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Trump thread part 2 (Or anything else we want to talk about that's ridiculous in politics today)

Jericho Mile

Jericho Mile

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moose eater

moose eater

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We're staying... No, wait... we're leaving... No, wait, I think we're staying.. The truth is that we have confused and insane people in positions of authority that don't know what the hell we're doing... (my impression of a Federal Parks employee).

From the Fairbanks Daily News Miner​

-----------------------------------------------------​

Leases restored for Park Service offices 10 days after they were canceled​


The leases at two National Park Service offices in Fairbanks were restored Monday, ten days after they were terminated by the federal government.

The General Services Administration, the government agency that manages federal property and buildings, issued notices on Feb. 28 that the lease for the Alaska Public Lands Information Center (APLIC) at the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center would close by the end of December and the lease for the National Park Service Building on Geist Road would be terminated at the end of May 2026. The GSA restored the leases at the APLIC and the administrative center on Monday.

For Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center Executive Director Tania Clucas, it was a relief to receive an email Monday stating that the federal government rolled back its termination of the lease.

“Some tension that had been in my shoulders for the last week-plus was gone,” she said.

APLIC in Fairbanks serves as the main visitor center for Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve and Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, and provides trip planning information, recreation information, safety orientations, backcountry orientation and educational programming, as well as issuing park passes and bear-resistant food containers. It was created in 1985 to comply with the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act which authorized the Secretary of the Interior to plan for information and education centers in Fairbanks, Anchorage, Tok and Southeast Alaska. APLIC joined with Explore Fairbanks and Tanana Chiefs Conference in 2008 to create the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center.

The APLIC makes up 40% of the center’s budget and provides information on public lands in Alaska to thousands of people who visit the center each year. Clucas said she was concerned for her colleagues in APLIC and about keeping the building open and operational.

“The interagency visitors center is by its creation remarkably efficient in providing services across federal and state agencies for any activities that involve public lands,” Clucas said. “If we’re looking for efficiencies, engaging in an activity like this is not especially efficient.”

The existing lease ends in July 2028, and there’s still uncertainty about negotiating a future lease. The Park Service laid off about 600 regional staff across the country at the start of March and expects to continue making cuts.

“It’s more than just the visitor industry but it’s our community that would have been impacted with the absence of the public lands information center,” she said.

Clucas said the local staff of the Alaska congressional delegation “was truly instrumental in making this lease rollback happen.”

Sen. Dan Sullivan said he is working closely with the White House and federal agencies to advocate reversing actions that undermine safety or the economy in Alaska.

Sullivan referenced President Donald Trump’s executive order on Jan. 20 titled “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential,” saying that Trump has been focused on highlighting and supporting Alaska’s economy since his first day in office.

“We really support that effort but in the process, don’t undermine the strength of Alaska’s economy,” he said.

Sullivan said that he’s been able to go to federal agencies and say that certain actions, like terminating leases for the two NPS offices in Fairbanks, go against Trump’s executive order.

“I sent a very long text, I had three different phone calls and I had a phone call back: ‘We reversed it because of you’,” he said.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski said that the owner of the administrative center, Jerry Sadler, informed her that he built the building 20 years ago because he believed in their work. After reaching out to the DOI and GSA, she learned that the lease will not be terminated early.

“As the Chairman of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, I am committed to ensuring that the National Park Service carefully reviews its leases so that NPS employees are able to fulfill their missions as public servants. We have been working with the impacted agencies, as well as the GSA, to communicate the implications of these closures on our communities,” she said.

Scott McCrea, president and chief executive officer of Explore Fairbanks, agreed that the restoration of the lease was a relief.

“APLIC is such an important component of what we provide for both visitors and residents at the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center, it was difficult for us to imagine a future where they were not going to be part of it,” he said.

He said Alaskans across the state expressed their desire to support APLIC, which he said speaks to how important the work they do is.

“The fact that GSA reversed course on this action in just one week demonstrates there isn’t much logical thought being put into these decisions, so there is some frustration with the whiplash nature of all that is going on,” he said. “There’s a saying that you measure twice, cut once, and right now, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of measuring going on.”

A GSA spokesperson stated by email Tuesday, “GSA is reviewing all options to optimize our footprint and building utilization. A component of our space consolidation plan will be the termination of many soft term leases. To the extent these terminations affect public facing facilities and/or existing tenants, we are working with our agency partners to secure suitable alternative space. In many cases this will allow us to increase space utilization and obtain improved terms.”

Marinell Chandler was one of three park rangers who staffed the front desk at APLIC of Fairbanks before she was fired in mid-February.

APLIC of Fairbanks provides information on the public lands in Alaska, in addition to hosting public meetings, selling park passes, providing backcountry orientation, welcoming school groups and providing information on where residents can hunt, fish and recreate, Chandler said.

Chandler emphasized that APLIC of Fairbanks is an integral part of the Fairbanks community, and its loss would have been felt by residents.

“When you compare APLIC of Fairbanks to your average national park experience, we are really serving the Fairbanks community,” she said.

Chandler said that she is glad the community will not feel a void in the services APLIC provides since the lease was restored.

People can borrow bear vault containers for free from APLIC. “That is a service I’m not really sure how it would be filled if our office were to close,” she said.

Mark Dowdle, superintendent for Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve and Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, declined to comment and referred the News-Miner to the regional public affairs office. Regional Public Affairs Officer Zach Babb declined to comment.

“The National Park Service is committed to upholding our responsibilities to visitors and is working with GSA to ensure facilities or alternative options will be available, as we embrace new opportunities for optimization and innovation in workforce management,” the NPS stated by email Tuesday. “As always, NPS will continue to provide critical services, deliver excellent customer service and will remain focused on ensuring that every visitor has the chance to explore and connect with the incredible, iconic spaces of our national parks.”
 
Old Piney

Old Piney

Well-known member
moose eater said:
There are incidents (on video) in which Trump told his rally attendees to punch protestors in the face. Verbatim.

I don't believe there's any evidence of any direct link to the detainee having worked in tandem with Hamas or advocating for violence.

The protests at Columbia and elsewhere were, indeed, attacked by Zionist folks, many of whom weren't even students. And during those attacks, the campus security and police typically stood by and watched the assaults. Some of the assaults were serious.

You can find related articles, videos, etc., at Drop Site News, The Intercept, and Democracy Now.
Click to expand...
I don’t doubt it but you know who’s hate speech, inciting violence
HempKat said:
View attachment 19166607

Yeah I'm sure you must be right and almost nobody involved in J6 knew what QAnon was. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
I said most folks, thats the vast majority ,there was a crazy and under reported amount of folks there
 
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