Same Sh*t, Different Election

HAPPY EARTH DAY

Let’s take a break from silly Donny’s Iranian venture and talk about the quickly approaching elections, both midterms and the general in 2028….

There are many reports telling us what is happening with the politics around these elections….but sadly everything being said/ewwritten has all been so before….

First the voters attitudes…..

According to a recent study from the University of Notre Dame, voters who are comfortable living in the middle—neither agreeing nor disagreeing when asked about substantive issues relevant to upholding democracy—might be the largest group to blame for democratic decline in the United States.

These “democratic neutrals” are what the study’s co-authors consider some of the most dangerous voters in the current political environment.

Using three surveys of more than 45,000 voting-age Americans, the researchers found that about half of the U.S. population expresses an attitude of democratic neutrality—or an “unwillingness to support or oppose policies or practices that undermine democracy,” explained Matthew E.K. Hall, lead author of the study recently published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.

“Neutrality towards democracy, rather than outright opposition, has enabled democratic backsliding among various Western democracies as elected officials leverage citizens’ neutral attitudes to pursue antidemocratic outcomes,” Hall and his two co-authors wrote in their study.

https://phys.org/news/2026-04-america-democratic-limbo-silent-middle.html

Basically it is a wait and see attitude…..and this type of thinking is what put us in the position we find ourselves today….this whole neutrality thing is total BS.

Because of this laziness we may miss the opportunity for change….

We have a leader who does nothing but expand a war department, make his friends richer and destroy what little democracy we have left.

And when we do change leadership at the top we get very little in return….the rich get richer, the masses suffer and corporations still write the laws….what part of that is change?

This coming election will be NO different without a change in attitudes from the voter……so if you are looking for a saving grace from the destruction of Donny you will be disappointed for all you will get is a new face to twist the knife in you back.

This is a little something extra for all you AI fans…..trhis basically focuses on thge 2028 election, Vance and Rubio…..

A simulation utilizing AI has delved into how the 2028 U.S. presidential election result could look, and it was far more nuanced than a simple prediction.

By feeding political trends, polling dynamics, and candidate positioning into an AI model, the YouTube channel, I Ask AI, has attempted to understand not just who might win, but why.

…

The simulation suggested a scenario where changing political conditions shift momentum. If Republican performance weakens and Trump’s approval declines, Rubio could emerge as the nominee: “By 2028, Trump’s approval will have dragged Vance down too far to recover. The guy standing next to Trump for four years owns every bad decision, every scandal, every economic complaint.”

Meanwhile, Rubio’s relative distance becomes an advantage: “Rubio has the crucial advantage of distance. He was doing diplomacy while the domestic mess was happening.”

https://vt.co/news/us/simulated-2028-election-ai-next-us-president

In conclusion….just as the title implies….Same Sh*t, Different Election.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

What’s The Assassinate Skinny?

What got me thinking along these lines was this obscure post…..

https://www.morninghoney.com/p/trump-assassination-attempt-conspiracy-theories-gain-tractionthis-time-from-inside-maga-circles

You guys remember a couple of years ago when some random guy attempted to assassinate Donny and only nicked his ear…..remember that fateful day?

We all were given the defiant fist bumps of a ‘wounded’ soon to be leader and we were all so aghast.

I remember when I got my ear nicked at the barber shop and it bled a helluva lot more than Donny’s supposed assassination attempt.  For that reason I have always been a bit skeptical about what really happened.

After all this time and the constant images even the MAGA faithful are starting to ask questions….

As Donald Trump’s MAGA base sours on him, some of them now think the 2024 assassination attempt on him in Butler, Pennsylvania, was staged.

Wired reports that this conspiracy theory started to take hold after Joe Kent, who resigned from the Trump administration over the Iran war, went on conservative pundit Tucker Carlson’s show and asserted without evidence that investigations into the shooting were halted before they were finished.

“If you don’t want to address that question, then you just go silent and say you can’t ask that question,” Kent, formerly the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said. “Which then creates people who come out of nowhere and they start drawing their own conclusions.”

Kent noted that this would fuel conspiracy theories, and ever since his interview, that is exactly what seems to be happening within MAGA. Trisha Hope, who served as a delegate from Texas during the 2024 Republican National Convention, posted on X last week that “if you cannot look at this story, and use critical thinking skills and have at least some questions, you are the problem and we need you to snap out of it.”

“Since the attempt on his life, Trump has show [sic] no interest in investigating what really happened. He never mentions it, it’s as if it never happened, except when he tells us, he took a bullet for us,” Hope said in a long post.

Comedian Tim Dillon, who interviewed JD Vance on his podcast during Trump’s presidential campaign, said last week that he thinks “maybe it was staged,” adding that Trump should now say publicly that “some people are going to be upset by this, but we staged the assassination attempt in Butler to show people how important it was to vote for me and how far I was willing to go for them.”

Candace Owens, a far-right conspiracy theorist who has abandoned Trump, claimed on her podcast last week that Miriam Adelson, an Israeli-American billionaire and Republican donor, was actually behind the assassination attempt because Trump hadn’t followed through on a promise to allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank.

https://newrepublic.com/post/209222/maga-trump-assassination-attempt-fake

There is more that might interest people…..

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-assassination-attempt-2676757340/

I would like to hear the tale but we all know that Donny will never reveal what really happened for it would lessen him to those still worshiping at his crotch.

Even ex-MAGA MTG has decided to weigh in on this ‘tale of woe’……

Former Georgia congresswoman and one-time Donald Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene has joined the disgruntled group of MAGA stalwarts raising questions about the assassination attempt on the president when he was running for office.

“President Trump, of all people, should be leading the charge” to determine all the facts of what happened that day in Butler, Pennsylvania, during a campaign speech two years ago, she noted on X. “Why isn’t he?” Greene demanded. “That’s the question.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-stokes-donald-trump-assassination-plot-rumors/

What do you think happened on the day?

You know mine now please tell me what you thinking.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Damn! Labelled Again!

Since I was 16 years old I have had Left leanings and because of that I have been labelled as ….well you know all those insulting names that conservs can think of (but it is not really thinking for that eludes them)……

Since Donny has been playing his version of the game of Risk in the Middle East I have been crapping on his ill-conceived plans every chance I get…..well apparently Donny thinks people that do not appreciate his brand of stupid are……TRAITORS.

President Trump is defending his Iran war strategy, attacking critics and skeptics on Monday as “TRAITORS, ALL” after a second round of talks with Iran were thrown into doubt by the US Navy’s seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz. It was the first such interception since the US blockade of Iranian ports began last week, and Iran’s military vowed to respond, the AP reports.

  • Trump said Vice President JD Vance, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and envoy Steve Witkoff would be going in Islamabad on Monday, where Pakistani officials were preparing the venue, but Iranians made no commitment to a Round Two of talks with the US, and Vance’s motorcade was later spotted at the White House.
  • A senior Iranian official tells Reuters that Tehran, which had ruled out attending peace talks in earlier statements, is “positively reviewing” proposals for talks this week but no final decision has been made.
  • Trump appeared to throw cold water on hopes for an agreement, telling Bloomberg he’s “highly unlikely” to renew the ceasefire before it expires. He said the truce will expire “Wednesday evening Washington time.”
  • In the leadup and throughout the seven-week war, Trump has faced criticism from the left and from some of his own supporters that he followed Israel’s lead into launching the conflict. But Trump on social media is blaming the media for pushing what he claims is a false narrative. “Israel never talked me into the war with Iran, the results of Oct. 7th, added to my lifelong opinion that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON,” Trump said in a Monday Truth Social post.
  • The escalating standoff threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy after nearly two months of fighting that Iran’s forensic chief has killed at least 3,375 people in Iran.
  • Israel and Lebanon, meanwhile, said they would join another round of talks in Washington, DC, on Thursday, continuing their first direct diplomatic talks in decades.

His so-called policies are idiotic at best…..Iran does not need nukes…..it can control the Straight of Hormuz….bringing oil shipments to a screeching halt.

As long as I am a ‘traitor’ let me continue….the best the US can accomplish is a stalemate with Iran…that’s right I read it right…..stalemate.

Why would I say that?

With a shaky ceasefire in place between the US, Israel and Iran – and little progress on talks to resolve the complex issues at the heart of the war – where is this conflict going?

The most likely scenario is a frozen conflict.

A frozen conflict is not static, but is an unresolved war that continues at a low-level below the threshold of full-scale combat.

This typically occurs when a comprehensive political agreement cannot be reached, such as the fighting in eastern Ukraine from 2014 until Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. This conflict was considered frozen despite the deaths of some 14,000 military personnel and civilians and persistent cyber and information warfare.

Even if negotiations resume this week in Pakistan and an eventual agreement is reached, there are still three reasons we believe this is headed towards a frozen conflict, not a comprehensive peace agreement.

https://theconversation.com/3-reasons-the-war-between-the-us-israel-and-iran-is-headed-for-a-frozen-conflict-280996

Will someone please inform this dunderhead that a ceasefire is not an end to a war.

So once again the idiots are labeling people…..the only thing missing is that damn stupid saying from the past….”America, Love It Or Leave It”

So to Donny I have but one thing to say about his label….BITE ME!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Dead Scientist Club

There is something strange going on in the scientific world….there has been at least 11 scientist that have either disappeared or died recently.

It is an usual occurrence…..

The mysterious trail of scientists who have gone missing in the past two years prompted a discussion after it was raised by a reporter at the White House. Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked Karoline Leavitt if anyone was investigating the reports that “10 scientists” – with potential access to information related to nuclear weapons/research – had gone missing in less than two years.

https://www.the-express.com/news/us-news/205102/four-missing-scientists-come-from-one-state

Number 11 is a 34 year old scientist from Huntsville, Alabama……where DARPA does a lot of tinkering….

A scientist experimenting with anti-gravity tech was found dead at 34 after warning that her life could be in danger, marking another mysterious case of deaths and disappearances in recent years.

Amy Eskridge was just 34 years old when she allegedly died from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head in Huntsville, Alabama on June 11, 2022. However, neither the police nor the medical examiners have publicly released any details of an investigation ever taking place.

Before her death, she was openly researching and trying to develop anti-gravity technology, a way to control or cancel out gravity, which could revolutionize space travel and energy production.

Anti-gravity propulsion has also been widely discussed by UFO researchers, who have claimed this advanced technology is what allows alien spacecraft to achieve impossible speeds.

Conspiracy theorists have also claimed the US military has been experimenting with this technology for years, but the government has denied that alien technology exists.

In 2020, Eskridge stated she was planning to present novel foundational work regarding antigravity but needed approval from NASA.

Since her passing, shocking details, including an unearthed interview with Eskridge herself and independent findings submitted to Congress have claimed that the death was not a suicide and was instead part of an elaborate ‘murder’ conspiracy.

Eskridge’s death marks the eleventh person with ties to America’s space or nuclear secrets who has died or mysteriously vanished in recent years, putting US national security experts on edge.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-15738699/ufo-scientist-amy-eskridge-death-huntsville.html

All these deaths and disappearances has come to the attention of that idiot in the White House….

Our ‘stable genius’ will make a statement on these incidents (this oughta be good)…..

Shortly after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration would consider investigating the mysterious disappearances and deaths of multiple U.S. scientists, President Donald Trump revealed that he expects to have an update in the coming week.

Asked by Fox News’ Peter Doocy during a media briefing at the White House on Wednesday, April 15, whether the Trump administration would investigate the vanishing of American researchers with access to classified material, Leavitt said she would speak to “our relevant agencies about it.”

“I will certainly do that, and we’ll get you an answer. If true, of course, that’s definitely something I think this government and administration would deem worth looking into. So let me do that for you,” she said.

On Thursday, a reporter asked Trump directly whether he believes there’s a connection between the scientists’ cases.

“Well I hope it’s random, but we’re going to know in the next week and a half. I just left a meeting on that subject,” he said, calling it “pretty serious stuff” and acknowledging that “some of them were very important people.”

He added that his administration is looking into it and guessed that “we’ll probably have a pretty good answer over the next week.”

https://people.com/trump-update-missing-dead-scientists-11951692

“A pretty good answer”?  I love the conviction at which he does everything.

Let me guess….the Democrats are “behind it”…..that will be the best that moron can come up with.

WE will find out for Donny has ordered an investigation….

President Trump says the White House is formally probing a rash of cases involving US-linked scientists who’ve died or vanished in recent years, amid weeks of online speculation and tabloid chatter. “I hope it’s random,” Trump told reporters, calling the situation “pretty serious stuff” and saying federal investigators will review the incidents “over the next short period,” reports the Hill. USA Today identified at least 10 deaths or disappearances that might fall under the review, though the people involved had varying and sometimes tenuous links to scientific research. CBS News also has a thorough look at the deaths, but the story sounds a note of skepticism about finding any link among them.

One of the most high-profile cases is that of retired Air Force Maj. Gen. William “Neil” McCasland, 68, a former head of the Air Force Research Laboratory, who went missing in February in New Mexico and was the subject of a Silver Alert citing unspecified medical concerns. Authorities have said they see no sign of foul play in his case, and he remains missing. The list goes back to July 2023, with the death of NASA astrophysicist Michael David Hicks, per the Hill. No cause of death has been released in his case.

Other notable deaths: California Institute of Technology astrophysicist Carl Grillmair was fatally shot in February, and the body of Novartis researcher Jason Thomas was recovered from a lake in Massachusetts a few months after he went missing. The Department of Energy’s nuclear security arm is also reported to be looking into the incidents. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week the administration is coordinating with the FBI and other agencies and vowed “no stone will be unturned.”

Will we really learn anything from this ‘investigation’?

This will make a helluva made-for-TV movie.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Iranian Two Step

This is good stuff….as a student of international relations this is perfect example of how not to act.

WE have a ceasefire between the US and Iran (at at least I think we do) and on Friday Iran opened the Straight of Hormuz to shipping traffic….

Iran has reopened the Strait of Hormuz, and world markets were celebrating. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced on X that the waterway is once again open to commercial traffic, reports the Wall Street Journal. He said it will remain open at least through the duration of the 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. Oil prices plunged about 10% on the news, with benchmark Brent down to roughly $90 a barrel, per CNBC. The Dow surged more than 500 points, or 1.1%, and the S&P 500 also rose about 1%.

President Trump hailed the move on Truth Social. “Iran has just announced that the Strait of Iran is fully open and ready for full passage,” he wrote in all-caps. “Thank you!” However, he added that the separate US blockade on ships entering and exiting Iranian ports would remain in effect “until such time as our transaction with Iran is 100% complete.” He said reaching a final deal should “go very quickly” from here on out.

Then our clueless leader had to go on stage and chest thump about taking Iranian uranium in his clumsy way…….then on Saturday a 180….

Iran swiftly reversed course on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, reimposing restrictions on the critical waterway on Saturday after the US said it wouldn’t end its blockade of Iran-linked shipping. Iran’s joint military command said that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state … under strict management and control of the armed forces,” per the AP. It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect. The announcement came the morning after US President Trump said that even after Iran announced the strait’s reopening on Friday, the American blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the US, including on its nuclear program.

The conflict over the choke point threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy after oil prices began to fall again on Friday on hopes that the US and Iran were drawing closer to an agreement. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil passes through the strait, and further limits would squeeze already constrained supply, driving prices higher once again. Control over the strait has proven to be one Iran’s main points of leverage and prompted the US to deploy forces and initiate a blockade on Iranian ports as part of an effort to force Iran to accept a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire to end almost seven weeks of war that has raged between Israel, the US, and Iran.

Iran said it fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels after a 10-day truce was announced between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. An end to Israel’s war with Hezbollah was a key demand of Iranian negotiators, who previously accused Israel of breaking last week’s ceasefire with strikes on Lebanon. Israel had said that deal didn’t cover Lebanon. But after Trump said the blockade would continue, top Iranian officials said his announcement violated last week’s ceasefire agreement between Iran and the US and warned the strait wouldn’t stay open if the US blockade remained in effect. Data firm Kpler said that movement through the strait remained confined to corridors requiring Iran’s approval. US forces have sent 21 ships back to Iran since the blockade began on Monday, US Central Command said on X.

Only an extremely stupid person does not know when to keep their idiot mouth shut.

The logical question now is what comes next?

Oil prices plunged and the stock market boomed on Friday after Iran and the US said the Strait of Hormuz was largely open to commercial traffic. An Iranian official suggested the move isn’t permanent as peace negotiations continue, though President Trump said on Truth Social that Iran promised to never close the strait again, and declared that the Hormuz “situation is over.” Related coverage:

  • Questions: Plenty of questions were unanswered about how freely ships will be able to move and even whether they may have to pay a toll to Iran, notes the Washington Post. Further complicating things was that the US was leaving its own blockade of Iranian ports in place. It may take awhile for the details to clarify, but “assuming this holds, then I think it’s great news,” Jerry Kalogiratos of the shipping company Capital Clean Energy Carriers tells the New York Times.
  • Uranium: One of the sticking points in talks has centered on Tehran’s stash of enriched uranium. On Friday, President Trump said in a Truth Social post that Iran had agreed to hand over its stockpile, though Tehran hasn’t confirmed. “We’re going to get ‌it together,” Trump told Reuters. “We’re going to go in with Iran, at a nice leisurely pace, and go down and start excavating with big machinery. … We’ll bring it back to the United States.”
  • Oil/gas prices: The cost of a barrel of Brent crude plunged 10% to under $90 a barrel, and that could translate into a quick reduction in gas prices, says GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan, per NBC News. “This could accelerate sending fuel prices lower starting this weekend with the national average likely falling below $4/gal to perhaps $3.65-$3.85,” he wrote. The average price was $4.09 Friday morning.
  • The talks: The Times reports that US and Iranian negotiators were finalizing a three-page memo that contained the broad strokes of a peace deal. It could be signed at a second round of talks in the coming days.

Now that Donny has fucked up this attempt at a ceasefire…..where will he go now?

For one he will start seizing ships….

The US military is preparing to board and seize Iran-linked commercial vessels on the high seas in the coming days, officials say, widening a maritime campaign that has so far centered on the Persian Gulf region. The move follows Iran’s assertion that it is again tightly controlling the Strait of Hormuz, coupled with reported attacks on commercial ships there. The Trump administration is using increased naval activity and economic leverage to pressure the Iranian government over its nuclear program and its control of oil exports, the Wall Street Journal reports.

And now he has made one of his ill-conceived sweeping statements…..

President Donald Trump has issued his latest threat to Iran and said that if officials fail to make a deal with the United States “the whole country is going to get blown up.”

The president also made threats Sunday morning to target civil infrastructure after it was reported that Iranian forces were refusing to allow ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz this weekend.

“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!” Trump wrote. The posts appeared to be an effort to bring the regime to the table for 11th-hour talks before the U.S.-Iran ceasefire expires next week.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-iran-negotiations-infrastructure-bridges-b2960588.html

Iran ddoes not need nukes….it has the Straight of Hormuz.

Will someone give this twat a Big Mac and Diet Cola and tell him to go sit in the corner?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Last Week At The Sh*t Show–19Apr26

I would like to start this week’s round-up with a quote from Leo Tolstoy….”An arrogant person considers himself perfect. This is the chief harm of arrogance. It interferes with a person’s main task in life – becoming a better person.”

Almost the same shit different week and some of it is hitting close to total absurdity.

Let’s start with the most absurd of the BS….

Children younger than 13 years old are under investigation by the FBI after the agency designated an online group as an “extremist” threat, a group whose members consist of a large number of children, independent journalist Ken Klippenstein reported Tuesday.

The group is known “764” and was designated by the Justice Department as a Nihilistic Violent Extremist group, a designation that the Trump administration established to succeed the Biden administration’s “Anti-Authority and Anti-Government Violent Extremists” designation, itself established in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

“Publicly, the FBI casts these investigations as a crusade to protect the children from predatory adults. What they rarely mention is that many of the suspects are children themselves,” Klippenstein wrote in a report on his Substack. “To obscure this ugly reality, law enforcement portrays itself as merely focused on social media and gaming platforms – ones that just so happen to be popular among children, like Roblox.”

The Trump administration established its new Nihilistic Violent Extremist designation, in part, in response to the killing of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk, with many in the MAGA movement attempting to link Kirk’s killing with support for transgenderism, and despite no evidence that the suspected killer was motivated by such beliefs.

The new designation has also been cited by the Trump administration as a tool to provide “political cover” for its campaign against transgenderism, according to a national security official who spoke with Klippenstein on the condition of anonymity. The Trump administration has also used new standards to define domestic terrorism to justify heightened surveillance on peaceful protests, a leaked memo from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security has revealed.

https://www.rawstory.com/department-of-justice-2676710170/

Are you dildos serious?

Then there is the mash-up of Trump being portrayed as Jesus…..but the MAGA idiots say it was in good fun….and Pistol Pete, the fake religious zealot that he is has proven what a moron he and his boss really are….he has been having prayer meetings at the Pentagon and lately he ended it with a religious quote….

Pete Hegseth cited a prayer largely invented by Quentin Tarantino for the movie Pulp Fiction to praise a rescue mission during the Iran war.

The defense secretary was speaking at a worship service at the Pentagon on Wednesday when he began echoing the “great vengeance and furious anger” monologue delivered by Samuel L. Jackson’s hitman character.

During the religious event, Hegseth led a prayer that he said was delivered to him by the lead mission planner of the rescue operation for two Air Force crew members shot down in Iran.

Hegseth said the prayer had been recited for the rescue team ahead of the operation and was entitled “CSAR 2517,” or “Combat Search and Rescue 2517,” which he said, “I think is meant to reflect Ezekiel 25:17.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pentagon-pete-hegseth-cites-fake-pulp-fiction-bible-verse-in-bonkers-prayer-meeting/

And lately he has been trying to school the pope on theology….saying such crap has he ever read the bible?  Interesting since this idiot has not.

Pistol Pete is like most christians….fake.

As we approach our 250th anniversary Donny is trying to turn a celebration into a cheap side show…..he has many plans for the DC Mall but this one is just plain silly.

Freedom 250 is working with the Department of the Interior and other federal agencies on logistics and permitting for the massive temporary buildout, organization said. The efforts are separate from those planned by America250, the nonpartisan commission created by Congress to plan the signature celebration.

Where a world’s fair might showcase cultural offerings from nations around the globe, organizers say the Great American State Fair will feature immersive exhibits from across the country.

Each of the 50 states and six territories will design pavilions with interactive experiences highlighting their unique characteristics and contributions. Five other national pavilions will center around the themes, Made in America, American Heartland, American Innovates, The American Canvas and Faith & Family.

Semi-permanent “Beaux-Arts” style structures will house the exhibits, Freedom 250 said. The white buildings will line the National Mall, extending from the U.S. Capitol to the Washington Monument. A smaller replica of Trump’s proposed “Triumphal Arch” is slated to sit on the fair grounds.

I hear Donny is proposing mass pardons for his slugs….

President Trump has been saying he’ll leave no staffer unpardoned when his time in office ends, insiders say. The Wall Street Journal, citing sources “familiar with his private comments,” reports that the president has repeatedly joked to aides and advisers that he’ll pardon essentially anyone who has been near him in the West Wing, at one point saying he’d clear “everyone who has come within 200 feet of the Oval.” In another meeting earlier this year, he delivered a similar line but put the distance from the Oval Office at 10 feet. The remarks, often delivered with a laugh, have been frequent enough that some staff now trade jokes about them, though many believe he’s serious.

Trump has floated the idea of a farewell news conference to announce sweeping pardons for administration officials, the sources say, though they aren’t aware of specific promises tied to specific conduct. He has also raised pardons when aides worry that decisions could lead to prosecutions or congressional inquiries. Democrats have said they could launch multiple investigations if they win control of the House in the midterms. The White House pushed back on criticism of the comments. “The Wall Street Journal should learn to take a joke, however, the President’s pardon power is absolute,” said White House press secreatary Karoline Leavitt.

The power is one Trump has embraced. In his current term, he has pardoned more than 1,800 people, far more than in his first term, including around 1,500 who took part in the Capitol riot, the Guardian reports. Other pardons have benefited allies and donors, including a crypto billionaire whose company supported Trump’s digital-currency venture. Trump has also pardoned numerous sports figures and issued pre-emptive pardons to Rudy Giuliani and others involved in his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.

Seriously we should just accept the pardons of robber barons that raped this country for it was worth leaving behind a shell of it’s former self?

If we were talking and I used the term ‘corner store’ most would know what I meant….but apparently Donny has no clue (kinda like with everything else)….

President Donald Trump paused his prepared remarks on Thursday to confess he had “never heard” the term “corner store” before.

The president was in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he touted last year’s passage of his “No Tax on Tips” policy, which was included in the omnibus budget the Republican-controlled Congress passed in July. The provision allows employees who receive tips to deduct up to $25,000 in tips when filing their taxes.

Trump also boasted of the tax cuts included in the bill. While doing so, he was tripped up by the inclusion of the term “corner store,” which had been written into his speech.

“The great big beautiful bill also slashed taxes on millions of Americans, small businesses, including restaurants, dry cleaners, corner stores,” the president said before pausing his speech. “What is a corner store? I’ve never heard that term. I know what a quarter store is, but I’ve never heard it described. A corner store. Who the hell wrote that, please?”

‘Who the Hell Wrote That?’ Trump Stops Mid-Speech To Say He Doesn’t Know What a ‘Corner Store’ Is

For years now we have been bombarded with accusations that the ‘liberals’ have been allowing voter fraud to continue…..and yet most of that that was uncovered were perpetrated by GOPers…..like this one….

An election clerk in a far-right Michigan county has been purging voter rolls without authorization, Votebeat reported on Tuesday.

According to the report, the Michigan Bureau of Elections “sent a letter to Antrim County Clerk Victoria Bishop on Tuesday saying it had received information suggesting she had made voter registration changes ‘that fall outside the scope of your statutory authority and fail to comply with the law.'”

Bishop allegedly sent confirmation and cancelation notices to voters who had not participated in the last two elections, per the report — despite the fact, the letter noted, that “Michigan law is explicit that a clerk may not cancel, or cause the cancellation of, a voter’s registration solely because a voter has missed one or two elections.” She then altered the statuses of these voters in the Qualified Voter File, “without any agreement or delegation of authority allowing you to do so from the affected local jurisdiction.”

https://www.rawstory.com/michigan-gop-2676748877/

This issue has been bullshit since day one but when we are dealing with voters with the IQ of bovine fecal matter it becomes a ‘thing’.

This last piece has nothing to do with Donny but it does illustrate how disgusting his ‘buddies’ are…..

https://wegotthiscovered.com/news/idf-spokesman-argues-murdered-one-year-old-lebanese-baby-probably-terrorist-had-it-coming-either-way/

A one year old terrorist?  How completely racist bullshit but that is Israel…..

That is the dirty politics that is Donny’s show….I feel a bath coming on.

I hope everyone enjoys their Sunday and as always….Be Well and Be Safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

IST Saturday News Dump–18Apr26

Another week has gone by and not much has changed in the world….same idiots ruining life for us peasants.

Local–For the next week the French Quarter Festival in NOLA will be going on…..a good time filled with local music and a few national notables….all music from gospel to rock to afro-carib…..in case anyone is out in the neighborhood….https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/music/after-dark-shows-fqf/article_1f453b44-6779-4e7d-8f1c-75154094515a.html

I have gone several time and it is well worth the trip if you like music.

Plus it is also a major food fest with all sorts of local cuisine available…..

https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/eat-drink/here-s-your-french-quarter-fest-2026-food-guide-new-vendors-creative-dishes-nola-tradition/article_80850d2f-aac4-4c1d-9157-cc6c3ddc9e35.html

I can attest there is some damn yummy food available.

Personal–Yesterday I had an appointment with my cancer doctor and Wednesday I had an appointment with my lung doctor and the two are debating the new spot on my left lung….the cancer wants another biopsy and lung did one 2 months ago and it was negative and besides I am already taking chemo for the lung so why would a new spot appear….so to say the least I am on my lung doctors side she seems to make more sense.  We will see who wins that debate.

Speaking of cancer….there may be a new better way for treatment….for pancreatic cancer….

A pill that goes after one of the toughest cancers just delivered what one doctor called “truly transformational” results for patients. Revolution Medicines said on Monday that its drug daraxonrasib nearly doubled survival time in a late-stage trial, with patients living a median 13.2 months compared with 6.7 months on standard chemotherapy, reports CNBC. The company reported a 60% reduction in the risk of death and said the drug hit all main and secondary goals in patients whose disease had already worsened on other treatments. CEO Mark Goldsmith called the data “practice-changing” and said the company will quickly seek FDA approval, using a priority voucher that could speed the review to a matter of months. Pancreatic cancer has just a 13% five-year survival rate, the lowest of any major cancer.

Daraxonrasib targets RAS mutations, which fuel tumors in about 90% of pancreatic cancers. For years, RAS was thought to be “undruggable,” notes the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Side effects include a frequently seen skin rash that doctors say is usually manageable, per CNBC. “For patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, new treatment options are urgently needed to increase survival time and improve quality of life,” Harvard medicine professor Brian Wolpin said in a release, per OncLive. Full trial data will be presented at an upcoming medical meeting, while a second Phase 3 trial in newly diagnosed patients is underway, per CNBC. Investors have taken notice: Revolution’s shares jumped more than 30% following the news, pushing its market value above $26 billion.

This sounds like good news for at least one of the many cancers.

There is more on the curing of cancer….

Remember back in the dark days of Covid and that twat that some call a president said that bleach would eradicate it….well the big mouth tool is at it again….

While appearing on the latest episode of Donald Trump Jr.’s podcast Triggered, Dr. Mehmet Oz — the longtime TV personality-turned-Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — revealed yet another among President Donald Trump’s many bizarre beliefs: that diet soda must have anti-cancer properties because “it kills grass.”

Dr. Oz and the president’s eldest son were discussing Trump’s health and dietary habits when Oz shared the eyebrow-raising anecdote.

“He’ll hit the red button, and then comes the diet soda pop,” said Oz, referring to a button Trump had installed in the Oval Office. “Your dad argues that diet soda is good for him because it kills grass when poured on grass, so therefore it must kill cancer cells inside the body.”

At this, Trump Jr. gave a “what are you gonna do?” shrug.

Oz went on, saying he once confronted the president about his propensity for Fanta: “I said, are you kidding me? So he starts to sheepishly grin and he says, ‘Well, you know — this stuff is good for me, it kills cancer cells. It’s fresh squeezed so how bad could it be for you?’”

https://www.alternet.org/dr-oz-trump-health/

Was he joking or does this mental midget believe this shit?

Do you have ‘bixonimania’?

Eye irritation plus too much screen time may earn you a new diagnosis from some chatbots: a disease that doesn’t exist. A Swedish researcher invented a bogus condition called “bixonimania,” complete with AI-generated author, fake university, and preprints packed with obvious jokes and admissions that “this entire paper is made up,” reports Nature. The idea was to test whether AI language models would be fooled, and they were: Within weeks, major AI systems—including earlier versions of ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and Perplexity—began confidently describing bixonimania as a real eye disorder related to blue light, even offering prevalence estimates and advice to see an eye doctor.

More worrisome is that at least one peer-reviewed paper cited the fictitious disease before being retracted, suggesting that some researchers are relying on AI-generated references without reading them, says Almira Osmanovic Thunstrom of the University of Gothenburg, who created the ruse. Even a cursory reading of her fictitious paper would have made clear it was bogus given all the “easter eggs” within, notes Inc.com. AI systems have begun correcting themselves on bixonimania, and their makers say the latest models are safer and more accurate. But as Glenn Cohen of Harvard Law School puts it, “we and our health shouldn’t be the beta testers for companies.”

I think that is enough with the medical news….

Do you recall the huge floating island of garbage in the Pacific?

There is some news about the clean-up….

When we picture the open Pacific, we imagine endless blue water and not much else. Marine researchers, however, are now seeing something very different: places like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch where plastic waste has built a kind of artificial shoreline far from any land.

In the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, the huge rotating current system between California and Hawaii, floating objects tend to get trapped instead of drifting away.

That’s where you find what people commonly call the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a region that now holds tens of thousands of tons of plastic pieces sturdy enough to move around the ocean for years at a time.

https://www.earth.com/news/great-pacific-garbage-patch-so-large-now-home-to-dozens-of-life-species/

A bit of alt energy…..

In the United Arab Emirates, where water is more valuable than oil, new research suggests large solar farms could trigger their own rainstorms.

A modelling study led by climate scientist Oliver Branch at the University of Hohenheim found dark solar panels absorb more heat than the surrounding reflective desert sand.

This temperature difference drives updrafts that can lead to rain, potentially providing water for tens of thousands of people.

The researchers modeled solar panels as nearly black surfaces that absorb 95% of incoming sunlight.

When solar farms exceeded 15 square kilometers, the increased heat contrasted sharply with the reflective sand around them, increasing the updrafts that drive cloud formation, but it needs a source of atmospheric moisture.

However, the model showed that moist, high-altitude winds from the Persian Gulf would suffice.

A 20 square kilometer solar field would increase rainfall by nearly 600,000 cubic meters under the right conditions, equivalent to 1cm of rain falling across an area the size of Manhattan.

https://www.techradar.com/pro/maybe-its-not-science-fiction-solar-panels-are-causing-rainwater-to-fall-in-one-of-the-driest-places-on-earth

Then there is wind energy and what that idiot prez had to say……

President Donald Trump blamed “windmills” for the U.K.’s sagging economy.

When informed of this during an interview with Fox Business News, Trump said, “They gotta stop with the windmill,” without addressing that the IMF forecast blames the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.

“They have the North Sea, in Aberdeen Scotland. It’s one of the biggest, most incredible oil fields anywhere in the world, it’s got hundreds of years left. And you know what they do? They closed it because …they want so much, the oil companies are begging them. You know, they called me, they’re begging, ‘please speak to them.’ They made it impossible because of the environmentalists, the horrible environmentalists that hurt that country so badly.”

https://www.themirror.com/news/politics/trump-blames-windmills-uk-economy-1791480

This jerk off cannot go a day without saying something stupid.

My disgust has left me wanting some fresh air….I hope everyone has a pleasant nday and as always….Be Well and Be Safe….

I Read, I Write, You KNow

“lego ergo scribo”

The Danger Of Music

Today is my day with the cancer doctor so I want to leave you with some history….it is never too late to learn.

Think back to the early 2000s and all the mash-up about this hip hop song or another…..Congressional mental midgets held hearings to try and ban the music of a generation…..thank goodness their attempts to ban music did not succeed but it did elevate the sells of the songs and albums in question.

The conservative South has always had a hard on for music if it was not clean and wholesome (whatever that means)….in my youth songs were deemed too shameful for radio…..I am talking about rock icons and their traditionally great songs….songs like Louie, Louie, Gloria, Light My Fire, etc etc.  They wanted anything that did not conform to what these narrow minded twats considered proper…..

T o show you how bad it was I have a video explaining what songs were banned and why….it is a lengthy video but you will see just how far conservatives in the South will go to control what people listen to as music.

Rock classics were not acceptable to the conservative religious twats in the South and were banned from the radio.

Only The Best For Our Boys

That disgusting individual in the White House likes to portray himself in some sort of delusional light of patriotism….and he is always going on about that he is doing the absolute best for our troops.

I came across this article about the food being served to our troops off Iran waiting in ships to be deployed…..

Some stellar food prep…..

Napoleon Bonaparte is credited with proclaiming that “an army marches on its stomach”.

Yet, the maxim that military success depends on well-fed soldiers seems not to have reached those in charge of American armed forces in the Gulf.

US marines deployed to the Middle East – poised to strike Iran if a fragile ceasefire collapses – are complaining of dwindling rations and inedible food.

One “meal” – photographed on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier – consists of what appears to be a pre-cooked gyros slice, a pile of an unknown brown substance and some boiled carrots.

Another picture, taken on the USS Tripoli, shows a spoonful of shredded meat and a single tortilla on tray.

The USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship with 3,500 marines and sailors onboard, has been at sea since leaving its base in Okinawa, Japan, for the Middle East more than a month ago. It is engaged in Donald Trump’s blockade of Iranian ports.

One marine told her father that food was being rationed, the coffee machines were broken, and fresh vegetables and fruit had long disappeared.

Dan, 63, a veteran marine, told USA Today: “We have the strongest military in the world. You shouldn’t be running out of food, and you shouldn’t not be able to get mail on the ship.”

Postal deliveries to serving troops in the Middle East were temporarily suspended after the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb 28. By April, the service was suspended indefinitely because of what the military called “airspace closures” and “logistical impacts” of the war.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/17/trumps-troops-served-tortilla-spoonful-meat-trays-navy/

The photos in the article are as disgusting as the asshole that is doing this top them.

I mean even MREs or C rats would be better than that plate of puke from Donny.

They say moral is super low among the troops and that could explain this story…..

Bill Galvin has spent much of the past month answering the phone.

“It’s been very, very busy,” he says. Galvin is the counseling director at the Center on Conscience and War, which helps run the 24-hour GI Rights Hotline, set up to inform service members of their options for military discharge.

Most callers are asking how to apply to become a conscientious objector — a difficult, invasive and rarely used process. But they’re also airing their concerns and frustrations, often anonymously, as the hotline allows them a space to do so without repercussions.

Military members are citing myriad reasons for wanting to leave, but the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran has been a powerful motivator. In March alone, Galvin’s center took on more than 80 new clients — almost twice as many as it takes on in an average year. The busiest single day saw 12 new clients join, with one person saying four other members of their platoon were also interested.

https://www.alternet.org/conscientious-objector/

https://www.npr.org/2026/04/10/nx-s1-5771612/military-iran-war-trump-conscientious-objector

I say good for you and go for it….if enough stop fighting maybe the old bastards will do the dying…..we could use a few less.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Tax Day Comes And Goes

Sorry to be a bummer but I just had to say something.

April 15th was a couple of days ago…..did you go through the agony of preparing your taxes only to learn you owed the government?

Will it be a burden on your finances?

Well do not worry for no one will take up the slack for our ‘saviors’, big business, has gotten a swell deal from the government…..did you?

Dozens of America’s most profitable corporations avoided paying any federal income taxes in 2025, according to an analysis out on Tuesday from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

The 88 companies—which include Tesla, Southwest Airlines, Live Nation, Palantir, Citigroup, and many others listed in the S&P 500—brought in a collective $105 billion in pretax income last year.

ITEP found that 2025 saw a spike in corporate tax avoidance, enabled in part by new loopholes created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed by President Donald Trump and by his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which reduced the corporate tax rate to 21% from its previous 35%.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is expected to hand the wealthiest 1% of Americans $117 billion in tax cuts this year, while those in the bottom 95% are set to pay more in taxes while facing across-the-board cuts to social safety net programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

It also allowed multimillion- and billion-dollar corporations to find new ways to avoid paying taxes. More than half of the tax-avoiders listed in the report used a provision in the new tax law allowing companies to immediately write off capital investments, reducing their collective taxes by $11.4 billion.

Pharmaceutical and tech companies, meanwhile, were able to take advantage of tax write-offs for research and development, exempting them from approximately another $4.4 billion.

In total, the corporate tax avoidance documented in 2025 by the researchers helped to rob the public coffers of yet another $26.7 billion, enough to give every public school student a free lunch for a year, according to a University of Missouri analysis of the National School Lunch Program.

https://www.alternet.org/big-beautiful-bill-taxes/

I am so proud of this country for making the hard working public pay all the goddamn bills while the robber barons sit on their fat asses smiling like that fat cat from Alice in Wonderland.

I am starting to like this NYC mayor more4 these days……he sees what I see….I wish others did…..

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is using Tax Day to remind Americans that the nation’s tax code is “rigged” to protect the superrich while making the case for a more equitable system.

In a Guardian op-ed co-written with Nobel laureate in economics Joseph Stiglitz and Paris School of Economics professor Gabriel Zucman, New York’s democratic socialist mayor lamented that the world is living with greater wealth inequality than ever before, with just 0.0001% of the global population holding the equivalent of 16% of global wealth—more than the bottom half of humanity.

Mamdani and the economists attributed the global surge in inequality in large part to America’s “regressive” tax system, which has grown dramatically more favorable to the wealthy over the past half-century.

Compared to 1960, when the 400 richest Americans paid roughly half their incomes in taxes, they now pay about 24%—helped by a combination of lower marginal tax rates and loopholes that allow billionaires and corporations to shield their wealth and effectively pay a smaller share of their incomes than everyone else.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/zohran-tax-day

Ain’t capitalism great?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”