Hey big spender

 Musk calls Trump's bloated budget bill "a disgusting abomination. "  Musk vs. Trump.  Never thought I'd be rooting for Musk.  Meanwhile Sec'y Hegesth orders Harvey Milk's name be removed from some old Navy ship.  That's Trump in a nut cares more about some gay Milk than milk in the actual grocery store or butter or eggs or coffee or bread.  Maybe he can issue an executive order against Smokey the Bear one of these days.  Trump navigating this strict rightward course onward towards the midterm shoals.  Still far away but you can kinda spot them.  The Crazy Captain.

Pass the popcorn.

Why Dems pick up the midterms

 Still aways away but closer than you think.  Dems currently in disarray and panic mode but they really don't have to do much if President Trump continues on his present course.  Every time I go to the grocery store it hurts.  Bought a few things today and it came to just under $100.  Didn't even buy cat food.  Trump is focused on other things though.  He changed the name of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  He's fighting Harvard.  Changing geographical names.  A bloated budget bill with ai deregulation.  Tariffing the world.  Building more ICE centers and a laundry list of other things.  Cultural tangential stuff with no real impact on the average American.  No trans soldiers.  Scale back the Jackie Robinson walks through history.  Just let Trump be Trump.  MAGA becomes a historical footnote.  Maybe a future category on Jeopardy. 

Conservatives got everything they ever dreamed of but didn't know what to do with it.  No focus or narrow pragmatic workable agenda just Righties gone wild.  The freakoff should end around the midterms.  Patience.  They'll blame the immigrants in the end;)

Political bunker mentalities

 The majority of people have not cultivated the political ability to criticize their own side.  They are either down with everything their preferred political side does or if they do have some issues from time to time they simply keep quiet about it and look the other way I'm guessing for what they see as the greater political good after all the other side is worse.  A very binary view of things.  BOTH sides do this btw it's not just a MAGA thing although it may be particularly politically pronounced there.  Basically it's why we never have any real political progress in this country.  So how's your bunker doing today?

For those of you who can't get enough of the Trump feed

 Should it come to that Trump would consider all of the facts in a potential Diddy pardon.  So says the wire.  Potentially speaking of course as the trial is still going on.  The Framers put this in as a plenary power whatever the logic.  I'm guessing they figured in their founding fatherly wisdom the judicial branch can mess up too.  Don't just dump on Trump about this btw.  All the recent presidents issued their share of controversial pardons.  The question is if Diddy does get convicted but later pardoned by Trump will he celebrate with a freakoff?

On a dryer note Trump's big beautiful bill for the rich

 They'd be getting the bulk of the proposed tax cuts according to the CBO.  The bill would also explode the deficit and national debt.  Proposed millions or billions to build ICE infrastructure read detention facilities for illegals.  Also making it harder for folks to access Medicaid and food stamps thereby amounting to cuts without technically calling them cuts.  More Republican opposition in the Senate where the bill may not pass or stall.  Musk is against the bill saying it would undermine the whole work of DOGE.  He's not wrong.  Democrats have no power at the moment and can't seem to get back on track.  Still hard for me to process that a cognitively impaired old guy with cancer was in the WH for 4 years.  Budget bills are usually boring topics but merits some discussion.  So that's it for today.

No rest for the weary

 

My bones are getting old.  Creaky.  Left hip gets sore sometimes.  It'd be nice to just lie down somewhere.  Just sayin'.

Yeah the South Africa thing is embarrassing

 Speaking as one who voted for the man.  Trump's game of Gotcha! with world leaders.  Next he might hold a press conference saying the government captured a Bigfoot meanwhile it's just some giant eco-hippy who shops at Whole Foods.

If this is conservatism then I have tits

 Got off the Trump train awhile back ever since Gulf of America.  Many of you are still on it happily blowing the whistle.  A new OTA channel came on my TV the other night - Newsmax 2.  Must be important.  Watched a little bit and my impression is I don't think Newsmax fully understands the idea that people have the right to protest proposed Medicaid cuts.  A few channels over I have OAN.  It's usually at this time I'll watch the infomercial for Omega XL or the Emeril Lagasse air fryer.  Don't know why almost the whole conservative movement has hitched their wagon to Trump.  Sure there are some lone critics and holdouts here and there like Glenn Greenwald and Candace Owens but for the most part it's this massive nonstop collective right-wing orgasm.  A real freakoff.

I'm not against the idea of a Golden Dome but how do you fire tens of thousands of federal workers shutter entire agencies and then say we need a multi-billion dollar Golden Dome to maybe even include our neighbor up North? The tariffs are confusing and need to end but Trump wants businesses to just shut up and absorb the extra costs without passing them along to the consumer.  Executive orders don't strike me as having the quality of durable law, comes totally out of his whimsy and not the Congress but he feels this is the way to govern and on and on it goes.

Geeeeeez......

I'm more an observer at this point

 I don't want any President to fail.  We've had presidents in the past whom I never voted for but I still wanted them to do good things.  Trump however doesn't seem to be on a track to do too many good things.  He doesn't always get his facts straight either.  Everyone can get their facts wrong once in a while but with him it's all the time.  It's like he has his own version of reality.  It'd be nice if he rights his course over the remainder of his term and becomes semi-normal at least but doesn't seem likely.  At best it's the kind of Administration you endure although there's still a hell of a lot of stalwarts out there.

This blog lags behind a little bit

 I'm not a political junkie.  I follow politics in a tangential general sort of way but I don't follow say every bill working its way through the Congress.  My cats need to eat.  I have yardwork to do.  I'm not like the old people who look at the TV screen all day and follow the news 24/7.  I see the headlines on my devices that's enough.  Ok so the leader of South Africa met with Trump at the WH.  Trump has given refugee status to some white Afrikaaners.  Trump has accused the leader of some kind of genocide.  Perhaps Trump is projecting onto him what he should be saying to Bibi but I'm not a shrink.  I know way back in the day the South African government was harassing the white landowners but again I'm too busy of late to dive down these rabbit holes.  Media calling it false.  Again I'm not up to speed on a lot of stuff.  I'm more likely to google lizards of New York State as I have varied interests.   I don't discuss politics with my vet or when getting an oil change.  FWIW I don't think Biden was healthy enough to hold the most important position in the land but at the same time I don't think it amounts to treason so you can call me not a team player.

Just some light opining here.  Pour yourself a drink and let's have a chat.  Not everything is binary.

How did Biden's prostate cancer turn turbo overnight?

 Latest conspiracy theory.  How did Biden's A-team of doctors miss the early signs?  The PSA is known to be one of the more accurate medical tests out there.  My tiny bit of medical knowledge proferred here.  Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers among men but is often the most manageable except when it turns aggressive and even that takes time so how did Biden get a clean bill of health in July of 2024?  I believe presidents even have oncologists on staff now so did this just show up now and at such an advanced stage?  So many people are now saying he had the cancer while in the WH the whole idea being to keep Trump out of the WH in the first place so it was covered up basically.

Can Woodward maybe get to the bottom of this?

Does James Comey want a restaurant to deny Trump service?

 Never short of something to blog about.  As you know former FBI Director James Comey posted something on FB (later deleted) that he was walking along the beach one day and found a sea shell configuration in the form of "8647."  Major controversy followed and the SS is currently investigating him for possibly calling for Trump's assassination.   In restaurant parlance to 86 someone is to deny them service.  Also bouncers in bars may have to 86 or remove someone.  Perhaps the most common interpretation is when the mob uses the term it means to take someone 8 miles out of town and put them 6 feet under.  Trump is of course the 47th president hence the sinister meaning of "8647."  Tulsi Gabbard wants Comey in jail over this.  Comey's a dick and Chris Wallace recently destroyed him in an interview over the whole Russiagate hoax.  He's as corrupt as they come but what do you make of all of this?

The X-rated Diddy trial

 Just talking about it might earn you an NC-17.  If I were to provide verbatim court transcripts this post might come with a warning for sensitive viewers.  Court TV is covering it in their own way of course but so far when I turn Court TV on during primetime they're not discussing Diddy as you'd expect but some other trial.  Court TV is a family show after all where they talk about serial killers and spousal murder.  I myself don't have the money to run freakoffs.  Hey Google didn't correct that word must be in the vernacular now.  I just want to make sure I have enough money to pay my energy bill so ConEd doesn't flicker my lights.

Some people feel he's gonna get off.  Weird sex is not a crime so long as there's consent.  I'm into vinegar.  Been buying tons of it to kill off poison ivy in my backyard.  Diddy likes the baby oil for his hobby.  It's I don't know not making a prediction here but he ain't livin' right.

Word on the street

 Is President Trump will soon officially recognize a Palestinian State.  Angling for a Nobel Peace Prize to show Obama.  Meeting with the Saudis, the new Syrian president putting Netanyahu on the back burner for now.  Helped free the last American hostage without his help.  Rumor has it he has cut off direct contact with Bibi.  As part of the nuclear energy agreement with the Saudis he has dropped the Biden era stipulation that they recognize the State of Israel.  Also got a major investment deal going.  More than major.

Down through the decades with each succeeding president the Middle East has taken up way too much of our foreign policy time.  If he does officially recognize the State of Palestine I'll give him more than a few points for this.  Would be a good legacy if he controls the other zaniness.  So far Trump is an assortment. 

Ever have a conversation with a Trump cultist?

 It's spooky.  I personally know at least three of them.  Now we all have our political leanings.  I'm not talking about those who are supportive of Trump but the true believers out there.  When you gingerly and politely bring up even a mildly negative point about Trump they rationalize it.  There's no hesitation about it either as if they've imbibed the talking points. They agree with and defend EVERYTHING the man does and says.  For me personally Trump is not positive.  He doesn't inspire and unite and has no real gravitas for the most important position in the land but for them it's always the Democrats and the media's fault.  The Trump cultists it's a phenomenon. 

Should be interesting

 The new American pope Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of Chicago now Pope Leo XIV was a heavy retweeter of Trump criticism on social media before his election to Pontiff in particular re Trump's immigration policies.  Trump said on his Truth Social the first American pope in history is a great honor.  I say it would be great if Leo and Homan shared an ale together.

Stay tuned......

A conclave and Nancy Grace will be in her glory

 Diddy trial to start any day now with jury selection still underway.  Don't know the questions the potential jurors get.  "Did you ever see the music video 'Hypnotize' with Biggie and Puffy?"  Got to thinking if I had even a fraction of Diddy's money uppermost for me would be major home improvement e.g. electric staircase going up into the attic with wifi and cupholders.  Telescope up there too.  Kitchen and bath remodel.  The backyard - Inground swimming pool, small Chinese garden/pond with exotic fish, some Greek statuary here and there.  It would never dawn on me to run a sex trafficking ring.  He ain't livin' right.

The Conclave - I don't follow the stuff.  Mainly older Italian guys with a few Africans thrown in the mix.  Keep getting videos in my YouTube feed about the last pope of the End Times but I don't get my theology from Mel Gibson.  You have your Catholics who are more into bingo and bake sales then you have your more eschatologically-minded Catholics who speculate about Antichrist stuff.  YouTube sends me things all the time I never searched for.  A gorilla fighting an alligator.  Clickbait.

So we got a couple of topics going.  A diversion from the usual Trump stuff.

2 dolls instead of 30

 Trump has announced 100% tariffs on all foreign-made movies.  It's hard to figure out why certain things bug the man.  Said in an interview with NBC News he's not sure if he believes in due process or not.  Does he not know how to bone up for interviews?  MTG no longer a fan.  You kind of want to forget he's president.  He's like a kind of depressing backdrop as you go about your life.  Won't seek another term.  On a brighter note they told me at work the bird flu is over.

Papa Trump

 I had to cogitate on this one.  By now we've all seen the ai-generated image of Pope Donald.  In and of itself this is not that offensive.  Put it in the mildly amusing folder but I think the timing is bad and he seems to have succeeded in angering the bishops.  In my view it's unbecoming of a serious Administration.  Imagine if Uncle Joe had done this.

Just my 2 cents.

The PBS thing is to distract you from not getting your $5,000 DOGE check

 Trump is the everything but the cost-of-living president.  Trump also wants to defund NPR through executive action.  Actually ending taxpayer funding for both NPR and PBS would require an act of Congress as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was created by that body in the first place.  I don't listen to NPR so don't have much to say.  As for PBS let's say they do have a political slant most of the shows on PBS have nothing to do with politics.  Saw a sewing show once that put me to sleep.  Bob Ross takes the edge of a rough day and you have your penguin documentaries and cooking shows and music specials.  Also a lot of stuffy British fare.  Don't watch PBS as much anymore.  Heavy channel-surfer or just watch YouTube.

When is Trump gonna take over Yonkers?

Trump's First 100 Days in Office - Take a walk on the wild Right

 Arresting judges.  We don't need no Education Dept.  Bomb the Houthis.  Hey hey ho ho DEI has got to go.  You're fired then rehired.  Deporting the wrong people.  DOGE it baby!  Tariffs.  Trade wars.  Funding freezes.  Bibi.  Gaza.  Zelensky.  Putin.  Harvard.  You wanna protest on campus?  STFU.  Have you checked your cat for anti-semitism lately?  Executive orders.  Homan.  Cap'n Crunch.  Food dyes.  Measles.  Gulf of Trump.  Greenland.  Have you caught up on your texts today for maybe secret Yemeni war plans?  Closing USAID.  Who needs to eat?  Scale back the medical research grants already.  Cancer shmancer.  Low polls blame FOX News.  Tell the judges to go fuck off.  Bondi.  Patel.  Lawfare.  Trump vs. trans soldiers.  Canada as the 51st state?

Can Fall Out Boy make a song out of all of this?

The media made me do it

 Yes the left-wing media doesn't like Trump.   Never did.  This was really obvious during the campaign.  My daily newsfeeds were saturated with anti-Trump stuff.  If the media could have gone with Trump ate somebody's dog they would have gone with Trump ate somebody's dog.  Having said that Trump has tracked a nuttier course than I would have expected but conservatives are still blaming the msm.  Trump lost me after Gulf of America and Greenland.  The media didn't make him almost trigger a worldwide recession.  Not speedily correcting deportation mistakes.  Squelching free speech on campus etc. etc.  To paraphrase Flip Wilson's Geraldine the media made me do it.  Not good enough.  Doesn't wash anymore. 

Less executive orders mean less tangles with judges

 As a practical matter.  A wise young manager I had once said you have to choose your battles.  This does NOT mean the judges are right on all the issues.  They're not but many see themselves as gods, the most powerful branch of the government but that's a separate post and I've blogged about it.  Trump started his second term like gangbusters with a swagger and a new sheriff in town kind of 'tude.  Practical advice lose the 'tude!  You can't govern for four years on executive orders alone.  You're not a monarch.  If the issue is important enough yes have at it with a judge but you don't have to right every wrong or every perceived wrong in four years.  Leave that to the next guy or gal.  Trans soldiers there can't be that many of them let it go.  DEI I had to google what this meant but it seems to be taking up a huge chunk of the President's time and on and on it goes.  What does it all matter if most people are going to sucky jobs in the morning?

I don't know what the guy's doing.

Fighting Harvard doesn't help people put food on the table

 Or pay the rent or manage the mortgage or take the animals to the vet.  Most of us wouldn't be able to get into Harvard.  Most of us wouldn't be able to afford Harvard hence I hardly ever think of Harvard.  Much of what Trump is doing in his first 100 days, I mean the executive order stuff aimed at socio/cultural issues like DEI I would describe these actions as low-impact meaning they don't positively affect the average person.  Many of the Trump obsessions he's trying to codify into law don't help the bulk of Americans afford basic living.  Trump has so much on his plate it's just leading to political diarrhea and nothing substantive in his second term.  Harvard doesn't need the federal funding but that's besides the point.

Everything but the cost-of-living.

Pope Francis passes away one day after meeting with JD Vance

 There could have been a heated exchange about migration.  Maybe Trump wants to annex the Vatican.  A Homan/Francis meeting would have been most interesting.  The Breaking News - Pope Francis passes away at 88 after a bout with a long illness.

Kind of controversial among popes.  Not popular among the more conservative Catholics who felt he was confusing in his mixed messaging and didn't exactly uphold Church teaching at all times.  Big on climate change.  More liked among progressives is a fair assessment. 

Catholicism an ongoing topic of interest to me.  Varied and diverse.  Catholic prophecy - Fatima and LaSalette.  Rome losing the Faith.  Antipopes.  3 Days of Darkness.  Mystical phenomenon.  The Saints.  Keep getting Padre Pio videos in my YouTube feed.  He said cats are special and God put them into your life for a reason.  I love Church music.  Acoustics in my house of worship are bad.  Can't hear what anybody is saying or else I need an amplifier.  How much money do ushers make?  One Sunday morning usher looks like he came out of Hawaii Five-O.

Vance said he was happy he got the opportunity to meet the Pope.  Francis might have been wondering where is the Christian Brothers?

Elon Musk - the Sperminator and his mission to save Humanity

 DC Comics

So I didn't know the full breadth of this.  I knew Elon has like 14 children by 4 different women.  It's also well-known he is pro-higher birth rates.  That's a legit position imo about more in a minute.  What I didn't know is he actually solicits women online to be potential mothers to his future offspring.  He talks about surrogates.  Also didn't know about his compound in TX where such mothers are invited to live.  I'm leading up to something here wait for it.  So this movement for higher birthrates has a name - natalism.  J.D. Vance is a proponent although he's not taking it to another level like Musk.  Don't think Usha would approve.  OK so if your thing is if you think the average American isn't having enough children, that we haven't been reaching the most basic replacement level for a healthy population to sustain itself economically and in all ways then wouldn't you welcome

IMMIGRANTS

legal and otherwise?

It's a little easier than going through life being a sperminator superhero out to save the Planet.  Contradictions and paradoxes within the Trump Administration.  I thank you for your time.

We're proud of our mistakes

 So yeah on occasion the Homan trawlers do pick up the wrong fish, small fry swimming the wrong way.  The gay hairdresser, the Maryland father and who knows who else off to that notorious El Salvadoran prison.  This would be less controversial if the problem were fixed right away.  Say put the wrongly snagged in a hotel room for the night with a flight waiting for them in the morning.  Perhaps throw in a $100 MAGA gift card by way of apology.  Instead we get Trump standing with the Salvadoran dickhead saying they can't do anything about this.  Administrative errors.  Wrongly interpreted tattoos.  A Homan hunch.  Whatever.  MAGA zombies like Megyn Kelly see no problem while Rogan offered only some tepid criticism.  The WH Stepford press secretary.  100 Days of Chaos.

Don'tcha just hate the bureaucracy?

Katy Perry in Space

 Could be a TV show.  The news is stranger by the day.  They just brought the dire wolf back from extinction.  What else can or might they resurrect?  Maybe they can bring back Cro-Magnon Man.  Upper management.   Maybe he can run for office.  I know we have that already.  My friend said once in the car they want to bring the Woolly Mammoth back.  I thought too much YouTube thought he was talking smack.  Maybe they can clone Homan.  Five Homans can get the job done five times faster.  Now when you google something you get an AI Overview.  How to make quiche.  AI the Chef.  AI the Carpenter.   AI the Plumber.  Does Trump plan on building some kind of vast prison system on Greenland?

I can't believe I'm living.

Leave and come back

 Sometimes I hear this when Trump is talking about the illegals or DHS might say it.  I don't know what this means.  To self-deport sounds like spontaneous human combustion.  Leave to where and for how long?  Then to come back the proper way and wear a suit and tie?  Maybe OAN can explain it.

Oy vey! - Team Trump giving off those creepy Orwellian vibes

 Fresh on the heels of almost ruining millions of Americans 401k plans (90 day tariff pause) Team Trump has announced they are going to be monitoring the social media accounts of immigrants seeking permanent legal status as well as the online musings of foreign students.  They're going to be looking for antisemitic posts.  Watch them conflate legitimate criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza with support for Hamas and Hezbollah and other terror groups.  No wonder Bibi was grinning on his recent trip to the WH.  I say this if the Trump Administration is going to get all pervy about people's privacy at least include a middle finger emoji at the end of the post.  The Peeps Administration:)

Trumpian economics is a lot like quantum physics

 

You can't understand it.  Looks like we're in a bear market now.  U.S. futures are way down and last few days Wall Street and the global markets have been tanking.  Sen. Ted Cruz is starting to get pissed and Elon Musk has been taking potshots at Trump's trade advisor Peter Navarro.  Trump says it's all medicine to make it all better.  Just a spoonful of bullshit I guess.  The UAW likes the tariffs though.  Some House Repubs are worried and have put stuff on the table.  CA is looking to still do business despite the tariffs.  New cars sales are up all of a sudden.  Folks buying wheels now before the tariffs drive the prices up.  Pop a prozac?  Maybe stock up on the Christian Brothers.

We got enough on our plate.  My thing is Trump didn't campaign on bring the pain.

He's not wrong

 Obama on Trump

Okay I guess I'm not a team player but I agree with some of this.  It's not that I'm turning more liberal it's Trump doesn't understand the Constitution or appreciate American values like free speech.  Anti-Trump protests planned across the country today.  Conservative media will most likely downplay it but you don't have to be a liberal to have concerns about Trump.  Also on the Greenland front  the Danish PM reminded Trump you can't just annex a country.

100 Days of Chaos.

I can't be wrong

 Trump has a complex personality type.  Not sure of the exact clinical diagnosis but besides narcissism a key element is the attitude I Can't Be Wrong.  This is not uncommon.  You see it in the business world a lot.  Companies and corporations might do things that seem stupid to the average employee but they never reevaluate as they go along but just forge ahead anyway even if they eventually drive the company into the ground.  I've seen it firsthand.  Will never take corporate responsibility.  They can't be wrong.  It's a funny way to go through Life though with that attitude.  At the root of many problems.  Maybe this goes a way explaining Trump's popularity in a way he mirrors us.  It's frightening in a leader though.  He's not the cerebral type but the GeeeZers will always sing his praises.  

I see Dr. Phil has made a hard turn to the Right going on ICE campouts with Homan.  Do they roast marshmallows together?  BTW who the hell is this Laura Loomer chick some unofficial advisor to the president?

Anti-semitism on campus and Trump's Gestapo

 "Anti-semitism" being rather loosely defined these days to include legitimate criticism of the State of Israel.  Trump Administration now going after perfectly legal people who have all the right paperwork.  Pro-Palestinian foreign students on visas now being detained and actively deported for protesting Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza.  Over 50,000 Gazans already dead including scores of women and children.  Secretary of State Marco Rubio in charge of revoking the student visas over 300 at last count.  Homan's goon squads.  Tufts U. student arrested or should we say kidnapped by masked ICE agents in the middle of the street in broad daylight.  Her crime?  Simply writing an op-ed piece in the university newspaper calling on Tufts to divest itself from companies that do business with Israel.  The horror stories go on.  The banality of evil.

We tend to forget that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Gaza.  On at least two occasions Netanyahu has cut off all water and electricity into Gaza most recently even well after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for him.  He's doing what he wants regardless and is now singing the praises of Trump's crackdown on campus speech and says other governments should follow his example.

This is quite possibly the most shocking episode of our government censoring perfectly valid speech in modern times.  Unless Trump fires some people (e.g. Rubio, Homan) it means the downfall of the Trump Administration imo and the end of MAGA.  A blot on the history books.

Warehouse cat. Union job.

 

Yonkers has a bit of a rat problem.  Messy neighbors.  Yards that look like Sanford and Son's.  A cat will wait patiently for over one hour to catch one rat.  He's on vacation btw.

4 more years for a political hemorrhoid?

 Trump wants to invade Greenland and is thinking about a 3rd term in office.  On the first score the military should simply disobey and on the second it's ludicrous.  Who does he think he is FDR?  You're witnessing a man in his dotage with psychotic tendencies.  I think at this stage you can slowly build a case for a potential 25th Amendment Section 4 scenario.  Not being dramatic here he just belongs in a ward and not leading the free world.

I'll have an LGBTQ hold the mayo

 So far Five Guys haven't changed their name to Five Gays but we do have or had DEI sprinkled throughout society until Trump outlawed them.  He's issued executive orders on everything that annoys him and has even given orders on statues and monuments.  He's taken over the Smithsonian and Kennedy Center why I don't know.  Maybe he wants to hold an awards ceremony for himself.  He's issued tariffs on cars but has said to car makers don't pass the added cost onto prospective car buyers.  Ok no prob DUH.  Nothing yet about the price of eggs or Fancy Feast.  No real bread and butter issues to date just side issues and strange personal obsessions.  BTW can we still honor the memory of Sidney Poitier?

IMO Puerto Rico is the best candidate for the 51st state

 It's not controversial, many people could probably get behind the idea and it's already a U.S. territory.  Mexico - If Mexico became a part of the United States the illegal Mexicans crossing over would no longer be illegal but would simply be crossing state lines.  Problem solved or at least half the problem anyway.  Watching OAN last night and OAN bemoaning we lost that expansionist spirit where did it go?  Oh yes PR doesn't have any of them rare earth minerals and PR and Mexico apparently have no strategic military importance but just sayin'.  Sure China and Putin are vying for influence in the Artic but Puerto Rico could be an easy pickup if expansionism is your thing.  It could be a historic part of your legacy if nothing else so why are Trump and Vance bullying the Greenlanders?  We already have a military base there and you're pissing off NATO.  In the meantime folks be wondering whatever happened to lowering the price of groceries?

There is nothing inspiring about the Trump presidency

 The dismal 2nd term continues.  I honestly thought Marco Rubio was a decent choice for Secretary of State but he's turned into a dick.  He's boasting he revoked 300 Visas of foreign students who have engaged in pro-Palestinian protests on campus.  Actually it may be more he lost count.  He says those coming here from abroad to colleges and universities are here to study and learn and to earn a degree.  Has he never heard of intercollegiate sports?  The Vietnam War protests?  Thou Shalt Not Criticize Israel.  Rubio somehow conflates condemning the ongoing genocide in Gaza with support for Hamas.  Expect more judicial spanking.  Meanwhile RFK Jr. in his mission to make America healthy again has cut about 10,000 jobs from his own agency.  So where are all the Fruit Loops cops gonna come from?  On the Greenland front Trump is now making almost daily veiled threats against the island nation.  Denmark is not amused.

You can't make this shit up.

Maybe next time add a Houthi to a group chat?

 Maybe someday you'll be able to get Yemen war plans on your Smart TV.  If I was new to blogging struggling to come up with a name during the early days of the 2nd Trump Administration it would have just hit me in the shower,

You Can't Make This Shit Up

Meanwhile JD Vance is going to join his wife Usha in Greenland for a creepy visit upcoming. See the sights dine on whatever Greenlanders eat and exert some pressure.  A kind of friendly Mafioso sitdown.  Is  Musk going to abolish the DMV?  The dismantled DOE workers where do they wind up slicing deli meats?  I get the OAN channel crystal clear in these parts and some nights host Riley Lewis looks like he's going to uncork one.  The erstwhile sensible National Review is all MAGA now.  Lonely.  Maybe I'll go smoke a pipe with Mitch McConnell. 

You know it would all make sense if I was involved in a horrible car accident and wound up in a comatose state and this was all a bad dream.  The Orange Man is real though.  It'll all be over in 3 years and 10 months if we have a country left.

Dunno. I just want my president to act human ya know?

 IMHO Trump entered his second term in an antagonistic attack mode itching for fights.  For instance he could have just deported those Venezuelan gangbangers simply on the grounds they're here illegally instead of invoking some long-forgotten wartime act although Judge Boasberg still comes across as your stereotypical soft on crime leftist judge.  Musk -  DOGE sees fraud and corruption everywhere.   Musk would probably see waste and abuse in the cemetery business.  Time to let this corporatist bastard go.  Let him concentrate on flying around the rings of Saturn or whatever suits his fancy.  Trump goes in and out of the clear state (e.g. Greenland).  He's half mental but Republicans and conservatives are enabling him for some reason.

Pop a Prozac. 

Usha Vance to watch national dogsled race in Greenland

 You can't make this shit up.  Not on my bucket list.  Maybe Vance's wife will spot a Yeti.  No word yet on whether Homan's going.  Is that where all the fentanyl comes from?  Musk and Trump might share a naked sauna together to discuss further government budget cuts.

I wasn't invited.

The richest man on the planet is coming for your retirement savings

 When is the Right going to wake up and smell the coffee?  That's the kind of woke I'd like to see.  MAGA let in the Trojan horse.

Part of the problem is judges see themselves as gods

 The other part of the issue is you can't just impeach judges for making stupid decisions judicial arrogance notwithstanding.  Talking of course about President Trump vs. federal judge James Boasberg who thinks he has the power to turn around planes in midair.  This ain't a movie.  Trump deported a bunch of alleged Venezuelan gang members back to an El Salvodoran prison.  Boasberg claims the order was signed in the dead of night and is pressing the government why they disobeyed his order to turn the planes around and return them to U.S. detention.  It was part of the reason though why the American people put Trump back into office to do things like this.  But at any rate it's the system we have but Trump is taking it to another level by calling for the impeachment of federal judges.  The drama never ends. 

The Stranded guide to home improvement

 Hire a contractor.  I only go so far with DIY.  I have a toilet plunger.  Ever browse through those home improvement forums?  Your head swims after awhile.  What in heck are they talking about?  Recently learned what a stud finder is and it has nothing to do with Andrew Cuomo.  I know how to change a light bulb.  Just had my attic ladder fixed and went up there to clean up.  What in hell happened?  Did a squirrel have a party up there?  Growing up I went up there A LOT.  Now my bones are creaking.  For the cost of home improvement they should abolish the property tax.  BTW where is my 5K DOGE check?  I want to do some things.

Trump vs. the judicial branch

 Trump/Musk fire/layoff federal workers and a judge says they have to be reinstated.  Trump freezes spending and another judge says he has to unfreeze it. The President invokes some dustbin in history law about alien enemies to speed up mass deportations of Venezuelan gang members and yet another judge blocks that.  NOW STOP RIGHT THERE.

Trump obviously views the executive branch of government as properly being the most powerful.  On the other hand federal judges view themselves as the most powerful branch of government.  You can quibble about my formulation but for all intents and purposes..  THEY'RE BOTH WRONG.  Checks and balances.  Three CO-EQUAL branches of government.  Too complicated to put into a blogpost without it turning into a dissertation.  We're reaching a constitutional crisis and yet nobody properly understands it.

It's not conservatism it's rule by oligarch

 Breaking with my fellow conservative bloggers.  I do not celebrate thousands of federal workers across multiple agencies losing their jobs.  I do not support massive tariffs levied against our allies.  I am against trying to censor and punish pro-Palestinian speech on campus.  Re Trump's tailspin into dementia or whatever it is if Canada and Greenland did become U.S. states how many electoral votes would they hold?  How would the new Canadians and Greenlanders lean politically?  I'm thinking Canada to the Left.  WHO elected Elon Musk???  He's our de facto president on the domestic side of things.  The sentiment among many people I've talked to is he needs to go and these are middle-of-the-road people not radicals.  Go back to running Tesla and Space X and whatever else.  Go to Mars and start a colony if you want I'm not a fanboy.  We need to grow up.  Stop blaming Dems and lefties all the time.  Trump's nuttery is the issue at least for now.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Keeping it psycho

 Trump's Greenland obsession

I was thinking about blogging about other things today as a break from the Trump Follies but this caught my attention.

Will probably go down as the weirdest Administration in U.S. history

 At the risk of making a low-effort post scanning the newsfeeds this morning and it's hard to make a coherent post about Trump because his actions are incoherent.  Do you want to spend an extra 12K for a new car?  Would Kamala Harris have pushed us into a recession?  Meanwhile Bibi has cut off all food, supplies and electricity into Gaza (again) but Trump wants to crack down on pro-Palestinian speech on campus instead.

If Biden truly was the worst president in U.S. history as Trump says Trump seems to be vying for the #2 spot.

The bird flu recessionary president?

 It's too soon to tell but Trump might be slated for this spot in history.  At any rate it's a far cry from his campaign promises.

Rubio fights with the punkass Musk at Cabinet meeting

 Read all about it

Also Trump considering sanctions against Russia to pressure Putin into reaching ceasefire deal with Ukraine.

From the ticker.

Do conservatives not have a tipping point when it comes to Trump?

 They think everything he does is just swell.  Even the erstwhile sensible conservatives are going along for the ride.  For me the whole Gulf of America thing was one tipping point.  Another tipping point is the mass firing of federal workers but that's just me but for most conservatives these days everything Trump says and does is just fine.  Greenland?  Anything?  Things don't seem quite normal in this blogger's humble opinion.

Long

 Trump's Joint Address to Congress last night.  He practically said everything he was expected to say.  Dems look constipated.  Heckler with a cane was escorted out early.  Some Dems holding signs saying "False" and "Save Medicaid".  Some girl walked out midway through with a "Resist" t-shirt on.  Bernie Sanders had to leave early.  Still not getting Gulf of America and Greenland.   Are we building a telescope there?  Big focus on immigrant crime. Republican pep rally basically.  Then the Asian rum took its effect and I went to bed.

It'll probably take them two hours to get into their own portal

 Mixed messaging from the Trump Administration

Illegal migrants now required to register an online account with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency or face fines or imprisonment or both.  Goes into a big DHS databse.  Part of the statement says that if they leave now they might be able to come back and enjoy the American Dream.  Seems more of a call for self-deportation.  Drop the head of lettuce and go back.  If not then at least register an account with us.  Civil liberties groups are concerned.  I'm a little confused.

Does Zelensky even own a dress or business suit?

 Has the Ukrainian president ever heard of a dress code?  Does he attend funeral services in casual attire?  In his younger days did he go on job interviews wearing polo shirts and khakis? Where does he shop?  Yes he dissed the WH today by going in dressed like a shlub and started yelling at Trump and Vance about the war and left early in a huff without signing the rare earth minerals deal with the US.  Trump accused him of being ungrateful and gambling with WW3 and Vance gave him a lecture as only Vance can give.  Gone are the days of quiet diplomacy.  

Say what you will I wasn't bored.  Gotta get me a bucket of popcorn next time.

Will Dennis Rodman be a tour guide?

 Fun place to visit wouldn't want to live there.  North Korea looking to bolster and rejuvenate its international tourism industry since the pandemic.  Already some Russians have seen the sights.  Hmmm...,,,reading just now Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un launching a crackdown on drinking.  There goes the Christian Brothers.  As the price of eggs here continue to soar Trump is thinking condos on North Korea's eastern shoreline.  Kim likes to execute wayward government officials with an anti-aircraft gun from time to time.  It's not on my vacation list.  Neither is the Middle East.  In Germany you can now be arrested for posting insults to politicians online.  In Scotland you can apparently be arrested in your own home for praying if you live too close to an abortion clinic or so I've heard.  Ukraine no.  I think I'll stay home.

While the shitshow continues

 

What did you do last week?  Can you justify it?  I notice consumer confidence has sank, the price of eggs keeps rising and it costs more to feed our pets.  The ambiguous duo Musk and Trump keep bullying and acting like co-monarchs.  More important to secure a mineral rights deal with Ukraine whatever the heck that means.  A proper federal worker response to Musk's emails about what they did last week might be I was just standing around with my thumb up my ass.  Who put the nerdboy in charge of the country anyway? 

What to do in the meantime

 

Some of the federal workers who have been fired have been offered their jobs back.  It's all getting very confusing.  Meanwhile Musk is going to use some AI program to evaluate workers' responses as to how they justify their jobs.  What does ChatGPT think?

The dork with a chainsaw

 I'm just waiting for some sense of normality from this Administration but we're not getting it.

You gotta be careful with those things.  Musk had a chainsaw at CPAC but I recently bought a polesaw at Lowe's last summer to cut up some dead branches in the backyard.  Dealt with a lot of dead branches down through the years from Yonkers storms.  The polesaw is a version of a chainsaw a handy tool for dealing with unwanted small trees on your property or at least when the limbs pose a problem.  Only used it a couple of times.  Tricky getting the chain tension just right.  Came off a couple of times while testing it out no harm.  I wouldn't hire Musk.  A nerd with a power tool scares me.  Don't know if he even knows how to use a condom.

The weird theater is becoming tiresome.  Will Trump sign off on the House plan to cut Medicaid and break a campaign promise?  Maybe it's time to free himself from Musk.  This bromance can't last forever.

Because he thinks he's all that

 He's turning up again like a bad penny.  Disgraced ex-Governor of NYS Andrew Cuomo vying for the mayoralty of NYC as Mayor Eric Adams' legal troubles continue.  Creeps just can't lie low.  NYS Governor Kathy Hochul meets with Trump at WH to discuss congestion pricing.  That's what the ticker says.  Cuomo has had too much time on his hands.  He wants to roll up his sleeves and work.  The comeback groper?

I pretty much don't watch SNL It's past my bedtime

 Everybody's still talking about Tom Hanks and his stupid spoof of a racist MAGA supporter on SNL's 50th Reunion Special.  This was stupid on so many levels.  It's a time-honored comedic tradition to go after the president but not the people who voted him into office.  Plenty of Bill Clinton jokes back in the day but no jokes about Bill Clinton supporters per se.  Tom Hanks' career is basically over at this point.  Other than that I just don't watch the show.  Hash it up if you want but SNL is well past its prime.

Trump reminds me of Mr. Mayhem on the Allstate commercials

 Shock and Awe.  The DOGE.  Have Musk and Trump showered together yet?  Do we really need cancer research?  When am I going to get my tax refund?  Will Trump change the street cleaning days in Yonkers?  Layoffs of thousands of federal workers.  When can I expect my first DOGE check?  Will Medicaid still cover nurse visits?  When is ICE coming to Yonkers?  Trump wants Zelensky to pay the money back with rare earth minerals.  Like what?  Hannity was more interested in what Musk had to say.  Why does Musk want the personal details of millions of Americans?  When are we going to Mars?

Chaos.

I'm sorry, what?

 So I'm reading on my phone Sen. Ted Cruz is in talks with Denmark about purchasing Greenland.  Why Cruz?  Why not the My Pillow guy?  How come Ronald Reagan never thought of this?  Welcome to the political Twilight Zone.  The bizarre Trump presidency continues. 

Do we really need health inspectors?  You know those folk who protect us from things like rancid meat.  With this billionaire punk nothing is off the chopping block.  Musk is not interested in the policy of attrition.  Say a company or agency has too many workers when they leave or retire you don't replace them.  Not dramatic enough.

A LONG four years with the joyless prick in office.  What does Melania think?

Everything but the cost-of-living

 Being a foreign policy hero.  The DOGE.  The term "government efficiency" always strikes me as an oxymoron.  When is Homan going to go after the lettuce pickers, the masonry workers, the diner cooks and the fence installers?  Is Trump going to tariff the Aleutian Islands?  A Trump Hotel on the Gaza Strip?  Panama Canal. Greenland.  Canada.  Gulf of America.  Rare Earth minerals in Ukraine.  Cutting the Defense budget in half.  Would Reagan have done such a thing?  Dementia in overdrive.  Why doesn't he make a peace treaty with the fairies?  The MAGA cult and OAN applaud his every move. EVERYTHING but the price of eggs and Fancy Feast.

Oy vey!

But does he know how to install an attic ladder?

 On a budget. Contractors charge too much.  So I woke up this morning to find the front gate wide open, went out to close it and found a homeless Mexican sleeping on the front porch in the corner with his own bedding and about three of those reusable shopping bags.  Regardless of the situation I ALWAYS go downstairs first to set the coffee and then feed the cats I mean if the house isn't on fire or something.  We called the cops they came and the man got up and took his stuff and left.  I asked the lady cop if they take him anywhere and she said no.  Homan might offer him a nice place to stay with three square meals a day and running water dunno.  The homeless guy left empty peanut shells all over the place snacking during the cold night.  Also left his bedding on the sidewalk which I had to throw out.  Code Enforcement you know can't take a chance.  Welcome to the Big YO.  What would Hannity have done?

Patio needs a little work.  Does he do masonry?  Ho ho ho and a bottle of Jose Cuervo.

You don't suppose Musk can send me a stimulus check for the price of eggs

 Taking a chainsaw to government.  How much is Homan's budget btw?  When is Trump gonna lower my grocery bill?  He said during the campaign it would happen "very rapidly" (his words).  What's his obsession with the Gulf of Mexico?  There's not even a movement behind this.  Has he forgotten about Greenland?  So much on his plate.  About the only good thing is he wants to open up the JFK files.

It's wearying.  I might devote the rest of his term blogging about cats.

Hide the Lucky Charms RFK Jr. confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services

 If RFK Jr. were a veterinarian would he advise against getting shots for your dog or cat?

Trump renames the Bermuda Triangle as the American Triangle

 May as well be.  Apparently AP reporters are banned from all Trump press conferences for not using the new coinage Gulf of America.  The man has splinters in the windmills of his mind to use a phrase from the old Carol Burnett Show.

You can't make this shit up.

Trump wants to get rid of the penny

 Have to agree with him here.  He has instructed the Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies calling it wasteful.

I have tons of pennies at home accumulated down through the years that I don't know what to do with.  I could put them into those little coin wrappers but I got better things to do with my time.  Could take them to the Coinstar kiosk at the local supermarket but again other things on my plate.  Don't know my true net worth because I haven't counted them yet.  Ain't gonna remodel the kitchen with it.

A total waste.  Trump is right.  Won't even get you a bus ride these days.

Taylor Swift and Kelce

 I don't give a rat's ass.

Mindless in Gaza

 In addition to Canada Greenland and the Panama Canal Trump now wants the Gaza Strip.  He said at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu it would be a good idea if the U.S. took control over it.  I didn't know Gaza was for sale.  Trump says it could be rebuilt into a Riviera of the Middle East but first the Palestinians should get out and live somewhere else.  Egypt?  Jordan?  Yonkers?  Many are calling this a call for ethnic cleansing but it is sure to appeal to the far-right elements in the Israeli government. 

Every president tries their hand at peace in the Middle East.   The Trump Plan a golf course some hotels and casinos in Gaza but no Palestinians allowed.  Is there a Nobel Prize in the works?

Make America Great Again just not yet

 Or as my Momma used to say it has to get worse before it gets better.

I think;)

Trump is just a sad sack at this point. He's joyless.

 He always looks angry.  He's a political grinch.  He's trying to be a micromanager with his endless executive orders trying to dictate things like what federal agencies can and cannot say.  Nobody likes a micromanager.  It's actually the opposite of true conservatism and limited government. He's mean-spirited as if he feels having empathy and compassion are unmanly.  He's impulsive with tariffs and says Americans can expect some pain but he ran on optimism and making a better economy for all.  Ronald Reagan actually embodied true optimism and hope.  Trump is depressing in tone and substance.  He makes it up as he goes along.  At work we call this bullshitting your way through.  May well go down in history as a bizarre presidency and not much else.  His first term seemed more muted even normal to a point say what you will.  It's as if his political id has taken over.  I spend more time cringing than clapping lately.

It's still way too early but the trajectory is bad.

Tariffs on Greenland?

 I'm not getting it.  Nobody wants to retire and move to Greenland.  It's a strategic military location and is said to have rare mineral resources.  OK.  25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting today but Trump cut China some slack with only 10% tariffs.  His endgame may be to end the federal income tax and fund the government with tariffs.  Is he shifting the Overton Window?  What's the deal with Greenland?  Can't really put a golf course there.  The subject never came up on the campaign trail.  Look every president does things we disagree with.  Biden didn't do enough to protect the gray wolf.  There was his covid authoritarianism.  I always thought it would be interesting to have one of the Star Trek spinoff shows do an episode on the crew encountering the race of Covidians who always stand six feet apart and worship a Fauci-like figure but I digress point being Trump is taking things to another level and how did the National Review become part of the MAGA cult?  When he's done deporting can he get back to the price of Fancy Feast?  Health care?  Families shouldn't have to go bankrupt because somebody has cancer.  Homan is in his glory but can we take a breather?

BTW can Trump at least slip in a stimulus check or two to my direct deposit?

Trump 2.0 - Back With A Vengeance

 ICE raids, Homan to talk to Canadian officials, Colombia caves and takes in the aliens, Laken Riley Act, Gitmo again, political retribution, firing inspectors general, tariff threats, funding freezes, eclectic Cabinet picks, executive orders, rescuing TikTok, no DEI, calls to Denmark, J6 pardons, Trump threatens BRICS, Hannity interview, Trump offering to buyout federal workers, Meta to pay Trump $25 million, DOGE, Rubio to visit Panama, Israel/Gaza, Trump goes after Buttigieg over DC plane crash, Bob Menendez angling for pardon, Greenland for sale? Gulf of Trump.

And it's not even 100 days.

The RFK Jr. confirmation hearings

 

Rather intense.  Dems didn't warm up to him but no Repubs really came out against.  Said he's not anti-vaccine but pro-safety.  Not against the measles or polio vaccines or kids getting their shots.  Says he'll keep more in line with Trump's views on abortion mainly being an issue for state control.  Appeared at points to confuse Medicare and Medicaid.  No discussion of roadkill recipes.  Another day of questioning. 

Thoughts?

In a surprise move Homan deports himself

 What do you guys think of the ICE raids?  They haven't hit Yonkers yet but I didn't check the list.  Obama holds some sort of record for deportations.  Unk Joe deported his share without the fanfare.  Are there any women out there who find Homan sexy?  Can Homan deport Diddy?  The Pope and the Bishops have issues with Homan and Trump and Vance said some things.  Is Melania going back to Slovenia?  Maybe Gordon Ramsay can have a spinoff Top Illegal Chefs winner doesn't get deported.  Selena Gomez was crying.  Maybe we need a boring president like Gerald Ford.

Forgive the clickbait. 

Government by executive order

 Trump's executive orders continue at a dizzying pace.  Covers all situations and issues great and small.  Might issue an order stating SNL should go off the air.  Trump operating in this make-believe monarchical framework of his.

Reading A LOT about ICE raids.  One news item said they went into some Chicago elementary school later amended to oh no that was the Secret Service.  What would either of them be doing at a grade school?  Is Trump planning a visit?  Did some student write an anti-Trump essay?

Not getting the TikTok ban temporarily on hold.  Has to do with data mining by the Chinese government.   So the Chinese government peers into my boring life and today learns I plan on cleaning the attic.  Not sure how this violates the national security though but I'm not as bright as the smarty-pants over at the National Review.  YouTube is funny.  Watched some attic ladder installation videos last night.  One said so easy a 10-year old could do it all you need is a drill a saw and a couple of other things then you'll see some false comment like "thanks Frank the Handyman I did it."

I'm just a rambling man;)

How much weight do Executive Orders have?

 I mean beyond the merely administrative technical stuff.  They never really impressed me as having the permanence of real law and besides that they can be legally challenged.  Laws or proposed laws have to go through the cumbersome process of passing through legislative bodies first where they are then debated and discussed.  Executive orders instead give off a whiff of whimsical autocracy.  "I hereby declareth I don't like polka dot ties."  The other thing that strikes me as silly is each succeeding president can simply issue executive orders that are the exact opposite of those of the previous Administration.  Trump wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico.  I don't care if he wants to rename it the Gulf of Yonkers it has no weight with scholars or academics or meets international standards of acceptability.  How 'bout the Yucatan Peninsula?  What strikes Trump's fancy here?  Where does it end?  There's a whole bundle of Trump executive orders dealing with immigration alone that are sure to be challenged in the courts.  This is not the way government is normally run it just gives any new president a sense of ephemeral power.  It's like a make believe scepter.  Go play with your crayons.

How 'bout an executive order that declareth that henceforth and going forward there shall be no more executive orders?  Forevermore.

Diddy was going to perform but he couldn't make it

 (Alternative title: Rough Day For Shaw)

Quite a pageant.  The swearing-in ceremony was quite long.  Had a strong religious, Christian flavor.  An all day affair.  Watched Trump's Inaugural Address.  A lot to go through comment accordingly.  Wants to put an American flag on Mars and Musk was ecstatic.  Said in his speech there are only two genders and that he would sign an executive order declaring such.  Who knew such a simple biological fact would be so controversial.  There was the parade and then an address by Steve Witkoff Trump's special envoy to the Middle East who was instrumental in the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.  Earlier Trump had already signed his first few executive orders back at the office.  These were mostly technical in nature having to do with things like cabinet and sub-cabinet appointments the most notable being going forward all flags will be flown at full-staff on Inauguration Day.  I had hoped to publish something earlier in the day but it was a long wait before he signed a few more executive orders at the Capitol Arena the most notable this time being sending a letter to the UN saying we are withdrawing from the Paris Climate Treaty then it was off to the Oval Office to sign a large number of other executive orders.

A LONG day.  TikTok also back online thanks to Trump at least for the time being.  Sounds like a deal is in the works.

The Eskimos probably think we're a bunch of wussies

 Inauguration events gonna be indoors.  Gonna be too cold outside.  One of the coldest inaugurations on record.  Fresh out of pipe tobacco and cigars.  Gotta make a trip today.  Gonna be a cold week.  Take three puffs and go inside?  Don't know if Hulk Hogan is gonna yell "scumbags".  Not gonna watch I'll see it on the news later.  Moanin' Homan rarin' to go.

Paying a mortgage on a house that no longer exists

 The finer details for survivors of the LA fires

Even if reduced property taxes no matter what.  Good to know.

Basic thuganomics. 

Of bluster and bullshit

 Should I keep my autograph book handy in case Homan and crew come to my workplace?  Greenland, the Panama Canal, the annexation of Canada, mass deportations...Trump is not going to invade a NATO ally.  It's not worth going to war over the Canal.  We never had a state the size of Canada makes no sense and we don't have the infrastructure for mass deportations.  Not so much in the hot air category though is a serious growing consensus that Trump is the one mostly responsible for this historic ceasefire/hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.  He even sent a Middle East envoy over there to take part in the negotiations and this is all pre-the Inauguration.  Biden has issues with Trump getting most of the credit.  Don't be jealous.  As for Trump being an expansionist president in the Polk tradition I highly doubt it.

So what is bluster, what is la mierda and what's the real deal here?  We'll just have to wait and see.

Bibi was only playing around

 He bombed a few hospitals in Gaza but Trump has promised "all hell will break loose" in the Middle East if Hamas does not release the rest of the Israeli hostages by the time he is inaugurated.  I almost said installed as Trump has a kind of monarch complex.  It won't be good for Hamas or anybody else he said.  WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? Also where can Netanyahu travel these days?  The ICC has issued a warrant for his arrest for war crimes and the Polish PM said he'd arrest him if he comes that way.  Our own House in turn has voted for sanctions against the ICC.  If Trump follows through on his threat to unleash hell in the Middle East he too could wind up on the ICC docket someday.  Meanwhile Trump said he will sign 100 Executive Orders on Day One.  About what?  Sidewalk cleaning in Yonkers?  Also where is T. Swift these days?  Will she send a multi-million dollar aid package to LA County?

What's so funny?

 So I was watching some streams of the Carter funeral just now.  EVERYBODY was extremely somber.  The Clintons, Kamala, Bush et al first row and in the second row sat Obama and Trump.  NOBODY talking to each other just immersed in their own grief.  Everybody looked absolutely grief-stricken like you're not supposed to pass away at 100, everybody but Obama and Trump who were amiably chatting away and then Trump said something to Obama and Obama suddenly broke out into his wide trademark grin and started laughing at something.  Melania had some kind of Amish mourning outfit on and Kamala looked back at Obama and Trump for a moment like they're not in keeping with the solemnity, nay the gravity of the occasion.  This is being analyzed from many different angles and I haven't heard a theory yet.

It's all shtick folks;)

Trump got a better deal than Martha Stewart

 RE the Trump hush money criminal case in which he was convicted of 34 felonies which is more than some serial killers might get the judge in the case Juan Merchan today sentenced or shall we say gave the President-Elect an unconditional discharge and wished him Godspeed in his second term.  No jail time, no probation, no fines even.  None of his rights have been restricted.  My TMI closet is already full but for those who are interested in this kind of stuff Trump was convicted of among other things falsifying business records to arrange a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.  Basically a soap opera crime.  Now without this hanging over his head he can focus on more important matters like invading Greenland and ending birthright citizenship.

What happened to the drones?

 Lots of assorted topics out there not really coalescing into a blogpost per se.  The LA fires and the politics of the LA fires.  Elon Musk opiner-at-large now wading into British politics and the groomer gang scandal which is at least ten years old.  Melania's outfit at the Jimmy Carter funeral.  Congestion pricing in NYC.  TikTok.  Just off the top of my head 17,000 doctors signed a letter opposing RFK Jr.'s nomination to be HHS Sec'y.  That one kind of surprised me.  Diddy updates.  Mangione.  My God it's COLD outside!!!  The Trump Follies.  News cycle going too fast for me.

The drone thing.  Wha' happened?

Whatever happened to the mass deportations?

 We may need to strike the S off TDS and just call it TD or Trump Derangement.  The senior editors over at the National Review think taking Greenland by force is not a totally insane idea and Hannity is glossing all the lunacy over by simply posting Don Jr.'s nice video of his trip to the autonomous Denmark territory to make Greenland great again nothing bellicose about it (library word look it up). Meanwhile Germany and France are warning Trump over his threats.  Whatever happened to no new wars and working to end the ones we have now?  What does the MAGA base think of these latest developments?  Trump is either in the pre-Alzheimer's stage dementia or both.  There would have to be serious closed-door discussions at this point about possibly invoking the 25th Amendment Section 4 somewhere down the road.  Meanwhile Homan is probably thinking we got the buses all lined up for the migrants why are we now switching to geopolitics all of a sudden?  He ain't even president yet.

Hell's going on?  I'm willing to eat my vote.  Maybe they'll make a movie about it someday.  "Life Inside the MAGA Cult."

I didn't vote for Trump so he could rename the Gulf of Mexico

 I also didn't vote for Trump so he could use military force to take Greenland and take back control of the Panama Canal.  He didn't rule that out at his Mar-A-Lago news conference.  Plausible scenario: Trump is officially deemed Nutz as per the requirements of the 25th Amendment Section 4 and JD Vance becomes president.  I don't hear other conservatives even talking about this despite Trump's growing list of strange obsessions.  Trump has lost sight of his own MAGA mission.  His mind has become like one of those Monty Python animated cartoons I watched growing up.  He and Biden can become roommates in some kind of ward or home (needs script).  Unless this is all shtick. 

Why not Puerto Rico becoming the 51st State?

 It's already a U.S. territory.  In the wake of woke Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's resignation Trump is again saying Canada should merge with the U.S. to avoid tariffs and enjoy lower taxes.  He also wants to buy Greenland from Denmark and says we need to retake control of the Panama Canal.  I'm getting a spooky feeling this is not going to be a normal presidency.

Don't know if this is a false issue or not

 I wasn't actually going to say anything about Jimmy Carter.  Am I required to?  So the latest Trump controversy is the President-Elect is upset that the Dems want to fly the flag at half-staff on the day of his inauguration to honor the recent passing of Jimmy Carter.  So my thing is today is January the 4th.  The inauguration is still slightly more than two weeks away.  HOW LONG are the flags supposed to fly at half-staff anyway?  What's the rule on this?  Sure when a former head-of-state dies there'll be three funerals and the whole thing will go on for a month so I guess the funereal feelings can well wash up against Jan. 20 but again if anyone knows the rule on the flag thing let me know.

There's always been a kind of rough consensus that Jimmy Carter wasn't a great president but a decent human being.  There were the long gas lines and the Iranian hostage crisis but he also negotiated the Panama Canal Treaties and of course is well known for the Middle East peace accords.  He did better work post-presidency.  Took up a hammer and nail for Habitat for Humanity and put his work pants on.  A devout Christian also taught Sunday school.  Made it to the 100 Club with Kirk Douglas.  Must've been all the peanuts.

Thoughts?

Never understood congestion pricing

 Don't get me wrong traffic can sometimes be existentially annoying.  You're stuck in traffic, you made a wrong dietary decision earlier in the day and your stomach is now percolating.  Heard of a story of a woman who ruined her front car seat once because they were blasting rocks on the Sprain Parkway in Westchester and so some lanes were closed.  "OH God please deliver me and I promise to be good!"  Also from a philosophical standpoint we're all given a finite time on this Earth and being stuck in traffic is totally wasted and non-productive time you can never get back.

Having said that I don't understand the whole logic behind congestion pricing.  Set to start in Manhattan starting January the 5th.  If you dare to enter the Congestion Relief Zone (sounds like a cold remedy), generally the Central Business District below 60th Street your E-Z Pass will be charged a toll.  The tolls on trucks depending on size range from $14.40-$21.60 during peak hours.  There are discounts for driving after dark.  NJ has been fighting this tooth and nail. People can't help it if their jobs take them into certain areas.  It's like they're being punished and it's an effort to control human behavior.  Yes I'm aware that congestion pricing has been around since the 70s and has been tried in places like Singapore and London and that many economists are in favor of it and sing of the bennies but I think it's loopy, harebrained and unfair.  It needs to be shelved permanently. 

The whole subject makes my head congested.

Day One of the New Year

 A Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the entrance to the Trump Hotel in Vegas.  Being investigated by the FBI as a possible terrorist event.  Driver killed and a few others suffered minor injuries.  Also a truck plowed through crowded Bourbon Street in New Orleans around 3 in the morning and killed at last count at least 15 revelers and injured 35 others.  42-year old Army vet and Texas native Shamsud-Din Jabbar was the driver and killed in a shootout with police.  Had an ISIS flag in his pickup.  Both the Cybertruck and pickup both rented through the car renting app Turo.  Possible link between the two events being investigated.  FBI thinks Jabbar was not a lone wolf but possibly had terror associates.  NYC and Yonkers recorded their first murders of the New Year.

Not an auspicious start.  It would have been really nice not to have anything to blog about today.  Ease into the New Year ya know?

Have a Happy New Year!

 It should be an interesting 2025.

For your consideration

 Considerable discussion has been given to the Dead Internet Theory.  My own view we're at least halfway there.  As far as conspiracy theories go there are scraps of truth.  This is a real post btw.  I really do have to cut my sidewalk grass in Yonkers.

I'll always watch a good Nosferatu

 Don't go to the movies much anymore.  Most of the great movies have already been made.  Ever wonder how many movies are actually in existence?  Has to be astronomical.  Out of the sheer number of movies that have been made how many are actually worth watching?  For me a golden age was the 70s throw in the late 60s.  Do you have a favorite movie critic?  Rotten Tomatoes - BOTH Citizen Kane and Casablanca got 99% fresh scores.  So who was the 1% who didn't like them and why?  I wanna hear their thoughts.  Roger Ebert tended to overreact to movies he didn't like.  You can criticize the excessive violence in I Spit On Your Grave but I found it interesting as a cult classic.  Ebert thought it was the worst movie ever made.  More worthy candidates for that one.  How hard is it to be a movie critic anyway?  All you have to do is meet a deadline.  You ain't spitting chickens for a living.  Bruce Lee movies.  He actually made fighting off an army of fifty men believable that's how well the fight scenes were choreographed.  The only one to come close imo is Jet Li.

Thoughts on the movies?

One might mistakenly think Elon Musk is the incoming president

 Nominally tapped to cut government waste and inefficiency with Ramaswamy he sparked a MAGA civil war the other day (see previous post) and now writes opinion pieces for German newspapers.  Writing in Die Welt he said the AfD is the best hope for a dying Germany.  AfD is a fairly new political party there gaining a lot of populist support and could be a player in that country's upcoming snap elections on Feb. 23.  Could become a strong voice in the Bundestag or lower House.  I'm your Captain Google doing your work for you so you can relax.  AfD as in Alternative for Germany (Deutschland).  Many call it a far-right extremist and radical party mostly focusing on moving the migrants the hell out or in some cases at least forcibly assimilating them.  You will speak the German.  Vance also supports the AfD.  Many folk find Musk and Vance's support of the party alarming.  Homan might be considering some work over there when he's done over here.  Meanwhile Laura Loomer's blue check on X is currently under review.  I don't know what that means exactly.  In other news......

But what about our guest lettuce pickers so our H-1B visa holders can enjoy their salads?

MAGA CIVIL WAR ERUPTS

First off Trump hired some Indian-born foreign guy to be his ai advisor.  Now presidents need ai advisors?  Musk and Ramaswamy are all for extending the stays of our highly skilled foreign workers in the tech field.  Musk says a shortage of them is the main problem facing Silicon Valley and Ramaswamy called American culture mediocre (think Family Guy and Judge Judy - editor).  MTG kind of agrees with them.  Trump ally and hard-righter Laura Loomer, Matt Gaetz and the hard-core MAGA base say they're straying from the original MAGA policy on immigration.  Nikki Haley took issue with Ramaswamy's X post.  Things are getting heated.  Pass the popcorn.

BUT WHAT DOES HOMAN THINK???

Forget about retaking the Panama Canal

 President-Elect Trump is putting too much on his plate.  Focus instead on 3 main areas: the economy, border security/illegal immigration and foreign affairs.  THAT'S IT and maybe scale back on the social media posts.

Biden may as well pardon Diddy at this point

 In addition to son Hunter President Biden has also pardoned about 1,500 Americans mostly released to home confinement during the pandemic for non-violent drug offenses.  Being with the missus can be punishment enough.  In addition Biden has commuted the sentences of 37 federal prisoners on death row who will now be serving life behind bars.  Not a supporter of the death penalty myself but didn't know Biden was such a passionate opponent.  Trump has promised to become an execution machine while in office.  Is there anything not on Trump's to-do list?

Biden also pardoned the mailman for delivering the mail late.