Is There A Coming Revolution?

First before anyone freaks out I am talking about a political revolution not one with bombs and shit.

Donny has crapped up this nation and we have at least 2 more years of his stupidity….but on the outside chance that we can send this pasty asshole to Florida we will have a mountain of work to do….that is those gutless twats in DC will have a mountain of work that will need doing.

Americans’ celebration of 250 years of independence invites reflection on the Declaration of Independence and its values of equality, liberty and democratic renewal. Those values are a beacon to guide where our nation must go to live up to its promise—to make sure we have a democracy where your vote counts no matter how much money you have or where you live.

We have work to do. Democracy is under profound stress. Twentieth-century rules and norms are straining under 21st century realities: increasing polarization, weakening media, rising economic inequality, and loss of trust in political parties and governing institutions. Americans have elected a president ready to push the boundaries of autocracy and kleptocracy.

But out of the ashes comes hope. Sustaining American democracy depends on a new wave of major change that speaks to the moment.

Here’s a rundown of reforms within reach—and what each reform would mean for rural Americans.

read the list and say whether you agree or not)

A Coming Revolution in American Democracy

I can say that I agree with every one of those changes….but will there be a will once Donny has fled the country?

To be fair I will post what the fearmongering Right thinks about a new American Revolution….

Sorry I would post the link but there is a paywall and I will be damned if those lying bastards will get any of my money….

Let’s say their are concerned about the rise of the DSA and in true fashion will like it to the Russian Revolution and the rise of Lenin.

Now you can choose to believe that crap and if you do then I have a bridge for sale.

Now back to the main body of the post….we desperately need political reform….but I do not see much of it materializing….do you?

Educate, Agitate

I Read, I Write, You Know

cogito ergo agito

Last Week At The Sh*t Show–20Sept26

AS the midterm election creeps into sight you would think that the silliness of Donny would take a back seat to trying to help win elections….but it looks like we would be mistaken.

It has been an interesting week….from Donny encouraging people to commit voter fraud to to him pouting about the Kennedy Center….

Far-right President Donald Trump on Thursday night asked his Republican supporters at a party convention event to raise their right hands and vow fealty directly to him in a mocking version of the “pledge of allegiance” in which he also called on them to “cheat like hell” at the ballot box in November in order to secure a midterm win against Democrats.

“Please right your right hand,” Trump told attendees at the first-ever GOP midterm convention in Dallas, Texas.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-pledge-cheat-like-hell-in-midterms

Then of course was Donny’s promise to pay for votes….

Speaking at the rally, Trump pledged to pay every American adult $5,000 if Republicans kept control of both houses of Congress in the Nov. 3 elections. The next day, Trump said the administration would pay $500 to nearly 1 million Americans in 30 states as part of an Obamacare refund.

Will Americans really get these payments? Here’s what we know.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/09/12/trump-5000-dividend-checks-midterms/91729708007/

It is the public record….use it!

Donny seems to think that the US would not exist without him…..

Urging support for Republican candidates ahead of the upcoming midterm elections, the 80-year-old president argued that before his victory in 2024, the country was “going down the drain” due to what he described as “stupid policies.”

“Their policies are, you know, they’re common sense. I heard so many of the wonderful politicians who spoke… It’s really about common sense more than anything else. It’s not about stupid policies that led us down the drain. We were going down the drain. If we hadn’t won the last election, I’m not sure that our country right now would even exist. It was going so bad,” he said

(okmagazine.com)

What a deluded POS!

It seems that Dimwit Donny has not forgotten about Greenland…..

After months of threatening to take Greenland by force, President Trump posted Friday on social media that he’s reached an agreement designed to boost the US military presence on the Arctic island and shut out rival nations. The deal, which does not include a US takeover, “gives the United States permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing ALL of our many U.S. concerns,” Trump wrote. Greenland and Denmark, which owns the Arctic island, issued a joint statement saying they plan to sign the deal with the US next week, the Hill reports.

“The agreement recognizes Greenland’s interests and our place in international cooperation,” Jens-Frederik Nielsen, chairman of the Greenland government, said in a statement. “It is to the benefit of us all.” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark said the agreement “recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination.” Trump said the US will be able to expand its military footprint while keeping “adversaries” from building bases.

May I suggest that Denmark not trust the SOB…..

You know there is a data base that tracks police misconduct….well not any more….

Last year the Trump administration shut down a national database of misconduct by federal law enforcement officers. Now it’s facing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for refusing to release records about that decision.

A coalition of civil rights and police accountability groups filed a FOIA lawsuit on September 4 after waiting 10 months for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release records about why it pulled the plug on the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database (NLEAD), a nonpublic database tracking misconduct by federal law enforcement officers.

The Justice Department launched NLEAD in 2023 to assist federal agencies with hiring and oversight. However, in one of his first acts after returning to the White House in 2025, President Donald Trump ordered the department to delete it. In a written statement to The Washington Post, the White House said former President Joe Biden’s executive order creating the database “was full of woke, anti-police concepts.”

https://reason.com/2026/09/15/the-trump-administration-shut-down-a-police-misconduct-database-now-its-facing-a-foia-lawsuit/

This should make getting away with murder, both literally and physically, much easier now.

All you activists please take note….

In mid-August, a conservative activist using the digital moniker “Datarepublican” quietly admitted she was employed by the Pentagon as a “special government employee.” For months, she’d been pocketing a government paycheck while intensely lobbying for President Trump’s imperialist misadventures online and tracking their most vocal critics in a digital database.

Datarepublican was identified in 2025 as Jennica Pounds, a Utah-based mother with nearly a million followers whose stated raison d’etre is “fighting communists” – a moniker she applies liberally to anyone perceptibly to the left of Barry Goldwater.

…

The operation appears to be in breach of two federal laws, the Hatch Act and the Smith-Mundt Act, which prohibit government employees from engaging in political activities while on the clock, and forbid them from directing their propaganda efforts at the US population, respectively.

Covert Pentagon propagandists are tracking anti-war Americans, skirting the law

Another lake may be in the crosshairs for a naming update….

Pennsylvania’s lone Great Lake is apparently in need of a rebrand, according to one Republican lawmaker. State Rep. David Maloney has urged President Trump to rename Lake Erie as “Lake Pennsylvania,” arguing the state deserves sole billing on the waterway that borders three other states and Canada, the Hill reports.

  • “This is Pennsylvania’s only Great Lake. Its modern economy and identity are increasingly tied to the boaters, anglers, families and tourists who come to enjoy it,” Maloney said in a statement. “Ohio has plenty of shoreline. New York already has two Great Lakes. Canada has four others. Pennsylvania has one. Let’s call it Lake Pennsylvania
  • Maloney’s resolution asks Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to make the switch, building on Trump’s earlier executive order that rechristened Lake Ontario as “Lake America” amid tensions with Canada over trade. Trump has also floated renaming New Mexico to “New America,” a suggestion that drew backlash from the state’s Democratic lawmakers. The Times Observer reports that Maloney’s proposal is unlikely to get far in Pennsylvania’s Democratic-led House of Representatives.

This is all so damn silly that it is beyond laughable and approaching pathetic.

That Was The Week That Was

The news is not always that good especially these days and I am sorry to be a bummer so to try and sooth your mind I post this video of dogs bringing home a new friend….

A little something extra….

Today will be a great day to go out and spend some time with friends and family….and as always…..Be Well and Be Safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

IST Saturday News Dump–19Sep26

Another weekend begins and the news is not all that good if you are a struggling American trying to make ends meet….so let me try to take your mind off of the bad news….

Local–We have been fortunate for the last 5 days or so our low temps at night have been in the mid 70s which is wonderful for this time of the year….but starting Sunday the heat and humidity will return.

Personal–My primary care doctor is not happy with my blood work….she says I need to eat more fish…cool but I do not like fish….so there is a problem to sort out….and to give up butter….seriously?

I shall start where I normally start….with health news….

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is one of the world’s most common viruses, thought to be lurking in 95 percent of adults. For most people, it causes no obvious symptoms.

But EBV is more than a short-term infection.

Once it enters the body, EBV can stay for life, and it has been linked to several cancers, multiple sclerosis, and other severe health complications.

Now, scientists have given us a promising new way to fight it.

A team from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and the University of Washington in the US developed antibodies that target two proteins on the surface of EBV particles back in February.

These proteins help the virus unlock access to our B cells, a type of white blood cell that plays a central role in the immune system.

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-create-new-antibody-for-virus-that-infects-95-of-people

More cancer research that we may never hear about again.

Want to live to 150?

A Chinese biotech company says that kind of lifespan may eventually be within reach, and the product at the center of its claim sounds surprisingly ordinary: a pill derived from grape seeds.

The company, Lonvi Biosciences, is developing a longevity supplement based on a compound called procyanidin C1, or PCC1. Its CEO has gone so far as to call the approach the “Holy Grail,” while the possibility of humans living to 150 has helped the story spread rapidly online.

It sounds like the kind of anti-aging promise that would be easy to dismiss. Except there is real science behind PCC1.

In a 2021 study published in Nature Metabolism, researchers found that the compound could target senescent, or “zombie,” cells and extend survival in old mice. These damaged cells accumulate as we age and have become an increasingly important target in longevity research.

But getting from longer-lived mice to humans celebrating their 150th birthdays requires some enormous leaps. There are no human trials showing that PCC1 extends lifespan, and since the original excitement, another issue has emerged that makes the evidence worth looking at much more carefully.

So, how much of the 150-year promise is grounded in longevity science, and how much is getting ahead of what researchers actually know?

Scientists Say a Pill Could Help Humans Live to 150. Here’s What the Research Actually Shows

I do not know if I would want to live that long….how about you?

I admit it I love my coffee….

Coffee and tea contain antioxidants, some of which have been shown to lead to an environment which makes it harder for cancer to develop.

Coffee has natural substances that might help protect your cells and reduce inflammation. It can also improve insulin sensitivity, which helps the body regulate blood sugar better. These factors could be how coffee affects cancer risk, but more research is needed to understand the full impact of coffee on cancer.

We don’t have a Cancer Prevention Recommendation about drinking coffee because we need more evidence. More research is needed to understand:

https://www.wcrf.org/preventing-cancer/topics/coffee-tea-and-cancer/

Coffee is a whole lot cheaper than cancer drugs….take my word for it.

The US is seeing a rise in the cases of rabies….

This summer brought more than intense waves of heat: The CDC is flagging a nationwide jump in rabies cases in animals, with a corresponding rise in people potentially exposed. In a health alert sent to doctors and health departments, the agency urged quick evaluation of anyone bitten or scratched by animals and prompt use of post-exposure shots when warranted, per NBC News. Rabies, usually spread through bites or scratches from infected wildlife like bats, raccoons, skunks, and foxes, is almost always deadly once symptoms appear, but it’s nearly always preventable if treated early. The Washington Post reports that there are fewer than 10 rabies deaths in the US annually.

The warning follows a North Carolina incident in which three baby goats at a mobile petting zoo tested positive, prompting recommendations for rabies shots for more than 260 people, per NBC. From July through August, rabies-related inquiries to the CDC rose 17% over last year, and at least eight states reported errors in how treatment was given, heavier use of vaccines, or both. The agency’s advice: Stay away from wild and sick animals, keep pets current on their shots, immediately wash any bite or scratch with soap and water, and seek medical care fast. Hawaii remains the only rabies-free state.

Since I have both coons and possums on my property it is something I need to watch.

I know that most of us know all about the dangers of fentanyl but there maybe something worse…..

San Francisco officials didn’t learn a new, ultra-potent opioid had arrived in the city from lab tests or drug busts. They learned it from the autopsy of a 16-year-old. In the New York Times, Jenna Russell reports on the April death of Dante Lacourte, whose mother assumed fentanyl was to blame—until the coroner’s report named something she’d never heard of: cychlorphine. It’s a synthetic opioid estimated to be about 10 times stronger than fentanyl, invisible to standard test strips, and often requiring multiple doses of Narcan to counteract, if it can be reversed at all.

Russell traces cychlorphine’s path from a Belgian lab in the 1960s to San Francisco’s streets today, where it’s quietly appearing in counterfeit pills sold to teens and people with high fentanyl tolerance. The piece follows Dante’s yearslong struggle with anxiety, depression, and addiction; his parents’ attempts to get him treatment; and the police investigation that led to arrests of alleged pill suppliers. It also details how cities are scrambling to spot and track new synthetic drugs—sometimes only after a body is on the table. It’s not just a Bay Area problem: Overdoses linked to cychlorphine stretch from Tennessee all the way to the Yukon, per the CBC.

Now for the ‘foodies’….

Fads in food come and go….Nouvelle cuisine, fusion, slow food, etc etc.

Personally I just want a good meal for a good price not one where once I finish eating I need to go to Burger King to fill satisfied.

This is a new ‘oral sensation’….

Texture is having a crunchy, gooey moment in the food and beverage industry. For many people, the way a menu item or packaged snack feels in the mouth has become as big a draw as flavor, although consumers don’t always recognize the part texture plays in their cravings for crispier takeout, frothier coffees, and juicier candies, according to industry experts. The importance of “mouthfeel,” a food science term for oral sensation, has inspired new products like Starbucks’ Aerocano, an air-whipped iced espresso; PowerCrunch, a wafer-like protein bar; and Trolli Gummi Popz, which are frozen but still soft and chewy, reports the AP.

Texture “has evolved from a complementary feature to a defining aspect of food quality,” says Puratos, a Belgian company that develops commercial-grade ingredients for chocolate and baked goods. “It is reshaping how consumers evaluate food and make purchasing decisions.” The trend is global. Stretchy yogurt is a fast-growing trend in China, while Swedish confectioner Cloetta just released Sprinkled Foamies, which have a crunchy coating and a marshmallow center. Parisian bakers are experimenting with new pastries like the crookie, a crispy croissant with a melty chocolate chip cookie inside. “It’s not just about flavor anymore. People are thinking about the whole experience,” said Tana Davila, chief marketing officer at Dutch Bros Coffee. The drive-thru chain lets customers customize drinks with toppings like a sweet, creamy whipped foam and juice-filled balls that pop when bitten.

Texture is so integral to the act of eating that people often describe how a food feels when they’re asked how it tastes, said Patrick Kalotis, executive VP of texture and healthful solutions at Ingredion, an Illinois-based ingredient provider. “You know, ‘This drink is fizzy’ or ‘I love the creaminess of the yogurt,'” Kalotis said. “They think they’re talking about taste, and of course the texture helps propagate the taste, but they’re actually describing texture.” Food manufacturers have long played with consistency. Pillowy Japanese mochi and stretchy Turkish ice cream date back centuries. Bubble tea, with its chewy tapioca boba pearls, was invented in Taiwan in the 1980s. In the 1990s, high-end European restaurants whipped up culinary foams flavored with truffle oil or lobster broth.

Sounds like a fad to me.

Now for my favorite subject….history….getting stoned in the Stone age…..

There is no fossil left over from the first person who got high. Somewhere deep in prehistory, a human or an earlier ancestor must have discovered that eating, chewing or drinking the right plant could make pain recede, sharpen the senses, or give you a good buzz. It likely happened accidentally at first. What happened next — whether people returned to the substance, shared it, or built rituals around it — has largely vanished with them.

Sometimes, thinking about these things has given us some extravagant ideas. I mean, really out there. The writer and psychedelic advocate Terence McKenna famously proposed his “stoned ape” hypothesis, arguing that encounters with psilocybin mushrooms helped propel the evolution of human perception, language and culture.

https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/earliest-human-drug-use-ever-found/

Since I am an old fart I found this one interesting….

Suzanne Noble isn’t whispering about senior sex; she’s podcasting about it—and doing so to an audience that’s getting younger. Writing at the Washington Post, Grey Battle follows Noble, now 65, whose Sex Advice for Seniors started as candid, often postcoital conversations between her and then-partner Peter Marriott and has since exploded on TikTok, where her followers have tripled to about 160,000. She’s part of a small but growing class of “sexfluencers” over 60—along with 82-year-old author Joan Price and the four-man TikTok collective known as the Old Gays—who are pushing back on the idea that desire expires with age.

he Post reports that much of their message is about health and ageism, not titillation: painful sex and erectile dysfunction can flag broader medical issues, yet older patients—especially women—often get brushed off by doctors and harassed online. Experts and influencers interviewed say the taboo is less about sex than about seeing “wrinkly people” as sexual at all. Still, younger viewers are tuning in, sometimes for guidance, sometimes to troll. For a nuanced look at what Price calls “a late-in-life sexual revolution” and its backlash,

read the full piece at the Washington Post.

Old farts just want to get their freak on.

Finally since I am a dog lover and think my 2 pups are amazing I could not resist this story….

If you’ve ever silently wondered where your dog would land on an IQ chart, New York Times columnist Frank Bruni just road-tested that idea—and then dismantled it. Bruni recounts bringing his mixed-breed dog, Regan, to Duke University’s Canine Cognition Center, where researchers study what dogs actually understand. A simple treat-in-a-bowl experiment initially made Regan look, well, not so sharp. But the researchers argue that the test was really revealing something else: dogs’ instinct to trust and follow humans.

Bruni uses that moment to question how we label both dogs and people as “smart.” Classic breed rankings are based on obedience, which may measure compliance more than mental ability. Duke’s research suggests traits like persistence, confidence, and sensitivity to human cues can matter more than raw problem-solving power—especially for working dogs like guides or bomb sniffers. In Regan’s case, a tweak of the test “revealed she hadn’t been forgetting where the treat was,” as it initially appeared, writes Bruni. “She’d been choosing to trust, heed and please the human, an indisputably smart decision in the larger, long-term, all-important context of safety and survival.” As researcher Brian Hare puts it, that’s a sign of “genius.”

Read the full column.

I have a little something for Donny and his Gang of Minions

That will do it for this Saturday….I say go out and enjoy the day with family and friends and as always….Be Well and Be Safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

NOLA Flips Off DOJ

New Orleans is the latest city to tell the DOJ and their grant to piss off….a virtual finger to Donny and his Gestapo….

After taking a “serious look” at applying for federal funding under the Trump administration’s Model Cities Initiative, the city leaders of cash-strapped New Orleans announced on Aug. 31 that they will not apply for the controversial grant program.

The $300 million grant program for cities and local governments of more than 100,000 people offers to pay for high-tech policing and public safety infrastructure in exchange for local officials complying with federal mass deportation efforts, among other priorities. Critics say the initiative is the tip of the spear for deploying mass surveillance tech and indulging the authoritarian impulses of President Donald Trump, who has filled the streets of multiple cities with violent federal immigration agents and, in several cases, armed federal troops.

New Orleans is a majority-Black city steeped in civil rights history, and activists have been ringing alarm bells for weeks as Mayor Helena Moreno and other city leaders mulled over whether to apply for the grant amid pressure from the state’s GOP-controlled government to address an ongoing budget crisis.

“The Model Cities Initiative is a Justice Department grant program that comes with serious strings attached, including the sharing of immigration information between state, federal and local agencies,” Romero told Truthout in an email. “This means surveillance for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to separate families and terrorize our communities.”

According to the Justice Department, one of the policy “blueprints” for the Model Cities Initiative is President Donald Trump’s law enforcement surge in Memphis, Tennessee — another Democratic-led, majority-Black city in a GOP-controlled state. Launched about a year ago and involving 13 federal agencies as well as state and local law enforcement, the surge of what the White House calls “hypervigilant policing” in Memphis is still in effect. Residents and civil rights groups describe the surge as a racist and militarized federal “assault” and “occupation” and a new form of colonialism.

New Orleans Rejects Trump’s ‘Model City’

I am proud of NOLA for I know the grant money would have helped in so many areas….but like they said….too damn many strings attached.

I knew I like NOLA….bully for them.

There is not a city in my state that would be so bold….how about where you live?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Sword Of Damocles

It hangs over our heads with impending doom.

I know you have heard this statement before…..but what does it mean?

The Sword of Damocles is a metaphor for the constant sense of threat and anxiety that comes with great power or wealth. It describes how those who appear to have everything are often the least free, held hostage by the very things that seem to make them fortunate.

I bring this up because of the revelation that there are orbiting weapons in space….

During a recent “State of the Space Force” address in Maryland, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Douglas Schiess stated frankly that the US has at least non-kinetic weapons positioned in space, and that these capabilities were used in the war on Iran.

“Let me be crystal clear: today, Guardians operate on-orbit weapons that can defend the joint force against space-enabled attacks,” Schiess said. He was lying, however, as he later testified to the aggressive combat actions of a certain “Specialist Gray,” who, “courageously held the line, protecting forces, denying adversary capability, and delivering space effects,” even while “sirens were blaring and incoming missiles targeted her site,” doubtlessly referring to a US base in the Middle East.

Schiess said that Gray was supporting Operation Epic Fury, an aggressive and unprovoked surprise attack on Iran. In finally being able to demonstrate to the wider military establishment that the Space Force can actually help blow stuff up, he not only proved himself to be making false statements about defending the joint force from space, (Iran has little if any space capabilities) and equally in regards to another statement he made later in his speech that the Space Force’s aim “is deterrence,” but also that the US has violated the spirit, if not the precise wording of the UN Treaty on the Use of Outer Space.

The Outer Space Treaty, while prohibiting the deployment of weapons of mass destruction in outer space, doesn’t outrightly ban conventional weapons in space. Other language on banning military exercises and installations on celestial bodies, as well as the treaty’s repeated emphasis that space is to be used for peaceful purposes, has lead some legal scholars to interpret the positioning of any weapons, in space or on celestial bodies, as a violation of the treaty.

Nevertheless, Article 1 states that “…use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries”. It is certainly not in the interest of Iran for the US to be attacking her from space with signal jammers and other forms of cyberwarfare.

https://original.antiwar.com/andy_corbley/2026/09/16/as-space-force-admits-to-deploying-weapons-in-orbit-us-contempt-for-arms-control-continues/

I am not surprised that the US is violating a treaty it signed in the past….just look at those signed with Native Americans….the US is NOT a reliable player in international affairs.

If there is more you would like to know….maybe this will help….

https://people.com/u-s-military-confirms-for-first-time-weapons-in-space-12122342

I mean this is Reagan’s “Star Wars” program all over….it was never side lined….it just took some time to moved stuff around to make it reality.

This is where you money goes while children go hungry….I am so proud (sarcasm)….

Does this need to be stopped?

Now in breaking news….the Space Force has a new mandate….

American troops need to prepare for combat not only in Earth’s orbit but around the moon, President Trump’s top military adviser said on Wednesday, looking ahead to a new frontier in warfare after the US revealed that, for the first time, it has deployed weapons in space. Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told service members and industry figures at the Air, Space & Cyber Conference outside Washington that the US military should adapt now so it “is prepared to fight, endure, and win … from the seabed to cislunar space,” per the AP.

Space Force, the newest military service, created by Trump in 2019, is preparing to fight in space and around the moon because “humanity is advancing deeper into space—the Space Force’s job is to help be prepared to defend US interests,” Lt. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, head of the force’s Combat Forces Command, told reporters separately. The announcement that the US military is ready to fight in the area between high Earth orbit and the moon itself comes days after Air Force Secretary Troy Meink revealed at the same conference that the US has fielded “on-orbit space control weapons.”

The spate of announcements about space weaponry from military officials over recent days flies in the face of long-standing conventions and international understandings that have held outer space as only to be used for peaceful purposes and remain nonmilitarized. While multiple nations, including the US, have demonstrated the ability to shoot down satellites in Earth’s orbit, those demonstrations have taken place from the ground against their own satellites. However, according to Gagnon, “the intelligence community has been clear that potential adversaries have been seeking to extend warfare into space,” and that the US military needs to react.

“Our potential adversaries, such as [China], are actively pursuing activities in the system, in parts of space,” Gagnon said. China established its own military space troops in 2024, charging them with boosting capability to manage space crises. Gagnon also says the US aims to double the size of the Space Force over the next five years, to roughly 25,000 service members, and that about two-thirds of that growth would be focused on Combat Forces Command. “We have capabilities in the military because we are preparing to defend the nation,” Gagnon said. “The reason we have the capabilities is to help create deterrence.” More here.

The Moon is not a US territory…..we do not own it and as such we should not use it for a battlefield.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Decisions, Decisions

Our Dear Donny was thrown a curveball when the Houthis took a port city on the Strait of Hormuz and then another one with Pakistan pledges to protect the Saudis from Yemen….he must now try to make a rational decision (insert hysterical laughter here) on his next erroneous move.

President Trump says he’s nearing a make-or-break call on Iran: “I have a big decision coming up. Do I want to go in and annihilate them … or do I not? It’s a big decision. Anything could happen with me,” he told Axios Thursday. He framed it as a looming choice on whether to restart large-scale military operations to try to end what some US officials describe as a grinding stalemate. The timing is tied to a Tuesday sit-down in New York with leaders from six Gulf states on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, a meeting that could help determine whether Washington leans back toward diplomacy or escalates the fight.

Trump, who has paused major attacks since August after Gulf allies warned of strikes on Saudi energy facilities, has instead tightened sanctions, sustained a naval blockade on Iranian ports, and pushed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers. Officials say the US force posture in the region can’t stay in limbo much longer, and that Trump must soon define an “endgame.” The White House is also sketching a post-war plan centered on containing Iran and broadening Arab-Israeli normalization, with Israel’s October elections and the US midterms looming over any decision on whether to ramp the war back up. Reuters describes the world leaders Trump will face at the UN next week as “deeply skeptical” of the US-Iran war. On Wednesday night, before his comments to Axios, Trump told reporters the war was “hopefully” nearing an end, CNBC reports.

“Near an end”?

How many times have we heard this idiot make exact prediction?

What will he do?

Will he go for Israeli style genocide or will he continue to find a way out of this quagmire that he created?

Who is whispering in his aging ear?

One bad decision and this will not end well for anyone involved.

Whatcha think?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

I Guess I’m Going To Hell

Bold statement I know but according to Donny that is what will eventually happen to me.

He made this statement at that lame convention while forcing a pledge from by-standers….

US President Donald Trump has threatened Americans who do not vote Republican will “go to hell”.

He started by calling himself “the greatest President in the history of the United States”, urging supporters at the convention to pledge allegiance to him.

“Please right your right hand,” he started. “I pledge to the greatest President in the history of the United States that loves us so much he can’t even breathe that I will go out with my family and friends, I’ll do it in any way, I don’t care if I’m registered or not, I’m going to try and cheat like hell like they [referring to the Democrats] do.

“I don’t want to waste the words ‘vote Republican’… If you’re going to vote, you’ll vote Republican.

“You know what happens if you don’t vote, you go to Hell, you know that, you go to Hell and I don’t want that to happen to you so please go and vote.”

(indy100.com)

There you have it….I am going to Hell….when the time comes do not send flowers….send ice water.

Actually I had rather shot myself in the nuts than vote for a republican….in 58 years I have never voted for a republican and never will.

Plus he basically ordered his minions to commit voter fraud….did I misread what he said?

Now what about the demand that supporters pledge to him and his greatness….is any of this really legal?

All this is in public record surely someone can use this in a legal battle….or am I just naive?

Gotta go…see you in Hell….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

More Bad News For Donny

I am sure that our Clueless Leader will somehow try to spin the latest news out of the Middle East as some sort of win for his lunatic strategies….

Looks like Iran and its proxies now control the east side and the west of the Strait of Hormuz….not a promising picture.

Recently in Yemen the Houthis attacked and won a vital port on the Strait of Hormuz….now Iran and its clients are controlling a lot of the traffic that will supposedly travel through the Strait…

A conflict that once looked containable is now spilling across borders in ways that damaging to both President Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, writes Gideon Rachman in the Financial Times. Iran’s allies, particularly Yemen’s Houthi militia, have opened a new front by seizing much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and striking Saudi energy infrastructure, including the kingdom’s key East-West pipeline. Those attacks threaten the backup routes meant to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, raising the risk of sharper disruptions to global oil supplies just as Western countries head into winter.

“The US-Iran war can be seen as a three-dimensional conflict,” writes Rachman. “The first dimension is the battlefield. The second is the economic conflict. The third is the battle of narratives. All three are linked and currently turning against the US.” Iran has shown it can withstand initial strikes, hit US partners, and choke energy routes, while its authoritarian system insulates leaders from public anger in a way Trump cannot match if gasoline prices climb. Meanwhile, Trump reportedly rebuffed MBS’ push for rapid strikes on the Houthis, a sign Washington grasps the limits of force against battle-hardened local actors.

A Washington Post analysis by Gerry Shih and Sammy Westfall similarly argues that the Houthis’ rapid takeover of the Bab al-Mandab Strait late last week might be Iran’s biggest victory of the conflict so far. Friday was “the first day that Iran really started winning the war,” one Yemeni official tells the newspaper. The sentiment is echoed by Dennis Citrinowicz of the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv: “This is a major, almost unprecedented, strategic achievement for Iran and the Houthis.”

This will effect the Saudis mostly….and as of this writing their oil traffic is all but stopped.  What does this mean….probably very little for they have been bombing the crap out of Yemen for years and yet it has been ineffective.

I wonder if Israel will want a piece of this action?

Of course they will.

And since they will be given a fresh batch of American bombs it seems inevitable.

Just so you know….

The Trump administration is planning to move forward with a massive military aid package for Israel that will include 40,000 2,000-pound bombs, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, as the US continues to support Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza and its wars and occupations in the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria.

The report said the sale, paid for with US taxpayer dollars, will include 20,000 MK-84s and 20,000 BLU-117s, each weighing 2,000 pounds. It will be funded by the State Department’s Foreign Military Finance program, under which the US provides foreign governments money to purchase US weapons.

(antiwar.com)

If our stockpiles are so low where will we get these ‘extra’ bombs?

Fresh supply of destruction on its way….Israel thumps its chest and pleases Donny’s bloodlust.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered “Israel’s services” to countries in the Arabian Peninsula and has expressed a willingness to participate in a “comprehensive war” against Ansar Allah, the Houthi movement in Yemen, Lebanese media have reported.

The report, by Al-Akhbar editor Ibrahim al-Amin, said that Netanyahu was pressing Israel’s security establishment and military to prepare for possible action against Iran and Hezbollah.

The proposed Israeli role was part of a “wider regional effort” to counter the Houthis and the threat to shipping through the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb, one of the world’s main maritime corridors, Israeli media said.

But there is a caveat…. Israel was unlikely to rush into an active military role because of concern that the Houthis could resume missile and drone attacks against Israel.

That thought will demand the US take a larger roll in Yemen….just what this country needs an expansion of our deadly interventions.

Anything missing?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Constitution Day–17 September

I believe that this day should be a more important holiday than any of our others….this is the day the new US Constitution was approved….the day that America became a functioning entity.

I shall start with my opinion–While I believe the DoI was an important document that set the whole thing in motion….I also think that this document was a rehash of what Paine wrote in Common Sense….the approval of the Constitution set up the framework of a new country….and the as they say the st is history.

A few facts about Constitution Day…..

Constitution Day celebrates the signing of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787.

What the Day Commemorates
  • The Signing: Delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the foundational document in Philadelphia.
  • The Birth of Government: While July 4th marks independence, September 17th marks the creation of the federal government and framework of laws.
  • Citizenship: It is also known as Citizenship Day, recognizing all who have become U.S. citizens through birth or naturalization.
How It Is Observed
  • Education: Federally funded schools and colleges must hold educational programs about the U.S. Constitution.
  • Civic Reflection: Communities use the day to reflect on the rights, liberties, and responsibilities of American citizenship.
Independence Day
  • Date: Celebrated on July 4th.
  • Meaning: It marks the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, which stated that the American colonies were free from British rule.
  • Celebration: It is a major federal holiday with paid time off, parades, fireworks, and public gatherings.
Constitution Day
  • Date: Celebrated on September 17th.
  • Meaning: It marks the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, which created the rules and system for the federal government.
  • Celebration: It is a federal observance, also known as Citizenship Day, but it does not include a federal day off work. Schools and government agencies hold educational programs about the Constitution.

How many people know what the 4th of July signifies?  How about the 17th of September?

This is an important day in the history of this country and should get much more attention than it does for without the Constitution Washington, after the war, would have returned to his plantation and oversaw his slaves and crops.

Another thing the debate around the Constitution was public….the Federalist Papers and the ‘Anti-Federalist Papers’ were printed for all to see and know what the delegates were doing….

(This is included for those that are interested enough to check it out)

https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/full-text

The Anti-Federalist Papers

The American public was privy to what both sides were aiming for with the new government.

When was the last time you got to see or read the real debate on an issue by the government…..today we get snippets from different sources that seldom tell the whole story.

These days the Constitution seems to mean very little to politicians and the population….it is used as some sort of dodge to action on some issue mostly not in the interest in the country or its people.

WE have ‘holidays’ for this person or that but the Constitution is not ever in the conversation and that is so sad that they people, especially students, are unaware of the importance of the document.

A few facts about the Constitution….

Constitution Day, also known as Citizenship Day, is an important federal observance in the United States. On September 17th each year, Americans commemorate the signing of the United States Constitution in 1787. This pivotal document laid the foundation for the nation’s democratic principles, rights, and freedoms. While Constitution Day primarily celebrates American history and citizenship, its significance transcends national borders and holds relevance in the international landscape.

Constitution Day’s historical roots can be traced back to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, where delegates from the 13 American colonies gathered to address the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation. The convention, held from May 25 to September 17, 1787, resulted in the creation of the United States Constitution, a document designed to establish a more perfect union and safeguard individual rights.

The U.S. Constitution remains the oldest written national constitution still in use. It has withstood the test of time, serving as a beacon of democracy globally. It outlines the division of powers, ensuring that no single branch of government becomes too powerful, thereby preserving the democratic ideals upon which the nation was founded.

The Constitution’s Bill of Rights guarantees fundamental freedoms such as freedom of speech, religion, and the right to a fair trial. These rights have become a cornerstone of American society, shaping the nation’s identity and inspiring similar rights protections worldwide.

Constitution Day underscores the importance of the rule of law. It reinforces the notion that even the highest authorities in the land are bound by a set of rules and principles, fostering a culture of accountability and justice.

Now let me ask you….does any of that hold true today?

I say that the lack of the Constitution importance to America has been greatly ignored in all aspects of American life….and now we are paying for it.

We should be proud of the accomplishments of the Convention that gave birth to the Constitution instead we are too damn busy hating our neighbors because they do not adhere to some sick ideology.

I believe that this country will continue to sink further into chaos until we all embrace the tenets set forth by the Constitution and that will be a disaster.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

To Create Another Donny

Let’s say Donny actually leaves the White House and at his age there maybe another such tool lurking but will the Dems, the status quo Dems, help create the next horrific Donny?

Now there is a good question….and it needs asking and more important it needs an answer.

This is an interesting look by David Sirota….

When I look back on all of my work over the last 30 years, one of the projects I’m most proud of is Meltdown, an audio series I did in 2021 with acclaimed director Alex Gibney that reveals the untold story of how Obama-era Democrats turning promises of economic hope and change into more of the same created the backlash conditions for the rise of Donald Trump.

It is a miracle Meltdown ever got made, because calling its tale “untold” is an understatement. The story of Obama’s 2008 victory concluding with Trump’s 2016 win involves a sequence of economic facts and events that have been suppressed, shadowbanned, memory-holed, and censored from America’s political conversation. This is particularly true in media outlets that serve liberals, who seek comfort in the idea that Trump is an anomaly rather than a symptom of something their own political party participated in creating.

Every now and again, there are attempts to warn about this perpetual doom loop. Gibney and I did so ourselves after Meltdown debuted in the pages of Rolling Stone, where we cautioned against Democrats coming into office promising big New Deal-style economic changes, then mostly delivering only for their big donors. We warned that such a bait-and-switch would result in the inevitable backlash from disillusioned voters who would ignore syrupy odes to restoring democratic “norms” and decide once again to vote for a Joker-style candidate like Trump promising to blow up the entire system.

The piece went viral, but the message went largely unheard amid Democratic politicians and pundits insinuating that voters were insufficiently grateful for Joe Biden’s allegedly wonderful economy.

Fast forward five years and we are on the verge of the 2028 Democratic presidential primaries. For the most part, Democrats and their media outlets are still soothing themselves with the fraudulent story of Trump as an anomaly rather than a symptom and still promoting the politics of restoration rather than transformation. Indeed, the over-the-top celebration of Barack Obama’s new $800 million monument to himself was an example of this desperate pining for a return to a pre-Trump normal — even though that “normal” was what created Trump in the first place, and even though restoring such a “normal” could create the conditions for an even worse Trump in the future.

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-status-quo-democrats-could-create-another-trump/

Interesting if not a bit terrifying….but do you think Sirota is on to something?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”