/politics/supreme-court-consumer-product-commission.html

Accessed: 23 July 2025 at 1745 MSTBy Adam Liptak and Zach Montague
Reporting from Washington
July 23, 2025
Updated 5:55 p.m. ET

The Supreme Court on Wednesday
allowed President Trump to fire the three Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, a five-member group that monitors the safety of items like toys, cribs and electronics.
The court's brief order was unsigned, which is typical when the justices act on emergency applications, though the court's three liberal justices dissented.
The order cited as its reasoning a previous decision involving the leaders of two other independent agencies, who the court ruled in May could be removed by Mr. Trump in a similar fashion, at least temporarily.
The order is not the last word in the case, which is pending in an appeals court and may return to the justices.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/us/politics/supreme-court-consumer-product-commission.html

Accessed: 23 July 2025 at 1745 MSTIn a series of rulings since the start of Mr. Trump's second term, the Supreme Court has almost without exception given him broad leeway to exercise control over the executive branch, including by firing officials despite a federal law limiting his authority to do so. The Supreme Court has been chipping away at a 90-year-old precedent that allowed Congress to shield the leaders of independent agencies from politics by making it hard to fire them. In response to an emergency application in late May, the Supreme Court let Mr. Trump remove, for now, the leaders of two other agencies: Cathy A. Harris, a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board, and Gwynne A. Wilcox, a member of the National Labor Relations Board. The order on Wednesday echoed what the majority concluded then: that Mr. Trump could remove officials who exercised power on his behalf "because the Constitution vests the executive power in the president."

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/us/politics/supreme-court-consumer-product-commission.html

Accessed: 23 July 2025 at 1745 MSTJustice Elena Kagan, joined by the court's other two liberals, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, issued a written dissent, arguing that Congress had created the commission as a independent entity that could regulate more effectively than "a single-party agency under the full control of a single president." "By allowing the president to remove commissioners for no reason other than their party affiliation, the majority has negated Congress's choice of agency bipartisanship and independence," she wrote. In a concurrence, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh agreed with the court's order and added that the court should also simultaneously fast-track a full review in cases where it may eventually overturn legal precedents. In temporarily staying a lower court's decision, he wrote, the order - like other recent decisions - could leave members of the product safety board and the lower courts with "extended uncertainty and confusion about the status of the precedent in question." The justices rarely fast-track cases, because it circumvents the regular appeals process.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/us/politics/supreme-court-consumer-product-commission.html

Accessed: 23 July 2025 at 1745 MST
ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-23

Trump said, "Whether it's right or wrong, it's time to go after people."

(when talking about how he is accusing former President Obama of something that *used* to be a horrible thing that people didn't just casually accuse other people of-- treason)

Let that sink in...

(And does that mean he has a sense of right & wrong, yet CHOOSES to do something wrong in order to protect himself?)

…because he sure seems defensive about the Epstein thing. Huh.

#USpol #MyThoughts

(vid to follow)

ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-23

RFK Jr. acted like the new Coca-Cola made with cane sugar* is a healthier, wiser choice for a beverage.

No it's not, omg don't listen to him.
Signed,
A real medical professional

#USpol #MyThoughts

* (supposedly American cane sugar)

ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-15

/3 🧵

About how jailing people instead of letting them work and then eventually kicking them out of the country will significantly hurt the #USA economy in the long run—

~ ‘Essential isn’t a strong enough word’: Loss of foreign workers begins to bite US economy:

Trump’s immigration policy is taking a toll on more than farms.

politico.com/news/2025/07/08/e
--
#trump #immigration #deportation #ICE #MyThoughts



'Essential isn't a strong enough word: Loss of foreign workers begins to bite US economy
Trump's immigration policy is taking a toll on more than farms.

Image: Dairy cows stand in the corral of a dairy farm west of Bakersfield, California, on April 9, 2025. | Frederic J.
Brown/AFP via Getty Images

By AARON PELLISH
07/08/2025 05:42 PM EDT

Text: President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration is starting to ripple across the U.S. economy.

In:

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/08/essential-isnt-a-strong-enough-word-loss-of-foreign-workers-begins-to-bite-us-economy-00443021

Accessed: 15 July 2025 at 1350 PST
ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-15

Inflation ticked up some in the #USA , but we haven’t seen anything yet ( #MyThoughts ). There are many factors at play, like:

--> Much of Trump’s tariff plans were on hold (& the #inflation report looks backwards)

--> Businesses had front-loaded their inventory & consumers bought ahead (e.g., vehicles), anticipating #tariffs

--> The Fed hasn’t lowered interest rates yet (though #Trump wants that & plans to appoint a new Fed chair)

--
#USeconomy #economics
--

wsj.com/economy/inflation-hit-

Inflation Picks Up to 2.7% as Tariffs Seep Into Prices
Economists are split on how much tariffs will affect prices in the coming months, as Trump's tariff policy remains uncertain.

https://www.wsj.com/economy/inflation-hit-2-7-in-june-in-line-with-expectations-8f92a8cd

Accessed: 15 July 2025 at 0114 PSTConsumer prices, change from a year earlier
SELECT RISERS 0%
5
10
15
Natural-gas service
Coffee
Audio equipment
Beef/veal
College textbooks
Motor-vehicle repair
Electricity
Day care/preschool
Hospital services
Shelter
-15
-10
0% SELECT DECLINERS
Internet services
Public transportation
Whiskey at home
Airline fares
Jewelry
Tomatoes
Lettuce
Gasoline
Televisions
Smartphones

https://www.wsj.com/economy/inflation-hit-2-7-in-june-in-line-with-expectations-8f92a8cd

Accessed: 15 July 2025 at 0114 PSTInflation picked up in June, a potential sign that companies are starting to pass tariff costs on to consumers.
Consumer prices rose 2.7% in June from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Tuesday, faster than May's increase of 2.4%.
That was in line with the expectations of economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was 2.9%, also in line with forecasts.
Prices of furniture, toys and clothes-items that tend to be sensitive to tariffs-posted larger increases in June. At the same time, car prices unexpectedly fell.

https://www.wsj.com/economy/inflation-hit-2-7-in-june-in-line-with-expectations-8f92a8cd

Accessed: 15 July 2025 at 0114 PSTConsumer prices rose 0.3% in June compared with May, the largest monthly gain since January and a setback for White House officials who have said in recent weeks there isn't any meaningful inflation.
But core prices rose 0.23%, at the middle of the range of monthly price increases over the previous year.
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down. The Nasdaq composite rose, on pace for a new high.
"We are seeing inflation beginning to pick up," said Sarah House, a senior economist at Wells Fargo. Still, the numbers aren't a
"worst-case scenario" because tariffs are so far only pushing up prices in a handful of goods categories and haven't spread over to services, she said.
One possible explanation for the monthly drop in car prices, House said: Consumers moved planned purchases ahead to avoid expected tariffs, leading to lower demand

https://www.wsj.com/economy/inflation-hit-2-7-in-june-in-line-with-expectations-8f92a8cd

Accessed: 15 July 2025 at 0114 PST
ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-15

3 things:

1. “A small number of people might still be released from detention... but those decisions will now be made by an ICE officer rather than a judge.”
--> potential for bribery

2. ICE will increase the number of people it can detain AND contract out to private jailers (from what I read).
--> potentially jailing people indefinitely

3. In the image, 5 heavily-clad #ICE tackle 1 unarmed, clean-cut-appearing brown man at an immigration court.
--> Who are the ‘thugs’ 🤔

--> #MyThoughts

New ICE Policy Blocks
Detained Migrants From
Seeking Bond
The policy shift will apply to all immigrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, no matter when they did so.

https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/new-ice-policy-blocks-detained-migrants-from-seeking-bond-f557402a

Accessed: 15 July 2025 at 1336 MST
ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-15

/2 🧵

Screenshots of the article

~New ICE Policy Blocks
Detained Migrants From
Seeking Bond:

The policy shift will apply to all immigrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, no matter when they did so~

(So it seems it could apply to kids, too (?), or at least people who crossed over as kids.)

--> Jailing people instead of letting them work will significantly hurt the #USA economy in the long run.

#trump #immigration #deportation #ICE #MyThoughts
--

wsj.com/politics/policy/new-ic

WASHINGTON-The Trump administration is attempting to make millions of immigrants living in the country illegally ineligible to be released from detention on bond as they fight their deportation cases, according to a memo viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The policy shift, issued under what is known as interim guidance by acting U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Director Todd Lyons last week, will apply to all immigrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, no matter when. Lyons told officers in a memo that such immigrants should remain in detention throughout their deportation proceedings, which can stretch for months or even years, according to the
memo.

In: New ICE Policy Blocks
Detained Migrants From
Seeking Bond
The policy shift will apply to all immigrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, no matter when they did so.

https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/new-ice-policy-blocks-detained-migrants-from-seeking-bond-f557402a

Accessed: 15 July 2025 at 1336 MSTThe move marks a significant departure from decades of practice, when immigration judges had the latitude to release someone from detention on a bond if they weren't deemed a flight risk. Immigration law states that all immigrants in the country illegally must be detained while their fates are
decided, but with limited beds available in ICE jails, the government had considered the law effectively impossible to enforce.
"The Biden administration dangerously unleashed millions of unvetted illegal aliens into American communities-and they used many loopholes to do so," Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said. "President Trump and Secretary Noem are now enforcing this law as it was actually written to keep America safe."


In: New ICE Policy Blocks
Detained Migrants From
Seeking Bond
The policy shift will apply to all immigrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, no matter when they did so.

https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/new-ice-policy-blocks-detained-migrants-from-seeking-bond-f557402a

Accessed: 15 July 2025 at 1336 MSTThe Washington Post on earlier reported on the new policy.
Roughly 57,800 people were in ICE detention as of June 29, according to data from the Transactional Records Access
Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, known as TRAC.
With a coming infusion of tens of billions of dollars from President Trump's signature tax and spending package, ICE is hoping to expand its detention capacity to 100,000 beds, up from roughly 40,000 under the Biden administration. Trump
administration officials hope to soon begin stepping up deportation efforts, which have lagged behind in the early months of Trump's second term.

In: New ICE Policy Blocks
Detained Migrants From
Seeking Bond
The policy shift will apply to all immigrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, no matter when they did so.

https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/new-ice-policy-blocks-detained-migrants-from-seeking-bond-f557402a

Accessed: 15 July 2025 at 1336 MSTImmigration officials asked the general counsel's office at the Department of Homeland Security, ICE's parent agency, to reconsider the longstanding policy of allowing immigrants to be released on bond, given that the agency will soon have the capacity to detain them, said an administration official familiar with the
matter. A small number of people might still be released from detention, Lyons wrote, but those decisions will now be made by an ICE officer rather than a judge.
The legal interpretation ICE is now using has faced previous legal challenges in Washington state, where advocates say immigration court judges in Tacoma for years denied bond to almost all of the immigrants there who have entered the country illegally.
Write to Michelle Hackman at
michelle.hackman@wsj.com and Victoria
Albert at victoria.albert@wsj.com

In: New ICE Policy Blocks
Detained Migrants From
Seeking Bond
The policy shift will apply to all immigrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, no matter when they did so.

https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/new-ice-policy-blocks-detained-migrants-from-seeking-bond-f557402a

Accessed: 15 July 2025 at 1336 MST
ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-10

/2 of 2

#MyThoughts

Perhaps #trump should have thought of that before making punitive trade-related threats that have nothing to do with the actual balance of #trade.

#TradeWar #tariffs

ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-09

Brace for more chaos.

#USA #MyThoughts

~ Supreme Court clears way for Trump to pursue mass federal layoffs ~

… giving the green light for the #Trump admin “to pursue mass gov’t job cuts and the sweeping downsizing of numerous agencies, a decision that could lead to tens of thousands of layoffs while dramatically reshaping the federal bureaucracy.”

(btw, “bureaucracy” isn’t a bad word— though sometimes thought of as tedious, its checks & balances promote security)

reuters.com/legal/litigation/u

ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-08

/2

~Short sellers got > $4 billion in profits June 5 when #Tesla saw its biggest single-day drop in market value after #Trump & #Musk started a social media brawl.

#MyThoughts -
• Politics is bad for Musk’s wealth (much involves Tesla, but might be shifting).

• The short-selling has made him mad before.

• Tesla is like a meme stock with underlying company valuation based less on financials than hype.

• The stock will remain very volatile & people will short sell when they see opportunity.

ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-07

In February, #Trump warned BRICS nations would face "100% tariffs" if they tried to undermine the role of the U.S. dollar in global trade.

(#MyThoughts — weird— seems Trump’s actions are doing that all by themselves)

--

Re:
~ #Brazil president said the world does not need an emperor after the #USA leader threatened extra tariffs on #BRICS

#trade #GlobalTrade #tariffs

In: ‘Latest updates on Trump tariffs’—

reuters.com/world/trump-tariff

Lula tells Trump world does not want 'emperor' after US threatens BRICS
tariff
Manuela Andreoni
July 7, 20253:41 PM EDTUpdated 1 hour ago

Image caption: Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks to the media at the BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes Purchase Licensing Rights
ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-02

#MyThoughts (again) —

How long will countries play with the unpredictable bully on the playground?

I guess as long as they have to.

ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-02

#MyThoughts-

The ‘deal’ will raise prices for Americans while potentially helping select US exporting companies.

It’s a terrible deal for #Vietnam, which was strong-armed by #trump after he threatened a 46% blanket tariff on goods the #USA imports from the country. He then backed down to 10% before ‘negotiating’ up to 20% (instead of raising it back to 46% on July 9, when his reciprocal #tariffs would resume.)

/2 of 2 🧵

~ Trump Announces #Trade Deal with Vietnam ~

npr.org/2025/07/02/nx-s1-54222

ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-02

College students w/o deep pockets, esp. grad students, may have to turn to private lenders if the proposed #trump budget legislation becomes law.

Federal student loans are preferred because of their consist terms & conditions, set by the #USA government.

This is concerning for a nation with what many would considered be a student loan crisis.

#BudgetBill #StudentLoans #USpol #MyThoughts
--

~ Trump's Tax Bill Set to Help SoFi, Other Private Student
Lenders ~

bloomberg.com/news/articles/20

Trump's Tax Bill Set to Help SoFi, Other Private Student
Lenders

Image: SoFi Technologies headquarters in San Francisco. Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

By Paige Smith and Claire Ballentine
July 2, 2025 at 4:28 PM EDT

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-02/trump-s-tax-bill-set-to-help-sofi-other-private-student-lenders

Accessed: 2 July 2025, 1518 PSTSummary (AI-generated from Bloomberg):

• President Donald Trump's tax legislation may benefit companies offering private student loans, such as SoFi Technologies Inc., by limiting how much students and their parents can borrow for college from the government.
• The proposed legislation could drive demand for privately offered student loans, particularly among graduate students and those in professional programs, who may be unable to finance their education costs with just federal loans.
• The bill's changes to repayment programs may also lead to increased refinancing activity, benefiting private lenders like SoFi, which has a strong market share in student lending.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-02/trump-s-tax-bill-set-to-help-sofi-other-private-student-lenders

Accessed: 2 July 2025, 1518 PST
ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-02

If I start writing articles on Medium or Substack or something, I will not use ChatGPT or another LLM to ‘assist’ with my #writing . It will be challenging to compete because I likely won’t spit out articles as quickly as others who use the tech.

However, the articles will be substantive, well-researched, and backed with my education and experience. They will also include MY analysis.

People can count on my words being in my own. The irony is that LLMs will likely steal them.

#MyThoughts

ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-01

I wonder where our society will be 10 or 20 years from now if companies continue to integrate generative #AI into every imaginable consumer product & service.

I wonder what writing & art will be like.

Will only those who rely on the tech survive in our competitive world? Or perhaps our society will evolve past the tech or make it only moderately pervasive in our lives. Humanity will control AI, yet retain the upper hand.

Perhaps the fad will atrophy before our brain cells do.

#MyThoughts

ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-01

I don’t use ChatGPT or any of the other LLMs to assist with writing. Honestly, I don’t want to because I want my writing to come solely from me. And I don’t want to lean on an LLM or other generative AI tool as a crutch— which I find can easily happen, even when one intends otherwise.

#random #MyThoughts #writing #AI

ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊dalfen@mstdn.social
2025-07-01

The generative #AI tool (in one of the iOS Mastodon apps) to assist with writing alt text for images was very helpful to me when I hurt my arm but still wanted to post. And it can be a time saver, though it is limited. I must check what is written to ensure it is correct and includes enough detail.

But honestly, I feel like I lose a few brain cells when I use the tool for too long because I find myself having to think harder to write simple alt text after relying on AI.

#random #MyThoughts

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