Trump defunding the 988 Suicide Hotlines

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website offline

https://www.samhsa.gov/

Gives a 403 - forbidden message on all their web pages.

This is the agency that provides a substantial amount of funding for the regional 988 suicide prevention and crisis hotlines.

It’s not clear what’s going to happen to the hotlines themselves. My wife works as a crisis counselor on the New York 988 hotline and her company was just informed by SAMHSA that their grant was being terminated. I think they get state funding as well but layoff’s are already happening.

Apparently the Trump Administration has no interest in reducing suicides or substance abuse or helping people in crisis.

Update: the site is accessible from my Android phone using Chrome, but not from my iPhone using Safari. It works from Chrome on my iPhone.

The info about the funding for the company running the NYC 988 hotline is still accurate.

Not all Australian animals...

Donald Trump is a lame duck president.

There is a reason why there’s only been one president to serve non-consecutive terms before Trump. Trump is the only person to try it since Grover Cleveland and that’s because he will come in as a lame duck. The president’s party always loses seats at the midterms and 2026 will be no exception. Trump has less than two years to get any kind of agenda passed and with the very slimmest of margins in the House at best.
But the reason ousted one term Presidents don’t try again is because of the two term limit. That wasn’t in place for Cleveland; he could have run for a third term so he was not a de facto lame duck. Trump should have backed someone who would have carried out his agenda, but his ego wouldn’t allow it. In the second half of his term, Republicans in Congress are going to be too busy jockeying for advantage in the 2028 presidential race or to save their seats to get much done. Democrats just have to create obstructions for the worst of his impulses until 2026. As someone on MSNBC pointed out tonight, smart presidents nominate people who will easily be confirmed because it saves a lot of time. Gaetz’ nomination is going to be a circus and likely so will Gabbard’s and Hegseth’s because they are clearly unqualified.

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor

Hell no!

Donald Trump's Presidential approval ratings

Just a quick reminder how bad TFG’s approval ratings were as president. He was underwater the entire time he was in office. He won’t do any better this time, in fact I expect his ratings to be a whole lot worse once people figure out what his policies are actually doing.

Donald Trump is no Grover Cleveland

Cleveland, of course, was the first and, until now, only President to serve non-consecutive terms. He was known for his honesty and general good character, in other words, the antithesis of Donald Trump.

From Wikipedia:
Cleveland was elected mayor of Buffalo in 1881 and governor of New York in 1882. While governor, he closely cooperated with state assembly minority leader Theodore Roosevelt to pass reform measures, winning national attention.[1] He led the Bourbon Democrats, a pro-business movement opposed to high tariffs, free silver, inflation, imperialism, and subsidies to businesses, farmers, or veterans. His crusade for political reform and fiscal conservatism made him an icon for American conservatives of the time.[2] Cleveland also won praise for honesty, self-reliance, integrity, and commitment to the principles of classical liberalism.[3] His fight against political corruption, patronage, and bossism convinced many like-minded Republicans, called "Mugwumps", to cross party lines and support him in the 1884 election. After losing the 1888 election to Benjamin Harrison, he moved to New York City and joined a law firm. The 1892 election restored him to the White House. As his second administration began, the Panic of 1893 sparked a severe national depression. Many voters blamed the Democrats, opening the way for a Republican landslide in 1894 and for the agrarian and silverite seizure of the Democratic Party in 1896. An anti-imperialist,[4] Cleveland opposed the push to annex Hawaii, launched an investigation into the 1893 coup against Queen Liliʻuokalani, and called for her to be restored.[5][6]
Cleveland was a formidable policymaker, but also garnered criticism. He intervened in the 1894 Pullman Strike to keep the railroads moving, angering Illinois Democrats and labor unions nationwide; his support of the gold standard and opposition to free silver alienated the agrarian wing of the Democrats.[7] Critics complained that Cleveland had little imagination and seemed overwhelmed by the nation's economic disasters—depressions and strikes—in his second term.[7] Even so, his reputation for probity and good character survived the troubles of his second term. Biographer Allan Nevins wrote, "n Grover Cleveland, the greatness lies in typical rather than unusual qualities. He had no endowments that thousands of men do not have. He possessed honesty, courage, firmness, independence, and common sense. But he possessed them to a degree other men do not."[8] By the end of his second term, he was severely unpopular, even among Democrats.[9]
After leaving the White House, Cleveland served as a trustee of Princeton University. He continued to voice his political views, but fell seriously ill in 1907, dying in 1908. Today, Cleveland is praised for honesty, integrity, adherence to his morals, defying party boundaries, and effective leadership and is typically ranked in the middle to upper tier of U.S. presidents.

We are the loyal resistance: a sort of rant.

And when I say loyal, I mean to the Constitution and the ideas that make America great.

We are now the loyal resistance. And, by historical standards, we don’t have it that bad. Certainly we are better off than the French Resistance during the 4 years of German occupation, and the partisans in Greece and the Balkans. We’re better off than the brave Czech resistance who suffered terrible reprisals and those who resisted in the Netherlands and Belgium. They had to deal with the SS and the Gestapo we just have Trump and his cronies.

Make no mistake it’s going to be bad but remember that Trump’s approval was underwater most of his presidency. He’s not going to be popular this time around either. He’s talking about 60% tariffs on products from China on DayOne. Hah! The entire period of “Bidenflation” the CPI rose a total of about 25%. How irate are people going to be when most of the things they buy at Walmart, Costco, Sam’s, Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and many other stores go up 60% basically overnight. Even if he then totally eliminated income taxes everyone making less than the median household income would end up with higher costs. Then there will be higher food prices and shortages because his deportation round up will strip farms of the people who pick the crops.
When he eliminates the Department of Education, that will eliminate Federal Student Loans and grants. All that will be left will be loans from commercial banks. Far fewer students will go on to higher education and lots of colleges and Universities will close, especially the smaller private liberal arts institutions without much in the way of an endowment.
Unemployment will start going up again and there will be a recession. People will be sick of Trump by 2026 and that’s when we need to elect Democrats to the House and Senate in enough numbers to take back both.
Trump may not even be president by then; all his siblings are dead and both his parents had dementia. JD Vance will not be popular at all.
We just have to bide our time and keep resisting the worst of Trump’s excesses. We may not win all the time, or at all, but like everything Trump, this presidency too will turn to shit!

Now this is an endorsement...

Thank you Inky!

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/editorials/a/endorsement-president-kamala-harris-democracy-20241025.html

Voters face an easy but tectonic choice in the race for the White House.
Will they choose the first woman or the oldest man to be the next president?
Will they choose the prosecutor or the convict?
Will they choose the candidate who supports restoring Roe v. Wade, or the man who bragged about overturning it?
Will they choose the candidate with a tax plan to help the middle class or the one who wants to help the superrich?
Will they choose the candidate who backs a tough bipartisan immigration law or the guy who killed the measure?
Will they choose the candidate who wants to combat climate change or the one who thinks it is a hoax?
Will they choose the candidate who upholds the peaceful transfer of power or the one who summoned a violent mob to attack the U.S. Capitol?
Will they choose the candidate who stands up to Vladimir Putin or the one who said Russia could do “whatever the hell they want?”
Will they choose the candidate who champions education, health care for all, and sensible gun safety laws, or the person who wants to close the U.S. Department of Education, repeal Obamacare, and told supporters after a school shooting to “get over it?”
Will they choose the candidate who supports the working class or the one who is anti-union and opposed raising the minimum wage?
Will they choose a woman of color who wants to unite the country, or a man with a history of misogynistic, racist, and divisive comments and actions?
Will they choose the candidate who supports LGBTQ rights or the one who wants to roll back protections for the gay community?
Will they choose the candidate who will uphold the presidential oath, or the one who was impeached twice for high crimes and misdemeanors, profited from the White House, dangled pardons to cronies, and was indicted four times?
This baker’s dozen list could go on, but the choice is clear and obvious. Vice President Kamala Harris wants to help all Americans.
Donald Trump wants to help himself.
That is why The Inquirer endorses Kamala Devi Harris to be the 47th president of the United States.

Latest RMG poll of Florida: Harris 48 Trump 50

This is a devastating poll for Trump. I know we’re always disappointed by Florida but if this gets Trump to spend time and money there to shore it up then so much the better.

https://www.270towin.com/2024-presidential-election-polls/florida

Are Friends Electric - Gary Numan

I love this new version