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Friday May 15th – Open Thread

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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President Trump Discusses China Visit and Discussion with Chairman Xi

President Trump sits down with Fox News Sean Hannity for an interview immediately following the fast-paced visit in Beijing, China.

Hannity asks President Trump for his sense of the greeting and pageantry put on by Chairman Xi at the formal greeting, as well as some general discussion on the topics of a very lengthy talk between Trump administration officials and their Chinese counterparts.

President Trump and Chairman Xi discussed Iran and the current conflict which has impacted the global supply of oil. ¹{BACKSTORY HERE} It should be noted that closure of the Strait of Hormuz in combination with the U.S. control over Venezuela oil production has reversed the dependency dynamic between Russia and China.

Prior to oil/gas shortages (skyrocketing prices), and due to Western U.S/EU sanctions, Russia was very dependent on China for supplies and component goods.  After oil/gas shortages were triggered by the Iran conflict, China became dependent on Russia for their energy demands. A rather unusual dynamic sitting like an 800lb Gorilla in the corner of the meeting between President Trump and Chairman Xi.

¹(1) Upon reelection President Trump told all U.S. energy providers to “drill baby drill” and maximize energy production. Trump then deregulated the industry for maximum efficiency: Secretaries Burgum (Interior), Wright (Energy) and Zeldin (EPA).

(2) Trump then meets with Putin in Alaska Aug 15, 2025.  Three days later, Aug 18, 2025, Putin restarts Russia’s flagship Arctic project, the LNG export facility via the Northern Route to Asia.

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Supreme Court Rules Federal Law Does Not Shield Freight Brokers from Trucker Accident Liability

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously today that freight brokers can be sued under state negligence laws if they hire unsafe trucking companies (ones with bad safety records) that later cause accidents, crashes or bodily harm. {Ruling pdf Here}

Freight brokers are the middlemen in the transport system matching available loads with available truckers. Freight brokers have notoriously chosen the cheapest truckers and carrier companies to move freight. However, as of this ruling, federal law no longer shields the broker from liability and insurance claims anymore. Victims can now go after the broker’s insurance in addition to the Truck driver’s and/or carrier.

All of those illegal alien truckers who were hired by sketchy carrier companies will now carry a liability risk for the freight broker who might contract the haul.  Ultimately, it is the insurance companies who will drive the change by raising insurance rates on those who would contract with sketchy drivers.

VIA AP – WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed a man to sue a major logistics company after he lost part of his leg in a semi tractor-trailer crash, a decision that could have big ripple effects across the trucking industry.

The justices ruled unanimously in favor of Shawn Montgomery, whose parked vehicle was hit by a speeding truck driver on an Illinois highway in 2017. He wants to sue C.H. Robinson, the country’s largest freight broker by size, over its role in putting the driver on the road despite what he called “serious red flags.”

The decision does not mean Montgomery will necessarily win the lawsuit, which the company is contesting. But the ruling opens the door to increased liability for freight brokers, a key part of the industry.

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May 14th – 2026 Presidential Politics – Trump Administration Day 480

In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

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Thursday May 14th – Open Thread

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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Datacenters, The AI Race and American Politics

There is an increased public discussion about the race to build datacenters in the USA that are part of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) race for superiority.  There are multiple facets within the discussion and some things to consider that might not be at the forefront, yet.

Overall, there is a global race to build the best AI system that is not dissimilar to the nuclear arms race.  Arguably the use of AI as a weapon is one possibility; while the second aspect surrounds strategic economic power.

The USA is poised very favorably in this AI race due to the advanced tech industry in America and recent national security moves made by President Trump in the tech sector surrounding strategic critical minerals and domestic chip production.  However, no one is quite sure where China is in their AI development and last year’s explosive revelation around China’s “Deepseek” model shocked the U.S. tech industry due to its advanced intelligence prowess.

With China and the USA both in this AI race, and the need for massive investment in datacenters to do the processing needed for an artificial intelligence brain of such significant capacity, there is a sense of urgency in the tech industry that is surfacing around the country.  Simultaneously, with datacenters becoming more controversial, suddenly the geopolitical intelligence operations enter the picture.

Currently, it is well accepted inside the tech industry that part of China’s strategy against the USA in this AI race is to slow down American system development.  As a consequence, it is beginning to surface that Beijing may be funding voices inside the USA to rally against the building of datacenters. Essentially, China funding voices, real or artificially boosted influence operations, to amplify domestic opposition to the datacenters.

Anytime the intelligence operations become part of a domestic issue that has national security implications, things get opaque, cloudy and muddy pretty quick.  Is datacenter opposition organic – actual citizens and communities pushing back against the development in their towns and/or cities or is the opposition to the datacenters a form of foreign influence operation?

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CIA Whistleblower Outlines COVID-19 Coverup

Currently active CIA analyst James Erdman, presented himself as a whistleblower to congress to outline how the Intelligence Community had evidence and knowledge about the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and how it was created by “gain of function” research (weaponizing a virus) in a biolab in Wuhan, China funded by the United States government.

According to the testimony, there are elements inside the Intelligence Community, specifically the CIA, who worked with scientists to coverup the origin of COVID-19 and the fact the virus was man made and leaked from a lab.  National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, pressured and influenced scientists in the intelligence community to fabricate information and lie about the origin of the virus.

Fauci has denied accusations that he lied about the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) role in funding research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China and argued that the research did not meet the level of gain-of-function research.  However, a longtime advisor of Fauci’s, David Morens, who served as a top advisor at NIAID, was indicted by the DOJ last month and accused of using his personal email account to hide communications related to a controversial coronavirus research grant that involved collaboration with the Wuhan Institute.

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With knowledge surrounding the origin of SARS-CoV-2, and with knowledge about the coverup of the virus triggering event, questioning should turn to how the U.S. government then influenced the global intelligence networks and military operations to control the consequences.

The response to COVID-19 was essentially an intelligence and military operation throughout the world.

Current Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, is investigating these larger issues as well as U.S. funded biolabs around the globe.

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May 13th – 2026 Presidential Politics – Trump Administration Day 479

In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

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Wednesday May 13th – Open Thread

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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President Trump Corrects the Record

There was much fake news about the tech and finance leaders traveling with President Trump to China.  Moments ago, President Trump corrects the record:

TRUTH SOCIAL – “CNBC incorrectly reported that the Great Jensen Huang, of Nvidia, was not invited to the incredible gathering of the World’s Greatest Businessmen/women proudly going to China. In actuality, Jensen is currently on Air Force One and, unless I ask him to leave, which is highly unlikely, CNBC’s reporting is incorrect or, as they say in politics, FAKE NEWS!

It is an Honor to have Jensen, Elon, Tim Apple, Larry Fink, Stephen Schwarzmann, Kelly Ortberg (Boeing), Brian Sikes (Cargill), Jane Fraser (Citi), Larry Culp (GE Aerospace), David Solomon (Goldman Sachs), Sanjay Mehrotra (Micron), Cristiano Amon (Qualcomm), and many others journeying to the Great Country of China where I will be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to “open up” China so that these brilliant people can work their magic, and help bring the People’s Republic to an even higher level! In fact, I promise, that when we are together, which will be in a matter of hours, I will make that my very first request. I have never seen or heard of any idea that would be more beneficial to our incredible Countries!”

~ President DONALD J. TRUMP

Tim Apple” always cracks me up. lol

As previously noted and discussed by USTR Jamieson Greer, since the original trip to Beijing was announced several months ago, it was very easy to identify this visit was not a customary ‘state visit’ in the formal sense of the term.  Instead, this trip was always planned as a trade, finance and economic business trip specifically to engage Chairman Xi with a financial and investment focus.

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