Looks like the U.S. is one step closer to civil war. The Democrats caved, but is it because they are washing their hands of Trump, so he can crash and burn without their help? Or were they heading off the imposition of Martial law, for a bit longer?

https://bsky.app/profile/empressmusings.bsky.social/post/3lkffdwwjts2k

I've been in popcorn mode with respect to US domestic policies since Trump was re-elected.

Trump has threatened to annex Danish territory Greenland. Now the US is asking Denmark for help with egg shortages
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/egg-prices-bird-flu-inflation-denmark-b2715100.html

Civil war? Lol. For a country of 340 million people, there is a vanishingly small amount of actual political violence. People attack each other online and then go about their daily routines being nice to one another.

Trump White House has asked U.S. military to develop options for the Panama Canal, officials say
^{— Courtney Kube, Gordon Lubold, Carol E Lee · NBC · Mar 13, 2025}

Civil war? Lol. For a country of 340 million people, there is a vanishingly small amount of actual political violence. People attack each other online and then go about their daily routines being nice to one another.

Where do you live? Under a stone?

I may be wrong, it’s difficult to read with how unpredictable Trump is. But he’s seems to be so crazy that he will look for an opportunity to introduce martial law and then he doesn’t need to bother with government, or laws, or lawyers anymore. Then before the next election he will start a proxy war somewhere and cancel all elections. Or maybe Musk will have rigged elections by then and he can hold sham elections. Anyway, the U.S. is so divided that should he introduce martial law it will spark vigilante movements, which is develop into a civil war. There/s plenty of ammo sitting around and people are already organising into protest groups.

I live in California. There's not going to be martial law and there's not going to be a civil war. Trump can't even fire federal workers without judges popping up out of the woodwork ruling against him. If things got really bad, you might see something like Ireland's troubles, but as I said, there's essentially no political violence in this country. We're so far away from that. The most vicious thing that's happened lately is the Love is Blind bride left her conservative beau at the altar.

Here's the Italian parliament brawling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mye5TNnpHUI

You think that's going to happen here?

There's not going to be martial law — RogueAI

Well not today, but once those invasion plans are firmed up for Panama, who knows ...?

I could care less, to be honest. — NOS4A2

I've noticed.

I agree. — NOS4A2

Great! That's positive that we agree on something.

Ok, so when we understand that the reserve currency is a political decision and the reason for this political decision are the alliances that the US has had, why then brake these alliances?

The obvious question here is for the EU countries to think: "Wait a minute, why do we pay for our oil and liquefied natural gas in dollars, that doesn't come from the US? Shouldn't we pay in euro?" This would help the euro bond market, because people would need euros. And if Europe has this row with Russia, it doesn't have that with Brazil, India, South Africa and China. Those countries would do happily also without having to have US dollars for trade that isn't with the US.

A SpaceX crew landed at the ISS to pick up those astronauts rotting in space. It’s crazy that all it took was Trump to tell Musk to go and get them. That means Biden just left them up there. Evil.

Let’s hoe for a safe return.

https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/03/16/spacex-dragon-docks-to-station-with-four-crew-10-members/

. That means Biden just left them up there. Evil. — NOS4A2

ISS is manned and can have astronauts there, even longer. I think this was just basically a cost cutting decision not to create a new flight, but just follow the time table, because nobody needed an evacuation.

And is cost cutting evil? Ask your DOGE.

I've noticed

I’m still curious, though, why have an EU parliament if you don’t want them to have any oversight? It’s all so odd that Europeans need two governments, a government for their government, but why another parliament?

ISS is manned and can have astronauts there, even longer. I think this was just basically a cost cutting decision not to create a new flight, but just follow the time table, because nobody needed an evacuation.

And is cost cutting evil? Ask your DOGE.

You’re thinking like Biden now.

I’m still curious, though, why have an EU parliament if you don’t want them to have any oversight? — NOS4A2

It has oversight of the European Union itself and makes EU legislation. So you have these members of European Parliament, who focus on what the Council and the EU institution itself do. From their website:

The Parliament acts as a co-legislator, sharing with the Council the power to adopt and amend legislative proposals and to decide on the EU budget. It also supervises the work of the Commission and other EU bodies and cooperates with national parliaments of EU countries to get their input.

Defense is actually more a question of national budgets and national decisions how to improve the armed forces etc.

I actually don't want that the Finnish Parliament wouldn't have the power to make laws in Finland, that everything would be decided by the EU Parliament. This would be catastrophic. Then I would agree with the view that Finland (and other member states) wouldn't be anymore sovereign states. As I've said, it's an union, that basically is a confederacy made up of independent countries. That's why it always looks so weak.

You’re thinking like Biden now. — NOS4A2

Changing the space flight program by adding missions may be beneficial to SpaceX, but is it to the taxpayer less costly? That's the question.

Did they add a mission? I don't know, actually. (Now I'm the ignorant here)

It seems it was a normal mission, hence Elon didn't get his additional mission:

The Crew-10 mission is part of a normal crew rotation happening at an unusual time for NASA's ISS operations - rather than a dedicated mission to retrieve Wilmore and Williams, who will return to Earth as late additions to NASA's Crew-9 crew. Musk says SpaceX had offered a dedicated Dragon mission for the pair last year as NASA mulled ways to bring the two back to Earth. But NASA officials have said the two astronauts have had to remain on the ISS to maintain adequate staffing levels, and that it did not have the budget or the operational need to send a dedicated rescue spacecraft.
Having seen their mission turn into a normal NASA rotation to the ISS, Wilmore and Williams have been doing scientific research and conducting routine maintenance with the other five astronauts.
Williams told reporters earlier this month that she was looking forward to returning home to see her two dogs and family. "It's been a roller coaster for them, probably a little bit more so than for us," she said.

The bigger question here is what happens after ISS to human spaceflight.

Hilarious. President of El Salvador trolling! Activist judges butthurt.

Irelands troubles took 75 years to stop and that was on a very small scale.

Anyway as I say Trump is so unpredictable who knows what’s going to happen.
You know those federal rulings, who’s going to enforce them?
And if there is martial law introduced and elections cancelled, will there be political violence, or will those peaceful people just go along with it?

The two planes didn’t return to the U.S. court order broken.
https://bsky.app/profile/muellershewrote.bsky.social/post/3lkj34vjvvs2b