From my friends at The Patriot Post:
Monthly Archives: April 2026
Paying Attention To Where The Money Was Going
On Tuesday, The Daily Signal posted an article about a requested Department of Justice probe into the misuse of funds by the Small Business Administration.
The article reports:
Biden administration officials may have sought to dodge public records laws and congressional oversight by classifying taxpayer-backed loans to Planned Parenthood as “Benghazi,” according to findings by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.
Ernst, chairwoman of the Senate Small Business Committee, has been investigating Small Business Administration loans to the nation’s largest abortion provider under the Paycheck Protection Program during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a letter sent Monday to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Ernst asked for a Justice Department investigation “for potential Federal Records Act violation by concealment and/or attempted concealment” of SBA records regarding loans to Planned Parenthood and loan forgiveness.
“What does Benghazi have to do with Planned Parenthood? It appears the Biden SBA used it as a codename to hide the $90 million in taxpayer funds they gifted to the abortion provider,” Ernst told The Daily Signal in a statement.
“I’ve already exposed the Biden administration’s blatant disregard for transparency, but this potential cover-up demands answers,” Ernst continued. “I’m calling for a DOJ investigation to determine if Biden officials were illegally concealing federal records over their egregious handout to Planned Parenthood.”
The article notes:
All government emails can generally be accessed by the public through the Freedom of Information Act and the Public Records Act.
“Under 18 U.S.C. § 2071, an individual who ‘willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, or destroys, or attempts to,’ conceal any federal record can be fined and imprisoned for up to three years,” Ernst says in the letter to Blanche.
Ernst contends congressional or public-record requests seeking Planned Parenthood documents from the SBA would miss these records because they were being concealed as “Benghazi.”
“DOJ should investigate SBA officials’ record concealments related to a series of meetings and emails, including an April 30, 2021, email from Peggy Hamilton, the SBA general counsel, with ‘Benghazi (PPP/PPH) Decisions’ in the subject line,” Ernst told Blanche. “This email appears to be the originating email for what became a months-long thread about Planned Parenthood’s SBA loans and the entity’s loan-forgiveness requests.”
It seems as if there are a few people in the Biden administration who are going to have to deal with 18 U.S.C. § 2071. Remember, they are innocent until proven guilty, but if they are guilty, I hope they face the maximum penalty.
This Is Going To Get Interesting
When Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his famous I Have A Dream Speech at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963, he stated, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Somehow the professional racists in our country have forgotten that concept.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Louisiana to redraw its congressional map because the map was drawn along racial lines.
On Wednesday, The Daily Caller reported:
The United States Supreme Court has knocked another peg out of the legalized racism instituted by progressive election law, ordering Louisiana to redraw its congressional map in a landmark voting rights decision.
On Wednesday, the Court dealt a blow to a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, siding with Louisiana Republicans and President Donald Trump’s administration by blocking an electoral map that created a second majority-black congressional district.
In a 6–3 decision, the justices upheld a lower court ruling that found the map unconstitutional. The dispute centered on whether the districts amounted to race-based gerrymandering, with the lower court concluding that race played too large a role in how the map was drawn — violating the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection.
The article concludes:
The stakes extend well beyond Louisiana. Historically, the party that controls the White House tends to lose House seats in midterm elections. With Republicans holding a narrow majority, any shift in how districts are drawn could play a significant role in determining control of the chamber.
The ruling follows years of legal battles over Louisiana’s congressional map and broader disputes over race-based redistricting, which critics argue amounts to legalized racism, while supporters say it is necessary to ensure fair representation under the Voting Rights Act.
Following the 2020 census, Republican lawmakers redrew the state’s map so that black voters made up a majority in just one district, despite accounting for roughly one-third of the population. In 2022, a group of black voters filed a lawsuit under the Voting Rights Act, arguing the map diluted their political influence by concentrating many black voters into a single district while spreading others across the remaining districts.
Can we please get to the point where we vote for candidates because of their qualifications and their ability to do the job–not for any other reason? I would also like to mention that gerrymandering has become a national sport. The New England states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut range from about 35 to 48 percent Republican. They do not have one Republican representative in the U.S. House of Representatives. Congressional districts need to reflect the voters in their state.
But Did They Vote?
On Monday, ABC11 posted an article about the voter rolls in North Carolina.
The article reports:
The North Carolina State Board of Elections has identified approximately 34,000 dead people on the state’s voter rolls following a comprehensive data comparison with the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, also known as the SAVE database.
The discovery happened during the state board’s ongoing effort to verify the citizenship status of registered voters.
“While we expected to find some cases, this is higher than we anticipated,” said Sam Hayes, executive director of the State Board of Elections. “The benefit of entering into cross-state and federal database checks is that it allows us to uncover issues like this. Our goal is to use every available and legal tool at our disposal to achieve the most accurate voter rolls possible. Now, we must roll up our sleeves and begin the hard work to act of verifying that every person registered to vote in North Carolina is eligible. Our team, along with our state and federal will do what’s necessary to meet this responsibility.”
Election officials say the identification of deceased people on the voter rolls does not necessarily indicate that illegal votes were cast in their names.
There is an important fact left out of this article.
In August 2025, The Carolina Journal reported:
- State Auditor Dave Boliek and Republican state legislative leaders defended in new court briefs the state law that shifted North Carolina elections board appointments to Boliek’s office.
- Democratic Gov. Josh Stein challenges the shift spelled out in 2024’s Senate Bill 382. The dispute sits now with the state Court of Appeals.
- An Appeals Court order in April allowed Boliek to take over elections board appointments. Appellate judges overruled a three-judge trial court panel that ruled in Stein’s favor.
Why wasn’t an audit done when the Democrats had control of the election process and voter rolls?
Posted by a friend on Facebook:
The World Is Rapidly Changing
It will be a while before we truly realize the aftershocks of what is happening in Iran. It may be a while before we know what is actually happening in Iran, but the impact of what has happened so far will be felt for a long time. I believe the war in Iran began with the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023. That attack ended the idea of a peaceful Palestinian state, which Gaza was established to be. Once that illusion was shattered, and Israel realized how vulnerable it was, the war with Iran was inevitable whether or not America approved or got involved. The issue became the survival of Israel. Since the war began, other Arab states have realized that they are not immune from the terrorist activities of Iran. The region in gradually reshaping itself into a more modern, economically bonded region.
On Tuesday, The Hill reported:
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the country’s government said on Tuesday.
The country will officially exit OPEC and its broader OPEC+ association on May 1 following the government’s internal review of its production policy, according to UAE state media, WAM.
“This decision reflects the UAE’s long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile, including accelerated investment in domestic energy production, and reinforces its commitment to a responsible, reliable, and forward-looking role in global energy markets,” WAM reported.
The move marks a major change for the permanent intergovernmental organization, which sets uniform petroleum policies among its member countries with the mission of maintaining stable global oil markets.
The UAE first joined OPEC seven years after its founding in 1960 under the emirate of Abu Dhabi, and it has been a vital member of the intergovernmental organization. The country’s exit follows UAE officials’ complaints about OPEC’s quotas and the country’s reported clashes with the organization’s de-facto leader, Saudi Arabia.
This decision is also the result of the fact that America is not only energy independent–we are exporting oil. Saudi Arabia no longer has the sway that it once had. The energy market is now every man for himself. It will be interesting to see what impact this has on crude oil prices.
Did They Really Do That?
On Tuesday, The Gateway Pundit reported the following:
The United Nations elected Iran as one of 34 vice presidents of the 11th Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, which opened April 27 at UN headquarters in New York. Iran was nominated by the Non-Aligned Movement, representing 121 largely developing nations.
The appointment drew immediate objections from the United States, Australia, the UAE, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Christopher Yeaw, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, called Iran’s selection an “affront” to the NPT, saying it was “indisputable that Iran has long demonstrated its contempt for the non-proliferation commitments of the NPT,” and declared it “beyond shameful and an embarrassment to the credibility of this conference.”
The UAE called the appointment “antithetical to the values of the NPT,” warning: “If a state party can disregard its obligations, undermine verification, destabilize its region, threaten international waterways, and still be elevated to a leadership position in this process, then we must ask what message this conference is sending.” Russia defended Iran and accused the objecting nations of “political attacks.”
The basis for the objections is extensive. Iran ratified the NPT in 1970 and concluded a comprehensive safeguards agreement with the IAEA in 1974. In 2002, the agency began investigating allegations of clandestine nuclear activities, finding that some had violated Tehran’s safeguards agreement.
Considering where we are right now–with Iran having admitted it was weeks away from 10 nuclear bombs and what followed–this is amazing. Notice that Russia is supporting the election of Iran to an office in the Conference. I wonder what deals were made behind the scenes.
The article concludes:
Regarding the current U.S.-Iran conflict, Iranian officials have demanded that restrictions on its nuclear program be omitted from any peace talks or agreements.
The NPT vice presidency is not an isolated case. In February 2026, Iran was elected vice-chair of the UN Commission for Social Development, a body focused on democracy, gender equality, and non-violence, and vice-chair of the UN Charter Committee. In April 2026, ECOSOC nominated Iran to the UN Committee for Programme and Coordination, which shapes policy on women’s rights, human rights, disarmament, and terrorism prevention, with Western democracies including the UK, France, Germany, Canada, and Australia voting in favor. Iran had been removed from the UN Commission on the Status of Women in 2022 following its violent crackdown on protesters after the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.
I have a feeling that if Iran continues on its current path of delay, delay, lie, delay it may not like the end result.
Is The Covid Thread Unraveling?
I don’t think we have any idea how many lies we were told during the Covid epidemic or how many of our basic civil rights were violated. However, we may be about to find out.
On Tuesday, Breitbart reported:
A former senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci was indicted Tuesday regarding his alleged efforts to hide records about the origins of the Chinese coronavirus.
Seventy-eight-year-old Dr. David Morens is facing multiple charges in the case, the New York Post reported.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) detailed the indictment against the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) staffer, saying he was allegedly involved in evading Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests linked to COVID-19 research grants:
According to the indictment, Morens, Co-Conspirator 1, Co-Conspirator 2, and others conspired during the COVID-19 pandemic to defraud and commit several offenses against the United States after NIH terminated Co-Conspirator 1’s grant. NIH terminated the grant, Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence (bat coronavirus grant), based on allegations that COVID-19 emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in Wuhan, China. NIAID awarded the grant to Company #1 and Co-Conspirator 1, who made a subaward to the WIV.
Following the termination, Morens and Co-Conspirator 2 pledged to help Co-Conspirator 1 restore the termination of the bat coronavirus grant and counter the narrative that COVID-19 leaked from a lab. In anticipation that their communications would be requested through a FOIA Request, Morens, Co-Conspirator 1, and Co-Conspirator 2 agreed in writing to intentionally hide from public view their communications by corresponding using Morens’s personal Gmail account, rather than his official NIH email account.
Another secret server?
The article notes:
In 2024, emails obtained by a congressional subpoena showed Morens had once bragged about “how to make emails disappear,” Breitbart News reported at the time.
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul (R-KY) said in September that there is email evidence allegedly showing Fauci may have deleted public records, which contradicted his previous testimony.
“In a letter addressed to Fauci, which Breitbart News viewed, Paul revealed that the committee was conducting an ‘investigation into the origins’ of the coronavirus,” the outlet continued. “Paul added that the committee had ‘obtained records’ revealing that Fauci allegedly directed employees at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to destroy federal records.”
Morens has been charged with “conspiracy against the United States; destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations; concealment, removal, or mutilation of records; and aiding and abetting,” the DOJ’s news release said.
It is definitely time for orange jump suits!
Quote of the Day
Quote of the day posted on X by James O’Keefe:
From my friends at Townhall:
The Need To Change The Protocol
Obviously a lot has been written and will be written about the attempted assassination of President Trump on Saturday night. However, I think the best accounts and suggestions for improvement will come from the people who were there. Stephen Moore was one of the people who were there.
On Monday, John Hinderaker posted the following at Power Line Blog:
On Saturday night I (Steve Moore) attended the White House Correspondents Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel. Every time I enter this hotel, I recall that this was the same Hilton where Ronald Reagan was shot and nearly killed 45 years ago. I walked through the same entrance where that assassin’s bullet came within an inch of killing Reagan.
This is an event for the self-absorbed and self-important Washington DC glitterati to see and be seen.
I had anticipated a very long security line and about an hour wait to enter the hotel. I brought my paper ticket and my passport identification.
To my surprise the security was lax, to put it lightly. Wearing my tux, I walked in the front door by flashing the paper ticket. There was no code to be scanned and I never once was asked for my ID.
The room was packed at 7pm when President Trump entered to shallow applause. What shocked me was that, after the National Anthem and military color guard, Trump and the First Lady sat for dinner front and center in front of 2500 people. That didn’t strike me as safe or advisable. For a sniper, God forbid, it seemed he was a sitting duck.
It also struck me that the President, the VP and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson were all in attendance. I am told five of the six in succession to the presidency were there.
About 15 minutes into the dinner, I was chatting with the Wall Street Journal reporters at my table when all hell broke loose. The Secret Service suddenly charged in with pistols and assault rifles and all of a sudden I heard two loud booms, like a bomb going off. There was screaming and we all ducked down and many ducked under their tables.
I looked toward the President and he was surrounded by the Secret Service. They pulled him out of his seat and shoved him toward the exit. My heart sank and I panicked when I saw Trump appear to stumble to the ground. You can see that on the video. Oh my God, I gasped, in horror. Trump has been hit.
I was seated at the table next to Speaker Johnson when the Secret Service agents began yelling: “Where is the Speaker?” His seatmates had pulled him under the table. He was ushered out.
The article concludes:
But this was clearly a major security breakdown on multiple levels. It was easier to get into the Hilton to see the president and to get 30 feet from him than to attend a Wizards basketball game down the street.
Obviously, these protocols need to be fixed.
Please follow the link above to read the rest of the report.
This Is Not Acceptable
Sometimes I wonder if the people who sit on some of our school boards remember what it was like to be a teenager. I am not talking about being sympathetic to the struggles of teenagers, I am talking about boys being boys and girls being girls. If you are unclear about what that statement means, ask a baby boomer about drive-in movies!
On Saturday, The Daily Wire reported:
A North Carolina school board is refusing to protect female students in bathrooms and locker rooms, despite months of concerns from students and parents.
Trista Ruck, a junior at Cox Mill High School in Cabarrus County, addressed the Cabarrus County School Board in December of 2025 and asked them to create a policy defending female-only spaces at the school. At Ruck’s school, a male student identifying as a woman is on the football and basketball cheer team and uses women’s locker rooms and restrooms.
“Many of my peers and I feel uncomfortable using facilities designed for women and women alone, as he has different reproductive parts than we do,” Ruck said.
Ruck said both parents and students had discussed the problem with Cox Mill administration and the athletic director, only to be “blatantly ignored.” The school’s only response was to make special accommodations for the female students instead of for the trans-identifying student, Ruck said.
One of Ruck’s friends, who is on one of the school’s sports teams, said she noticed the male student watching her and other female students changing while in the locker room, according to Ruck.
The article concludes:
Hughes (Alexis Hughes, the founder of You Heard Her, an advocacy for female students in Cabarrus County) referenced Ruck’s comments and criticized the board for not addressing the problem.
“She came to you all for help. You heard her. You did nothing. Shame,” Hughes said. “There is nothing political about a child that feels unsafe when they are changing clothes. That is a basic expectation of privacy, and it is all of your responsibility.”
Multiple speakers at the April meeting slammed the board for not taking action to protect female students. At the end of public comment, the board carried on with usual business without addressing any of the speakers’ concerns.
“This comes down to three things: safety, privacy, and respect for every student,” Hughes told the board. “Transgender students deserve protection, but policy has to protect all students. And right now, the absence of policy is failing every single student in our district.”
Boys don’t belong in girl’s bathrooms or locker rooms regardless of what claims they make about their gender.
The Battle For Redistricting In Texas
On Monday, MSN reported that the U.S. Supreme Court had upheld the Texas redistricting maps.
The article reports:
The Supreme Court (SCOTUS) sided with Texas, upholding its redistricting Monday.
The five-to-three decision ruled in favor of reversing the District Court’s judgment, according to the orders of the court issued through its controversial shadow docket.
The now-reversed District Court’s judgment sided with the plaintiff, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), that Texas’ 2025 congressional map, enacted mid-decade in August 2025, was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
The case was appealed to SCOTUS, which made its decision “for the reasons” described in SCOTUS’ response to a December application for a stay.
The court’s preliminary evaluation then determined that Texas satisfied the traditional criteria for interim relief, citing two serious errors of the District Court, and because the “trial court base[d] its findings upon a mistaken impression of applicable legal principles.”
On Monday, Fox News reported:
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, had asked the Supreme Court last year to pause a three-judge panel’s ruling in the Western District of Texas that found 2-1 that race was too much of a factor in its redraw.
The Department of Justice also chimed in, telling the high court to intervene and reverse the decision, saying Texas’ choice to change its map was driven by purely “partisan objectives,” not racial objectives, which could violate the Voting Rights Act.
The voting rights groups who challenged Texas and Abbott claimed that the map was an illegal racial gerrymander, but the high court found in December 6-3 that the groups could not offer an alternative map that served Texas’ political needs.
I would like to mention that the New England states–Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Maine have Congressional Districts set up so that there are no Republican Representatives from those states. The Republicans in those states have no representation in Congress. The Democrats have no room to talk about gerrymandering (a tactic that began in Massachusetts).
How Did We Get Here?
How did we reach the point where a well-educated American decided it would be a good thing to assassinate the President and members of his Cabinet? How did we get to the point where hours before the event, a comedian (and I use the term loosely) made a joke about the First Lady being a widow? Is the mainstream media part of the ‘deep state’ or are they simply the result of a decision made in the 1930’s?
The Frankfort School was a group of intellectuals that existed in Europe from about the 1860’s. Basically, it was a group of Communists who wanted to eradicate Christianity. When the Nazis came to power in Germany, many members of the Frankfort School fled to America, aided by John Dewey and Edward R. Murrow. John Dewey was associated with Columbia University and helped place members of the Frankfort School at leading colleges and universities around America. In 1982, U.S. News And World Report noted that there were 10,000 Marxist professors teaching at America’s colleges and universities. It took about a generation for the seeds planted by Dewey and Murrow to bear fruit. These schools also have tenure systems which may often be controlled by people with a political agenda. It should also be noted that somewhere in the past few decades the goal of journalism morphed from reporting facts accurately to influencing public opinion.
Is journalism part of the ‘deep state’? It doesn’t have to be as long as it is philosophically aligned with the ‘deep state’.
As we begin to process what happened Saturday night, there are a few things to notice. Most of the initial mainstream media reports talked about a gunman—the word assassination was generally not used. Many of the leading democrats are denying that they ever advocated violence. You can debunk that claim very quickly. There is a two-minute video on YouTube of Democrats calling for violence against President Trump. For instance, on Wednesday Representative Jeffries called for “Maximum Warfare Everywhere All The Time,” with a picture of Trump. The person who attempted to kill President Trump and members of the Cabinet believed that he would be a hero if he succeeded. The manifesto the gunmen wrote includes a number of Democrat talking points of charges the mainstream media has made against the President, none of which are backed up with actual proof. Our education system, the mainstream media, and leftist hate groups created this shooter. Until we sort out what has happened to our education system and our media and eliminate the hate groups, we can assume that this will not be an isolated incident.
Prayer works. I believe that God has President Trump where he is for a reason. The Bible tells us to pray for our leaders. I believe that Word is very important right now. Remember also that May 17 is the day President Trump plans to rededicate America to God (as those on the Mayflower did in the Mayflower Compact in 1620). Obviously, there are those in the media and the deep state that may not fully support that idea.
How Do You Put A Hospice In A Taco Stand?
How do you put a hospice in a taco stand or a tire store? That is the question being asked in a post by The Daily Signal on Sunday. Evidently the authorities in California were so lax in checking Medicare money handed out to supposed hospice facilities that some of them were located in very strange places.
The article reports:
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has halted payments to more than 400 hospices in Los Angeles and across California, with the estimated fraud being greater than $600 million, according to the anti-fraud task forceopens in a new tab led by Vice President JD Vance.
Sheila Clark, CEO of the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association, is questioning how these alleged instances of fraud have slipped through the cracks.
“How do you put a hospice in a burrito stand in California? How do you put a hospice in a tire store? That all had to be vetted through licensure, certification, and accreditation,” Clark said during a House of Representatives hearing on April 21.
The article concludes:
In an interview with Fox Newsopens in a new tab, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli called California “the kingdom of fraud.”
“Nobody is minding the shop. The money just goes out the door—no checking, no vetting. California has a responsibility to make sure the money is going to the intended recipients.”
On Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reported that $6,000 was being paid out by the government for hospice patients that allegedly did not exist.
We have not gotten one call from a congressperson or a patient. Why? Because those hospices did not exist. They were signing up patients … and charging us $6,000 a month for that patient.”
I am hoping that as we clear out the fraudulent spending by the government we can continue to decrease the tax burden on Americans.
The Culture Of Violence
On Sunday, Townhall posted an article about a school shooting stopped by the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.
The article reports:
A Virginian transgender substitute teacher has been arrested for planning to commit a “murder spree” at a local school, the New York Post reported on Friday.
Police took Hadyn Dollery, a 19-year old male who identifies as a female, into custody after he bragged about his plot online and made references to a “kill list” over Discord. His target is said to have been John Champe High School in Aldie, Virginia near the Washington, D.C. area.
He had been considered a “nonlicensed substitute” in the 2025 to 2026 school year, but his information was removed from the school district’s database shortly following his arrest, according to the Post.
Authorities say that they learned of the thwarted attack due to a tip received by the police department’s Safe2Talk app.
I don’t like to put the blame on a specific community, but the numbers are adding up. I am very glad this man was arrested before he could carry out his plans. I have stated before–mixing testosterone with PMS is not a good idea. It might be a better idea to deal with transgender people by finding the underlying issue in their transgenderism and dealing with that rather than simply applying drugs and surgery without really knowing the motive behind the desire to transition.
I Never Thought I Would Celebrate A High Unemployment Figure, But…
On Friday, The Conservative Treehouse posted an article about the unemployment rate in Washington, D.C.
The article reports:
A few years ago, I was eating breakfast in a DC hotel listening to two men talk about their schedule for the day. Their business was decorating homes for Christmas, and they were discussing their heavy workload.
As I listened quietly the men were describing premium rates for DC families who wanted their decorating services completed fastest. The average rate was $15,000 per residence for 30-day interior holiday decorating, and the rates went up from there. They were overwhelmed with business calls.
I sat there stunned doing spit-takes with my coffee while thinking, “holy cow, who has that kind of money to blow, just renting Holiday decorations?” One of the client names was familiar, Kellyanne Conway. “Jumpin’ ju-ju bones, this is an actual thing they do up here,” I thought. My mind was blown, but this put context to the economic bubble that isolated DC from the rest of ‘real’ America.
Yesterday, I read a New York Times column describing how the professional political employees and their families have been impacted by President Trump and the downsizing of the federal workforce.
Amid the tear-filled typeset meant to generate sympathy this part jumped out at me: “The District of Columbia currently has the highest unemployment rate in the nation, at 6.7 percent, in large part because of major reductions in the federal work force, including U.S.A.I.D., and cuts to government grants and contracts.” {CITATION}
Almost all of the $35 billion spent by USAID in 2024 went to Washington-based contractors, not to people in need overseas. Eliminating USAID has now created an unemployment problem for all of those DC-based federal contractors, NGOs and USAID employees. The NYT article gives examples of the terrible state of affairs.
The person mentioned in The New York Times column that we were supposed to feel sorry stated that Sheryl Cowan, 57, was making $272,000 a year as a senior vice president at a U.S.A.I.D.-funded nonprofit when she was let go at the end of March 2025. Last month she had an online interview for a $19-an-hour job managing a Penzeys Spices store near her home in Falls Church, Va.
You would think that at $272,000 a year she might have put something in a savings plan of some sort! Somehow my sympathy button got lost.
A Law That Needs To Be Changed
Although Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. is working to wind down animal testing, as of now the testing still continues. That needs to change. Meanwhile, a puppy mill in Wisconsin that raises Beagles for animal testing has come under fire recently.
Yahoo News posted an April 22, 2026, article from the Wisconsin Examiner about the Ridglan Farms Biomedical Research Facility.
The article reports:
Fallout from a weekend attempt by animal rights activists to breach the Ridglan Farms Biomedical Research Facility and rescue beagles bred inside continues. On Tuesday, four of the activists were charged in Dane County with felony burglary. Meanwhile, Ridglan Farms has been cited for filling a trench around its facility with manure — an environmental hazard for which it lacked a permit — in an effort to prevent the activists from entering over the weekend. Calls for an investigation into the farm and police use of force against them continue.
Wayne Hsiung, Aditya Aswani, Michelle Lunsky, and Dean Wyrzykowski were all charged with felony burglary. Hsiung was noted as among the first people arrested within minutes after arriving at the farm. Although the activists had publicly advertised the rescue — which included hundreds of participants — as planned for Sunday, the activists hit the farm a day early. Images captured on Saturday showed the air thick with tear gas, and witnesses reported that rubber bullets and pepper balls had been used. Injuries were also reported, including one man who reportedly lost multiple teeth after being beaten by officers.
…Thousands of dogs are kept and bred at Ridglan Farms. The facility has been accused of subjecting beagles to cruel and inhumane conditions by enclosing them in gated cages, not allowing them outside or play time, and removing parts of their bodies or subjecting them to experiments without anesthesia. Ridglan has denied some of the allegations.
The article concludes:
Two elected members of the Dane County Board of Supervisors have also said they’re initiating the steps needed to begin an independent investigation into the force used by the Dane County Sheriff on activists and protesters Saturday. Sheriff Kalvin Barrett has said that the actions of his deputies was proportionate and appropriate to the situation they faced Saturday.
Obviously, I would like to see scientific experiments on animals ended, but beyond that, it is cruel to keep dogs in cages with no outside running time. Ridglan Farms seems to be a puppy mill with a horrific ending for the puppies involved.
Saving America: Artificial Intelligence
Author: R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D
Since this year is the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, it is an appropriate time to consider some of the major issues facing our country. This article is one of a series that attempts to do just that. The last hundred years or so have seen a dramatic advancement of technology that has had a significant impact on our lives–some good some not so good. In fact, the changes are so fast that many people have difficulty keeping up. From a human intelligence and emotional perspective, there is a limit to how much change we can absorb and adapt to. The age of computers, the internet, and digital processes have improved our lives, yet have presented challenges.
With the advent and use of artificial intelligence (AI), we may be facing the biggest challenge so far. According to the dictionary, artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science that develops systems capable of performing tasks typically requiring human intelligence, such as reasoning, learning, problem-solving, and perception. In other words, we are creating humans! Now, like all advances in human capacity, for example the automobile, there are going to be disruptions to the existing order of things. We cannot avoid these disruptions if we are to advance as a civilization. However, none of the prior advances had the potential to replace humans that AI has shown. We cannot avoid developing AI for several reasons, not the least of which is national security. China, our most potent adversary, is pursuing the development of AI at a pace that threatens to leave us behind. We cannot let that happen. For example, the other day there was a news item showing a Chinese made robot winning an extended long-distance race against humans. We are now living in the futuristic world that just a few years ago was science fiction in novels and movies. The question then becomes not whether we should pursue AI, but rather how do we make sure that humans do not become unnecessary and superfluous. As AI advances and is able to create and develop itself, human programmers are of less importance. As a result of that, there isa a reduction of computer programming jobs across many industries. The speed of AI in data searching is astonishing. The potential use in military equipment must be utilized if we are to remain competitive with our adversaries.
There was a recent article outlining an unexpected use of AI that shows how AI has already infiltrated much of our lives. The topic was screening job applicants. Ninety-eight percent of Fortune 500 companies use some form of AI when screening job applicants. The report showed that 43% of the applicants were rejected not because they did not have the required job skills, but rather their submitted resumes did not meet the AI generated format. These applicant’s resumes were never seen by a human. It may be that applicants must rely on AI generated resumes if they are to pass muster with the AI reviewers.
The use of AI in communicating with the public is increasing to the point that one never knows whether you are talking to a person or a robot. I have noticed that in some messages to other persons you may be required to check a box stating you are not a robot! The use of robotic driven automobiles has not only been developed, but these automobiles are now being implemented as taxis in several cities such as San Francisco, Dallas, and San Antonio. Soon we may have robots available to do house work, prepare meals, and do other household chores. What is the impact on the activity of humans as we become more dependent on robots? Perhaps in the near future we will be able to court and select a robot spouse. If you consider this a fantasy, some state legislatures are considering laws that would not allow robots to own property, enter into legal contracts, etc. The goal is to make sure humans are not supplanted by robots and that robots do not have the same rights as humans. This may be necessary.
One of the scariest things is a recent report that developers of an AI system were unable to shut down the system because the AI system refused to comply with the order from the human creator. While we are obviously able to benefit from AI in many ways, we need to be cautious, as AI becomes more capable and intelligent, that we do not create something that will be our undoing in the long run. Humans require the ability to accomplish things in order to maintain self-respect and positive self-esteem. Where will we get this if we are dependent on robots?
From my friends at Power Line Blog:
A Necessary Move
On Thursday, Breitbart posted an article about America’s continuing efforts to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.
The article reports:
President Donald Trump on Thursday instructed the U.S. Navy to shoot small boats dropping mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
The President posted the following on Truth Social:
“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be (Their naval ships are ALL, 159 of them, at the bottom of the sea!), that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz. There is to be no hesitation,” he wrote.
“Additionally, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now. I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he added.
The article also shares another statement from President Trump:
Based on the fact that the Government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so and, upon the request of Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of Pakistan, we have been asked to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal. I have therefore directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other. President DONALD J. TRUMP
As the President has stated, one of the problems with negotiating with Iran at this time is that we don’t know for sure who is running the country. The latest rumor I heard was that the son of the previous Ayatollah, AYATOLLAH Mojtaba Khamenei, who is said to have a severely disfigured face as a result of the attack that killed his father and is only able to speak by telephone. It may be that the military has staged a coup and is now running the country. The bottom line is that probably the only people who actually know what is going on are Israeli intelligence, and they really have no reason to share the information publicly.
Unfortunately, This Is How Washington Does Business
On Friday, Just The News posted an article about the investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell regarding the renovation of the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D.C.
The article reports:
The Department of Justice on Friday ended its criminal probe into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced that she had ordered her office to close the investigation while the Federal Reserve’s Inspector General reviewed the matter.
“I have directed my office to close our investigation as the IG undertakes this inquiry. Note well, however, that I will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so,” she posted on X.
Pirro’s office had investigated the renovation of the Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C., which has been plagued by delays and cost overruns.
In January, Senator Tillis stated that he would oppose the confirmation of any nominee for the Fed—including the upcoming Fed Chair vacancy—until this legal matter is fully resolved–meaning that he wanted the investigation halted. I hope that the Inspector General and the Department of Justice will continue the investigation after the new Federal Reserve Chairman is confirmed. Jerome Powell lied to Congress about the renovations and was attempting to turn an office building into a personal palace.
The Cartels Come To America
On Thursday, The Gateway Pundit posted an article about an Orange County, California, arrest.
The article reports:
The FBI on Thursday arrested 43 Mexican Mafia gang members in Orange County, California.
According to the feds, the gang members committed various crimes such as kidnapping, extortion, trafficking drugs, running gambling businesses, and murder.
The defendants were charged with 66 counts, including racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, violent crimes in aid of racketeering, trafficking narcotics such as fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine, and using firearms during a crime of violence.
“Gang members who murder, extort, kidnap, and traffic drugs and firearms are a menace to our communities and our way of life,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “Today’s arrests highlight the continuing cooperation between federal and local law enforcement against violent felons and our unyielding determination to crack down on organized crime in our prisons and our streets.”
The article concludes:
From his prison cell, Cardenas (Luis Cardenas, 48, a.k.a. “Gangster,” “Pops” and “Tio,” an inmate at Ironwood State Prison) used an encrypted messaging application on contraband cell phones to direct Alvarado in the operation of the Mexican Mafia’s activities in Orange County.
Cardenas directed others to kidnap and assault people in bad standing with him, and Alvarado, Cesena, and others carried out his directions. Defendants operating for the Mexican Mafia shot at and assaulted victims.
The gang also sold narcotics – including fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine – via slap houses (illegal gambling houses), gangs, and drug dealers in Orange County.
It ran illegal gambling businesses within commercial strip malls and private residences. The gang collected extortionate taxes and provided security, including the use of violence, to protect the illegal gambling businesses.
The Department of Justice under President Trump is quietly doing what they should have been doing for years.
Changing The Culture Of Our Military
Yesterday, The Washington Free Beacon posted an article about Hung Cao, the new Secretary of the Navy.
The article reports:
When Hung Cao was 4 years old, the U.S. military rescued him to freedom, evacuating him and his immediate family—seven people, two suitcases—from Saigon just hours before the capital of South Vietnam fell to the communists.
What was a stroke of good fortune for Cao has worked out pretty well so far for America, too. Cao has spent a lifetime since then repaying the U.S. He graduated from the Naval Academy at Annapolis and served as a Navy diver and explosive ordnance disposal officer with deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia, retiring from active duty in 2021 as a captain. In 2024, as a candidate for U.S. Senate from Virginia, he spoke at the Republican National Convention: “My name’s Hung Cao, and America saved my life. I grabbed on to the American dream … I love this country so much.”
Now, as acting secretary of the Navy, 51 years after leaving Vietnam, Cao is stepping into his highest profile role yet. His promotion may help shape a winning outcome for America in the clash with Iran, and strengthen the U.S. in future conflicts. It also adds him to a cohort of patriotic immigrants who have served in the Trump administration—including Melania Trump, Sebastian Gorka, Elon Musk—that serve as a marked contrast to far-left foreign born Democrats such as New York mayor Zohran Mamdani, Rep. Ilhan Omar, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal.
The article concludes:
At his confirmation hearing, Cao said, “Take it from this warrior. War must be the last resort, but if war comes, let it be swift and decisive. … To our enemies and those who mean to do us harm, you can run but you’ll only die tired.”
Perhaps ironically, Cao was rescued in part because of the “birthright citizenship” that some Republicans now want to roll back. His father won a Rockefeller scholarship for graduate work at Cornell University; Cao’s older sister was born in the U.S. while his parents were at Cornell. As a result, the family qualified for evacuation from Saigon. As Cao put it in a 2024 book, “her American citizenship not only saved our family, but it paved the way for each of us to live our own American dream.”
This is the kind of person we need in charge of our military branches.
I Have Questions
On Wednesday, Fox News reported that the redistricting plan that Virginia residents voted for was unconstitutional.
The article reports:
Republicans are cheering a circuit court victory in Virginia that showed Democrats’ redistricting efforts in Virginia are not quite over yet despite a referendum to accept a new map drawn by Democrats getting approved by voters Tuesday.
Virginia Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley ruled Wednesday, one day after the Democrat redistricting referendum passed, that all votes for or against the proposed redistricting amendment were unconstitutional, citing rules that impose certain requirements that the referendum did not meet.
There are a handful of cases making their way through the Virginia court system challenging various aspects of the referendum, including the one Hurley ruled on Wednesday.
Basically, the legal problem is with the referendum–not with the redistricting. However, I have questions.
Below is a chart of how the New England states are divided into districts:
According to the Independent Voter Project, about 30 percent of Virginia’s voters are Republican and about 18 percent do not register with a political party. It seems to me that we have an awful lot of Republicans from various states that are not represented in Congress. Shouldn’t the Congressional delegation from a state bear some resemblance to the political balance of the state?