There have been many writers that are telling us that we are witnessing the collapse of American democracy since the election of Donny for his lovely second term as president….that is wrong…..we have been living through it well before Donny started his assault on our rights.
Since Donald Trump returned to the White House, American political life has taken on a familiar rhythm. Each week brings another court ruling framed as a breaking point, another election cast as the last real one, another executive order described as the moment it all finally tips over the edge, another person murdered by a government that’s finally gone too far. Democratic party fundraising emails promise to “save the Republic”. Commentators warn that the guardrails are giving way. Anxious citizens refresh their screens, waiting for the collapse of American democracy.
This state of permanent panic rests on what Sigmund Freud called an illusion: a belief embraced not because it reflects reality, but because it satisfies a psychological need. The illusion in this case is that the United States still has a democracy to lose. The more unsettling truth is that Americans are not living under threat of future democratic breakdown; we are living inside the aftermath of one that has already occurred.
For tens of millions of people, democratic life has been absent for decades as they endure precarious housing, inaccessible healthcare, unchecked policing powers, debt servitude, vanishing public goods, and near-total exclusion from meaningful formal political power. For others – the wealthy, the politically connected, the donors and oligarchs – the same system produces not insecurity, but insulation, along with a constant need to rationalize the deprivation of others upon which their power is predicated and to disavow any responsibility for it.
These are not signs of a democracy under threat. They are symptoms of one that eroded – if it ever existed – long ago. Why, then, does American political discourse remain fixated on a catastrophe that always seems imminent but never quite arrives?
This is a situation that some of us have been saying for decades but people were too busy to notice the slide….and that is where our problem lies….people think that living only for their individual interests will keep everything on a an even keel…..I believe people can see now that that was a moronic reason….well some people.
Dear Donny made a national speech on our war with Iran….it was a short speech (surprise….surprise) and as usual was a total waste of time….his and ours.
Presidents make these types of speeches reassure the nation….if that was his intention then like most things Donny it was a failure…..
President Trump said US forces will “finish the job” in Iran soon as “core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” offering a full-throated defense of the war Wednesday night in his first national address since the conflict began more than a month ago, the AP reports. He used his platform before a wide audience to tout the success of the US operations and argue that all of Washington’s objectives have so far been met or exceeded, but said Iran would continue to face a barrage of attacks in the short term. “We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” Trump said. “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.” (Iran’s president issued a letter in advance of Trump’s speech.)
But Trump also spent much of an address that lasted just under 20 minutes repeating many things he had already said in recent weeks and providing few new details. The speech appeared unlikely to move the needle of public sentiment at a time when polling shows many Americans feel the US military has gone too far in Iran and as gas and oil prices remain high. A few notable things he didn’t say:
He didn’t mention the possibility of sending US ground troops into Iran.
Nor did he reference NATO, the trans-Atlantic alliance he has railed against for not helping the US secure the critical Strait of Hormuz, where a chokehold by Iran has sent energy prices soaring.
He also didn’t say anything about negotiations with Iran.
He didn’t bring up his April 6 deadline for Iran to reopen the waterway or face severe retaliation from the US.
Trump ticked through a timeline of past American involvement in conflicts and noted that the ongoing war in Iran had lasted just 32 days, seeming to appeal to the public for more time to achieve the mission. “World War I lasted one year, seven months, and five days,” he said. “World War II lasted for three years, eight months, and 25 days.” Trump also added references to Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq. He also noted that in “these past four weeks, our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield.” He said US military action had been “so powerful, so brilliant” that “one of the most powerful countries” is “really no longer a threat”—even as Iran kept up its attacks on Israel and Persian Gulf neighbors early Thursday.
So all he did was regurgitate all the crap he had spread for the past 5 weeks.
Then there is the reactions of Donny’s favorite part of his job…..the markets…..
Investors got a fresh reminder Wednesday that geopolitics often calls the shots on Wall Street, CNBC reports. US stock futures slid Wednesday night after President Trump signaled the conflict with Iran is likely to grind on, even as he again suggested an end may be near. S&P 500 futures fell roughly 0.8%, Nasdaq 100 futures about 1%, and Dow futures dropped more than 300 points. Asian stocks also fell, the AP reports. The moves came as Trump vowed to strike Tehran “extremely hard” and said the US would push Iran “back to the stone ages” over the next few weeks.
Markets reacted in real time: futures weakened during the speech while oil prices jumped, with US crude up nearly 4% above $103 a barrel and Brent up 5% past $106—a high point for oil prices in recent weeks, Forbes reports.
So all in all waste of time…..for him and for me…..
He really should study up on what these types of speeches are really for and not just to see his pasty mug on TV.
Most presidents after their time in the WH set about putting together a presidential library and dear Donny is no different….only his will be a typical gaudy piece of trash.
Donald Trump is picturing his presidential library less as a building and more as a skyline takeover. On Monday, he shared a video on Truth Social depicting a soaring glass tower in downtown Miami, topped with a needlelike spire and emblazoned with “TRUMP” at the top, per NBC News. An American flag drapes down its center, and the first floor showcases a presidential jet, which reportedly will be a Boeing 747 gifted by Qatar, slated to go on display once he exits the White House for good. Inside, the renderings show a replica Oval Office, a version of the West Colonnade, and a large ballroom.
The proposed skyscraper would loom over Miami’s Freedom Tower, a landmark for Cuban immigrants in a county that swung Trump’s way in 2024. Designed by local firm Bermello Ajamil, the library is set for construction on nearly 3 acres along the waterfront valued at more than $67 million—land that was tied up in a court fight last year before a judge allowed its transfer from a college to the state. The site sits not far from Trump National Doral. Trump’s post also directed supporters to a donation page for the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation. The AP notes the library video came just hours after it was announced that a Florida airport will be named after Trump.
Just what one would expect from a classless person….this monstrosity will be gaudy, tacky, and an eye sore….and sort of phallic in nature.
Just another building emblazoned with his name to feed his fragile ego.
The nation will be sitting on the edge of their chairs as Donny tells us what he has planned for the Iran War tonight.
President Trump says the end of the Iran war is near, and the White House says plans to explain what comes next in a prime-time address Wednesday night. In a post on X, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump “will give an Address to the Nation to provide an important update on Iran” at 9pm Eastern. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said the US would wind down its military campaign in Iran within “two or three weeks” and again brushed off the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as a problem mainly for other nations.
“We will be leaving soon,” Trump said, though the New York Times reports that he mentioned different timelines. He said it would be “maybe two weeks, maybe a couple of days longer to do the job. But we want to knock out every single thing they have.”
Trump, who has repeatedly cited four or five objectives for the war, said he “had one goal: They will have no nuclear weapon and that goal has been attained,” the AP reports. Later Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was ahead of schedule with multiple objectives, including wiping out Iran’s missile and drone factories, CNN reports. “We’re well on our way. We are on or ahead of schedule on each of those four objectives and we can see the finish line. It’s not today, it’s not tomorrow but it’s coming,” Rubio told Sean Hannity in a Fox News appearance.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told European Council President Antonio Costa on Tuesday that Iran had the “necessary will” to end the conflict with the US and Israel if “guarantees” were in place, Euronews reports. “We possess the necessary will to end this conflict, provided that essential conditions are met, especially the guarantees required to prevent repetition of the aggression,” Pezeshkian said, according to a statement from his office.
On the ground, the fighting showed little sign of wrapping up on Tuesday, the Times reports. A large airstrike hit the Iranian city of Isfahan, triggering a massive blast, and a Kuwaiti oil tanker went up in flames after a drone attack at a Dubai port, which Kuwaiti officials blamed on Iran. In Washington, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the US has begun flying B-52 bombers over Iran for the first time in the conflict, describing it as evidence that Iranian air defenses have been badly weakened.
Will this be a typical Donny self love fest or will he give the nation the straight skinny?
My guess is the former not the later…..he has not giving the nation the straight skinny for over a year.
Will there be hints at US Troops on the ground?
So many questions with few answers forthcoming.
I will be watching and writing. (so you do not have to)
Now I could go on a diatribe about Donny referencing his many fuck ups but his last chapter has not been written yet.
And now time for the old professor to drop some history.
The worst president to many political historians was Buchanan the 15th president of the United States.
Historians often label James Buchanan as one of the worst presidents in United States history. His presidency was marked with conflict, a conflict that had been brewing for over thirty years. Yet, Buchanan’s actions, and at times his inactions, aggravated sectional tensions to the point where the Union dissolved.
James “Old Buck” Buchanan was born to wealthy Irish immigrants on April 23, 1791, in rural Cove Gap, Pennsylvania. He entered Dickinson College at the age of 16, two years later he graduated with honors. After his graduation in 1809, Buchanan studied law and as his legal career grew so did his political one. Buchanan served in a reserve unit during the War of 1812 and did not experience any combat, and shortly after the war, the Old Buck served in the Pennsylvania State Legislature before his election to serve in the United States House of Representatives from 1821 until 1831, where he sat on the House Judiciary Committee.
…
Buchanan’s presidency was marred with conflict; however, one of the most significant events of his presidency began to unfold even before his inauguration. At the heart of the Dred Scott v. Stanford case was the status of slavery in the territories, an issue that had plagued American politics since the Missouri Compromise. Buchanan desperately hoped that the Supreme Court would unequivocally settle this massive issue before his inauguration in March of 1857. In violation of presidential ethics, on February 3, 1857, the president-elect began corresponding with Justice John Catron of Tennessee. Buchanan inquired as to when the country would learn about a decision and if the decision would be narrowly focused or broad. In his response, Catron did not answer as to when a decision would be handed down but did mention that the territorial question would be involved. On February 23, 1857, Justice Robert Grier of Pennsylvania responded to an earlier letter of Buchanan and tipped him off to the coming decision, writing “six if not seven will declare that the compromise law of 1820 to be non-effect.” With this prior knowledge in his inaugural address, Buchanan referred to Dred Scott as a decision that would “speedily and finally” resolve all questions about slavery in the territories, and he would “cheerfully submit to that decision.”
Al through this mash-up with Iran Donny has made statement after statement and none have proven to be true…..so far….and as if right on cue another of his BS statements.
President Trump on Monday suggested that peace talks were making progress, but he also threatened to expand bombardment of Iran should those talks collapse. In a Truth Social post, Trump said the US was negotiating with a “new, and more reasonable, regime,” but he warned that a deal must happen quickly and demanded that the Strait of Hormuz be opened immediately, reports NBC News. If not, the US will end its military campaign by “blowing up and completely obliterating” Iran’s electricity plants, oil wells, and the vital energy hub of Kharg Island, he wrote. The US also might hit Iran’s desalination plants, he added.
The nature of the new negotiations was not immediately clear: Pakistan is hosting a forum of regional neighbors, though neither Iran nor the US was participating. A spokesman for the current Iranian regime, meanwhile, made clear that Tehran has had “no direct negotiations with the US,” reports the BBC. Esmail Baghaei also accused the US of “constantly” shifting its public positions. “I do not know how many in the United States take the claim of American diplomacy seriously,” he said. Still, Trump’s comments on progress have boosted optimism on Wall Street, notes CNBC, with Dow futures up more than 300 points. On Sunday, Trump also said Tehran agreed to let an additional 20 ships traverse the strait as a “sign of respect” to the US, per the New York Times.
And the markets love his statement….of course they.
But if these talks are going so well why is there a massive troop build up?
The US troop presence in the Middle East has quietly swelled to a level not seen in decades, now hovering above 50,000. The latest additions: 2,500 Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and 2,500 sailors, plus about 2,000 paratroopers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, all moving into position as President Trump weighs his next moves in his month-old war in Iran, per the New York Times. Typically, about 40,000 US personnel are spread across bases and ships in countries including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Qatar, and the UAE. The buildup comes as Washington considers more aggressive steps to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about a fifth of global oil shipments that has been largely shut by Iranian retaliation.
The Pentagon is gearing up for weeks of ground operations in the country should Trump approve, per the Washington Post. Options reportedly include seizing territory such as Kharg Island, Iran’s key oil export hub. While analysts note that 50,000 troops would be far too few for a large-scale ground campaign in a country the size and population of Iran, special operations raids are possible, officials tell the Post. This would mark a new phase of the war, one “significantly more dangerous to US troops than the first four weeks,” per the outlet. More than 13 US service members have already been killed, with more than 300 wounded, including at least 15 injured in a Friday attack on a Saudi air base, reports PBS. A recent AP-NORC poll finds 62% of respondents strongly opposed to the use of ground troops in Iran, with only 12% in favor.
The mix of BS and troops leads me to believe that he is just waiting to strike.
Then Donny makes a statement that smacks of a war crime to me….
President Trump on Monday added Iran’s desalination plants to the list of infrastructure he may “blow up” if a deal isn’t reached to end the war, threatening attacks on the country’s water supply, a clear war crime under international law.
“The United States of America is in serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social, though Iran continues to deny negotiations are taking place.
“Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet ‘touched,’” Trump added.
(antiwar.com)
The Straight….
President Trump is signaling to aides he’s ready to declare victory over Iran without fully reopening one of the world’s most critical oil routes, according to sources who spoke to the Wall Street Journal. Administration officials tell reporters Trump has privately said he’s prepared to wind down the US campaign within four to six weeks after degrading Iran’s navy and missile arsenal, even if the Strait of Hormuz remains only partially usable. That would effectively leave Iran with significant leverage over a passageway that carries about a fifth of global oil and gas, already driving up energy prices and squeezing industries worldwide. The White House says restoring normal traffic isn’t a core military goal for now, with Trump hoping diplomacy—or later, a coalition led by US allies—will eventually secure the waterway, sources say.
Sounds like he is looking for a way out.
This will be a devastating conflict when Donny makes up his mind….and you and I will be paying for his stupidity for years to come even if the conflict was to end soon.
This past Saturday was set up for protests of Donny and his merry band of idiots and their destruction of the foundation of this country.
The expectation was the crowds would be large and vocal.
Organizers called it “the largest single-day nationwide demonstrations in US history,” with an estimate 8 million people coming out for events in communities and cities nationwide.
From major cities to rural towns that have never seen mobilizations like this before, protesters made clear that in America, we don’t do kings,“ the No Kings coalition said in a statement.
Demonstrators turned out for “No Kings” rallies around the world on Saturday in opposition to President Trump and his policies involving the Iran war, immigration enforcement, elections, health care, the Epstein files, the environment—and authoritarianism. In Washington, Bill Jarcho was in a small group wearing tactical vests marked “LICE” to spoof ICE agents. “What we provide is mockery to the king,” Jarcho said, per the AP. “It’s about taking authoritarianism and making fun of it, which they hate.” More than 3,300 events, the third wave of “No Kings” protests, were planned in all 50 states, per the Washington Post. Large rallies were held in cities and small ones on roadsides, including:
Minneapolis: Organizers declared the city’s rally the day’s flagship event. Bruce Springsteen performed a song he wrote to protest the immigration operation that left two American citizens shot to death there by federal agents in January. “They picked the wrong city,” Springsteen told a crowd of thousands, per the New York Times. “These invasions of American cities will not stand,” he added. Gov. Tim Walz criticized Trump’s comments about Somali immigrants, saying their descendants would still be in the US long after “the orange clown is in the dustbin of history.” Instead of giving a speech, Jane Fonda read a statement from Becca Good, whose wife was one of the people killed by federal agents. “Everyone who was there when my wife was taken from me has had their lives destroyed that day, including those agents,” she read, per CNN. “What we need is to stop destroying life.” A huge sign placed on the state Capitol’s steps read: “We had whistles, they had guns. The revolution starts in Minneapolis.”
Washington, DC: Protesters headed to the military base where Stephen Miller, the White House aide overseeing deportation efforts, has been living, chanting for his removal. Some said, “We’ve got the people outside your door.”
Paris: Several hundred people, mostly Americans living in France, gathered at the Bastille with members of labor unions and human rights organizations, per the AP. “I protest all of Trump’s illegal, immoral, reckless, and feckless, endless wars,” organizer Ada Shen said.
Topeka: A rally outside the Kansas Statehouse had people impersonating a frog king and Trump as a baby. Wendy Wyatt drove with a “Cats Against Trump” sign from Lawrence, 20 miles to the east, and planned to drive back to her hometown for a later rally there. “There are so many things” that upset her about the Trump administration, she said, though “this is very hopeful to me.”
Manhattan: Protesters chanting while marched south from Midtown. One told CNN “there’s not enough room on the sign to say why” she’s protesting. “If we want a democracy,” she added, “we have to participate in it and we have to save it.”
Austin: Protesters came to the roadside park Auditorium Shores. Gilbert Martinez, a 93-year-old Korean War veteran, said Trump is reckless and the Iran war a diversion, per the Times. “That idiot is going to cause a lot of good military people to lose their lives,” he said.
Portland, Oregon: A large crowd marched to a drum beat. One sign read, “So bad, even introverts are here.”
Chicago: Saira Bensett, 60, said the gathering in Grant Park was cathartic. “When I watch the news it’s often too much—the emotions I feel make me feel like I’m alone,” she said. “So I wanted to be here to feel like I’m not by myself.”
The US was not the only protests on Saturday…..
No Kings rallies weren’t just held in major US cities. In a series of social mediaposts, Indivisible co-founder Leah Greenberg collected photos and videos of No Kings events in communities including Arvada, Colorado, Madison, New Jersey, and St. Augustine, Florida, as well as international No Kings events held in London and Madrid.
Of course with the accumulation of that many protesters there were going to be rowdy individuals that take the protest a bit far…..but all in all they were peaceful….but of course the idiots that believe in the MAGA bullshit will try and twist the outcome to a negative….it was not and will not be a negative force.
I stopped by the one in my city early on Saturday and there was already about 100 people getting ready…..one guy said they were expecting about 350 people to show up.
The local news stations which there are two had no mention of the protests at all. The local rag had no story about the protests either.
However the Clarion Ledger out of Jackson Mississippi reported on the protest in a city about 60 miles north of the Coast.
We are entering into our 5 week of our lame conflict with Iran and to this day no one has given an accurate reason for our attacks….it was not nukes or some vague terrorism accusation, yada yada…..
Since the very beginning of this conflict our Little Donny has had multiple statements and each one has made the markets go up and down like some crazed yo-yo….and there you go just the reason that myself and many others have said was the reason for this war….market manipulation.
Just after noon on Friday, March 20th, US president Donald Trump declared victory to a group of reporters in his broadly unpopular war with Iran. Just two minutes later, however, he announced he was sending US marines anyway. The next minute, the president said there would be no boots on the ground after all. A few beats later, he admitted he didn’t want a ceasefire, then declared victory again, then requested a ceasefire.
The volley continued like this for nearly half an hour, the president’s stream of consciousness pouring from within, in a prime example of Trump’s contradictory messaging on Iran. In addition to exhausting reporters and scrambling the news cycle, episodes like this have fueled speculation that people close to the president are feeding off the chaos.
As a recent analysis by economist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman argues, there’s evidence that insiders are profiting off the war in Iran. On Monday, for example, Trump reversed his weekend commitment to deliver painful retribution on the Iranian people if the country failed to open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. At 7:05am on Monday morning, however, Trump chickened out, issuing a five-day pause on hostilities via a post on Truth Social.
The price of crude oil, which had flailed upward for weeks as shipments from the Persian Gulf slowed to a trickle, plummeted immediately, from around $112 a barrel before the announcement to a low of $97 by 11:00am.
However, about 15 minutes before Trump’s post, CNBC reported, there was a massive increase in the amount of S&P 500 e-Mini futures trading on the market, right before their price skyrocketed from around $6,500 to around $6,700. Someone also got incredibly lucky playing the oil market, with West Texas Intermediate May futures seeing a massive spike in trading activity at the exact same time — a sign that someone had shed theirs before the price experienced a major drop.
This manipulation is making speculators millions….and after all war is big business and Donny’s butt buddies are making out like bandits (which they are).
There is you answer, the real answer, to why this…..PROFITS!
Another week of Donny and the clowns he has around him….they seem to get more silly and more extreme with the passing of every week.
This past week was fully of disgusting and pathetic dribbles from Donny and of course his butt boys in DC….
Where to begin?
Donny likes feeding his ego so let’s start there…..
With the war with Iran raging Donny re-names the Straight of Hormuz….
President Trump called the Strait of Hormuz, the “Strait of Trump” at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) summit on Friday as the war in Iran continues to escalate.
Trump spoke in Miami at the Saudi Arabia-run summit, where he discussed some of his most pressing economic issues, including the war in Iran, and the continued blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.
“They have to open it up. They have to open up the straight of Trump. I mean, harmless. Excuse me. I’m so sorry. Such a terrible mistake. The fake news will say, he accidentally said that. There’s no accidents with me. Not too many. If there were, we’d have a major story,” he said.
(themirror.com)
How about a statue?
While Americans are dealing with rising gas prices, Donald Trump appears to be more concerned with getting a statue of himself built, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
During his Cabinet meeting on Thursday, March 26, the president shrugged off a possible solution to increasing gas prices, instead taking the discussion in a whole other direction.
(radaronline.com)
That worthless douche/bag Speaker of the House wants to make it official…..
Congressional Republicans created an award to give to President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
House Republicans held their annual National Republican Congressional Committee fundraiser on Wednesday night in Washington, D.C. Before Trump spoke, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced that the NRCC had come up with a new honor to bestow on the president.
“We wanted to do one thing before we bring the president out to the stage,” Johnson said, before saying Trump works “literally around the clock to fix every issue” and is solving “all the domestic problems.” As such, the speaker said, House Republicans created a new award:
And we want to honor him in some small way, some token of our appreciation for his leadership. And so, tonight, we have created a new award. We’re going to do something we’ve never done before. We’re going to honor him with a new award that we’ll present annually from this point forward. But he is the suitable and fitting receipient of the first-ever America First Award. We could think of no better title for what that is. That’s this beautiful golden statue here. Appropriate for the new golden era in America.
Then there his signature on our paper money….pathetic.
Louisiana is naming a bridge after this total buttwad….
A new bridge spanning the Mississippi River will likely be named after President Donald Trump after the full Louisiana state house approved the bill to build the bridge, which could cost as much as $3 billion, WWL radio reported Tuesday.
State Rep. Jeremy Lacombe said that they’re hoping that they can get federal funding for the bridge to be built, and that naming if after Trump might help.
(alternet.org)
Just a few of the feedings of Donny inflated ego.
Then there is the pack of idiots that do as they are told….Pistol Pete for instance….
The Pentagon is working with private companies to control what we know about Donald Trump’s reckless military campaign in Iran.
Leaked U.S. military guidance obtained by independent journalist Ken Klippenstein Tuesday revealed instructions to dozens of commercial satellite operators about how to describe the extent of the damage in Iran.
The Pentagon warned against using language that assumed “operational conclusions,” such as “Target destroyed” or “Target eliminated.” Instead, the language should describe only “observable infrastructure damage.”
Rather than saying things like “Strike successfully destroys facility,” companies were urged to say things like “Imagery shows the structure largely collapsed with debris covering the building footprint.”
Perhaps the U.S. military was hoping to avoid more claims that Iranian assets had been “obliterated” that they would have to walk back afterward. In any case, the Pentagon appears to be exercising censorship over what Americans are allowed to know, allowing Trump to prosecute his war in Iran with impunity.
“I hang out with losers because it makes be feel better,” said Trump. “I hate guys that are very, very successful and you have to listen to their success stories. I like people that like to listen to my success.”
Even people on the inside doubt his abilities…..
Yet behind closed doors, doubts about Trump’s own intelligence have circulated among his inner circle, Michael Wolff said on the Inside Trump’s Head podcast.
Wolff, who was granted inside access to the White House during the chaotic opening months of Trump’s first term, recalled a conversation he had at the time with “Trump whisperer” Sam Nunberg, who advised Trump in his early political forays before being forced out of the 2016 campaign when racist Facebook comments he made resurfaced.
“I remember Sam looked at me and he said, ‘You don’t get it, do you?’ And I was like, ‘Tell me.’ And he said, ‘He’s an idiot,’” Wolff recounted.
In response to Wolff’s comments, Nunberg, 44, previously told the Daily Beast, “That was a long time ago and President Trump has certainly proved me wrong by getting [re-elected] in 2024.”
Wolff said Steve Bannon, another political adviser and a key source for his 2018 tell-all Fire and Fury, “absolutely” believed Trump was an “idiot,” too.
(thedailybeast.com)
We all know just how fucking crazy Donny’s boyz are but this guy at FEMA takes the cake (at least for last week)….
A senior Federal Emergency Management Agency official with a history of violent rhetoric and promoting conspiracy theories says he once teleported to a Waffle House 50 miles away.
“Teleporting is no fun,” said Gregg Phillips, who leads FEMA’s critical Office of Response and Recovery, according to a CNN File report. “It’s no fun because you don’t really know what you’re doing. You don’t really understand it, it’s scary, but yet um – but so real. And you know it’s happening but you can’t do anything about it, and so you just go, you just go with the ride. And wow, what just an incredible adventure it all was.”
CNN describes Phillips as “a far-right activist who spread conspiracy theories about voter fraud and frequently used violent rhetoric toward political opponents.” In December, when Phillips started at FEMA, CNN described him as a “longtime Republican operative” and an “election fraud crusader” who “rocketed into the spotlight with his unsubstantiated fraud claims, which were touted by Trump.”
Once all this is making my skin crawl and I need a diversion from the slimy people running this country.
Something to lighten the mood….
Our area has had a bunch of porch pirate incidents in the last couple of months….I even lost a 20 lb bag of bird seed in an Amazon box…..so I started looking for how others have handled porch pirates.
No sympathy from me…..
That Was The Week That Was…..
Have a wonderful Sunday and as always…..Be Well abs Be Safe…..
More news that needs to be reported but somehow missed out to the antics of the lunatic we have for a leader.
Local–Troubling news for the Gulf Coast….
Mississippi has a high risk of tropical weather impacts this year. The 2026 Atlantic hurricane season starts June 1.
AccuWeather forecasters say the developing El Niño is one of the biggest factors shaping hurricane season. It could mean there’s an average or below average number of storms.
“It’s very important that everybody from South Texas all the way to Maine prepares equally for each and every hurricane season, regardless of what the official forecast is,” AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva said in their hurricane season forecast. “Even if it’s expected to be a slightly below average hurricane season, we can still see major hits across the United States.”
The Coast is hosting a Triathlon this weekend and major roads will be impacted….I will stay close to the house.
A poplar food stuff down here is crayfish and there is a shortage of workers so there is an impact to be felt….thank you ICE and Donny.
Plus there will be protests in 5 cities on the Coast for ‘No Kings Day’.
Personal–Weather has been fairly cool and sunny still no rain to speak of…..so I guess I will do a little gardening today.
Visit to my cancer doctor and he ordered another scan because the spot in my lung is growing but when biopsy showed negative they are confused…..so another loo see is in order.
News from neuroscience….
The concept of “cryosleep” — spending prolonged periods of time in suspended animation in a deep freeze state — has been a mainstay in the world of science fiction.
While the idea of slumbering peacefully while covering vast distances in space on board a spacecraft remains a distant dream, researchers are inching ever closer to turning it into a reality.
As detailed in a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences earlier this month, a team of researchers at the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg in Germany managed to return activity to mouse brains after carefully preserving the tissue in a glass-like state, a method called vitrification, before slowly thawing them.
“If brain function is an emergent property of its physical structure, how can we recover it from complete shutdown?” lead author and University of Erlangen–Nuremberg neurologist Alexander German told Nature.
Maybe to test this on humans I propose using the cabinet members and their idiot boss.
There seems to be endless reports about toilet paper….this one involves cancer….
Toilet paper may play a role in the contamination of groundwater with potentially harmful substances called PFAS.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASTrusted Source) are found in a wide variety of consumer products, including cosmetics, cleansers, and firefighting foams.
While research is not conclusive, PFAS are suspected of playing a role in a variety of conditions, including cancer, reduced immunity, and reproductive and developmental problems.
“Exposure to PFAS through drinking water puts people’s health at risk,” Dr. Katie Pelch, a scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, told Healthline. “Groundwater can also be used for agricultural uses and it has been shown that plants, including crops, can take up PFAS, so food in the diet is another potential source of PFAS exposure.”
Most coverage of the upcoming all-electric Ferrari Luce fixates on the headline numbers: 1,000 horsepower, four electric motors, over 310 miles of claimed range. But the really interesting story is buried underneath all of that. Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna has been open about a problem that most EV manufacturers either haven’t noticed or haven’t bothered to admit. Electric acceleration, delivered at full force with no interruption, can feel wrong. For most, it’s too linear and too relentless, in a way that Vigna says can begin to disturb the brain. That is a strange thing for a supercar maker to say, and it is also a very honest one.
In an interview with Autocar India, Vigna said Ferrari went to NASA to understand at what point acceleration starts to make occupants uncomfortable. NASA has spent decades studying exactly how the human body responds to g-loads, vibration, and sudden changes in motion, first for astronauts and pilots, then more recently for passengers in air taxis and high-motion environments.
Bozo’s ex-wife is proving the billionaires can do more…..
At a moment when Washington is squeezing higher ed, MacKenzie Scott is writing some very big checks. The billionaire philanthropist and ex-wife of Jeff Bezos has quietly become one of the most significant private backers of colleges and universities, especially those serving students who are often left out of elite fundraising cycles, reports Fast Company. Through her Yield Giving initiative, Scott handed out $7.16 billion in grants last year—almost 2.6 times what it awarded the year prior. At least $700 million went to historically Black colleges and universities, $214 million to institutions that primarily serve Latino students, and more than $70 million to tribal colleges. Fortune notes that despite Scott’s immense giving, she’s secretive about it, and thus didn’t make the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s list of the top 50 philanthropists.
Scott recently gave $42 million to Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina, and the school’s chancellor tells WTKR that the gift has set ECSU up to grow its “mission bar none” of expanding quality degree programs. Scott’s donations come with an unusual feature for gifts of this size: no strings attached. That trust is what stands out to Howard University interim president Wayne Frederick, who says Scott is telling schools, in essence, “you make the decision about what’s the best way to use this money.” In a time when many billionaires are focused on influence and access, he adds, her approach is rooted in something simpler: “supporting humanity.”
I have not seen too many others rushing to help the nation…..have you?
Something for my UK visitors…..
New data from the Environment Agency shows water companies discharged raw sewage into rivers and seas 291,492 times in 2025.
While that marks a 35% decrease from the previous year, the numbers are still alarming, especially given that 2025 was England’s driest spring in over a century and one of its warmest years on record.
Storm overflows, designed to release excess wastewater only during heavy rainfall, were used far more frequently than expected. In total, sewage flowed into waterways for an estimated 1.8 million hours.
“When sewage is pouring out even in a dry year, you really know the system is broken,” said Richard Benwell, chief executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link, per the Guardian. “These aren’t stormwater overflows; they’re all-weather waste pipes. Rivers, lakes, and seas should not be pressure valves for pollution. Any sewage in our waters is too much.”
My region is known for our oysters and n ow there is more news about the empty shells…..
New research from a team at Trinity College Dublin has unearthed a cheap and environmentally friendly new option for removing pollutants from our water. The key? Oyster shells that would ordinarily end up in landfill sites after consumption. The research, just published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, shows that waste seashells—especially those from oysters—can capture and remove rare earth elements from polluted water. And what’s more, they do it entirely naturally, turning them into stable mineral crystals.
Rare earth elements are essential components of modern technologies, from wind turbines and electric vehicles to smartphones, but their extraction and processing creates environmental risks when these metals leak into water systems. They are also at the center of growing geopolitical tensions, as global supply is heavily concentrated in a few countries and demand for these strategic materials continues to increase.
Every now and then I try to be an FYI site when possible…..this is this week’s entry….
Doctor’s orders on getting enough fruits and veggies often doesn’t include one important caveat: Try to avoid picking up items that are tainted by pesticides. In its annual shopper’s guide, EWG clarifies which produce to scoop up and which maybe to avoid if you’re concerned about chemical contamination, deeming the two respective lists the “Clean 15” and “Dirty Dozen.” The guide found that almost 60% of the fruits and vegetables on the “clean” list featured no residue that could be detected, while almost all of the “Dirty Dozen” (96%) failed the residue test and contained pesticides. The guide isn’t designed steer consumers away from fruits and vegetables, “but rather to help shoppers better understand what may be on their produce so they can make informed decisions at the grocery store,” EWG’s Varun Subramaniam tells Food & Wine. Check out both lists:
Clean 15
Pineapple
Sweet corn
Avocados
Papaya
Onion
Sweet peas
Asparagus
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Watermelon
Mangoes
Bananas
Carrots
Mushrooms
Kiwis
Dirty Dozen
Spinach
Kale, collards, and mustard greens
Strawberries
Grapes
Nectarines
Peaches
Cherries
Apples
Blackberries
Pears
Potatoes
Blueberries, as well as green beans and peppers (bell and hot)
