Monthly Archives: September 2025

A Really Bad Decision

Posted on by

“Those who do not know history’s mistakes are doomed to repeat them.” There is some question as to who said this so I won’t credit it to anyone, but the quote is extremely valid.

On Friday, Breitbart posted the following headline:

UN General Assembly Passes Resolution to Establish Palestinian State* (If Hamas Leaves)

Been there; done that.

In 2005, Israel withdrew from Gaza, essentially setting up a Palestinian state. Israel did not govern Gaza in any way. In January 2006, Hamas won the Palestinian Parliamentary Election. Following that election, the International Quartet (United States, Russia, the United Nations, and the European Union) declared that in order for the then Hamas-run Palestinian government to continue to receive foreign aid, it must recognize the State of Israel, end terrorist activities, and adhere to all previous agreements. Hamas rejected these terms, and international aid was halted. The destruction of Israel is still part of the Hamas charter. How long do you think it will be if a Palestinian state is established before Hamas takes it over? How long will it be before there is another October 7th attack on Israel?

Breitbart reports:

As Breitbart News reported earlier:

The so-called “New York Declaration” would recognize a Palestinian state, even though Palestinians have made no commitment to democracy, have refused to negotiate key issues with Israel, and still hold hostages in flagrant violation of international law.

The text of the declaration reads like a wish list: a democratic state, elections within a year, and the release of hostages — as if Hamas would agree to these terms.

The Times of Israel reported:

One hundred and forty-two countries vote in favor of the non-binding resolution enshrining the New York Declaration, which also calls on Hamas to release all hostages and condemns the terror group’s October 7 onslaught.

Joining Israel and the United States in opposing the resolution were Argentina, Hungary, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay and Tonga. Twelve countries abstained.

I wonder if they would be voting this way if they were the ones who were attacked on October 7th and had hostages taken.

The article concludes:

The resolution is separate from a separate meeting to declare a Palestinian state — which happens to be scheduled for September 22, coinciding with the Jewish New Year.

The U.S. has denied the Palestinian leadership permission to travel to the U.S. for the occasion, because of existing peace agreements that say clearly that a Palestinian state can only be declared as the outcome of direct negotiations with Israel.

Does anyone believe the fact that this is happening on the Jewish New Year is a coincidence? This is just mean.

I Have Mixed Emotions About This

Posted on by

There has not yet been a successful move to stop insider trading by Congress. That might have something to do with the fact that Congress is the one passing the laws. However, someone with great entrepreneurial tendencies has come up with an idea to level the playing field. I’m really sorry I missed this when it was first reported.

On August 28, The Daily Caller reported the following:

When Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared that politicians’ stock returns would make “every hedge fund jealous,” he highlighted one of Washington’s worst-kept secrets: lawmakers such as Nancy Pelosi consistently beat the market using information ordinary Americans could never have access to.

Now, as Congress debates banning itself from stock trading, a new company called dub Advisors is pulling back the curtain on political stock portfolios. dub Advisors allows everyday investors to track, and copy, how politicians trade via the dub copy-trading platform, founded by 23-year-old Harvard dropout Steven Wang. The dub platform functions as marketplace for copying investment strategies built by others, including those built by dub Advisors, dub’s affiliated Registered Investment Advisor. dub Advisors is one of numerous creators that operate investment strategies on the platform, specializing in translating complex trades of public figures (such as Pelosi’s Nvidia options) into strategies that can be easily copied by the average American.

The dub platform arrives amid explosive revelations about congressional trading. Senator Josh Hawley’s “PELOSI Act,” named after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, seeks to ban lawmakers from trading individual stocks entirely. The bill has gained momentum after President Trump told Time magazine he would “absolutely” sign such legislation, adding, “I watched Nancy Pelosi get rich through insider information.”

These aren’t baseless accusations. Politicians are required to disclose their trades under the STOCK Act, and analysis of these filings reveals patterns that raise eyebrows. Members of Congress routinely make well-timed trades before major legislative announcements, regulatory changes, or economic briefings that move markets.

The article notes:

As inflation erodes savings and traditional retirement security crumbles—the Senior Citizens League reports Social Security benefits lost 20% of purchasing power from 2010 to 2024—Americans need every advantage available.

“A decade from now, instead of picking stocks, we’ll be picking people to invest in,” predicts Wang. Until Congress finally bans its own trading, companies like dub ensure that the insider information that made politicians successful at trading is made available to all Americans.

The establishment may not like this transparency, but in a true free market, information demands to be free – and the 1.3 million Americans who have downloaded dub agree as they copy-trade their way towards their financial goals.

This is not a advertisement for or an endorsement of a product. It is just a salute to some very smart entrepreneurs.

Trying To Prevent A Disaster

Posted on by

New York City will hold its election for Mayor on November 4th. The leading candidate is Zohran Mamdani. Much of the money that is paying for his campaign is coming from out of state. That is not surprising. Many people who live in the city fear his election for various reasons–the Jewish population fears his antisemitism, the wealthy fear his ideas about redistribution of wealth, the landlords fear his ideas about rent control, etc. All of these ideas, if instituted, would make life more difficult for many of the residents of New York City.

On Friday, The New York Post reported:

A Brooklyn synagogue isn’t letting congregants score High Holidays seats if they aren’t registered to vote — a drastic step amid Sephardic Jewish congregations’ fear over the potential election of Israel critic Zohran Mamdani as mayor.

A notice from Congregation Shaare Zion in Gravesend obtained by The Post warns that the election’s outcome could pose “serious problems” throughout the city and left the synagogue “no choice” but to require proof of voter registration for tickets to Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services.

Mamdani isn’t directly mentioned in the announcement, but a source with the Orthodox synagogue said the move was directed at the Democratic mayoral nominee.

“It’s an effort to defeat Mamdani and to make sure the Jewish community’s voice is heard on the most important day in the electoral calendar, Election Day,” a synagogue source said.

“They were alarmed that someone who has expressed antisemitic sentiment in the past such as the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’ and supporting the boycott against Israel.”

Mamdani, who would be New York City’s first Muslim mayor if elected, has repeatedly contended he’s not antisemitic. He has supported the boycott, divest and sanctions movement against Israel, pledged to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he sets foot in New York City and refused to denounce the “globalize the intifada” rallying cry.

Unless something changes drastically in the near future, Mamdani will be New York City’s next Mayor. I believe his election will result in the total financial collapse of the city as the people and businesses who pay the majority of the taxes will find other places to live.

Federal Agents Doing Their Job

Posted on by

On Wednesday, The Epoch Times posted an article about the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) crackdown on the Mexico-based Sinaloa cartel.

The article reports:

A nationwide crackdown on the Mexico-based Sinaloa cartel has resulted in hundreds of arrests and drug seizures, federal officials announced this week.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Sept. 8 announced 617 arrests as well as the seizure of 1,058 pounds (480 kilograms) of fentanyl powder, 714,707 counterfeit pills, 4,870 pounds (2,209 kilograms) of methamphetamine, 16,466 pounds (7,469 kilograms) of cocaine, and 36 pounds (16.55 kilograms) of heroin.

More than $11 million in currency and over $1.6 million in assets were also seized in the operation, along with 420 firearms.

…In an executive order earlier this year, President Donald Trump declared eight drug cartels as foreign terrorist groups, including the Sinaloa cartel, one of the largest and most powerful in Mexico. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has prioritized breaking up cartels and other gangs amid a broader push against crime.

Brian M. Clark, the special agent in charge of the DEA field office in Los Angeles, said in a statement that more efforts are needed against drug cartels.

The article concludes:

The Treasury Department in mid-August said it sanctioned two other Mexican drug cartels, Carteles Unidos and Los Viagras, and seven affiliated individuals while accusing the groups of engaging in terrorism, drug trafficking, and other crimes.

The Trump administration has recently signaled that it may use the U.S. military to conduct operations against major criminal organizations such as cartels and gangs. Earlier this month, the U.S. conducted an airstrike against what Trump administration officials say was a boat carrying drugs into the United States that had departed Venezuela with 11 Tren de Aragua gang members on board.

“Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military,” Vice President JD Vance wrote on social media on Sept. 6.

This is only one step in dealing with the drug crisis in America. At some point we need to get to the root of the problem. Why does America have so many people who take drugs? What can we do in the way of drug rehabilitation programs that will make a difference? I realize that in order for a person with a drug problem to be helped, they have to want help. Putting that aside, as a society, we need to find better ways to prevent people from starting to use drugs and better ways to help those addicted to drugs. We could start by making marijuana illegal again. Any law-enforcement professional will tell you that it is a gateway drug.

Another Reason To Enforce Border Laws

Posted on by

On Thursday, Breitbart posted an article about a gruesome murder in Texas. A 37-year-old illegal alien from Cuba with a lengthy violent criminal history who was released by the Biden administration into Texas on January 13 — one week before Donald Trump was sworn in as president, according to ICE, brutally murdered a co-worker at a Dallas area motel.

The article reports:

The spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) provided the following statement:

On Sept. 10, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Officers assisted the Dallas Police Department in the interrogation of Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, an illegal criminal alien from Cuba who allegedly beheaded a man in front of the victim’s spouse and child. Cobos-Martinez did the unthinkable and proceeded to kick the head around like a soccer ball.  ERO Dallas swiftly lodged an immigration detainer on the suspect.

Cobos-Martinez has a lengthy criminal history that includes arrests and convictions for grand theft motor vehicle, false imprisonment, carjacking, and indecency with child through sexual contact. He was most recently in ERO Dallas custody at the Bluebonnet Detention Center until he was released on an order of supervision on Jan. 13, 2025, because there were no removal flights to Cuba under the Biden administration.

The article notes:

Dallas police investigators say that Yordanis Cobos-Martinez got into an argument with 50-year-old Chandra Mouli Nagamallaiah at the Downtown Suites motel on September 10. He reportedly became angry when Nagamallaiah, an Indian national, gave instructions to a coworker to translate instead of speaking directly to him. Cobos-Martinez then allegedly pulled a machete “from his person” and began hacking at the victim, according to information published from an arrest affidavit by Fox 4 Dallas.

I don’t want to see this man deported–I want to see him convicted and sentenced to death.

Wisdom From Alan Dershowitz

Posted on by

I truly love Alan Dershowitz. He is a man who tells the truth regardless of what his supposed political allies think. He has done it again.

On Thursday, Just the News reported:

Harvard Law School’s Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz said Monday that he wants the United Nations removed from the United States. 

“I would like to see the United Nations thrown out of the United States, and the United States get out of the United Nations,” Dershowitz said on the “John Solomon Reports” podcast.

Although the U.N. has been under scrutiny for years, the body has come under heightened criticism from members of Congress and faced allegations of antisemitism for how they have treated Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza against Hamas. 

One of the reasons for the antisemitism in the United Nations (UN) is that there is within the UN a powerful voting bloc called the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The organization was created in 1969. It’s charter states its goal as “revitalizing Islam’s pioneering role in the world.” The OIC Charter claims jurisdiction not only over Muslims inside its Member States (57), but also over all Muslims living in non-Muslim countries–including the United States (Chapter 1, Article 1, Objective 16).

The article at Just the News notes:

As far back as the mid 1940s, the U.N. and U.S. membership in it has been challenged. Sen. William Langer, R-N.D., was one of two senators to vote against the U.N. Charter. More recently, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., introduced H.R. 1205, the American Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2015, that would have required withdrawal from the organization. 

This year, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced the DEFUND Act of 2025, which mandated termination of U.S. involvement with the U.N. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., in January 2025 also criticized the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for “not meeting the mission of the UN’s founding principles.”

“There were individuals in UNRWA who participated, who executed and committed terrorist acts against Israel on Oct. 7. [Yahyah] Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, carried an UNRWA passport. You had a Hamas data center under UNRWA headquarters, so the rot is deep,” she said.

After some major improvements, the UN building could be turned into luxury condominiums overlooking the river. The tax revenue would help New York City financially, and removing the diplomats with their diplomatic immunity would solve the traffic congestion problem in lower Manhattan. It’s a win-win!

Wages And Inflation

Posted on by

The problem with inflation is that even after the rate of inflation is finally brought under control, the prices never seem to go back down. This is what many Americans are experiencing in the early months of the Trump administration. Gasoline prices at the pump and eggs are the only noticeable reduced prices we have actually seen.

On Tuesday, Zero Hedge posted the following chart:

So if you are wondering why your grocery bill looks more like what used to be a car payment, now you know why.

The article concludes:

The -0.7% drop in real hourly earnings since January 2021 highlights a fundamental truth: even small mismatches between wage growth and inflation, when sustained over years, can erode financial stability for everyday Americans.

There is reason for optimism, though. If the current trend continues, with inflation stable and wage growth healthy, real wages could soon surpass pre-crisis levels. But that path remains vulnerable to shifts in inflation or labor market conditions.

For a longer-term look at how wages and inflation have tracked historically, check out the data from 2007 in this USAFacts visualization on Voronoi.

 

Our Upside-Down World

Posted on by

On Tuesday, The Washington Free Beacon posted an article about the Israeli attack on the Hamas leaders in Qatar.

The article reports:

Several senior members of Hamas, the populist Palestinian political party, perished Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike while attempting to secure a lasting peace in the region. In other words, they died doing what they loved.

The strike occurred in Doha, Qatar, where many Hamas leaders have been residing in luxury since the group came into possession of several hundred Israeli combatants, sometimes referred to as “hostages,” on Oct. 7, 2023. The decision to seek refuge in Qatar was motivated by the Hamas leadership’s unwavering opposition to the colonialist violence taking place in Gaza, as well as a healthy fear of tunnels and other confined spaces.

The extent of the martyrdom has yet to be revealed. Israel was targeting four Hamas leaders, including chairman Khaled Meshaal and chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, who recently hosted talks with representatives from the notoriously pacifist nation of Iran. Their fates are unknown at this time, but Hamas officials told the New York Times that al-Hayya’s son and his office manager were incinerated in the attack. Al Jazeera, the Qatari-funded media conglomerate, reported that the strike occurred as a team of Hamas diplomats was meeting to consider a peace proposal drafted by the United States.

…Hamas allies were devastated by the apparent demise of their comrades. Former Obama adviser Tommy Vietor lashed out at Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.), who posted a GIF of a satisfied Winnie-the-Pooh in response to the news of Israel’s strike in Qatar. “I fucking hate this idiotic, childish memeification of deadly serious issues,” the Hamas advocate wrote on X. “Any hope of getting the remaining Israeli hostages out alive could be gone, any hope of ending the war in Gaza could be dead, and this clown is posting a Winnie-the-pooh gif.”

The article concludes

Sources tell the Washington Free Beacon that Vietor and his former colleague, Ben “Hamas” Rhodes, are preparing to nominate their fallen comrades for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Indeed, the civilized world would be foolish not to honor their sacrifice.

This nomination is not really a surprise considering it is coming from two members of the Obama administration. For more information on Ben Rhodes, follow this link.

Anyone who believes that Hamas’ goal in peace with Israel needs to look again. The Charter of Hamas calls for the elimination of Israel and has never been changed. Hamas does not want a two-state solution–they want a one-state solution with Israel gone. The maps being used to teach their children affirm that. Giving Hamas a Palestinian state would only pave the way for more October 7th attacks.

Filling Out The Board Of Governors At The Fed

Posted on by

On Wednesday, Breitbart reported that the Senate Banking Committee has approved the nomination of Stephen Miran to fill the vacancy on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve created when Andrea Kugler unexpectedly announced she would resign prior to the end of her term in January.

The article reports:

The committee voted 13-11 along party lines to advance Miran’s nomination to the full Senate, where it is expected to come up for a vote on Monday.

That would put Miran in place to vote at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on September 16 and 17. The FOMC is widely expected to announce an interest rate cut at the conclusion of that meeting.

…President Trump could nominate Miran to fill the subsequent 14-year term but he would need to be confirmed again by the Senate. Alternatively, Trump could appoint someone else to the seat, perhaps someone he expects to elevate to the chairmanship of the Fed later this year when Jerome Powell’s tenure expires. Miran would be able to hold the post until a new nominee is confirmed.

Miran currently chairs the White House Council of Economic Advisers. He told senators at his confirmation hearing that he would take an unpaid leave of absence from that position while working at the Fed. Democrats attacked this arrangement, claiming it would compromise the independence of the Fed. Many Fed officials take similar leave of absence from private sector jobs while serving on the Fed but those have mostly been academic positions rather than roles in the White House.

I hate to be cynical (but I’m good at it!), but the Democrats would have found some way to attack the nomination and the arrangement proposed regardless of the details. The Democrats have created the greatest logjam in American history in the nomination process for President Trump’s nominees. I think I would have been surprised if they hadn’t objected.,

The Death Of A Warrior

Posted on by

Many years ago when I taught Vacation Bible School, we sang a song that went, “I may never march in the infantry, ride with the cavalry, zoom in an airplane, but I’m in the Lord’s Army.” Charlie Kirk, who was shot yesterday, was part of the Lord’s Army. God chose him for the work he did, even as a teenager.

Yesterday, Breitbart posted Charlie Kirk’s email sent to Breitbart News in April 2012, shortly after Andrew Breitbart’s death.

This is the text of that email:

My name is Charlie Kirk and I was referred to you by … from the Chicago Tea Party rally. I am a high school student from Wheeling, Illinois and Co-Founder of a conservative youth group called SOS Liberty. [He] told me to contact you after I informed him about some of our activities and the blatant misinformation in our public school textbooks. For example, our District 214 AP Economics textbook is written by Paul Krugman and is littered with biased and subjective analysis. SOS Liberty wants to correct certain information and provide an alternative viewpoint to combat the liberal brainwashing that is taking place in our classrooms.

When we showed one chapter of Krugman’s textbook to the dad of one our SOS members, he was so outraged he couldn’t sleep and critiqued Krugman’s misinformation. Attached is one chapter of Krugman’s textbook (with the Dad’s notes written in the margins). For example, there is a reference to Reagan’s economic plan and Krugman concludes, “The Reagan tax cuts showed no sign of acceleration in economic growth.” In fact, the Reagan tax cuts produced one of the biggest expansions in our history, yet high school students are being brainwashed to believe that the Reagan’s tax cuts were not successful. We at SOS Liberty are committed to combating this sort of blatant and biased propaganda. It’s frightening to think that this Krugman’s book is likely being used by high schools throughout the nation. Is your organization aware of this Krugman textbook?

SOS Liberty sends student speakers throughout northern Illinois to present a video and power point presentation about our nation’s spiraling debts and deficits which is followed up with a question and answer period. We have spoken to various community organizations, tea party groups etc. and have received rave reviews including the endorsement of Congressman Joe Walsh. We have also appeared on local TV and our student activism has received coverage in newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune. We just agreed to host a local radio show which will begin next week. SOS Liberty is trying to educate others that our generation will soon be drowning in debt. We are a group of passionate student activists who are crying out for help which is why we’re called SOS. As we make our voices heard, we are sounding the alarm to our peers to WAKE UP to the generational theft that is taking place!

Wow! He was eighteen when he wrote that letter. He had already co-founded a group to get the truth out to his fellow high school students.

The Bible tells us that God numbers our days even before we are born. With that in mind, I am grateful for the gift God gave us in having Charlie Kirk for 31 years.

My sympathies and prayers go out to his family.

Twenty-four Years Ago

Posted on by

This is the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attack on America by Islamists. Note that I said Islamists—not Muslims. Islamists have the goal of a world ruled by Sharia Law. Muslims simply practice their faith and want to be left alone.

Two of the heroes of 9/11 were Rick Rescorla and John O’Neill. Rick Rescorla was a British army officer who was the head of security for Morgan Stanley at the World Trade Center. He understood the Islamist mind and knew there would be a second attack on the World Trade Center. He routinely held evacuation drills for the employees of Morgan Stanly and had appointed fire chiefs for each department. John O’Neill was an FBI counter-terrorism expert who left the FBI in 2001 due to friction within the bureau. His focus on Osama Bin Laden and predictions of a second attack on the World Trade Center were not appreciated. He became head of security at the World Trade Center in late August 2001. Neither man survived the attack. Rick Rescorla went back into the tower to save people and John O’Neill’s remains were found on Liberty Street.

Recently the Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association (CCTA) did a radio show featuring someone who was in the second tower when the plane hit. You can go to cctaxpayers.com to hear that radio show. Patty Monachino’s story is a compelling reminder of the events of that day.

This is a picture of the Teardrop Memorial, Russia’s gift to the United States in memory of 911. The monument To the Struggle Against World Terrorism was dedicated on September 11, 2006, by President Clinton. It is located in Bayonne, New Jersey, at a place where the twin towers were visible. To read the entire story of the monument and how it came to rest there, this is the link to the story 911monument.com. The website tells the story of what inspired the monument and how it came to be.

The Day Before

Posted on by

Today is September 10, 2025. Twenty-four years ago, it was the day before. We were all going about our business, enjoying a beautiful fall, and making plans for the future. I wonder, if we could have seen into the future, is there anything we would have done differently that day.

There were two men who were living in a different world than the rest of us–even on September 10. One of those men was Rick Rescorla. He was the vice president for security at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, a brokerage house with 2,700 employees in the World Trade Center in the south tower on floors forty-four through seventy-four and 1,000 employees in Building Five across the plaza. Because of the foresight of this man, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter lost only six employees in the bombing of the World Trade Center.

Rick felt strongly that the terrorists who had attempted the first World Trade Center bombing would try again. He asked his company executives to move from the towers, but the company’s lease went until 2006. Rick held evacuation drills on a regular basis in spite of the grumbling of his fellow employees. Every few months all 2,700 employees would march down the stairs and out of the building in an evacuation drill. On September 11, 2001, by the time the second airplane hit the second tower, most of the company’s employees were already out of the building. There were three employees missing, and Rick and two other people went back into the building to find them.   All six were killed when the building collapsed.¹

I tell this story today for two reasons. First, Rick Rescorla is a hero whose foresight saved many lives. Second, Rick Rescorla understood that there were terrorists who wanted to destroy America even before there was a “war on terror”. We need to think back to September 10, 2001, and remember what our innocence was like and the price we paid for it. Thank God for a man who chose not to be innocent.

The other man who understood that the attack was coming was John O’Neill. In February 1995, he was appointed chief of the FBI’s counter-terrorism section. He was eventually driven out of the FBI because his focus on Bin-Laden and his focus on the fact that a second attack on the  World Trade Center was coming. On August 22, 2001, he resigned from the FBI. On August 23, 2001, he started work as the Security Director for the World Trade Center. He was also killed when the buildings collapsed.

  1. Much of the information in the above paragraphs is from two books– BREAKDOWN by Bill Gertz (subtitled “How America’s Intelligence Failures Led to September 11”) and THE LOOMING TOWER (Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11) by Lawrence Wright.

Going After The Leadership

Posted on by

Qatar has played a double game in the Middle East for a long time. They claim to be a neutral broker in seeking peace between Israel and Hamas, yet the leadership of Hamas lives a luxurious lifestyle in Qatar. That luxurious lifestyle ran into a major snag recently.

On Tuesday, Red State reported:

A series of explosions rocked Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday as Israel targeted the living quarters of senior members of Hamas.

The Israeli Defense Forces posted the following on X:

The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) and ISA (Israeli Security Agency) conducted a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization.  

For years, these members of the Hamas leadership have led the terrorist organization’s operations, are directly responsible for the brutal October 7 massacre, and have been orchestrating and managing the war against the State of Israel.  

Prior to the strike, measures were taken in order to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and additional intelligence. 

The IDF and ISA will continue to operate with determination in order to defeat the Hamas terrorist organization responsible for the October 7 massacre.

The article concludes:

If Qatar did approve the attacks, it indicates Hamas has nowhere left to run. It also suggests that the war in Gaza is not playing as well in the Arab world as it is in Manhattan and London.

Eliminating the top layer of Hamas leadership marks a departure from the past in two ways. First, it sends a signal that the days of cosplaying as a revolutionary while enjoying five-star meals and Russian hookers are over. Second, it means that Israel and Trump have decided that the Doha-based leadership were not good-faith negotiating partners, and they’ve decided to roll the dice on what comes next. I think that also has larger implications for the Ukraine war, where US policy since 2022 has been focused on Putin’s political survival.

It remains to be seen if Israel can turn this strategic masterstroke into operational gains and released hostages. It will take a couple of weeks for Hamas’s head to stop spinning and decide if the continued war is in its best interests.

Hopefully, this will bring the release of the hostages and the end of the war.

Who Is Actually In Charge?

Posted on by

On Monday, John Hinderaker at Power Line Blog posted an article asking the question, “Who Runs the Executive Branch?” During the past four years, that was a very appropriate question, but it is still an appropriate question.

The article reports:

Under Article II of the Constitution, the President is the executive branch. But over the years, Congress has tried to limit the power of the President by establishing a number of “independent” agencies–the SEC, the FDIC, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, and so on. In many cases, Congress has purported to limit the President’s ability to fire employees of those “independent” agencies, even though they are part of the executive branch and nominally under his control.

Democrats like this arrangement, since the agencies are staffed overwhelmingly by Democrats. They have served to undermine every Republican president of the last generation. Until now, Republican Presidents have generally put up with the fact that they do not effectively control the executive branch, but President Trump has moved to assert his proper constitutional authority in several ways.

Most notably, in February he issued an executive order which we wrote about here. It asserted, in several ways, his authority over the “independent” agencies. He has also fired a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve for cause, and, more importantly, he has fired other executive branch officials without cause, as should be his prerogative under Article II.

This has given rise to the vitally important case of Slaughter v. Trump. Rebecca Slaughter was a Federal Trade Commissioner. President Trump fired her without asserting any “cause,” even though the Federal Trade Commission Act says that a Commissioner can be removed by the President only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” The administration takes the position–correctly, I think–that this limitation on the President’s control of the executive branch is unconstitutional.

The article concludes:

What is being teed up here is, ultimately, an epic battle between Congress and the President. Democrats are on the side of Congress, mostly because Congress has, in turn, ceded power to the Administrative State, which is overwhelmingly Democratic but which, as Professor Philip Hamburger among others has persuasively argued, is essentially unconstitutional. Republicans are now mostly on the President’s side, because the current President is a Republican, and because they have seen how the Administrative State has become a permanent and unaccountable fourth branch of government.

Of all the battles to which the Trump administration has given rise, this one may, in the end, be the most important.

The decision on this matter will determine whether or not we go back to the Republic our Founding Fathers created–do the checks and balances put in place in our Constitution still apply?

Most Of Us Suspected This

Posted on by

On Tuesday, Townhall posted an article about the jobs numbers that were reported during the last year or so of the Biden administration. They were strictly made-up numbers.

The article reports:

The Biden administration’s claim of a robust job market has officially collapsed under the weight of complex numbers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) just announced that job creation in the 12 months through March 2025 was overstated by a staggering 911,000 jobs — the most significant downward revision on record. The economy, it turns out, wasn’t growing nearly as fast as Biden’s team led Americans to believe.

Instead of the originally reported 1.8 million new jobs, the actual figure is closer to 850,000. That cuts average monthly job growth during that period by more than half, from 147,000 down to just over 70,000. So much for the “strongest labor market we’ve ever seen.”

These inflated numbers weren’t isolated to a single sector. The shortfall hit nearly every part of the economy, with the most damage in retail, hospitality, business services, and manufacturing. Even the information sector — often touted as a strength in Biden’s economy — saw a revision of over two percent, the steepest percentage drop of any category.

For President Donald Trump, who took office amid glowing media coverage of Biden’s so-called economic legacy, this revision confirms what many already suspected: he inherited a far weaker economy than advertised. What was framed as historic strength was just statistical smoke and mirrors.

The article concludes:

President Trump has responded by removing BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer and nominating economist E.J. Antoni, a vocal critic of the agency’s flawed methodology. After two consecutive years of massive revisions, accountability is long overdue.

The revision technically covers data only up to March 2025, but the picture since then has been no better. Just 22,000 jobs were added in August — hardly a sign of a thriving labor market. If anything, this latest data confirms that America’s economy has been sputtering for longer than the media or the Biden White House would admit. And now, the illusion is gone.

These were the numbers that were part of the reason the Federal Reserve chose not to lower interest rates during the summer. Let’s hope these numbers will be a wake-up call to them. There is, however, good news on the horizon. Many of the leading indicators are moving in a positive direction. The workforce participation rate was also slightly up in August. Brighter days are ahead, but we were lied to when we were told the economy was chugging along just fine during the Biden administration.

Lied To Again

Posted on by

On Thursday, The Washington Free Beacon posted an article about Abdul Rahim “Abood” Muhammad Hamden, eight-year-old boy who was reportedly killed by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) site.

The article reports:

A Gazan boy alleged to have been killed by the Israeli military is alive and has been safely evacuated from Gaza with his mother, according to video footage and new reports—contradicting the allegations promoted by commentator Tucker Carlson and Senators Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.).

The eight-year-old boy, who was misidentified as “Amir” but whose real name is Abdul Rahim “Abood” Muhammad Hamden, appeared alongside his mother in a video interview with a translator asking questions provided by Fox News. The boy smiled as he talked about looking forward to his and his mother’s then-upcoming extraction from Gaza, saying, “Outside the Gaza Strip is nice,” according to a translation verified by the outlet. The boy and his mother are now in a secure, undisclosed location outside Gaza, according to Fox News.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) also confirmed in a Thursday announcement that the boy is “alive and safe” and condemned the false allegations. “We are overjoyed and deeply relieved that Abood is safe, and that this story ends in hope,” GHF executive chairman Johnnie Moore said. “Too many people, including in the press and civil society, were quick to spread unverified claims without asking the most basic questions.”

Tony Aguilar, an ex-contractor for the GHF, made national headlines this summer when he claimed in several media appearances that the Israel Defense Forces had shot and killed Hamden in May, as the boy sought aid at a GHF site.

The article concludes:

Tucker Carlson, a conservative-host-turned-vocal-critic-of-Israel, had Aguilar on his show in an interview released July 31. Carlson was “nodding solemnly” as Aguilar claimed Israel had killed the boy, Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) wrote in an X post Thursday.

Sanders and Van Hollen also pushed Aguilar’s story, even after the IDF and GHF denied the claims. In late July, Van Hollen met with Aguilar and released a recording of their conversation, while Sanders featured Aguilar’s testimony in a video titled “Former U.S. Special Ops: What I Saw in Gaza.”

Be careful who you listen to for Middle East news.

Breaking Up The Logjam

Posted on by

On Sunday, The Daily Caller reported that the Senate is planning to break up the logjam holding back President Trump’s appointments.

The article reports:

Senate Republicans are on the verge of breaking Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s stranglehold over the confirmation process, ending seven months of unprecedented obstruction that has sought to prevent President Donald Trump from staffing his administration.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is expected to invoke the rarely-used “nuclear option” to reform Senate rules allowing for the simultaneous confirmation of lower-level executive branch nominees as early as Monday, a senior Republican aide told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The historic rules change could grant the more than 100 civilian nominees who have been blocked from their postings due to Democrats’ persistent delay tactics a swift confirmation vote before the Senate is scheduled to go on recess on Sept. 19.

…Thune organized a working group in August after negotiations with Democrats to clear the backlog of executive branch nominees collapsed. The cohort included Republican Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Eric Schmitt of Missouri and Ted Budd of North Carolina.

The Senate is there to advise and consent–not to obstruct.

The article notes:

Senate Republicans’ imminent rules change comes after former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid used the “nuclear option” during former President Barack Obama’s second term to lower the threshold required to confirm executive branch and judicial nominees. Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also invoked the “nuclear option” to eliminate the 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees and cut debate time on most presidential nominees.

Though the proposed rules change is likely to benefit Democrats the next time they control the Senate and the White House, Senate Republicans have argued that Democrats’ nomination blockade is not sustainable. Despite Thune holding more votes than any Senate in 35 years, the Trump administration is on track to confirm the fewest nominees in recent memory.

“By the end of the 119th Congress (1/2/2027), the Senate is on track to confirm just 426 nominees, the fewest in history, and less than half of what other Presidents have averaged since 2000,” Britt, a member of the working group, wrote on X on Wednesday.

This is not the kind of history we need to be making.

The article concludes:

“We have never seen a time where the opposition party has literally blocked and forced the president and his team and us here as the majority in the Senate to go through all the machinations of trying to get a nominee across the finish line,” Thune said during a Senate GOP leadership press conference on Wednesday. 

“So this is of the Democrats’ making,” Thune continued. “There isn’t anything right now that they want to vote for that he has his fingerprints on, and getting his team in place is absolutely essential. It’s part of governing this country, and we’re going to move forward.”

Cleaning Up Another Major American City

Posted on by

On Monday, Hot Air reported that the Trump administration is beginning a major effort in Chicago to deport illegal aliens. The operation is being dedicated to a young woman who was killed by an illegal alien who was driving while drunk earlier this year.

The article quotes The Washington Post:

Chicago city leaders and immigrant advocates said federal law enforcement officers began making arrests Sunday and had taken at least five people into custody, including a well-known flower vendor and people waiting at a bus stop and on the sidewalk. The activists said there had been “an escalation” in enforcement actions and several reported sightings of ICE vehicles.

“We believe this operation signals the beginning of ICE’s full escalation in Chicago and Illinois,” said Rey Wences, senior director of deportation defense for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

Notice that the article at The Washington Post refers to the illegal aliens simply as immigrants. That is very misleading. Immigrants go through the process to come to America legally. The people arrested broke the law in coming here, and in many cases are not interested in assimilating into American culture or following America’s laws.

There have been protests in various areas of the city against the actions of ICE in rounding up people who are here illegally. That makes no sense to me. Why are the residents of Chicago protesting actions that could possibly bring down the crime rate? I guess my answer is that they are protesting for the same reasons there are protests in Washington, D.C. about the use of the National Guard. The people doing the protesting are not in the areas where the crime rates are highest or the areas where misconduct by illegal aliens is a problem. What we are seeing is a total disregard for the safety of their fellow citizens and a total disregard for the rule of law.

Freedom Needs Fences

Posted on by

In his poem, “Mending Wall,” Robert Frost quotes a neighbor in the poem who says, “Good fences make good neighbors.” There is some debate as to whether the poem is pro-fence or anti-fence, but the statement is generally true. Studies of children’s playground behavior show that when their play yard is fenced, they tend to roam the entire yard. When their play yard is not fenced, they tend to huddle near the building adjacent to the play yard. To children, the fence provides a sense of security.

When our Founding Fathers created our Constitution, they put certain principles into the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Those principles were based on Nature’s Law and God’s Law. The Declaration of Independence states that our rights come from God and that they are inalienable. These rights are fundamental and cannot be taken away or transferred. The Declaration of Independence lists these rights as the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Protecting those rights is the basis of our judicial system (which includes consequences for those who attempt to deprive people of those rights). Our Constitution provides a ‘fence’ to block anyone trying to take away our rights.

On August 22nd (although not reported in the mainstream media), there was a stabbing attack on the Charlotte, North Carolina, light rail train. Iryna Zarutska, 23 years old, a refugee from Ukraine who came to America for safety, was stabbed to death by 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr., a man who had been arrested fourteen times before, but was walking free.

The ’fence’ in our law that should have kept him in prison was for some reason left open, and a young girl is dead. She was returning from work, still wearing her pizzeria uniform, sitting quietly, looking at her phone when Brown, sitting behind her on the train, chose to attack her. The video is available on the internet if you care to watch it.

It’s time to put the ‘fences’ back up. It’s time to enforce the laws and keep people who break the law in prison until they are tried. Part of the problem is the no cash bail laws in some of our major cities. Congress is beginning to act to end this practice. The “Ending Cashless Bail in Our Nation’s Capital Act” and the “Keep Violent Criminals Off Our Streets Act” are being led by Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, in the Senate, and Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., in the House. We need to end no cash bail laws for both federal and local crimes.

Let’s protect law-abiding citizens—not criminals–so that everyone can use public transportation without fearing for their life.

NOTE:

An article about the murder of Iryna Zarutska can be found at PJMedia.

Facing Trial

Posted on by

On Sunday, Just the News reported that the trial of Ryan Routh, who is accused of trying to assassinate Donald Trump during the last campaign season will begin today in a Florida federal courtroom.

The article reports:

Routh is defending himself, with court-appointed lawyers nearby and on standby. Judge Aileen Cannon is on the bench of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Fort Pierce.

Prosecutors say the suspect was going to attempt take the life of Trump, eventual winner of the presidency over then-Vice President Kamala Harris, as he golfed on a Sunday afternoon. The Sept. 15 incident came 65 days after a shooter on a roof struck Trump’s ear with a bullet in Butler, Pa.

Security agents for Trump encountered Routh prior to the golf group reaching the area. Routh is accused of raising a rifle, leading to a shot from agents, a short vehicle chase and the suspect’s apprehension.

Cannon in July granted Routh the ability to defend himself at trial. She laid out logistics, including attire and movements, on Tuesday. Routh has filed court documents challenging the president to a round of golf and a fight while in shackles; for the former, he said if he loses Trump can execute him.

Jury selection is Monday and the trial with four weeks reserved on the calendar is expected to begin on Thursday.

The article concludes:

Routh pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and several firearm violations. His past includes barricading himself from officers in Greensboro in 2002 after eluding a traffic stop and owning a warehouse in 2010 where police found more than 100 stolen building supply items.

Sentences previously did not include jail time.

A tragedy was avoided because of a very good Secret Service Agent. However, the whole situation might have been avoided if he had been held accountable for his past crimes. But we don’t know if he was convicted of a crime in relation to the warehouse full of stolen goods–he could have claimed that he rented it out.

Hadn’t He Heard These Words Before?

Posted on by

Tim Kaine is a Democratic senator from Virginia. Recently he posted the following on social media:

The notion that rights don’t come from laws and don’t come from the government but come from the Creator—that’s what the Iranian government believes. It’s a theocratic regime that bases its rule on Sharia law and targets Sunnis, Bahá’ís, Jews, Christians, and other religious minorities. And they do it because they believe that they understand what natural rights are from their Creator. So the statement that our rights do not come from our laws or our governments is extremely troubling.

Well, the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence (primarily written by Thomas Jefferson of Virginia) states:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to
secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving
their just powers from the consent of the governed.

The U.S. Constitution was primarily written by the delegates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. The key contributors were James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay.The Constitution and The Bill of Rights enshrined the rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence and addressed the grievances the colonists had with the British such as being forced to house troops, unwarranted searches and seizures of property, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, etc.

Tim Kaine swore an oath to the U.S. Constitution. One wonders if he ever took the time to read it.

When The Issue Isn’t The Issue

Posted on by

The Congressional hearings with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., turned into a circus. Because he is cleaning house at the Center for Disease Control and calling out the Senators that receive serious money from the pharmaceutical industry, the hearing was very dicey.

On September 7th, American Greatness posted an article about the hearing.

Here are a few of the highlights:

One by one, the senators, mostly Democrats but also a few Republicans, screamed and gesticulated at Kennedy, accused him of being a “charlatan” and worse, and demanded that he resign or be fired.

One friendly questioner asked whether Kennedy thought that the response to COVID had been “politicized.” Indeed, it had, Kennedy said. Moreover, the government and the media lied to the public about many aspects of the disease, beginning with its origin. (No bats were involved in this entertainment.)

The public was also aggressively lied to about the danger of the virus—overwhelmingly, the only vulnerable parts of the population were the elderly, the obese, and the diabetic. We were lied to about the efficacy of “social distancing”—it was a made-up nostrum—and cloth masks. They are worse than useless. I still see damaged souls driving around in cars or walking outside by themselves wearing a mask. You might as well, as some wag proposed, wear a seat belt while walking around as a sort of safety blanket.

The real issue behind the circus:

But the thing to appreciate about the melodrama is that it had very little to do with COVID or the CDC or even U.S. health policy writ large. The real protagonist was someone who wasn’t even present, viz. Donald Trump. The fire was directed at Kennedy, but the ultimate target was Trump. The strategy is to discredit and then destroy Kennedy, a potent outgrowth of the Trump administration. If the Dems can destroy Kennedy, he would represent the outer skin of the onion. They would then proceed against other Trump lieutenants.

Robert Kennedy wants to find out why Americans are fatter, sicker, and more plagued by chronic disease now than ever before. He wants to know why cases of autism have skyrocketed and why 8 out of 10 young adults are not fit enough to join the military. Is it because of what they eat, the medicines they are forced to take, or something else? The Democrats want to play what Bill Clinton (and later Hillary) called “the politics of personal destruction.”

The issue is never the issue, but determined truth-tellers like Robert Kennedy and his boss in the White House are a demonstration that “the issue” can be made to succumb to the awful clarity of common sense, bolstered by that other real issue, the executive power of the presidency.

The uni-party in Congress only wants the President to have executive powers when he is a Democrat or doesn’t plan on using them.

There Are Some Things Blocking Full Release Of America’s Energy Potential

Posted on by

On Friday, Townhall posted an article noting that in order for America to unleash its total energy potential, some of the regulations regarding energy would have to be changed.

The article reports:

This summer, President Trump and Congress have been extremely successful with remaking the American economy to deliver for workers and businesses, passing the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act (OBBB) in July that extends important tax cuts and unleashes American energy.

In particular, American energy dominance and independence was a key winner, as numerous provisions repealed Biden-era giveaways to green energy that held back our economy, making energy less reliable and affordable. Yet the OBBB is just the first step for unleashing American energy, and the next step must be comprehensive permitting reform. With these mandates to expand our national energy dominance, lawmakers must remove the onerous red tape and bureaucratic delays to get critical infrastructure projects off the ground.

 The OBBB was the right first step, accelerating the end to wind and solar tax credits that were part of the “Green New Deal” that constrained domestic energy supply. The bill also compels the Interior Department to hold more land leases in our waters, which as Interior Secretary Doug Burgum states, “marks a significant shift in how we manage our public lands, support energy development and work with local communities.” 

The article notes:

Our nation’s permitting process is currently governed by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Clean Water Act (CWA), both outdated laws that have made it such that projects on average take 4.5 years to permit, with transmission projects to protect our national grid taking 6.5 years. With the OBBB, sponsors can now pay for an expedited review of their Environmental Assessment (EA), which has shorter deadlines and requirements to update the process.

It should be noted that the last significant oil refinery built in the United States was the Marathon Refinery in Garyville, Louisiana, which opened in 1976. However, a new refinery, the Texas International Terminals refinery, began operations in February 2022, but it is considered a smaller facility compared to major refineries. We need to drill for more oil and build more refineries.

The article concludes:

Comprehensive proposals like the SPEED Act (Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act) are the much-needed next step to unleash American energy after the OBBB. While its first steps are a positive development in getting energy infrastructure projects online and growing good-paying industrial jobs, deeper issues remain with NEPA and the system of judicial review. When Congress comes back this fall, comprehensive permitting reform must be top of mind for policymakers, which will strengthen our domestic economy, national security, and position in the global marketplace.