What Happened To Safe Food?

It seems like since RFK.Jr took over at HHS we have had food crisis one after another….so with that in mind….is our food safe anymore?

A majority of Americans think not so much.

Americans are growing wary of what’s in their supermarket carts, and of who’s minding the food supply. Food Safety Magazine cites a new Gallup poll that finds 65% of respondents feel at least somewhat confident that food sold in most grocery stores is safe, the lowest level since the survey began, and down from 81% in 2019. The share of respondents who aren’t very confident or not at all confident has nearly doubled to 34%. Confidence in restaurant food looks similar, with about two-thirds expressing trust there as well. The poll followed a record cyclospora outbreak that sickened more than 12,000 people across 21 states and a string of high-profile recalls.

Trust in Washington’s oversight has slid even faster. Just 47% say they have a great deal or fair amount of confidence in the federal government’s ability to keep the food supply safe, down from 68% in 2019 and an 85% peak in 2004; a majority now express little or no confidence. The politics are stark: Confidence in the government’s role has climbed to 70% among Republicans during President Trump’s second term but fallen to 30% among Democrats. Across parties, though, behavior is shifting the same way: About 73% have skipped certain brands or foods in the past year, 45% have trashed or returned items, and 42% feared something they ate was tainted.

The Daily Beast notes that these poll results come with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the helm of the Health and Human Services Department, with “speculation that he could be one of the high-profile figures Trump fires following the midterms.” In the meantime, RFK Jr.’s agency is backing him up. “Secretary Kennedy’s pledge to ‘Make America Healthy Again’ goes hand in hand with keeping America’s food supply safe,” an HHS rep notes, adding that the “FDA and CDC have mounted robust responses to foodborne outbreaks … and continue working with state and local health departments to strengthen outbreak prevention and response.”

It is only get worse thanx to the policies of RFK,Jr and Dear Lovely Donny….I am very careful when buy produce but even with that I cannot be 100% sure that the food is safe.

But what can we expect from our government when taxpayer money is used for ego boosting ads for Donny?

How do you feel about this issue?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

It’s Crying Time Again

Crap!  Since I came up with that title I have had the Buck Owens song made famous by Ray Charles stuck in my brain….an ear worm if you.

Enough trivia BS….get to the point!

Well it looks like Donny is all butt hurt yet again for the Nobel Committee by-passed him yet again for the Peace Prize….and he is steamed!

President Trump veered far from midterm election politics during a rally in upstate New York on Friday, aiming a bitter diatribe at the Norwegian Nobel Committee for giving the Nobel Peace Prize he has long sought to South African jurist Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, a former UN human rights chief, for her work on justice and accountability for war crimes and genocide. Trump unspooled a lengthy argument explaining why the award was “an indelible stain on the country of Norway,” saying he “should have received the Nobel Peace Prize, but didn’t,” per the AP. Trump claimed, as he often does, to have ended eight wars, though some of the conflicts the president claims to have resolved were merely tensions, and his role in easing them has been disputed.

Meanwhile, the war with Iran that he and Israel started—which Trump predicted would last mere weeks—remains unsettled and is a weight on his party as it faces a dour electorate ahead of midterm elections. An AP-NORC poll conducted last month and published on Oct. 1 found that 71% of US adults disapproved of Trump’s handling of Iran, with 28% approving. The conflict has pushed gas prices higher, and polls show voters blame Trump for the high cost of living. At the New York rally, Trump bitterly described Pillay as “a liberal person who works at the United Nations who nobody has ever heard of,” adding: “The Nobel Peace Prize has been forever discredited by a handful of radical ideologues who are anti-democracy and really enemies of civilization. And we will not forget, Norway.”

It was a lengthy deviation from an event aimed at promoting Bruce Blakeman, the Republican nominee in the race for New York governor. While Trump criticized Democratic incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul, who’s running for her second full term, he spent as much time excoriating New York Attorney General Letitia James, a prominent Trump adversary who brought civil charges against Trump and his business. On Friday, from the stage at the Oncenter in Syracuse, New York, Trump called James “a dog.” The president has been on a series of political stops, trying to stoke loyalty among his base as Republicans work to fight off possible setbacks in their effort to hold congressional majorities on Nov. 3.

More here.

Was that a veiled threat to Norway?

His infantile pouting use to be humorous….now it is just plain pathetic.

What a douche!

Whatcha think!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The “Z-Man” Must Go!

Since the stupid war between Russia and Ukraine has been raging the US has been a staunch provider of weapons and money to Ukraine to help in their conflict….and then we stupidly elected a moron as president and one that has this bromance with Russia’s Putin.

Recently Ukraine has bombed refineries in Russia….and the US will be paying Russia for diesel (what happened to the sanctions against Russia?)

President Donald Trump on Saturday pushed back at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over attacks on Russian oil refineries, warning that he “better damn well stop” and calling for Ukraine to install a new leader.

The remarks marked a sharp escalation in Trump’s criticism of his Ukrainian counterpart and came just one day after Zelenskyy accused Trump of using peace negotiations as a “smokescreen” while striking a deal with Russia to temporarily lift sanctions on its diesel exports.

“Zelenskyy could have settled this war many times. Many, many times. And he chooses not to,” Trump said Saturday. “Very difficult. It’s a war that should’ve never been started.”

Donny has now gotten more verbal in this basic hatred of Ukraine’s Zelenskyy (still would like to know why 2 ‘y’s)….and his latest rant was about the Ukraine president….

President Trump’s relationship with Volodymyr Zelensky may have just hit rock bottom. “I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president,” Trump told reporters on Saturday, reports the New York Times. His remark came after Zelensky criticized the new US diesel deal with Russia, calling it a “sign of weakness” by Trump, per Axios. On Saturday, Trump shot back that Zelensky “wants to make problems for the world” because of his attacks on Russian refineries, and he blamed those attacks for high diesel prices in the US.

Trump said his administration had told Ukraine: “You can do whatever you want to Russia. Don’t hit the refineries because that’s a world problem that’s caused.” Amplifying that point, a US official tells Axios that Ukraine ignored multiple US requests to stop striking the facilities. The remarks landed a day after Trump moved to open US markets to Russian diesel and eased sanctions on those exports through April. Ukraine’s foreign minister, meanwhile, said Zelensky “has the support of the Ukrainian people, and they have the right to decide.”

What a goddamn hypocrite….he thinks the Ukrainian people should decide who their leader should be but not the same is afforded here in the US…..Donny and the Guyz have done all can to make sure they win each election….but yet he spouts crap and I am sure that he has someone on the payroll that he will back if and when the time comes….

Zelenskyy has made his response to Donny’s manure packed statement….

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that he would hold elections in Ukraine if Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a 60-day ceasefire, comments that came after President Trump said Ukraine needed a new president to reach a deal with Russia.

Zelensky’s term expired in May 2024, but he has remained in power because no elections have been held, and he has continued to reject the growing calls within Ukraine to hold a vote.

…

Zelensky also offered criticism of a deal Trump announced that would involve the US importing Russian diesel, calling it a “birthday gift” to Putin that would allow Russia to “kill us, kill our children.”

(antiwar.com)

Donny is making enemies hand over fist….it is what he does….if someone does not kiss his ass then their ass belongs to him.

I have said it before and I will say it again….What a douche!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Last Week At The Sh*t Show–11Oct26

As usual Donny and his mouth rattled on and on and never said a true statement….

I will start this post with a Donny-ism….we all know he thinks himself a ‘stable genius’ but he also thinks he is more….he made this pronouncement in Ohio….

“I know more about everything than anybody in this room, anybody anywhere in the world.”

Hell my dog knows more than this bozo.

He is still playing the name game….

President Donald Trump has floated the idea of renaming either the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean after himself, sending supporters into frenzy as he unveiled his latest ambitious plan to rewrite America’s geographical map.

The president suggested the world’s two most famous oceans could be rechristened ‘Trump Ocean’ or ‘Ocean of the Americas’ during a rally in Clarksville, Tennessee, on Saturday.

He said he wanted another major landmark renamed before leaving the White House.

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16199449/Trump-renaming-Atlantic-Pacific-Trump-Ocean.html

That’s right….feed that ego!

Donny unfolds his plan of ‘Babies For Bucks’….

The idea would fulfill a priority of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to steer grant money to parts of the country with birth and marriage rates higher than the national average, a policy initiative he unveiled shortly after being sworn into office early last year.

Under the transit proposal, the FTA would cover up to 10 percentage points more of a project’s costs if an area’s average birth and marriage rates meet, exceed or are just below nationwide thresholds.

“Moving forward, the federal government is focusing on smart, affordable projects with high ridership. If you want federal funding, your project needs to align with where communities and families are actually growing,” the Transportation Department said in a statement.

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/06/babies-marriage-transit-funding-trump-01107399

So ladies get off your duffs and make babies….(please that was sarcasm not my belief)

We all know that gas prices are killing us at the pump….but who do you think Donny is blaming?

Trump said on Truth Social that the Strait of Hormuz was no longer the main factor behind rising gasoline prices, arguing that oil shipments had recovered.

Instead, he pointed to refineries, saying Russian facilities were being “blown up by Ukraine” while refineries in Democratic-led states such as California were being shut down.

The comments came as fuel prices remain elevated across the U.S.

American Automobile Association (AAA) data showed the national average for regular gasoline at $4.3653 per gallon Monday, up from $4.1459 a month earlier and $3.1339 a year ago.

Diesel averaged $6.3207, up from $5.8819 a month earlier.

https://www.benzinga.com/news/politics/26/10/62180664/trump-ukraine-democrats-gas-prices-garry-kasparov-fires-back

That’s right the Dems are to blame….and some believe that crap.

Then there is that MAGA idiot from Florida (go figure)…..Rick Scott….

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) criticized socialist policies, arguing that government-funded healthcare, food and housing could come at the expense of individual freedom and economic independence.

Scott made the remarks in an X post, warning that promises of “free healthcare, free groceries, free apartments” could give the government greater control over people’s lives.

https://www.benzinga.com/news/politics/26/10/62152123/rick-scott-warns-free-healthcare-groceries-and-housing-come-at-a-cost-the-more-free-stuff-government-offers-the-more-freedom-it-takes

Does he mean like the Donny policies are doing right now?

He is a loud mouth twat.

Staying with Florida….the GOP has endorsed a pedophile….

The Palm Beach County Republican Party of Florida on Monday endorsed Mike Caruso, who is running for clerk of the circuit court and comptroller, The Miami Herald reported.

Police arrested Caruso on August 18 on five felony charges of kidnapping, molestation, and child abuse connected to his alleged sexual abuse of a male relative under the age of five; Caruso has denied the charges and told the aforementioned publication that he intends to win the election.

Investigators said that Caruso sexually molested the child, a male relative under the age of five, several times last year. Caruso allegedly exposed himself to the kid while playing soccer and then played “tickle monster” with him to touch his buttocks and genitals later that day. During a cruise, he allegedly put his penis in the child’s mouth after telling his parents that the two were going to get ice cream. He also reportedly fondled the boy’s penis during a fishing trip.

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/10/gop-endorses-man-who-allegedly-a-5-year-old-boy-4-year-old-girl/

The GOP should be proud.

Troops were failed by their commanders….those injured in the Iran thing….

In the early hours of President Donald Trump’s military campaign against Iran, Tehran targeted a makeshift tactical operations center in Kuwait, killing six U.S. military personnel and injuring more than 30 others. Not only did the Department of Defense fail to provide the personnel stationed there with the necessary tools to defend themselves, but multiple service members who were injured in the attack say their government also neglected them in the aftermath.

The Associated Press spoke to a group of nine service members who all claim that the U.S. military’s medical system failed them after they were injured in the deadly attack on March 1.

https://newrepublic.com/post/216274/soldiers-wounded-iran-pentagon-fend-for-themselves

Seriously?  After all the chest thumping and strutting around this is how we treat our wounded veterans?

The KKK is in the news again….and it is just as whacked as ever….

Ku Klux Klan leader Thomas Robb did not hesitate to announce his racial proclivities while he claimed only white people were real Americans.

His controversial remark surfaced amid growing support for the white supremacist and far-right group ahead of the midterms.

Speaking to a journalist about the KKK’s fresh influence, Robb outlined that race was still a top determinant in who truly belonged to the nation.

KKK leader Thomas Robb claims only white people are ‘Americans’ and celebrates growing support ahead of midterms

These people are amazingly stupid!

We all know the VP Vance is an idiot….and he just keeps proving it….this time in Florida….

“Ladies and gentlemen, when Angie Nixon calls herself a socialist, I think the right response is to say, then get the hell out of here,” Vance told the audience. “You don’t belong in America if those are your views.”

https://www.themarysue.com/jd-vance-tells-black-florida-candidate-running-for-senate-that-she-doesnt-belong-in-america-she-turns-his-attack-back-on-him/

Almost daily the GOP proves just how damn racist they are….

Leaked audio recordings have intensified scrutiny of Nebraska independent Senate candidate Dan Osborn, with one recording allegedly capturing him making racist and s*****ly graphic remarks.

…

The newly circulated audio allegedly captures Osborn making s*****y explicit comments, including references to “fat chicks” and “big black c***.”

The recording also includes the statement, “The brown people are coming up here to kill us and r*** us,” according to Townhall.

Yep….he’s an idiot!

A statue entitled ‘Orange Plague’ has been unveiled….

A gold statue of President Donald Trump fully naked can now been seen in the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France.

Titled “The Orange Plague” and unveiled on Tuesday, Oct. 6, the eight-foot installation covered entirely in 23-karat gold leaf, designed by Danish sculptor Jens Galschiøt shows the president holding a golf club and a world-shaped ball in one hand and a set of scales in the other as he sits on the shoulders of a frail man.

“The sculpture is a satirical out-cry against Trump and the U.S. assault on the green transition and the rule-based world order,” the artist said.

Inscribed on the base is a proclamation, signed by the “The King of Injustice,” that reads: “I am sitting on the back of a man. He is sinking under my burden. I will do anything to help him. Except stepping down from his back.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/10/07/trump-naked-statue-orange-plague-european-parliament-france/92134225007/

I love it!

Had enough?  Well I have.

That Was The Week That Was

And now a little humor to lighten up your Sunday….

Dog’s antics always makes me smile.

I hope everyone has a great Sunday and as always….Be Well and Be Safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

IST Saturday News Dump–10Oct26

Another week of Donny said this or he said that and all the while other stories fell through the cracks of the MSM….I will try to present those missing stories.

Local–For the past week we have had to deal with Cruisin’ The Coast, the nation’s biggest block party, traffic has been horrendous….

GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) — Cruisin’ the Coast is underway, marking the 30th year of the classic car show. The event has grown from 374 vehicles in its first year to more than 10,000 now, according to Cruisin’ the Coast Executive Director Woody Bailey.

Participants are coming from 42 states and five foreign countries this year.

https://www.wlox.com/2026/10/04/cruisin-coast-begins-classic-car-enthusiasts-arrive-42-states-5-countries/

The average 3 people per car plus the rubber necking public that brings about 30,000 visitors for the week….

We prepare for the hurricane and may be out of touch for awhile…..we here on the MS Coast were fortunate and missed this hurricane instead it went into Florida’s panhandle….my thoughts go out to them.

 

Personal–Not really too much personal doings this past week.

I like to start with medical news….especially what is being done with cancer research….

Some troubling news about pancreatic cancer….

Benzodiazepines are medicines commonly used to help with anxiety, panic attacks and sleep problems.

They include lorazepam, often sold as Ativan, and alprazolam, commonly known as Xanax. These drugs are also frequently prescribed to people with cancer, who may experience anxiety and other difficult symptoms during treatment.

Researchers at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that two drugs from this same family may be linked to very different outcomes in pancreatic cancer. Their study suggests that lorazepam may be associated with faster cancer progression, while alprazolam may be associated with slower progression.

This Anxiety Drugs is Linked to Faster Pancreatic Cancer Growth

More on pancreatic cancer….

Pancreatic cancer finally has a drug that buys patients more time—and researchers are already racing to figure out why that benefit fades. Daraxonrasib, cleared in August, roughly doubles median survival time for people with advanced pancreatic cancer, but it often stops working after about seven months. That’s not atypical for cancer treatments, reports the New York Times, which points out many patients need to cycle through therapies as effectiveness subsides. But “each type of resistance looks different,” which drove researchers to investigate what’s at play with daraxonrasib in hopes of extending the punch it packs.

Biopsies from 66 patients before, during, and after treatment showed the drug wipes out about half of cancer cells in an astonishing two weeks. But the surviving cells had a different look: The misshapen and wonky appearance of the original cells gave way to ones that looked more like cells that respond to chemo. Separately, blood tests from 44 patients showed many tumors start producing large amounts of KRAS, the very protein daraxonrasib targets. The findings suggest that combinations of multiple KRAS inhibitors, or pairing daraxonrasib with chemotherapy, may stretch out its effectiveness.

Read the full story here.

This cancer is like aggressive skin cancer almost always deadly.

If you know someone fighting cancer this might be of interest….

Around 12% of the world’s cancer cases in 2024 were likely caused by an infection, according to new research from the World Health Organization (WHO). The study, published today in The Lancet Oncology, analyzed the frequency and causes of different cancers, specifically examining the role of infections.

It linked 2.3 million new cancer cases to an infection. Most were caused by just five pathogens: Helicobacter pylori (4%), human papillomavirus, or HPV (4%), hepatitis B (2%), Epstein-Barr virus (1%) and hepatitis C (under 1%). These infections can cause more than 20 types of cancer, including stomach, liver, blood and cervical cancers.

So, how can an infection cause cancer? And does this mean these cancers are preventable?

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-cancers-infection-worldwide.html

Be mindful of these opportunities for cancer to make an appearance.

An unusual criminal conspiracy….

Federal prosecutors recently described an interstate criminal enterprise with all the trappings of organized crime: clandestine warehouses, money laundering and stolen goods transported across state lines. The mid-September 2026 announcement stated that 19 defendants faced charges; two had just pleaded guilty, while the remainder are slated for trial in April 2027.

The stolen material was not drugs, guns or jewels. It was leftover cooking oil.

According to prosecutors, members of the group drove trucks to restaurants in 10 states, siphoned used cooking oil from collection tanks and transported it to depots for resale. The alleged motive was simple: Used cooking oil has value. It can be refined into biodiesel. A viscous fluid that the food industry formerly considered garbage has become valuable enough to spur a large-scale criminal operation.

https://theconversation.com/criminal-conspiracy-to-steal-used-cooking-oil-shows-how-trash-can-become-treasure-292653

This ranks up there with the theft of Tide pods awhile back….

This is a what was he thinking category….

Airport security in Miami say they made a very literal bird bust. Federal authorities allege 40-year-old Alberto Hernandez Castillo arrived at Miami International Airport from Havana on Monday with 10 live birds hidden in plastic tubes sewn into his underwear. A customs officer reportedly selected him for secondary screening, where an unexplained bulge in his waistband and visible nerves triggered further checks, reports NBC Miami.

A pat-down uncovered six clear cylinders with mesh over one end, each containing live birds—two blue grosbeaks and eight yellow-faced grassquits, a species not usually found in the US, according to a criminal complaint reviewed by the Miami Herald. Hernandez Castillo, a Cuban national and US permanent resident, had declared he was not bringing animals into the country and lacked required import paperwork, officials say. He allegedly told officers the birds were for his “personal use.” He is charged with smuggling goods into the US.

Like something out of a scifi movie….maybe something like Sharknado…..

Whenever you see a street-swimming shark doing the rounds on social media, it pays to be skeptical. This time, however, you can rest assured it’s the real deal.

Last weekend, a shark was spotted swimming down a residential street after flooding hit Surf City, a borough on Long Beach Island, Ocean County, New Jersey.

“Is that a little shark? Oh my god,” a person can be heard saying in the footage. “He’s coming this way,” they added.

But fear not; this wasn’t a Jaws-like villain prowling around town for human prey. The animal was most likely a dusky smooth-hound (Mustelus canis), also called a smooth dogfish or dog shark, which average only 120 centimeters (42 inches) in length and pose no threat to humans.

https://www.iflscience.com/shark-spotted-prowling-the-streets-of-new-jersey-during-noreaster-flooding-84826

This is why ‘influencers’ are a bad idea….

In the year of 2026, a health influencer is claiming that they have been drinking radioactive water for the past 250 days.

If you don’t know why that’s a bad idea, we heavily suggest you look into Radithor, Eben Byers, the “Radium Girls“, and just radiation in general.

But just in case you needed a bit of a reminder, let’s explore just how long we’ve known that usually radiation is not, in fact, that good for your health.

Only idiots allow this type of crap to influence their lives.

That will do it for today…..a hurricane ya know.

Have a good and safe day….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

I Guess I Am His Enemy

AI is everywhere and good deal Donny thinks that a rename is needed….so now his instructions are that instead of AI it will be called ‘super intelligence’…..and he is serious about the name change….

President Trump has a new linguistic red line, and this one relates to his push to get everyone to start using “super intelligence” instead of “artificial intelligence.” In a Truth Social post on Thursday, the president laid it out:

  • “The White House considers anyone that uses the term, ‘Artificial Intelligence,’ as opposed to the highly accepted new and more accurate term, ‘Super Intelligence,’ THE ENEMY!” he wrote.

The declaration follows his recent executive order instructing federal agencies to make the switch in semantics, notes the Independent. At least one company has followed suit as well: Elon Musk says SpaceX will change the name of its AI unit from SpaceXAI to SpaceXSI, notes Business Insider. However, CEO Sam Altman tells the Politico Decoded podcast that his company has no plans to change the name of OpenAI.

So I am the enemy?

Then I must be doing something right.

I would think that after the negative things I have said about the idiot in the White House they would know this already.

He has said the I am going to Hell….well people like me…..now I am on an enemy’s list….well I guess in am in good company.

I still called it the Gulf of Mexico, Lake Ontario, etc….his renaming game is not effecting me at all….I will continue to use the term AI and that is that.

Donny can kiss my ass….to put it simply for a simple mind.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The hurricane is predicted to make landfall East of my location….but nothing is for certain until a couple of hours before it smashes into the Coast.

I still have to shudder the house and move stuff around that may be wind effected.

Hopefully I will be here tomorrow and start a weekend without major hurricane damage.

Peace Out my friends.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Moderates And Their Extremism

College of Political Knowledge

2026 Election Series #2

(And the series continues)

With less than a month before we go to the polls and vote for our preferences I would like to talk about what some call the largest voting block in the nation….the moderates, centrists or independents.

The term ‘moderate’ is one that I despise….it is as misleading as the term ‘independent’ (more on that in a later post)….

Let’s look at what being a ‘moderate ‘ means….

A moderate in politics is a person who holds centrist views, avoids extreme or radical positions, and prefers practical problem-solving over strict ideology.  (How many actually stand at the center?)

The supposed core beliefs….

  • The Center Ground: Moderates sit in the middle of the left-right political spectrum. They often combine ideas from both liberal and conservative viewpoints.
  • Pragmatism: They judge issues on a case-by-case basis rather than following a rigid political playbook.
  • Preference for Compromise: They view political cooperation and bipartisanship as essential for good governance.
  • Cautious Change: They support gradual reform rather than sweeping, sudden, or revolutionary changes to society

There you have what politicians and political pundits want you to believe are where most Americans stand….I do not believe that in the least and the last few elections prove it.

These are what the media calls ‘swing voters’….personally I do not believe this at all.

Nowadays “Moderates’ embrace a radical view….

We’ve been hearing a lot of panicky warnings lately after Democratic primary voters chose socialists and other leftists instead of “moderates” in several major elections. The alarm bells got louder this month after Michigan’s progressive Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed defeated Rep. Haley Stevens – who was, the New York Times reported, “the moderate establishment-backed candidate.”

The soothing “moderate” label routinely goes to candidates like Stevens who’ve supported continual arming of Israel. She “benefited from about $62 million in advertising spending from half a dozen outside groups,” the Times noted. “Over half of that sum came from the super PAC arm of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the country’s most influential pro-Israel group.”

What’s so “moderate” about supporting genocide?

Politicians are also routinely dubbed “moderate” when they’re running interference for extreme income inequality and deadly healthcare inequities – helping to block popular policy options like tax hikes on the rich and Medicare for All, which is supported by three-quarters of Democrats.

The Democratic base is fed up with a system that gives inordinate power to the wealthy and to large corporations. In the real world, the so-called “moderates” are aligned with a status quo that continues to inflict widespread suffering and preventable death at home and abroad.

To hear timeworn party strategists like James Carville and Paul Begala tell it, leftwing candidates are duping the Democratic electorate. As this month began, Carville threatened to leave the party. Begala made headlines by declaring, “I don’t like the socialists. I can’t stand them.”

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/moderates-support-extreme-injustice/

Moderates want the status quo to remain….all the corruption, the lies, the total lack of empathy for the people…..change is not in their playbook….and without change this country will never move forward….we will remain at the mercy of corporations and their agents like pundits.

What crap!  If anyone is duping the electorate it is these corporate stooges that want the cash to continue to flow.

Some voters are finally seeing what we have been telling them for a generation….moderates are not working for them but rather for themselves and their wallets.

I just wish that the American voter would spend more time looking and researching their candidates and make better decisions on their trip to the polls….but apparently time on Instagram is far more important than improving their lives.

Let the debate begin.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Be The First On Your Block To Witness Death

The White House has cleared a firing squad death for the attacker on Ft. Hood….and now it will be live streamed….

The firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan will be livestreamed, the Pentagon said Thursday, a stunning revelation about plans for the first military execution in more than 65 years after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had described it as being “public.”

The Army announced this week that the execution would take place at Fort Hood on Dec. 3 after Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in a shooting at the military base in 2009.

Hegseth, speaking to the conservative TV outlet Real America’s Voice on Wednesday, said, “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public.” Officials in the Pentagon clarified Thursday that the execution would be livestreamed and that more details would follow.

The revelation from Hegseth about the public nature of the execution — let alone one as violent as a firing squad — has raised further questions about how the death penalty is carried out in the U.S., especially after the botched lethal injection of Christa Pike in Tennessee.

https://apnews.com/article/fort-hood-shooter-execution-pentagon-818853afc1be5c70fe41c5b781a8d559

I have mixed thoughts about this.

This is just a macho move by Pistol Pete to emphasize the miltary-ness that he embraces.

A new low for ‘reality TV’.

Sadly I think it maybe a big hit….for the public has gotten more ghoulish thanx to Donny and the Butts…..

This will not be a deterrent to further terrorists acts…if anything it may create a martyr for what ever cause it is….

This is a game played by morons.

But now ask yourself….what could possibly be next?

How about public hangings?

Under President Donald Trump, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has broken a number of precedents, from targeting Black and female officers in the military to purging top officers for not being sufficiently loyal to the Republican administration. Now he is ordering the first public execution in modern American history.

“Pentagon officials said on Thursday that the Army officer convicted in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting would be executed in public, a practice that ended in the United States nearly a century ago and is most commonly carried out in a handful of countries including Iran, North Korea and the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan,” reported Chris Cameron of The New York Times on Thursday. “The Pentagon said in a statement that the military execution, scheduled for Dec. 3, would also be broadcast via livestream. Such a broadcast has little precedent, and releasing video of executions is most often associated with extremist militant groups like the Islamic State.”

On the social media platform X, commentators from all sides reacted with horror.

https://www.alternet.org/public-lynchings/

The whole idea of public executions is just plain sick.

Your thoughts will be appreciated.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

High Prices–What Could Be Done

NOTE:  This will be it for me today for there is a hurricane headed in our direction and I need to make sure the house in good shape to take the punishment.

We Americans are struggling with the high prices of everything from Food to gas….we can blame the government for useless tariffs and such but it actually runs deeper than that premise.

Our presidents have struggled, from time to time, with rising prices and this will delve into what happened and happen was tried….and mostly failed.

The ‘solutions’ seem to be around election time with the hopes that their meager attempts will be met favorably by the voters that were suffering under the crush of rising prices.

Rising prices make angry voters. Small wonder, then, that presidents look for quick ways to tamp down those prices.

The rub is that presidents don’t have the power to reduce inflation. The Federal Reserve Board can influence inflation by raising interest rates, but without precision. In any case, presidents don’t want higher rates, especially in an election season. And always the most powerful operator in the room is markets, not the president or the Fed.

So chief executives resort to trying short-term magic, what one might call “electoral economics.” Look where you may in our history, you see the same result. A bit of prestidigitation may sometimes appear to control prices long enough to help the president. But only sometimes. And the magic never holds long term.

…

In the early 1960s, President John F. Kennedy worried about inflation. Although annual inflation rates did not rise much above 1 percent at the time, wages were rising faster. Kennedy believed that wage increases reflected and caused inflation. In general that wasn’t true. Nonetheless, the president wanted to keep wage growth in line with productivity growth, which averaged about 3 percent per year. He also aimed to limit price hikes to normal cost markups.

In short, the president wanted to push down unruly prices somehow, without being too obvious about the effort.

In January 1962, Kennedy’s Council of Economic Advisers set “guideposts for noninflationary wage and price behavior.” These measures were labeled “guideposts” because the administration understood that Congress would not approve formal price controls.

https://www.coolidgereview.com/articles/presidents-high-prices

So the question can be asked….can presidents actually do anything about rising prices?

No, U.S. presidents cannot directly control or quickly curb rising prices, as inflation is driven primarily by global market forces and independent monetary policy.

What Presidents Cannot Do
  • Set prices: Direct price controls or freezes fail long-term and often cause shortages.

  • Control the Federal Reserve: The central bank independently manages interest rates to fight inflation.

  • Fix global commodities: Daily oil, gas, and grocery prices respond to worldwide supply and demand, not executive orders.

  • Command the economy: The massive U.S. market operates mostly through private business and consumer decisions.
What Presidents Can Do (Indirectly)

  • Fiscal policy: Sign or veto spending bills and tax packages, though congressional approval is required and short-term impacts are minimal.

  • Regulatory and executive actions: Adjust federal rules on domestic energy leasing or target corporate consolidation through antitrust enforcement, though these effects take years.  (Donny loves his EOs….but would he try to use them for good?)

  • The bully pulpit: Publicly pressure companies or industries to moderate price hikes, though this relies on persuasion rather than legal enforcement.  (This will not happen for Donny loves his corporate leaders….everything he does is for their benefit)

As it stands today the president can only throw crap at the problem and hope it will work itself out before the next election.

I am an old fart and remember the days, the mid-70s, and the fight inflation of the Ford government….and the WIN program….

On October 8, less than two months after becoming president, Ford addressed a joint session of Congress and declared inflation “public enemy number one.” Unlike Nixon, however, Ford avoided formal mandates. Instead, he retreated to moralizing and recommending, a version of Kennedy’s approach.

Ford urged businesses to restrain prices and wages. He encouraged the public to conserve energy and reduce spending to curb demand. The White House launched the “Whip Inflation Now” campaign, complete with red-and-white “WIN” buttons handed out to citizens. To promote anti-inflation ideas, Ford created a Citizens’ Action Committee that included consumer advocates, business executives, labor leaders, economists, and policy experts. The administration also established the Council on Wage and Price Stability.

Ford’s campaign had virtually no effect on prices. If anything, it undermined his administration’s credibility on economic policy. WIN buttons became a national joke. Some Americans wore them upside-down to read “NIM”—for “No Immediate Miracles” or “Need Immediate Money.”

I remember the beginnings of the ‘generic’ food….the cans with white labels ans black printing…..money was saved but the program was a bust just a short 5 months after it began.

This will give you an overview of the attempts by presidents to control prices….but in the end capitalism won out and we were saddled with ever rising food prices….

https://www.coolidgereview.com/articles/presidents-high-prices

We can add Donny to the list of failed programs and the average person struggles and no one will look beyond the markets to settle prices down.

That approach is a cop out….period.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is Impeachment The Best Use Of Their Time?

The election returns are not in yet but many seem to think that there will be some sort of Blue Wave that sweeps Dems into Congress….and the idea of impeaching Donny is once again being floated if the majority switches to the Dems….

Personally I think it is a waste of time to attempt this thing again….the last time was nothing but an exercise in futility.  Donny was impeached and yet he remained to do as much damage as possible.

And now this same impotent situation returns…..personally I think it will be a waste and will divert the policies that will actually help us struggling masses.

I have not been a fan of Dem strategist, James Carville, I think he is a has been and a dinosaur, a throwback to the glory days of Clinton….but on this issue I tend to agree with Carville….

Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville urged Democrats to avoid pursuing a third impeachment of President Donald Trump if the party wins control of the House of Representatives in November, arguing it would be “highly unlikely” to succeed.

On the “Politics War Room” podcast on Thursday, Carville and his co-host Al Hunt argued that impeachment would be a waste of time and Democrats should devote their energy to investigating the president instead.

“I’ll tell you one thing that I think Democrats should steer clear of, and that’s impeachment,” Hunt said. “It’s not that Trump has not committed impeachable offenses, far worse than what he was accused of back in 2019 with Ukraine. I mean, he has. I mean, you could come up with a bill of particulars of, you know, a dozen at least. But you know something, James? It’s not going to happen, and it is a distraction.”

Carville agreed, arguing that the Supreme Court is protecting Trump from the consequences of his actions.

“So, you investigate, and, of course, what you’re going to find — and you’re going to find it quickly — is overwhelming evidence of criminal activity. Now, of course, he can’t commit a crime according to the Supreme Court because, well, he’s above the law,” Carville lamented.

“But suppose you say, ‘This is incontrovertible proof. We got to do something about this. How can he stay in office?’ And impeachment would be a very difficult thing,” Carville warned. “It’s time-consuming. It’s highly unlikely to be anything because of the — you need so many votes in the Senate. But we’re going to find out a whole bunch of stuff really fast at the beginning of the year 2027. I promise you.”

https://www.foxnews.com/media/james-carville-warns-dems-against-impeaching-trump-win-control-midterms

Like I said I agree with those that think another impeachment process will be a huge waste of time and energy….but after all is that not what Dems do best….waste time?

You thoughts on impeachment please.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”