Why does CGs allow perfidubious' useless daily personal attacks on others? This non-sense [sic] has shamefully gone on for decades by [sic] that narcissist. Left to rot is a wasteful 50,000 deposits of litter from pervicious that have nothing to do with chess. It's an everlasting black mark on this website.>

You insinuated yourself into a perfectly reasonable conversation that had nothing to do with you; as is your wont, it was open season to play the role of <fredthestalker> to perfection and fulfil your life's purpose of harassment of those whom you envy. Your drunken rants are not welcome and not worth a pisshole in the snow.

<Several journalists employed by an outlet funded by the U.S. government have found themselves in President Donald Trump's crosshairs, according to a new report.

In a Friday article, the New York Times reported that one longtime journalist at Voice of America (VOA) — which is funded by Congress through the U.S. Agency for Global Media (AGM) — had been put on an extended "excused absence" pending a human resources investigation following a tweet flagged by Trump advisor Richard Grenell. VOA chief national correspondent Steve Herman said the investigation was meant to determine whether his "social media activity has undermined VOA's audiences’ perceptions of the objectivity and/or credibility of VOA and its news operations."

In the tweet, Herman quoted a nonprofit leader who criticized Trump's cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development as making Americans "less safe at home and abroad." Grenell called Herman's tweet "treasonous."

“You don’t get to work against the official U.S. government policies while being paid by US taxpayers,” said Grenell, who is officially the Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions. “You should be immediately fired.”

According to the Times, Herman was then called into a meeting with VOA's human resources department, who forced him to acknowledge he had "improperly engaged in speculation and analysis." In addition to Herman, two other VOA journalists told the paper that they had also received "blowback" for similar comments. Employees are now raising their concerns about the investigations to VOA director Michael Abramowitz. They believe the investigations have a chilling effect on their reporting on the administration, which is meant to be independent of political influence.

Abramowitz is a former Washington Post reporter and editor who accepted the role at VOA roughly a year ago. He reportedly said he is acting as a "caretaker" until he is officially replaced by former Arizona Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake, who Trump has tapped for the role. Her appointment will ultimately be decided not by the Senate but by the International Broadcasting Advisory Board, which consists of seven presidential appointees with a four-member Republican majority.

The AGM's leadership is currently vacant, though Trump has appointed conservative activist L. Brent Bozell to lead the agency that oversees VOA. Bozell is the founder of the Media Research Center, which is a Virginia-based organization whose stated mission is to identify "left-wing bias in news media and popular culture, revealing the left’s agenda to undermine traditional values, restrict individual liberty, and stifle private enterprise.">

<[Event "16th World Open"] [Site "Philadelphia PA"]
[Date "1988.07.??"]
[EventDate "1988"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Lane, Gary W"]
[Black "Kutschenko, Roland"]
[ECO "A52"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Bf4 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bb4+ 6.Nbd2 Qe7 7.e3 Ngxe5 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.a3 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 d6 11.Be2 O-O 12.O-O b6 13.Qc3 Bb7 14.c5 bxc5 15.Bxe5 dxe5 16.Rac1 Qg5 17.f3 Rad8 18.Rfd1 Rd6 19.h4 Qg3 20.Qe1 Rxd1 21.Rxd1 Qxe1+ 22.Rxe1 Rd8 23.Rc1 Rd2 24.Kf1 Rxb2 25.Rxc5 Rb1+ 26.Kf2 Rb2 27.Rxc7 f6 28.Kf1 Rb1+ 29.Kf2 Rb2 30.Ke1 h5 31.Bc4+ Kh7 32.Bd3+ Kh6 33.Be2 a6 34.a4 Rb4 35.a5 Rb2 36.Rd7 Bc6 37.Rd6 Bb5 38.Bxb5 axb5 39.Rd2 Rb1+ 40.Rd1 Rb3 41.Ra1 Rc3 42.a6 Rc8 43.a7 Ra8 44.Kd2 b4 45.Kc2 Kg6 46.Kb3 Kf7 47.Kxb4 Ke7 48.Kb5 Kd6 49.Kb6 f5 50.Kb7 1-0>

Pumping up legacies with 'fake games', one at a time.

<House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude or someone else needs to lead the country” for Ukraine to continue pursuing a peace deal negotiated by the United States.

His comments come just two days after President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Zelenskyy publicly sparred in the Oval Office while the Ukrainian president visited Washington to finish negotiations on a deal over Ukraine’s mineral wealth.

“President Trump is trying to get these two parties to a point of peace,” Johnson said during an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” adding: “What President Zelenskyy did in the White House was effectively signal to us that he’s not ready for that yet, and I think that’s a great disappointment.”

Johnson emphasized that Trump “has been very clear about this — that if [Zelenskyy] is ready for peace, then we can negotiate a deal.”

Zelenskyy has repeatedly said he was seeking to include security guarantees — or assurances that the United States would come to Ukraine’s aid if Russia violates a ceasefire deal — in the mineral rights agreement.

In the Oval Office spat, Trump told Zelenskyy that he “doesn’t have the cards” to negotiate and joined Vance in asking him to be more grateful for U.S. support for Ukraine.

Following the contentious meeting, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called on Zelenskyy to resign, telling reporters at the White House that the meeting was a "complete, utter disaster."

"I don’t know if we can ever do business with Zelenskyy again," Graham said, adding that he "either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change.”

Johnson on Sunday echoed the president and the vice president, telling “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker that Zelenskyy “berated and interrupted his host, instead of expressing gratitude for the extraordinary help that the U.S. has provided his country.”

Johnson also argued that security guarantees were inherent in the mineral rights deal, telling Welker, “This mineral rights deal is a win, a win for everyone. It will give us access to rare earth minerals that we need, and it will provide a level of security for Ukraine.”

“They will effectively be in an economic partnership with us after that point, and we will definitely always defend our interests and our investments,” Johnson added. “Russia knows that. China knows that. Iran, North Korea know that, and that’s a very important message for us.”

Asked whether Putin was the "winner" in the fallout from the tense Oval Office exchange, Johnson said, "No, he wasn't."

In an interview later on “Meet the Press,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., pushed back on GOP officials’ calls for Zelenskyy to resign, telling Welker, “I’m not interested in calling on the resignation of other world leaders.”

“Frankly, I think that would spiral Ukraine into chaos right now, trying to find who is the negotiator” for a peace deal, Lankford added....>

<....Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also pushed back against the call for Zelenskyy to resign, calling it a "horrific suggestion" on "Meet the Press" later Sunday.

"Zelenskyy is leading a country trying to defend democracy against an authoritarian dictator — Putin — who invaded his country," Sanders said.

Johnson also spoke about the massive budget reconciliation bill that House Republicans passed last week, which now heads to a group of House and Senate GOP leaders as they seek to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions on the bill.

House Republicans’ bill includes $2 trillion in spending cuts, which some opponents of the measure say could affect Medicaid funding, affecting health care and insurance for millions of low-income and disabled people.

Johnson said Sunday that House Republicans did not intend to touch Medicaid funding in the budget bill, telling Welker, “Don’t take my word for it, Kristen. Go do a word search of the budget resolution that we passed on Tuesday. There is not one mention of Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security.”

“The American people want us to review the expenditures of the country and get our fiscal house in order, and that’s what we must do,” Johnson said, adding that House Republicans also want to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts measure, which expires this year.

“We can do both of those things simultaneously and not affect benefits for anyone who relies upon those and is eligible to receive them,” Johnson said.

On Friday, Trump adviser and tech mogul Elon Musk made several false claims about Social Security, signaling that he would seek to evaluate the agency for cuts in the future.

Asked whether Social Security is Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency’s next target, Johnson told Welker, “I’ve met with Elon about this multiple times. We meet late into the night in his office, and we’ve looked at that. What he’s finding with his algorithms crawling through the data of Social Security system is enormous amounts of fraud, waste and abuse.”

“We have a moral responsibility to ensure that those programs are conducted in a way that does not allow for this, this massive fraud and abuse, and that’s what he is finding,” Johnson added.

Sanders said in an interview on “Meet the Press, "I think what Musk, the wealthiest guy in the world, just said is totally outrageous."

"That's a hell of a 'Ponzi scheme,'" Sanders said, referring to what Musk called Social Security on Friday, "when for the last 80 years, Social Security has paid out every nickel owed to every eligible American.">

<Did anyone else see the horrific display in the Oval Office last Friday as a ritual exercise in male domination? I don’t want to insult great apes, but I’ve seen similar performances at the zoo. Trump and Vance sought to humiliate Zelensky, treating him with the same disrespect they treat .. well, women.

Trump, Vance, and Musk inhabit what’s been termed the “manosphere” — a place where the main events are dominance and submission. The whole point is to humiliate weaker men — and to subjugate women.

Women — especially women of color — have distinguished themselves in standing up to Trump, maybe because they’re less intimidated by him than are many men, and because Trump has shown himself particularly fearful of strong women.

Which if any Republicans have been strong opponents of Trump. Answer: In the Senate, Republicans Lisa Murkowski and (barely) Susan Collins. In the House, the prize still goes to Liz Cheney.

Who has looked Trump in the eye and told him to show mercy for LGBTQ+ and undocumented people in America? Mariann Edgar Budde, the Bishop of Washington, at the National Prayer Service in January.

Who repeatedly took Trump to court on defamation charges, and repeatedly won? E. Jean Carroll.

Which prosecutors and judges were toughest in trying to hold Trump legally accountable? New York Attorney General Letitia James, Atlanta-based District Attorney Fani Willis, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, and U.S. District Judge Lauren King.

Who most successfully pummeled Trump in a presidential debate? Kamala Harris.

Which journalists have been most aggressive in questioning Trump? Megyn Kelly, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, PBS’s Yamiche Alcindor, CNN’s Abby Phillip, The Grio’s April Ryan, NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, The New York Times’s Maggie Haberman, CBS’s Weijia Jiang, and New York Magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi.

I could go on, but you get the point.

If there was ever a president who represented unfettered male domination, it’s Trump. An implicit promise of the 2024 Trump campaign was to restore patriarchy to America. Trump voters were overwhelmingly male.

As you recall, Trump was found liable for sexual abuse; he famously told “Access Hollywood” that if you’re a famous man “you can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy”; he asserted during the recent campaign that he’d “protect” women “whether the women like it or not”; and he was instrumental in ending abortion rights nationwide.

After Trump’s reelection, sexist and abusive attacks on women — such as “your body, my choice” and “get back to the kitchen” — surged across social media, according to an analysis from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

A remarkable number of Trump’s cronies are sexual harassers and predators. Trump was introduced at the Republican National Convention by Dana White, chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, who was once caught on tape slapping his wife in a nightclub.

Trump’s pick for vice president, JD Vance, has said professional women “choose a path to misery” when they prioritize careers over having children. He has claimed men in America were “suppressed” in their masculinity. Vance has characterized Democratic leaders as “childless cat ladies.”

At a gathering of conservatives last month, Vance told young men: “Don’t allow this broken culture to send you a message that you’re a bad person because you’re a man, because you like to tell a joke, because you like to have a beer with your friends or because you’re competitive.”

Trump’s pick for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, paid off a woman who accused him of sexual assault (Hegseth’s own mother accused him of abusing women, though she later disavowed her words).

Trump’s HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was accused of sexually harassing his family’s nanny and at one point kept a diary of his conquests, which his wife at the time found.

Elon Musk’s “bros” are notoriously misogynistic, as is Musk. One of Musk’s companies, SpaceX, reportedly paid $250,000 to a flight attendant who said Musk exposed himself to her. In a lawsuit filed last year, former employees accused him of “treating women as sexual objects to be evaluated on their bra size.”

One of the most pathetic symbols of the new manosphere is Mark Zuckerberg. After kissing Trump’s derriere, the third-richest man in America called for more “masculine energy” because the corporate world was becoming “culturally neutered.” He told Joe Rogan that “having a culture that celebrates the aggression a bit more has its own merits that are really positive.”....>

<....Last Thursday, the Trump regime celebrated toxic masculinity by smoothing the way for Andrew and Tristan Tate to be extradited from Romania to the United States. The Tate bros had been accused of luring women to Romania and then forcing them to work as pornographic webcam performers. Britain is also investigating the Tate brothers for rape and human trafficking in Britain.

As The New York Times’s Michelle Goldberg reports, Andrew Tate, a self-described misogynist, has regularly boasted about abusing and pimping women, offering to teach his technique to other men in online courses where students could earn “pimping hoes degrees.” Women who live in his compound, he said in one video, aren’t allowed to go out without him. Some are tattooed “owned by Tate.” He left a voice note for a British woman who accused him of rape saying, “The more you didn’t like it, the more I enjoyed it.”

Tate is a big fan of Trump, championing him to his millions of mostly young male followers on social media. “I’m a Trump fan because I’m a man,” Tate said in October. “You have to support Trump if you’re a man.” He’s also a longtime friend of Donald Trump Jr., who called his detention in Romania “absolute insanity.” One of Tate’s former lawyers, Paul Ingrassia, is now the White House liaison for the Department of Justice. In January, when Tate announced plans to form a British political party and run for prime minister, Musk endorsed his analysis of British politics, writing, “He’s not wrong.”

I relate all this to you because it’s important to understand the centrality of male dominance and misogyny to Trump’s world — and to connect this to what other authoritarians and neofascists are doing around the globe.

The authoritarian manosphere is organized around a hierarchy topped by heroic male warriors. Winning is all about getting other males to submit to the dominant male. Women are relegated to subservient roles.

Anything that challenges the traditional heroic male roles of protector, provider, and controller of the family is considered a threat to the social order. LGBTQ+ people are believed to weaken the heroic male.

Trump recently issued an executive order declaring that the U.S. government will recognize only a person’s sex assigned at birth, limit the definition of a “male” or “female” to their reproductive cells, and potentially withhold federal funding from programs that acknowledge transgender people or “gender ideology.”

Anti-transgender themes were central to Trump’s 2024 campaign. He spent millions on anti-trans television ads and promised to restrict access to gender-affirming care and trans participation in sports.

Trump has made the traditional nuclear family a touchstone of domestic policy. In 2023, he pledged to “promote positive education about the nuclear family, the roles of mothers and fathers and celebrating, rather than erasing, the things that make men and women different.”

Connect this to Putin.

Russia’s crackdown on LGBTQ+ people started a decade ago when Putin first proclaimed a focus on “traditional family values.” In 2013, the Kremlin adopted legislation that banned any public endorsement of “nontraditional sexual relations” among minors.

In 2020, Putin pushed through a “constitutional reform” that outlawed same-sex marriage. Last year, he signed a law banning “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” among adults.

More recently, Putin signed legislation that bans people from officially or medically changing their gender, banning any “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person,” as well as banning changing a person’s gender in official documents or public records. It also annuls marriages in which one person has “changed gender,” and bars trans people from becoming foster or adoptive parents.

I don’t want to oversimplify a complex social phenomenon or engage in the same kind of gender stereotypes that the manosphere promotes. Male domination is hardly the only characteristic that unites the Trump-Vance-Musk-Putin axis. Plenty of men have stood up to Trump. Misogyny is not unique to authoritarian men.

But as America slides toward neofascism, I think it important to understand that its roots draw from a deep distrust, bordering on hate, of people who seem weak or feminine — people who were born as, or have become, women.>

<[Event "16th World Open"] [Site "Philadelphia PA"]
[Date "1988.07.??"]
[EventDate "1988"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Meyer, Eugene"]
[Black "Seirawan, Yasser"]
[ECO "A15"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]