Author Archives: granny g
Sorting Through The Lies
On Friday, Breitbart posted an article about some of the current lies being told about the ‘Bid Beautiful Bill.’ The bill is not perfect, but considering the parameters the Republicans had to work with, it is generally a good bill.
The article reports:
Democrats opposing the bill have asserted that it benefits the rich, but they have done so by fudging the numbers, largely relying on the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) analysis to fuel their criticisms. But as Breitbart News reported, the CBO — created to act as a nonpartisan advisory body — has its performance as well as personnel’s political history bringing that into question:
But the CBO’s extensive history of overestimating benefits for Americans from public health care, underestimating costs of Democrat policies on taxpayers, and stacking the deck against Republican policies reveals a deeply partisan agency influencing lawmakers in order to further left-wing causes.
In addition to its history of unreliable projections propping up Democrats, according to FEC records, of the nearly $17,000 donated to candidates and committees from CBO employees since 1986, only $250 went to Republican candidates — a single donation to George W. Bush in 2000.
In some ways, Democrats are essentially equivocating taking away tax-funded benefits for illegal immigrants as taking benefits away from the poor. But that in itself is completely disingenuous.
The Ways and Means Committee is correcting the record, warning the American people not to fall for the same lies the Democrat touted to discredit the 2017 Trump tax cut’s benefits for the working class. All in all, the GOP says the numbers are clear, showing that the measure benefits working class Americans.
A fact sheet presented by the Ways and Means Committee shows that not only does the measure halt a $1,700 tax increase, but it provides an additional $1,300 in tax cuts for families of four taking in less than $100,000.
American can have either an economic safety net or open borders. We cannot do both.
The article concludes:
“The facts speak for themselves,” Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) said in a statement. “After passage of the 2017 Trump tax cuts, we saw a booming economy that raised wages by nearly five percent, with those in the bottom 10 percent seeing 50 percent more wage growth than those in the top ten percent.”
“The top one percent of earners paid more in taxes after its passage. The One, Big, Beautiful Bill builds on that success and delivers even greater tax relief, higher wages, and better economic growth – all of which will primarily benefit working families as will President Trump’s priorities of no tax on tips, overtime, and auto loan interest plus tax relief for seniors,” he said, adding, “The legislation doubles down on pro-growth, pro-family policies that directly benefit low- and middle-income families.”
Ultimately, he said the bill is a “win” for the working class.
Those of us in the working class appreciate the bill.
From my friends at Townhall:
When The Interview Does Not Go As Planned
Enforcing the rule of law can be messy. Maintaining control of a potentially dangerous situation can result in actions that are misunderstood. The media loves to misunderstand any action taken by a Republican or any individual associated with President Trump. If someone can make a scene, it can be promoted to media gold.
On Thursday, The Blaze posted an article illustrating what happens when the media misjudges its interviewee.
The article reports:
A security expert appeared to stun the CNN anchor who asked him to assess the incident where a Democrat politician was aggressively shoved out of DHS Sec. Kristi Noem’s press conference.
Democrats are outraged over the video footage of U.S. Senator Alex Padilla of California being dragged out of a briefing Thursday, but instead of justifying the outrage, Josh Campbell said the agents acted appropriately to the threat.
The security expert cited a number of actions which generally result in someone being removed from a press conference–interrupting the speaker before the question and answer period puts security guards on alert, and turning toward the agents escorting the person out is seen as indicating a lack of compliance.
A Fox News article posted Friday reports:
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Padilla did not initially identify himself as a senator, and was not wearing his Senate security pin.
However, footage captured by Fox News shows him saying, “I’m Senator Alex Padilla, I have questions for the secretary,” as he was escorted out of the room.
Noem told The Story’s Martha MacCallum that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) personnel began handcuffing the senator in the hallway, at which point he identified himself, and they ceased action.
Considering the constant stream of threats made against President Trump and the people in his administration, I believe that the actions taken by the security staff. There is no reason for outrage.
The End Of Big Pharma Ads On Television?
On Thursday, Zero Hedge posted an article about a plan to adopt a bill in the Senate to ban pharmaceutical companies from promoting prescription drugs directly to consumers.
The article reports:
Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine, both independents, on Thursday will introduce legislation that would ban pharmaceutical companies from promoting prescription drugs directly to consumers – including through television, radio, print, digital platforms, and social media, the WSJ reports.
The proposal would mark a sweeping shift in the U.S. advertising landscape, where pharmaceutical companies are among the largest spenders. Prescription drug brands accounted for roughly 13 percent of all ad spending on linear television in 2025, totaling approximately $2.18 billion so far this year, according to iSpot data. In 2024, the industry spent $3.4 billion on traditional TV ads between January and August alone, according to ad-tracking data.
“The American people don’t want to see misleading and deceptive prescription drug ads on television,” Sanders said in a statement. “They want us to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and ban these bogus ads.”
The interesting part of this is that the current Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly called for this ban. Both of the Senators introducing the bill voted against his confirmation as Secretary. So if they are in agreement with some of his most basic policies, why did they vote against his nomination? Is this simply another example of the Groucho Marx song:
I don’t know what they have to say
It makes no difference anyway
Whatever it is, I’m against it
No matter what it is or who commenced it
I’m against it
That sort of thinking does not move the country forward.
The Technology Behind The Success
Israel eliminated a lot of very important people in Iran recently. The head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami, was killed. Major General Mohammad Bagheri, who had served as the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, was killed. Ali Shamkhani, who was a close aide to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC’s Air Force, was killed.
These leaders were successfully targeted with as little damage to Iranian civilians as possible. The precise targeting was a result of the Mossad’s strategic use of drone technology.
On Friday, PJ Media reported:
According to an Israeli official today, Israel built a drone base deep inside Iran as part of their preparations — and then unleashed them to deadly effect.
This is where I remind you that it’s only in the last two years or so that the deadly efficacy of drone warfare was proven beyond a doubt. In that short time, the IDF not only embraced it but smuggled a drone base into Iran — a tightly controlled dictatorship and presumably on high alert — then, on cue, launched those drones to destroy ballistic missile launchers before they could be used against Israel.
…There must have been soldiers on the ground to set everything up and launch the strike. Prayers, please, that they are or soon will be safely evacuated home.
Israeli intelligence was so effective — and apparently the Trump administration played along to avoid alerting Iran’s leadership — that Israel killed nearly a dozen high-level military commanders.
The article notes:
You see, the thing about Israeli intelligence is that it’s either the best or there is no Israel.
Last night showed, once again, that Israeli intelligence is the best.
Israel is not simply engaged in a casual military exercise. Israel is very aware that if Iran gets a nuclear weapon, Israel will no longer exist. They are not playing games–they are fighting for their survival as a nation.
The Lawfare Continues
On Friday, Breitbart posted an article about President Trump’s calling up the National Guard to help keep the peace in Los Angeles.
The article reports:
A lower court judge’s order instructing President Donald Trump to return control of 4,000 California National Guard troops he had federalized to Gov. Gavin Newsom was temporarily blocked late Thursday in the federal appeals court.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision does not mean the court will ultimately agree with Trump, but Reuters reports it does leave command of the Guard with the president for now.
CNBC notes U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer had ruled Trump’s action was “illegal,” but stayed his order from taking effect until 3 p.m. ET on Friday to allow the Trump administration to appeal.
The article concludes:
The White House had called Breyer’s original order “unprecedented” and said it “puts our brave federal officials in danger.”
“The district court has no authority to usurp the President’s authority as Commander in Chief,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement.
“The President exercised his lawful authority to mobilize the National Guard to protect federal buildings and personnel in Gavin Newsom’s lawless Los Angeles. The Trump Administration will immediately appeal this abuse of power and looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue.”
What might be the motive of anyone to allow a city to burn?
You might consider the definition of a color revolution:
A color revolution, often referred to as a colored revolution, is a series of non-violent protests and demonstrations that often lead to regime change in a country. These revolutions are characterized by the adoption of specific colors as symbols of the movement, and they have been observed in various countries, particularly in post-Soviet states.
The American CIA has, unfortunately, used the technique of a color revolution overseas many times. Generally speaking, the people they have put in power have not turned out to be successful in any positive way.
Winning
On Wednesday, The New York Post reported that America had reached a trade agreement with China.
The article reports:
President Trump announced early Wednesday that the US had reached a trade agreement with China following two days of negotiations in London.
“Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval with President Xi and me,” Trump revealed in an all-caps post on Truth Social. “Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China.”
“Likewise, we will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities (which has always been good with me!). We are getting a total of 55% tariffs, China is getting 10%. The relationship is excellent! Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The article concludes:
The commerce secretary said the new arrangement would see China ease barriers on rare earth minerals “in a balanced way,” without elaborating on specifics.
Lutnick (Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick) claimed that the framework brokered in London put “meat on the bones” on the Geneva consensus and would allow China to ease barriers on rare earth minerals “in a balanced way,” without elaborating on specifics.
China’s Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang had similarly confirmed late Tuesday that an agreement in London had been reached, subject to Trump’s and Xi’s approval.
I really would like to see a limit on the number of Chinese students allowed in our universities, but overall I think this will turn out to be a good deal.
The FBI Is Doing What It Is Supposed To Do
On Tuesday, Red State posted an article about some recent activities by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),
The article reports:
FBI Director Kash Patel is proving to be one of President Trump’s better staffing choices. He’s focused, he’s determined, he’s always looking to do the right thing for the American people – and he gives every indication of being utterly fearless. Best of all, he’s racked up a few wins after only a couple of months in office.
Director Patel, on Tuesday, took to his X account to announce another win, this one the arrest of what looks to be a major child-abuse ring. There can be nothing more detestable than one who would hurt children.
These are some quotes from the post::
This afternoon our @FBIDallas team announced a huge takedown of child abusers in Texas.
109 child recuses
Almost 250 offenders arrested
Nearly 400 total charges at the federal and state level
Thanks to Operation Soteria Shield — a full scale effort of over 70 federal, state, and local public/private partners coming together to protect America’s kids from criminals. We’re taking them off the street and not stopping.
The article concludes:
In the interest of fairness, we must point out that this operation was already ongoing when Director Patel assumed his present role. Soteria Shield is carried out annually, based on tips and undercover investigations, but this year’s bag was a big one. 244 child abusers off the streets is a big deal by any measure.
My involvement in law enforcement consists of having been handed a few speeding tickets when I was a young man, but it seems obvious that being involved in an operation that rescues children would have to be one of the most satisfying things one could do in that line of work. We are – most of us – programmed to protect children, and even in prisons full of hardened criminals, child abusers tend to have a very difficult time.
The FBI and all the other agencies involved are the heroes of the day. 109 children are sleeping safely tonight, and 244 goblins are in jail and will be facing trial. And, if there’s any justice in the world, a lot of these heroes will be having people buy them drinks in the near future.
Anyone who has seen the movie “Sound of Freedom” understands how important this sort of operation is. Human trafficking is a horrendous crime that needs to end. People guilty of this crime need either to face the death penalty or to spend the rest of their lives in jail with no possibility of parole.
One Possible Source Of Funding
One of the nagging questions about the Los Angeles riots is the source of the money to pay the protesters, the bricks, the fact masks, etc. Well, one Senator seems to have a pretty good idea of what that source is,
On Wednesday, Townhall reported:
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, announced he is launching an investigation into one of the entities that possibly funded the anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles.
The lawmaker posted a letter addressed to the executive director of the Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights on social media informing her of the probe.
“While peaceful protest is a cornerstone of American democracy, these demonstrations have escalated into lawless mob actions,” Hawley wrote. “They have obstructed federal law enforcement, endangered public safety, and disrupted the rule of law. This lawlessness is unacceptable. It must end.”
The senator further stated that “Credible reporting now suggests that your organization has provided logistical support and financial resources to individuals engaged in these disruptive action” and argued that “bankrolling civil unrest is not protected speech. It is aiding and abetting criminal conduct.”
The article concludes:
The riots kicked off over the past weekend in response to several ICE raids in Los Angeles. Rioters engaged in looting, vandalism, and targeting law enforcement officers. President Donald Trump responded by sending 2,000 National Guard troops to the area, along with Marines, to quell the unrest.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has filed a lawsuit against the administration, accusing it of trying to militarize the city. He filed an emergency motion on Tuesday to block Trump’s troop deployment. But a federal judge rejected the motion.
Why would the Governor or California not want the National Guard to help quell the riots? Why would the Mayor of Los Angeles step into the chain of command and delay help for the endangered police and United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents? There are a lot of questions we need answers for, and I suspect that there are a lot of people who need to be held accountable for their actions,
Authoritarian?
On Tuesday, Ed Morrissey posted an article at Hot Air about some of the antics of the Biden administration that have been recently exposed. It seems that there were a lot of Americans whose privacy was invaded during the four years of President Biden.
The article reports:
Gavin Newsom and leading Democrats have spent the last few days fulminating about “authoritarianism” by Donald Trump for sending National Guard and Marine units to protect federal law enforcement agents and sites. What will they have to say when they discover that the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice spied on an industrialist supporter of the opposition party?
Oh, wait, Trump didn’t do that. Joe Biden did that. For two years, according to the Wall Street Journal, Merrick Garland and Alejandro Mayorkas surveilled Elon Musk and his contacts to check out “influence.” This seems to have started around the time that Musk bought Twitter and refused to participate in the Biden administration’s Big Tech-Big Government Censorship Complex:
Several U.S. government agencies in 2022 and 2023 tracked foreign nationals coming and going to Elon Musk’s properties, according to people familiar with the matter.
The investigation included the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department. It focused on people visiting the tech billionaire, from countries in Eastern Europe and elsewhere, who might have been trying to influence him. Until last week, Musk was one of President Trump’s closest advisers. …
The probe, predating the current Trump administration, highlights concerns about the number of foreign nationals in Musk’s orbit. Musk runs five companies, including SpaceX, with sensitive government contracts, and has had unprecedented access to top government officials.
Not to change the subject, but where was the surveillance (or the consequences under the Logan Act) when former President Obama visited 10 Downing Street in March 2024? (link here)
The article at Hot Air concludes:
This was nothing less than the weaponization of government against the political opponents of Biden Regency. Congress needs to issue subpoenas to everyone in that chain of command to explain the espionage directed at Musk, the timing of when it began, and what they were trying to do with it. House Oversight chair James Comer had better launch that ASAP, and demand testimony under oath from Garland, Mayorkas, and Becerra at the very least. It is an utter disgrace.
Finally, it might remind Elon Musk that while he may have differences with Trump at times, the two of them have far more in common than those differences. That includes political opponents who have no scruples at all about leveraging power to ruin those they see as enemies.
It would be nice to see some results from these investigations. I am very tired of accusations and proof of wrongdoing followed by no action.
Drones: The Great Equalizer?
Author: R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D.
When I heard about Ukraine’s recent successful drone attack inside Russia that reportedly destroyed considerable numbers of the Russian heavy bomber force, I thought about the biblical story of David and Goliath. The idea that small, inexpensive drones could destroy multimillion dollar aircraft was astonishing. It also serves as a warning to us, that our military arms are not safe from similar attacks.
Although the exact details of the attack are still uncertain, it appears that four Russian airbases were struck simultaneously, the furthest, the Belaya base, about 3000 miles from the border with Ukraine. The estimate seems to be that about 20 Russian Tu-95s and Tu-22s nuclear capable bombers, were either destroyed or considerably damaged. According to Ukrainian sources, a total of 117 drones were smuggled into Russia, concealed within retractable roofs of wooden sheds, and transported to sites near the four airbases. The drones were piloted remotely, in some cases using artificial intelligence. Previously, Ukraine has successfully used long range drones to strike oil refineries, military bases, and arms depots; however, due to their slow speed, many have been shot down. Launching these relatively small drones from shorter distances was unique and obviously caught the Russians by surprise.
This shows that the use of new drone technology is changing the nature of warfare. For example, tanks and armored vehicles may becoming obsolete. Last year alone, Russia reportedly lost 3,000 tanks, 9,000 armored vehicles, 13,000 pieces of artillery, and 400 air defense systems, many as the result of drone attacks. And while the size and carrying capacity of drones has increased, much of the damage is done by small drones similar in size and cost to commercial drones like those used by realtors and hobbyists. This reality has resulted in the expansion of drone manufacturing both in Ukraine and Russia. When the war started, Ukraine had seven drone manufacturing plants, whereas now they have eighty. The improved technology has made the drones less detectable and more difficult to shoot down. For instance, instead of being directed by radio control, most have internal controls less susceptible to interference. As noted above, artificial intelligence is providing greater self- direction capability. Instead of using a few very expensive manned attack aircraft, scores of attack drones are launched to overwhelm the air defense systems. The cost difference is astonishing. Using a multimillion-dollar missile to shoot down a drone costing a few thousand dollars is not sustainable.
What this unfortunate war is demonstrating must be taken into account if our country is to maintain an effective military defense system. There are lessons that need to be learned. As technology advances, military systems must adapt. For instance, in World War II, the utility of battleships was replaced by aircraft carriers that allowed control of the air space over the enemy positions. Are we about to see the use of small drone submarines as an attack force against large aircraft carriers? I would not be surprised. Defending against a flood of drones is like stepping on a wasp nest–a real challenge.
Hopefully, our military leaders will show the wisdom to profit from what is happening in the Ukraine/Russia war and ensure that we are up to date on these new realities. Similarly, we must ensure that or military bases are secure from drone attacks. Allowing adversarial countries like China to own any land in the United States, much less near any military base, must be stopped. Similarly, allowing an overwhelming 400,000 Chinese students to attend our universities is equally foolish. Thank goodness we have a President who recognizes the threat. Let’s hope the rogue justices that continually try to block President Trump from taking actions needed to secure our country can be reigned- in either by the Supreme Court or by Congress before it is too late.
The Impact Of The Tariffs
On Wednesday, The American Thinker posted an article about the tariffs President Trump has put in place since he took office.
The article reports:
Far from igniting the inflationary firestorm predicted by his critics, Trump’s sweeping tariffs — including a 10% universal import duty and targeted hikes on 90 nations — have coincided with the lowest inflation rate since early 2021.
In a striking reversal of the narrative pushed by many economists, The Economist—a publication not known for its support of Trump’s policies — published a June 5 article acknowledging the muted inflationary effect of the tariff wave. The magazine pointed to hard data: in April, year-over-year inflation cooled to just 2.3%, far below the 0.8-point spike predicted by a University of Chicago survey of 48 economists.
Instead of tariff-fueled price hikes, the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that prices for heavily impacted goods like clothing and new cars actually declined.
Car prices dropped by 0.5% from March to April, despite 25% tariffs on auto imports going into effect on April 3. Clothing prices remained flat through March — even as progressive economists sounded alarms. Far from passing on costs, many retailers and foreign producers appeared to absorb them, underscoring the competitive nature of global commerce in a post-pandemic landscape.
Even groceries — arguably the most politically sensitive prices of all — held steady through May, despite new duties on Canadian produce and other perishables. Consumers, in short, weren’t being punished at the checkout line.
Of course, none of this was supposed to happen.
The article concludes:
As the trade deficit narrows and the factory floors hum a little louder, it’s increasingly clear: this was no reckless gamble. It was strategy. And it’s working.
While some still mutter darkly about future price spikes, the facts on the ground are sobering — and for Trump’s critics, humbling. Inflation remains tame, shelves are stocked, and voters aren’t paying more to put dinner on the table. The tariffs are not only holding; they’re delivering.
This is what happens when a businessman instead of a politician becomes President. Can you imagine how much celebrating there would be in newsrooms if a Democrat had accomplished even half of what President Trump has accomplished? I am hoping that as Americans begin to realize the economic gifts they have received in the past six months, they will at least vote to keep control of Congress in the hands of the Republicans. That is the only way this success will continue.
Ignoring The Science To Get The Desired Result
On June 6th (updated June 8th) Just the News posted an article about some of the dishonesty in the Biden administration dealing with the actual facts on the impact of natural gas on the environment.
The article reports:
Energy Secretary Chris Wright confirmed in March that the Biden-Harris administration had completed a study on liquefied natural gas exports prior to enacting a pause on export permits, the stated intention of which was to complete such a study. Wright stated that the Biden-Harris administration didn’t like what the study said, so they set out to produce one that would support the climate policies they wanted.
Emails exchanged at the Obama-era EPA in 2009 showed that the so-called endangerment finding, which has been the basis for much of the EPA’s regulation of carbon dioxide emissions ever since, was a foregone conclusion even before the agency announced the finding.
It appears that the Biden-Harris administration hid comments that would have undermined its Clean Power Plan 2.0 rule (CPP2), which the Trump administration is currently reviewing. The EPA had sought comments from the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Lab (NETL) on the efficacy of carbon capture technology prior to proposing the rule. These comments, which were somehow scrubbed from the administrative record, disputed a key claim the rule is based on. Those missing comments, a legal expert says, could provide a basis for the rule’s repeal.
The article concludes:
Horner (Chris Horner, an environment and energy policy attorney) said that, if the parties agree the record is incomplete, the Trump administration’s EPA can avoid arguing for months whether CCS has been adequately demonstrated. By simply documenting that the record shows the agency knowingly and falsely claimed CCS was adequately demonstrated, that’s the end of it. Horner said he doesn’t think the D.C. Circuit court would ignore that fact and deny the agency the opportunity to clean its own house.
“There seems to me no chance the parties would be denied an agency confession of error. That’s what’s really grabbing me about this. These guys have a kill shot, and I don’t know if they know it,” Horner said.
I suspect this is not the only incidence of skewed science to advance the ‘green agenda.’
Who’s Paying For This?
Some of the questions being asked about the riots in Los Angeles is, “Who is paying for this? Who is paying the protesters? Who is supplying the rocks and masks?”
On Tuesday, Red State posted an article that provides some of the answers to those questions.
The article includes a number of screenshots from X providing information:
Regarding the face masks, the article concludes:
Sounded like the reporters couldn’t quite believe it.
There were a bunch of them in the truck, as well as boxes of something else. The UVEX bionic face shields appear to run from about $35-60 online depending on where you get them from. You’re not going to wear that just to “protest,” as the reporters noted, you’re going to wear that because you anticipate being involved in a confrontation with the police.
Meanwhile, Democrats are blaming Trump and ICE, with Mayor Karen Bass saying the answer is to “stop” the ICE raids and people like Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) pretending there was no violence.
It’s the Democrats’ failures that fostered the situation in the first place.
There is nothing ‘grassroots’ about these riots. Someone is directly funding them–paying the rioters and providing equipment. That person needs to be found and put on trial for insurrection.
View From The lair
Side Show
President Donald J Trump is one of the best –if not THE best – showmen since PT Barnum. He understands timing. He understands optics. He is a master at distraction. He knows when to take things over the top, especially when everyone else thinks that it is inappropriate, and then understates when everyone else expects him to blow up. He is a patriot who deeply loves our country and understands the threat it is in and has been in.
He’s brilliant.
Elon Musk is one of the most intelligent humans of the 21st century. Certainly, one of the most innovative and creative. He understands risk taking and how to transform a risk into a certainty. He is a patriot who understands that the Marxists have been succeeding in completing the destruction of not just our country but the concept and application of liberty, freedom, and capitalism.
He’s brilliant.
So, is the Trump/Musk feud at all real? Or has it been a distraction? I have been cogitating about this for several days, not expecting the turn around to happen quite this quickly. I strongly suspected that it would, but not this soon. One theory is that PDJT sent ICE into Kommifornia specifically to cause an eruption from the west coast Marxists. Mainly to distract the usual Pravda and Izvestia reporters from not doing their usual non-reporting about lying about the “Big Beautiful Bill” meandering itself through congress. It’s the perfect distraction. The useful idiots in the lamestream media can report on the “mostly peaceful demonstrations” while showing footage of burning cars and trucks; bricks and Molotov cocktails being thrown at LAPD cops and National Guardsmen, while ICE, Homeland Security, and US Marshals round up the usual and not so usual suspects. Like congress critters and other public circus clowns who really should know better. I say “should” because anyone with a smidgen (for those of you in Baltimore, it means a small amount) of intelligence would remember that Resident Brandon ain’t in the White House and the new sheriff don’t take that BullSchiff anymore. They really are slow learners. Perhaps they can blame the Department of Education.
Elon was all bent out of shape because of the excessive pork in the “BBB”. Well – it’s a product of congress. Anything less would be not just a miracle but a second coming. Of course it’s full of pork. The only saving grace is if it also has the “poison pill” – granting the president the discretion of NOT spending what he deems is unnecessary and sending the excess cash back to the treasury.
The second thing that got Elon’s knickers in a twist was the removal of the electric vehicle tax deduction. HEY ELON! You can’t have it both ways! The Green New Scam relied on such bogus tax deductions to support the fallacy that “green energy sources” were anything other than a scam and a fraud. He’s WAY too smart not to realize that, and to try to hold on to the hope that it would make it through congress unscathed is really lame. I can not accept that he didn’t have at least some inkling that the EV credit was DOA.
So, again, distractions. Oh, and the distraction that PDJT was in the Epstein files? And they weren’t released to the NYT in 2019, much less 2024? RIIIIGHT! Not a freaking chance.
PDJT and Elon are now friends again. Because Elon is dismayed by the demonstrations in LA. They are dismaying, no question. But again, the master of optics is using them to demonstrate how feckless the Marxists in Kommifornia are.
And how he knows how to take care of them. Always the chess master.
Bubble UP!
The Snark
The Investigation That Really Wasn’t
On Friday, Real Clear Politics posted an article about the investigation into the cocaine found in the White House during the Biden administration.
The article reports:
Two years after the U.S. Secret Service discovered a bag of cocaine in the White House in July, 2023, documents showing orders for its destruction within 24 hours after the agency closed the case are raising new questions about the scrupulousness of the investigation.
A U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency document titled “Destruction” states that the bag of cocaine was sent to the Metropolitan Police Department for incineration. That document, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, doesn’t display a date for the destruction. But other internal Secret Service records show that the cocaine was tested by the Secret Service, the D.C. Fire Department hazmat technicians, and the FBI before being sent back to the Secret Service for storage on July 12. Two days later, it was transferred to the D.C. police department for destruction. The Secret Service shut down the cocaine investigation 11 days after discovering it.
The destruction of narcotics evidence must comply with environmental and safety regulations, and the D.C. police department has an Environmental Protection Agency-approved incinerator that federal agencies often use to destroy narcotics that are not involved in active legal cases.
D.C. police officials referred all questions about the cocaine’s apparent destruction to the FBI. There’s no entry or date for the cocaine’s actual destruction.
The article notes that there may be useful evidence that was not destroyed:
While the cocaine bag found in the White House appears to have been destroyed, internal Secret Service documents show that the agency retained and stored a second piece of evidence, an envelope of three tubes of DNA that the FBI attained from the plastic bag of cocaine. It’s unclear how much DNA those tubes contain, though the Secret Service has stood by its statements that the FBI found insufficient DNA to pursue any investigative leads.
When the Secret Service closed its investigation into who left the cocaine in the White House on July 13, the agency issued a statement explaining its decision. Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi asserted that camera surveillance footage didn’t provide any “investigative leads or any other means for investigators to identify who may have deposited” the cocaine in the White House, adding that FBI laboratory results “did not develop latent fingerprints and insufficient evidence was present for investigative comparisons.”
The article concludes:
After correcting mistaken reports that the cocaine was found in the White House library, media reports then cited a Guglielmi statement that the cocaine was found in a “West Wing workspace.” Days later, Guglielmi clarified further that it was found in a small locker in a vestibule near the West Executive Avenue entrance to the West Wing, a heavily trafficked area where visitors and lower-level staff store electronics before VIP tours.
A FOIA-released internal Secret Service document further muddied the waters by claiming that the cocaine was found in the “[redacted] lobby floor,” creating even more suspicion surrounding the location where the cocaine was first discovered. Sources familiar with the statement in a Secret Service Protective Division document said it was not a reference to the physical floor of a room, but the lobby level of the West Wing where the lockers were located in a vestibule leading into it.
The Secret Service has confirmed that “locker 50,” where the cocaine was allegedly left, has a missing key.
We may never know who brought the cocaine into the White House, but at least now we know that not everyone involved in the investigation was really looking for the truth.
We Are Back To “Mostly Peaceful” Protests
I may be going out on a limb on this, but I think most Americans don’t want to watch their cities being burned down. The majority of Americans like the idea of law and order and frown on groups of people attacking police or federal officials. This may be another area where the Democrat party and the media might want to reconsider their messaging.
On Monday, The Daily Caller reported:
Legacy media outlets have framed violent unrest that began Friday in Los Angeles, California, over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids as “protests,” despite extensive vandalism, arson and attacks on police.
Riots commenced on Friday after ICE raids in Los Angeles County, prompting President Donald Trump to deploy the National Guard to the city on Saturday. Despite the violent and destructive nature of the demonstrations, several legacy media outlets opted not to describe them as “riots.”
Protesting is legal and is as American as apple pie. Burning property and attacking people is illegal.
The article notes:
For instance, The Associated Press published a Sunday piece noting that protesters impeded access to a significant freeway and set fire to self-driving cars, but neglected to use the terms “riots” or “rioters” when describing the demonstrations.
In fact, the story even compared the Los Angeles riots to previous riots in the city in what appeared to be an attempt to downplay the violence. “The protests did not reach the size of past demonstrations that brought the National Guard to Los Angeles, including the Watts and Rodney King riots, and the 2020 protests against police violence, in which [Democratic California Gov. Gavin] Newsom requested the assistance of federal troops,” the AP wrote.
The article reports:
Moreover, ABC7 Los Angeles anchor Marc Brown on Sunday appeared to downplay the riots as the outlet showed footage of a car burning downtown.
“It could turn very volatile if you move law enforcement in there the wrong way and turn what is just a bunch of people having fun watching cars burn into a massive confrontation and altercation between officers and demonstrators,” Brown said.
CBS News also published a Monday piece that neglected to use the terms “riots” or “rioters,” while reporting on the anti-police violence that occurred on Sunday.
“[S]ome of those remaining threw objects at police from behind a makeshift barrier that spanned the width of a street and others hurled chunks of concrete, rocks, electric scooters and fireworks at California Highway Patrol officers and their vehicles parked on the closed southbound 101 Freeway,” the outlet wrote. “Officers ran under an overpass to take cover.”
This is not acceptable behavior, and unlike what happened during the ‘summer of love’ in 2000, anyone who broke the law needs to go to jail. No charges should be dropped; no bail accepted.
They Didn’t Do Their Job; Their Mandate Will Not Be Renewed
, was established by . Their mission was to
On Sunday, Breitbart reported:
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) will leave southern Lebanon later this year after the United States votes against renewing its mandate in an upcoming United Nations Security Council vote.
The Jerusalem Post reported Sunday:
The United States and Israel agreed that United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) must cease its operations in southern Lebanon, The Jerusalem Post confirmed Sunday, following reports.
The vote on the mandate in the United Nations Security Council is expected to occur within a few months.
UNIFIL, which has operated in the area for nearly half a century, was notorious for ignoring willful violations of ceasefires with Israel by Hezbollah terrorists, who turned southern Lebanon into a launchpad for attacks.
It has been obvious for years that the United Nations is not a friend of Israel. One of the major voting blocs in the United Nations is the The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Wikipedia (a source I don’t generally recommend) describes this organization as an intergovernmental organization founded in 1969, consisting of 57 member states, primarily Muslim-majority countries. It aims to represent the collective voice of the Muslim world and safeguard the interests of Muslims while promoting international peace and harmony.
They do not promote international peace and harmony–their goal is to institute worldwide Sharia Law. They would like to destroy Israel along the way. That is one of many reasons that UNIFIL was not inclined to fulfill its stated mission.
Let’s Add Some Truth To The Propaganda
Greta Thunberg was headed to Gaza on a boat to protest the ‘Israeli occupation and genocide.’ Gaza is not a safe place to be right now, so Israel intercepted her boat and ruined her potential selfies. However, this will be an educational opportunity for Greta. It may not make a difference, but at least now she will have no excuse for her support of Hamas.
On June 9th, The Jerusalem Post reported:
Shayetet 13, the IDF’s elite navy seals unit, intercepted the Gaza Freedom Flotilla early on Monday morning at around 3 a.m., detaining the 12 activists aboard after they ignored repeated warnings to turn back from trying to break Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s position, since Hamas carried out a coup against the Palestinian Authority and took over Gaza in 2007, has been that a naval blockade of Gaza is legal since Hamas is a terror group in a state of war with Israel.
Jerusalem also argues that it is necessary to block Iran from smuggling in high-quality missiles, such as those the Yemeni Houthis and other Iranian proxies possess.
…The activists, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, French-Palestinian European Parliament Member Rima Hassan, and Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham, were trying to raise awareness of their opposition to Israel’s invasion of Gaza, its blocking of certain international groups from directly distributing food aid in Gaza, and the naval blockade in general.
The article notes:
At press time, multiple home countries of the activists were demanding consular access to their citizens while in Israeli custody.
Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered that the activists first view footage from Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel.
I have seen some of that footage. It is horrific. How anyone can support an organization that celebrates that sort of brutality is beyond my comprehension. I hope seeing the footage will wake some of the Hamas supporters up.
UPDATE: It has been reported that when the people on the boat were shown the footage of October 7th, they refused to watch it. So much for the pursuit of truth.
Getting To The Root Of The Problem
On Sunday, PJ Media posted an article about the way the Trump administration is handling the riots in Los Angeles versus the way the Biden administration handled the ‘summer of love’ in 2020. To refresh your memory, Kamala Harris suggested that Americans send bail money to the rioters who were arrested. I suspect that President Trump will leave them in jail for a while.
Please follow the link to read the entire article. It is a good reminder of where we were and where we are.
The article reminds us:
Minneapolis, Portland, and Seattle all fell victim not just to angry mobs but to their own governors and mayors, too cowardly to stop them.
That year, Democrats cowered behind phrases like “mostly peaceful” as flames reached the heavens and lives were lost in the rubble.
President Joe Biden, then hiding in his campaign basement, barely managed a weak whisper.
He didn’t offer calm.
He offered evasion.
Before she was selected for vice president, then-senator Kamala Harris offered to pay bail.
Now, in 2025, we sit on the edge of another long, hot summer. And already, the streets of Los Angeles have begun to rumble.
The article concludes with the following observations:
Not Another Summer of Ash
The warning signs are here, with L.A. being the match point.
But the message has already been sent: if you riot, you will be stopped.
If you punch a cop, you will be arrested.
If you loot, you will be caught.
If you burn, you will answer for it.
And that may be enough.
Because what the left misunderstood in 2020, and still doesn’t get in 2025, is that most Americans don’t want a revolution.
They want predictability.
They want their kids safe.
They want their streets clean.
They want to walk into a Walgreens without stepping over a junkie or dodging a flash mob.
Trump didn’t create this yearning. He simply heard it.
And now, he’s answering it.
Biden’s DOJ tried to block state border defenses. President Trump stepped in and restored order.
President Trump didn’t start the fire, but he will put it out!
About Those Tariffs…
On Sunday, CNBC reported the following:
China’s exports growth missed expectations in May, dragged down by a sharp decline in shipments to the U.S., with analysts saying effects of the Beijing-Washington trade truce will be visible in June data.
Chinese exports to the U.S. plunged 34.5% from a year ago, marking the sharpest drop since February 2020, according to Wind Information, when the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted trade. Imports from the U.S. dropped over 18%, and China’s trade surplus with America shrank by 41.55% year on year to $18 billion.
Overall exports rose 4.8% last month in U.S. dollar terms from a year earlier, customs data showed Monday, shy of Reuters’ poll estimates of a 5% jump.
Imports plunged 3.4% in May from a year earlier, a drastic drop compared to economists’ expectations of a 0.9% fall. Imports had been declining this year, largely owed to sluggish domestic demand.
That was largely offset by its shipment to the Southeast Asian bloc, which jumped nearly 15% from a year, and those to European Union countries and Africa, which rose 12% and over 33%, respectively.
The article concludes:
While noting that it took time for the recovering demand to feed through to actual shipments, Huang cautioned that the existing tariffs are unlikely to be reduced further, if not hiked again, and will lead to slower export growth by year-end.
Chinese Vice Premier and lead trade representative He Lifeng is expected to meet with the U.S. trade negotiation team led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in London later in the day for renewed trade talks.
The second-round of meetings come after tensions flared up again between the two sides, as they accused each other of violating the Geneva trade agreement.
Washington had blamed Beijing for slow-walking its pledge to approve the export of additional critical minerals to the U.S., while China criticized the U.S. decision to impose new restrictions on Chinese student visas and additional export restrictions on chips.
China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday that it would continue to review and approve applications for export of rare earths, citing growing demand for the minerals in robotics and new energy vehicle sectors.
The trade negotiations are needed by both countries. Neither America nor China has a totally winning hand. We need China’s rare earth minerals, and China needs the American markets. There is some major unrest in China among workers as manufacturing slows in reaction to declining exports to America. I also expect that there will be some grumbling among Americans who may (at least temporarily) be paying higher prices for some products.
Let’s Get Pivotal!
There have been many pivotal years in American history, but a few of them have greatly impacted the way the country is run. One of the years that has shaped where we are today with deficits, representatives who do not represent, etc., is 1913. That was the year the Federal Reserve was created, the income tax was instituted and the direct election of Senators was signed into law.
First I want to focus on the Federal Reserve. Despite what Americans were told, the purpose of the Federal Reserve was to make sure that the wealth of America remained concentrated in the major banks of New York City. If you look at the list of people who made the secret trip to Jekyll Island to create the blueprint for the Federal Reserve, that becomes obvious. More information about the gimmicks that were used to sell America on the idea of The Federal Reserve can be found in the book The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin. The Federal Reserve has done nothing to help the average American, and it can be argued that its existence has hurt the average American financially.
The federal income tax was touted as something that would supposedly only impact the ‘super rich’ top 1 percent of Americans. We see how that went. It is interesting that in 2022, 40.1 percent of households paid no individual income tax. Keep in mind that these are voting eligible Americans who don’t care if politicians raise taxes. Up until 1913, America’s bills were paid by tariff income. Of course we did not have a welfare state at that point. It is also interesting that although the budget deficit went down in 2013, it began to increase again in 2016–government spending somehow always manages to catch up with increased revenue.
The direct election of Senators has done the most damage to our Republic. Prior to 1913, Senators were appointed by their states and could be ousted if they did not represent the interests of their states. The House of Representatives was supposed to be the branch of legislature that was more responsive to the will of the people and would react more quickly. The Senate was supposed to be a more deliberative body that represented the individual states. The direct election of Senators changed that dynamic.
1913 was a pivotal year for America, but not in a good way. We are again at a place where the decisions our leaders make could be pivotal. Do we make the tax cuts permanent or do we have a massive tax increase next year? Do the courts have power over the Executive Branch or can the President hire and fire people, command the military, and demand that the laws be enforced? The answer to those questions will determine whether 2025 and 2026 become pivotal years for America. President Trump is attempting to bring America closer to the ideals of our Founding Fathers. If he succeeds, that will be a good thing. It will also be pivotal.
POPEYE MOMENT
Author: Jerry Schill
Surely everyone has heard of Popeye the Sailor Man cartoon. If not, there’s nothing I can do to help you. I’ll just say that if you know a lot about Taylor Swift and little or nothing about Popeye your life is lacking! When Brutus gave so much grief to Popeye for one reason or other, Popeye would exclaim, “That’s all I can stands and I can’t stands no more!” That’s when he popped open a can of spinach and proceeded to physically put a hurt on Brutus. It was great!
We all have our “Popeye moments”. Being involved with fisheries politics for 38 years, I became very good buds with Popeye! Combine that with caregiving and you can imagine the decibel level at our house at times.
I do not like to sleep past 5:00am. Every so often I may go till 6:00, but then I consider it a wasted day. Why, you ask? In my mind I still must slop the hogs and milk the cows. I think the time of day right before the sun comes up is the best. Simon & Garfunkel claims that the “darkest hour is just before dawn” so you can read into that whatever you want.
A few weeks ago, I got up earlier than normal, at 3:00am. At 4:00, I began typing an email to some House members about a bill that was introduced by Republicans that we did not like. First, it was a poorly written bill about flounder and incorrectly listed the species as summer rather than southern flounder and addressed red snapper which is regulated by the feds, not the state. More importantly, the measure would have helped the recreational fishery (which is a good thing), but did nothing and could even harm commercial fishermen. The more I typed my email the more agitated, (angry), I became. That’s because we had been addressing our concerns but no legislator was listening. Before I sent the email Pam got awake so for the next couple of hours I tended to her needs, getting dressed, getting breakfast and taking meds. I found myself taking out my frustrations with the politicians on my wife by being impatient and using a non-loving tone when speaking to her. Afterwards, I realized that I was taking out my aggravation on my wife! That’s when I decided to make a change. I called Glenn Skinner, Executive Director of the North Carolina Fisheries Association, and told him I was submitting my resignation to NCFA and resigning as a registered lobbyist.
There is much more to this story but the point is that I had my “Popeye moment.” It was the good Lord’s way of saying, “Enough! Take care of your wife”!
Dementia/Alzheimer’s is a life changer. It is not the end of the world but while everyone knows it changes your life, those of us who are living it sometimes forget that it’s not just our loved ones that change. We need to rid ourselves of the stubborn notion that things are ok. In my case, I kept working my job like it was ok. It wasn’t. We like it when we’re on cruise control with our life and all is well. It’s ok to acknowledge the changes.
Next time we’ll talk about the need for both Pam and I to continue to live, and love life! Differently perhaps, but LIVE!