In a Word ... Scatology
Maybe it's an age thing. Let's be clear: I have nothing against bodily functions. They play a very positive role in my good health, but if you'll pardon the thought, does it have to be so much in-your-face these days?
There's the current and ludicrous president of the US announcing urbi et orbi last month that the nations of the Earth were queuing up to kiss his 'ass'. Coarse, and typical.
When watching the 9pm news, do I really need to hear middle-aged women discuss their 'gush' and 'whoosh' as they tell us of their involuntarily leaks – right, left, and centre – leaving even that dog Piddlin' Pete in awe?
In a break from the latest calamity in Gaza, do I need to be told that 'Always Discreet' leakage pads console women who say: 'It's releasing my pee I'm worried about'?
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Should we be interrupted from news of the latest Trump-induced mayhem to be told, dramatically, 'Beware the Poonami', with horror movie music and curtains billowing over a child's cradle in a darkened room.
That clip, from a TV advert for Pampers, includes a slumbering child doing his/her business as terror-stricken parents writhe in a nearby bed at the thought of their baby doing what babies do, a frightened dog peering from beneath them. Still, salvation is at hand. With Pampers, 'you'll never fear a Poonami again.' Pass the Trump vomit bucket, please!
Then, as if it couldn't get worse, along comes Andrex. Now I like Andrex adverts with their fluffy dogs doing fluffy dog stuff. Not any more. This latest one opens with a loud fart and the challenging title 'get comfortable, first office poo'. Really?
It involves another middle-aged woman, sitting uncomfortably at her desk in a darkened office with obligatory fluffy pup beneath. She rises, takes a large Andrex roll from a shelf, walks the gauntlet of her office, colleagues gazing as though she's headed for a gallows.
She picks up a large French-German dictionary (what, exactly, is she planning to do in the little girls' room?) before entering that holy of holies as silent colleagues, now standing in awe, stare! Can we get back to Ukraine, please?
Even the weather?
Scatology, from the Greek skat for excrement, plus logia, for study of ...
inaword@irishtimes.com
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Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
From banning X to killing government contracts – all the ways Musk and Trump could hurt each other as they go nuclear
Within a few hours on Thursday, the public spat between Donald Trump and Elon Musk exploded into debates over the president's impeachment and Musk's accusation that the president is implicated in a sexual abuse scandal. But how they choose to escalate from here could have far-reaching impacts – and not just for the fate of a massive bill that sparked their break-up. Trump and Musk command the world's attention, own competing social media platforms, and are each in a position to wield the power of the presidency and spend, and lose, billions of dollars against one another. How Trump could go after Musk Kill government contracts Trump has already suggested yanking government contracts for Musk's companies Tesla and SpaceX, which are due to receive at least $3bn in contracts from 17 agencies. 'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. On his War Room podcast, Trump ally Steve Bannon urged Trump to retaliate against the world's wealthiest man by, among other things taking control of SpaceX. 'The US government should seize it,' Bannon said on Thursday. Cut off Elon's access to the White House Musk ended his 130-day 'special government employee' term in the Trump administration last week after serving as an 'adviser' to the president for the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which Musk unleashed across the federal government to make drastic cuts to spending and the workforce. But Trump left the door open for Musk to return. That 130-day term can be renewed next year. Trump could sever that arrangement at any time. Bannon also called on Trump to strip Musk's top-secret clearances, which he is granted in conjunction with his work on SpaceX and NASA. Make X illegal With more than 220 million followers on a social media platform under his control, Musk can use that audience and ability to shift media narratives against the president to advance his agenda. Trump, whose entire campaign was built on retribution, possesses executive authority to shut X down, according to experts. ADVERTISEMENT Trump could declare X a national security risk, 'which would permit him to ban the platform outright', claims Devan Leos, from platform Undetectable AI. He can ban Trump from X in retaliation, but that would almost certainly trigger an executive response from the White House The president could invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act on national security grounds to prevent X from operating, which would probably trigger a high-profile legal battle. 'Musk now faces a difficult choice. He can ban Trump from X in retaliation, but that would almost certainly trigger an executive response from the White House,' according to Leos. The president, meanwhile, owns more than 100 million shares, or roughly 53pc, of Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of social media platform Truth Social. His stake in the company is worth billions of dollars. Investigate Musk's immigration status and drug use Musk was born in South Africa before he emigrated to Canada and later the US. Last year, the Washington Post reported that the billionaire worked in the country illegally before gaining citizenship. Bannon called on the president to deport him. 'Elon Musk is illegal. He's got to go too,' Bannon said on his podcast. Trump also could wield the power of his office to initiate other investigations under a Department of Justice controlled by his fierce ally Attorney General Pam Bondi, including into allegations of his drug use at the campaign trail and within the administration. How Musk could go after Trump Flood opponents with cash The world's wealthiest person spent tens of millions of dollars supporting Trump's 2024 campaign. On Thursday, he took credit for his victory. But this year, his multi-million dollar effort to support a conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate blew up in his face, with his DOGE efforts tanking his – and Tesla's – appeal. 'Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80 percent in the middle? Still, Republican candidates fear being his target. Musk and his allies have threatened to fund primary challenges against any GOP member of Congress who supports legislation he doesn't. 'Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80 percent in the middle?' Musk asked on Thursday. Democrats agree with Musk that Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' is a disaster, but aren't necessarily welcoming him to the party after the right-wing billionaire torched government agencies and helped but Trump back in office. 'We should ultimately be trying to convince him that the Democratic Party has more of the values that he agrees with,' California Democratic representative Ro Khanna, whose district represents Silicon Valley, told Politico. 'A commitment to science funding, a commitment to clean technology, a commitment to seeing international students like him.' Wield social media against the president It took just four hours for a feud playing out on two different social media platforms for Musk to drop what he called a 'bomb' against the president. 'Time to drop the really big bomb,' he wrote on X. 'Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.' That loaded accusation – Musk's suggestion that Trump was involving the sex offender's trafficking scheme – appeared to be the tipping point in their feud. Musk, who just days ago seemed to have no problem associating with a man he is now alleging is implicated in Epstein's crimes, could launch a humiliation campaign against the president for an audience that has been largely disappointed with the Trump administration's approach to the Epstein case. Far-right influencers have turned on top federal law enforcement officials over the case, accusing Trump of continuing what they believe is a 'deep state' conspiracy theory covering up powerful people. Musk could leverage that hostility. Use DOGE against Trump Musk hired a small army of young loyalists and old allies for his government-wide operation to not only eliminate jobs and spending but extract reams of data from millions of Americans. DOGE's unprecedented access to Americans' data 'is alarming, made worse by the complete absence of meaningful oversight,' according to Ben Zipperer, a senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute. 'That unrestrained access to data will likely worsen the problem of identity theft in the United States, which could cost working families tens of billions of dollars annually.' A report from Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren's office also uncovered more than 100 instances that Musk allegedly abused his role as a 'special government employee' overseeing DOGE to benefit his private interests. Musk violated 'norms at an astonishing pace,' amounting to 'scandalous behaviour regardless of whether it subjects him to criminal prosecution.' The report accuses Musk of using the government to promote his businesses, including turning the White House lawn into a Tesla showroom, and allegedly discovered roughly two dozen instances where the government 'entered or explored new lucrative contracts' with the billionaire while halting enforcement actions against his companies.
RTÉ News
2 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Musk deletes post alleging Trump link to Epstein files
Elon Musk has deleted his post on X alleging US President Donald Trump was "in the Epstein files". Mr Musk made the unverified accusation on Thursday as the two men clashed over Mr Trump's proposed spending bill. The accusation was among a number posts deleted by Mr Musk. It comes after US President Donald Trump said yesterday that Elon Musk had "lost his mind" but insisted he wanted to move on from the fiery split with his billionaire former ally. Mr Trump had scrapped the idea of a call with Mr Musk and was even thinking of ditching the red Tesla he bought at the height of their bromance, White House officials said. "Honestly I've been so busy working on China, working on Russia, working on Iran... I'm not thinking about Elon Musk, I just wish him well," Mr Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to his New Jersey golf club yesterday evening. Mr Trump told US broadcasters that he now wanted to focus instead on passing his "big, beautiful" mega-bill before Congress. Mr Musk's harsh criticism of the bill had sparked their bust-up. But the 78-year-old Republican could not stop himself from taking aim at his South African-born friend-turned-enemy. "You mean the man who has lost his mind?" Mr Trump said in a call with ABC when asked about Mr Musk, adding that he was "not particularly" interested in talking to the tycoon. Mr Trump later told Fox News that Mr Musk had "lost it". Just a week ago Mr Trump gave Mr Musk a glowing send-off as he left his cost-cutting role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after four months working there. While there had been reports of tensions, the sheer speed at which their relationship imploded stunned onlookers. After Mr Musk called Mr Trump's spending bill an "abomination" on Tuesday, Mr Trump hit back in an Oval Office diatribe on Thursday in which he said he was "very disappointed" by the entrepreneur. Mr Trump's spending bill faces a difficult path through Congress as it will raise the US deficit, while critics say it will cut health care for millions of the poorest Americans. The row then went nuclear, with Mr Musk slinging insults at Mr Trump and accusing him without evidence, in a since deleted post on X, of being in government files on disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Irish Examiner
6 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Donald Trump and Elon Musk urged by Republicans to end feud
Republicans fearful about potential consequences of a prolonged feud between US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are urging the pair to call a truce. At a minimum, the explosion of animosity between the two powerful men could complicate the path forward for Republicans' massive tax and border spending legislation that has been promoted by Mr Trump but criticised by Mr Musk. 'I hope it doesn't distract us from getting the job done that we need to,' said representative Dan Newhouse, a Republican from Washington state. 'I think that it will boil over and they'll mend fences.' As of Friday afternoon, Mr Musk was holding his fire, posting about his various companies on social media rather than attacking the president. Mr Trump departed the White House for his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, without stopping to talk to reporters who shouted questions about his battle with Mr Musk. The feud could hinder the progress of a key piece of legislation for the Trump administration (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) 'I hope that both of them come back together because when the two of them are working together, we'll get a lot more done for America than when they're at cross purposes,' senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, told Fox News host Sean Hannity. Senator Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, sounded almost pained on social media as Mr Trump and Mr Musk volleyed insults at each other, sharing a photo composite of the two men and writing, 'But … I really like both of them.' 'Who else really wants @elonmusk and @realDonaldTrump to reconcile?' Mr Lee posted, later adding: 'Repost if you agree that the world is a better place with the Trump-Musk bromance fully intact.' So far, the feud between Mr Trump and Mr Musk is probably best described as a moving target, with plenty of opportunities for escalation or detente. Repost if you agree that the world is a better place with the Trump-Musk bromance fully intact@elonmusk @realDonaldTrump — Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) June 6, 2025 One person familiar with the president's thinking said Mr Musk wants to speak with Mr Trump, but that the president does not want to do it – or at least do it on Friday. In a series of conversations with television news presenters on Friday morning, Mr Trump showed no interest in burying the hatchet. Asked on ABC News about reports of a potential call between him and Mr Musk, the president responded: 'You mean the man who has lost his mind?' Mr Trump added in the ABC interview that he was 'not particularly' interested in talking to Mr Musk at the moment. Still, others remained hopeful that it all would blow over. 'I grew up playing hockey and there wasn't a single day that we played hockey or basketball or football or baseball, whatever we were playing, where we didn't fight. And then we'd fight, then we'd become friends again,' Mr Hannity said on his show on Thursday night. Acknowledging that it 'got personal very quick,' Mr Hannity nonetheless added that the rift was 'just a major policy difference'. House of Representatives speaker Mike Johnson projected confidence that the dispute would not affect prospects for the tax and border bill. House speaker Mike Johnson is confident the tax and border bill will pass (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) 'Members are not shaken at all,' the Republican said. 'We're going to pass this legislation on our deadline.' He added that he hopes Mr Musk and Mr Trump reconcile, saying 'I believe in redemption' and 'it's good for the party and the country if all that's worked out.' But he also had something of a warning for the billionaire entrepreneur. 'I'll tell you what, do not doubt and do not second-guess and don't ever challenge the president of the United States, Donald Trump,' Mr Johnson said. 'He is the leader of the party. He's the most consequential political figure of this generation and probably the modern era.'
