Fridays with Nicole Sandler

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    • Ciel babe says:

      Maybe he thinks the NEJM is a Harvard operation. It’s actually unofficially based at Mass General, one of the independent hospitals that have affiliated themselves with Harvard but have identities that in some case pre-date Harvard’s existence. The hospitals have very high opinions of themselves, to the point of considering Harvard as benefiting from their reflective glow – not the other way around. I can see the possibility of stoking anti-snob anti-elitist sentiments via this target, but really does anyone outside the academic medicine community know/care re: snob level? Whatever. Should’ve bought popcorn in bulk for the fasciitis vs academics show

    • Rugger_9 says:

      I have yet to see a fully compliant retreat from this crew. They say they’ll reinstate the visas but I’ll believe it when I see it for all of the affected students. What we’ll probably see is more excuses to hold off because of thoughtcrime. After all, is Abrego Garcia back from El Salvador?

      • Ciel babe says:

        Agree. It’s like Rubio promising pregnant workers they have no worries, they won’t really get laid off and abruptly lose their income, health care coverage, access to health care savings accounts – but there’s no actual motion. Perhaps everyone who would be part of compliance has been laid off.

  3. wa_rickf says:

    Trump in the 4th row at the Pope’s funeral?!? There is no respect for the US any longer. This is what’s happened to America in just three short months when an orange incompetent criminal clown is elected POTUS.

    • wa_rickf says:

      I’m surprised Italy allowed a foreign convicted felon into their country to go to the Vatican.

    • Critter7 says:

      Reported this morning by Daily Beast: “Vatican Caves and Gives Trump Front-Row Seat for Pope’s Funeral”

      • Ciel babe says:

        Hmm. Caving or making a point w/ the homily? Before Easter I’d say making a point. But apparently the Vatican operatives were not powerful enough to stop JD from a photo op on Easter Sunday, when the man was ill but determined to to celebrate mass. So ?.

    • wa_rickf says:

      I just read that. In another story I read, Trump was in the front row. The article cited a homily that was given and it was to humiliate Trump.

      Apparently Trump WAS to be in the fourth row in alphabetical order of world Leaders who are not royalty or European and was moved to the front so he can be confronted with the homily.

      Apparently, the Vatican was also not amused when Trump excitedly announced, mere hours after the Pope’s passing, that he was going to the Pope’s funeral, as if he got an invite to go to some swanky weekend BBQ in Martha’s Vineyard.

      • wa_rickf says:

        Not being self-reflective, because that requires analysis and higher-level thinking, the homily went right over Trump’s blond cotton candy covered head, I am sure.

      • P J Evans says:

        I wonder what row the Bidens were in – yes, they were there. And behaved well, I’m certain.

        • P J Evans says:

          RJames0723 says:
          April 26, 2025 at 2:26 pm

          Found a photo – yes, they were. (The Felon Guy looks like he slept in that suit, and couldn’t button it. because it stopped fitting him months ago.)

    • Mipiti3 says:

      And Trump can’t even manage to wear a black suit at the Pope’s funeral! (He probably doesn’t even own one, since all he wears is blue suits or else white Trump golf jerseys!) At least he didn’t wear the mile long red tie!

        • earlofhuntingdon says:

          Pretty sure that the portion of that url after “peg1,” from the question mark on back, is tracking information. Please try not to copy that stuff here. Thanks.

        • P J Evans says:

          Thanks – I pulled it off their page, so I didn’t expect tracking.

          He’s really obviously asleep in that one. With the order of service tucked under his nonconforming blue-suited leg.

        • Matt Foley says:

          Firefox and Duckduckgo web browsers have settings that automatically remove tracking from URLs. I just started trying Duckduckgo browser yesterday because Firefox has been sucking up memory and disk usage for me. Fingers crossed.

          I hadn’t known about tracking URL until Rayne scolded me. ;-) Thanks, Rayne!

        • earlofhuntingdon says:

          Always a good idea to look at the full url, to see if anything looks funny. If a link still works after you remove everything after the question mark, for example, it’s a sign that what you removed is tracking data.

          Duckduckgo still seems reliable. Firefox’s new board seems to have gone full tech bro and its use of your data is no longer reliable. Still a good idea to check your settings from time to time, to make sure that hasn’t changed.

    • wa_rickf says:

      Trump: “We’re making headway with China on tariffs.”

      China: “Fake news. We have never met.”
      =====
      Why would ANY country make a deal with Trump? He’ll just renege.

      (Ask Canada and Mexico).

    • wa_rickf says:

      I thought Susie’s job was to ensure that Trump 2.0 was not as incompetent as Trump 1.0

      Oh well…

        • wa_rickf says:

          Susan Wiles is a Washington outsider with little experience in the federal government. She was hired by Trump to bring discipline to his administration. Wiles job is to reign in Trump, get him back on message, and encourage Trump to tone down his rhetoric.

          “Susan is just has a master ability to manage multiple things of significance simultaneously.”
          – Chris LaCivita, co-campaign manager Trump 2024

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      The Japanese knew what they wanted, but no one seemed to ask them. The problem is that no one in DC knew what Trump wanted and had no authority to negotiate. A tell that Trump’s vision of tariffs is personal, opportunistic, and about how much he can get out of it. The US economy and trade relations don’t enter into it.

  7. P J Evans says:

    President Musk is not invisible enough for his own benefit:
    https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/elon-musk-s-conflicts-interest-2-37-billion-20298446.php

    The 43-page memo by the minority staff of the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is the most exhaustive attempt yet to detail Musk's alleged conflicts as an advisor to Trump and chief promoter of his team called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

    Based on publicly available documents, media reports and the committee's own calculations, the memo found that as of Jan. 20, Musk and his companies were "subject to at least 65 actual or potential actions by 11 different federal agencies" and that 40 of those created $2.37 billion in potential liabilities.

  8. P J Evans says:

    I saw one theory that gangs will claim to be ICE and kidnap people for ransom. Would the victims be calling the cops?

  10. wa_rickf says:

    Trump administration dismisses all voting rights cases and fires investigators

    Appointees in President Donald Trump’s administration at the Department of Justice have ordered the dismissal of all voting rights cases and removed managers of the division responsible for overseeing them.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/28/trump-doj-voting-rights

    ==========
    “Get out and vote, just this time, you won’t have to do it any more. Four more years, you know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote any more, my beautiful Christians.” – Donald Trump, July 2024

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