Month: November 2024

IST Saturday News Dump–30Nov24

We enter into the last day of November and Christmas looms large on the horizon….what better time than an uplifting news dump from your friends at IST?

Locally–Today is the last day of hurricane season and my area dodged another bullet this year….the weather has finally turned cooler but still little to no rain.

Personally–Thanksgiving dinner came off without a hitch (for a change)….everybody got fed and left before they got boring.

Let’s move on to the lesser known stories of the past week….

How about a self-contained bath unit?

A Japanese showerhead maker called Science Co. is planning to debut what it’s calling the “human washing machine of the future” at the Osaka Kansai Expo in April — and while we have no idea who the target customer might be, consider us morbidly fascinated.

The washing machine, which pretty much looks like a hypersleep chamber from Aliens (1986), will wash and dry willing humans in about 15 minutes, Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun reported. And if getting scrubbed down like a frying pan isn’t a compelling sell, the washing machine of the future purportedly offers therapeutic benefits, too. 

A separate Japanese paper, The Mainichi Shimbun, reported that “sensors scanning the person’s back measure their levels of stress and fatigue, and in response, the device outputs imagery in pace with their state of body and mind to create a relaxing space for them.” 

https://futurism.com/the-byte/human-washing-machine

With a few alterations if could double as a suicide machine as well….

As long as we are on the sciencey side of the news….how about time travel?

Death and taxes—the twin inevitabilities of human life. At least, for the moment. If you ask some of the most prominent futurists in the world, death may not be on that (admittedly short and cliché) list for much longer.

There’s a controversial idea floating around the futurist community of “longevity escape velocity.” It sounds super sci-fi, but it’s basically the idea that as our life extension technology gets better, our life expectancy could increase by more than we age over a set period of time. For example, as medical innovations continue to move forward, we would still age a year over the span of a year. But our life expectancy would go up by, say, a year and two months, meaning we would functionally get two months of life back.

In March of this year, Ray Kurzweil—former Google engineer and prominent AI-centric futurist—told multiple outlets that he believed humanity would achieve longevity escape velocity by 2029.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a62990579/humans-backwards-in-time/

Moving on….what happens when some pandemic or alien invasion (ET not immigrants) invades and takes out the human race….what will take our place as the dominant species?  Will it become the ‘Planet of the Apes’ or will some other species that rises above?

Humanity’s reign as Earth’s dominant species has always seemed invincible, but what if it isn’t? As history reminds us, no species holds the throne forever. In light of growing global crises, scientists are exploring the chilling question: which species would rise if humans went extinct? One answer stands out, and it’s not the cockroach, as many might think.

According to Professor Tim Coulson, a zoologist at Oxford University, the octopus might be humanity’s successor. “Octopuses are among the most intelligent, adaptable, and resourceful creatures on Earth,” Coulson explains. Their unique neural structure, decentralized nervous system, and problem-solving capabilities set them apart. Unlike primates, which share our vulnerabilities, octopuses could thrive in our absence. If we were to go extinct, the reason we would have would probably do in apes, too.

The octopus’s intelligence is nothing short of remarkable. They solve puzzles, use tools, and even communicate through color changes. Coulson speculates that, given millions of years, octopuses could develop underwater civilizations. “Their adaptability could lead them to construct underwater communities resembling cities we see on land,” he says.

What Creature Would Take Over If Humans Go Extinct? Scientists Make Eerie Predictions.

Now would be a good time for some climate stuff…..

Remember when there was this big push to capture carbon emissions?

Most governments around the world, especially those of high-income countries, are failing to achieve the target of the Paris Agreement, signed in 2015 by 195 countries and the European Union. As carbon dioxide emissions continue to increase, for many the solution is to develop technologies to simply remove this greenhouse gas from the air. A new study suggests that this is much easier said than done.

The research comes from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Energy Initiative. The work focused on direct air capture or DAC, technology that removes carbon dioxide from regular air. The team discovered that DAC strategies rely on overly optimistic, if not unrealistic, assumptions. The work states that this can lead to misleading results that impact strategies to stabilize the climate.

The scientists found three engineering challenges. One is where to build the facilities. They will be exposed to the elements, which might affect their lifetime, and they need a place to store the carbon dioxide removed from the air. This is linked to the second issue of energy. These facilities need to be near a low-carbon electricity source.

While the researchers stated that the issues related to the location are “commonly underestimated in the real world and neglected in models”, those will appear minor compared to the electricity need. If coal power were used to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, you’d actually end up with 20 percent more carbon dioxide than you started with.

https://www.iflscience.com/carbon-capture-directly-from-air-may-not-be-the-anti-emissions-hero-wed-hoped-76954

We all know of the problem we have with plastics in the water, right?  There may be a solution.

A new plastic has been created, and its makers say it combines durability with complete recyclability while also breaking down in seawater and soil, in case it is not disposed of properly. Given the scale of plastic buildup in the oceans and the widespread presence of microplastics in the environment, any solution is welcome, but hopes have been raised before.

It’s hard to keep up with the scale of the plastic garbage patches growing in each ocean. Meanwhile, microplastics produced by the breakdown of larger plastic items are appearing in many disturbing places. Although how much harm microplastics do is still uncertain, there are signs that even when they are not harmful themselves, they can offer a ride to other undesirables. 

With plenty of people apparently resistant to all pleas to dispose of plastic items responsibly, and recycling programs tackling a tiny portion of the problem, a technological solution is in great demand. Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science say they have the answer. 

Many plastics advertise themselves as biodegradable – but while some really will decompose in your compost bin, or even in landfill, they won’t do the same in salty water. To address this, the RIKEN team combined two monomers with salt bridges between them. Each monomer can easily be consumed by bacteria, and indeed one of them – sodium hexametaphosphate – is a common food additive found to be harmless to animals in extensive testing.

https://www.iflscience.com/new-biodegradable-plastic-leaves-no-microplastic-waste-in-seawater-76963

Like many other ‘discoveries’ to help the environment this one may vanish into the same black hole that the others gone before.

It has been reported that water will soon become a major worldwide problem….but maybe not….

Removing water from the air can make places more comfortable, and it can also provide a vital resource when water is scarce. However, the process is more laborious than it might seem at first, and different techniques have different drawbacks. Polymers have been used to efficiently remove water from the air, but getting the water back out of the polymers is not a cheap task – or it wasn’t. A breakthrough might change that.

The polymers used in this breakthrough make up an adsorbing material. That’s not a typo: Absorbing material gets soaked through, but an adsorbing one keeps molecules on its surface. Still, the release (or desorbing) is the problem. Usually, these polymers need to be heated to around 100°C (212°F) to release the water. A team of researchers has now developed a liquid moisture adsorbent that releases water at a temperature of around 35°C (95°F).

This new approach is made possible by using two polymers. One is polyethylene glycol, which is used in several industrial applications and even in some medicines – for example as a laxative (it works by increasing the amount of water in the stool because it is such a good adsorbent). The other one is polypropylene glycol, which is similar but not as good as adsorbing water and is actually a main component of paintballs.  

The difference in their ability to trap water is the crucial breakthrough of this work. As they fight over water molecules, they create a transfer mechanism that allows them to break down water clusters so that the precious liquid can be more easily extracted. 

“This technology has the potential to be applied not only to water supply in arid regions and places with limited energy resources, but also to ensuring access to water in times of disaster and emergency,” co-author Assistant Professor Arisa Fukatsu, from Osaka Metropolitan University, said in a statement.

https://www.iflscience.com/fresh-water-can-now-be-easily-harvested-from-the-air-77006

I am sure that there will be some clever thought in this application.

That is it for the Dump on this Saturday…..onward toward the next holiday….and the endless ‘Little Drummer Boy’ boring through your head.

Enjoy your day if you can and as always….Be well and Be Safe…..

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Dreaded Black Friday

Since today will be a slow day here on IST I thought I would offer up a little history on the trials and tribulations of this day.

Black Friday has traditionally been the day after Thanksgiving that offers up sales and cheaper Christmas gift….it is considered to be the busiest shopping day of the year.

Until recently it was a single day of craziness and business but recently it has bee the whole month of November…..but where did all this craziness begin?

Might as well learn something….and that is why I am here….

The first recorded use of the term “Black Friday” was applied not to post-Thanksgiving holiday shopping but to financial crisis: specifically, the crash of the U.S. gold market on September 24, 1869. Two notoriously ruthless Wall Street financiers, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, worked together to buy up as much as they could of the nation’s gold, hoping to drive the price sky-high and sell it for astonishing profits. On that Friday in September, the conspiracy finally unraveled, sending the stock market into free-fall and bankrupting everyone from Wall Street barons to farmers.

The most commonly repeated story behind the Thanksgiving shopping-related Black Friday tradition links it to retailers. As the story goes, after an entire year of operating at a loss (“in the red”) stores would supposedly earn a profit (“went into the black”) on the day after Thanksgiving, because holiday shoppers blew so much money on discounted merchandise. Though it’s true that retail companies used to record losses in red and profits in black when doing their accounting, this version of Black Friday’s origin is the officially sanctioned—but inaccurate—story behind the tradition.

In recent years, another myth has surfaced that gives a particularly ugly twist to the tradition, claiming that back in the 1800s Southern plantation owners could buy enslaved workers at a discount on the day after Thanksgiving. Though this version of Black Friday’s roots has understandably led some to call for a boycott of the retail holiday, it has no basis in fact.

The real history behind Black Friday, however, is not as sunny as retailers might have you believe. Back in the 1950s, police in the city of Philadelphia used the term to describe the chaos that ensued on the day after Thanksgiving, when hordes of suburban shoppers and tourists flooded into the city in advance of the big Army-Navy football game held on that Saturday every year. Not only were Philly cops not able to take the day off, but they had to work extra-long shifts dealing with the additional crowds and traffic. Shoplifters also took advantage of the bedlam in stores and made off with merchandise, adding to the law enforcement headache.

https://www.history.com/news/black-friday-thanksgiving-origins-history

There you have it….while you are out throwing money at retailers you can see that it is just blind consumerism and not something that will benefit you personally.

On another side….ever hear of ‘Brown Friday”?

Plumbers have!

If you’re one of those sit-com families that sit around the table on Thanksgiving and tell everybody what you are grateful for this year, maybe your answer should be “plumbers”.

While you eat your turkey, various potatoes, squashes, vegetables, and cranberry sauce, spare a thought for plumbers, who are preparing for what has become known in the industry as “Brown Friday”. The day is often the busiest of the year for the professionals, as they tackle the aftermath of Thanksgiving.

According to data analyzed by Yelp, searches for “emergency plumbing” surged by an impressive 65 percent on the day following Thanksgiving in 2023 compared to the previous and following two weeks. Google data shows a similar spike in searches for the same term.

Los Angeles saw a particularly sharp increase in searches around Brown Friday, with a 73 percent increase in searches for terms related to plumbing, and a 400 percent increase in searches for “plumbing repair”.

The cause for this surge in interest in plumbing is fairly obvious, as people stay at home and use their toilets and sinks more, while also not following the best guidance on disposal of foods and fats.

“Turkey may seem like the one thing that doesn’t cause harm to a kitchen sink, but that’s exactly what makes it such a threat,” Mr Rooter Plumbing explains in a blog post, outlining the main culprits. “While most of us know not to throw poultry skin and bones into the garbage disposal, grease is another matter. If poured into a kitchen sink drain, the drippings from your turkey can re-solidify into fats that coat your drain and lead to serious clogs.”

https://www.iflscience.com/while-you-enjoy-thanksgiving-plumbers-are-preparing-for-brown-friday-nightmare-76989

There you have it….the Black and the Brown…..

Enjoy your day and think about where all this began and why.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Thanksgiving Day–2024

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Today is the day that most of the nation gets together with family and friends and give thanks for all that has occurred in the past year.

Since it is Thanksgiving how about a little history? 

The Great Cranberry Scare of 1959…..

On November 9, 1959—just two-and-a-half weeks before Thanksgiving—the U.S. secretary of Health, Education and Welfare made a startling announcement: some cranberries grown in the Pacific Northwest may have been contaminated by a weed killer that could lead to cancer in rats. This meant that cranberry sauce, a popular staple of Thanksgiving dinners, might not be on the menu anymore.

“If housewives are unable to determine where berries were grown,” the New York Times reported, “the Government advises them not to buy, either in canned or fresh form, despite the approach of Thanksgiving.”

Thus began the cranberry scare of 1959, a crisis that temporarily crashed the cranberry market and sent Americans scrambling for alternative fruit-based dishes for Thanksgiving (Life magazine provided a few interesting suggestions, including pickled watermelon rind).

https://www.history.com/news/great-cranberry-scare-thanksgiving-1959

A little known fact in our history with Thanksgiving…..and no one ran out to buy toilet paper.

Today I am cooking for 8….Roast turkey, green peas, green bean casserole, yams, mash potatoes, mac and cheese (my granddaughter’s request), gravy and yeast rolls with peach cobbler for dessert with ice cream.

Enjoy your day with family, food and football….take a little time out in your busy day to give thanks for all the blessings that have come your way in the past year.

I would like to thank all the wonderful people that visit IST every day and comment when they find it appropriate…thank you and I appreciate your valuable time.

I leave you with a Thanksgiving tradition of sorts….Arlo Guthrie….

Recently Alice Brock passed away….she was the inspiration for the Guthrie song….

Alice Brock, whose Massachusetts-based eatery helped inspire Arlo Guthrie’s deadpan Thanksgiving standard, “Alice’s Restaurant,” has died at age 83. Her death, just a week before Thanksgiving, was announced by Guthrie on the Facebook page of his own Rising Son Records, per the AP. Guthrie wrote that she died in Provincetown, Massachusetts, her residence for some 40 years, and referred to her being in failing health. Other details were not immediately available.

Rest in Peace……

That does it for me I must get back to making the dinner for family and friends.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving…..please if you are celebrating be careful and catch a cab…..and for those internationally please have a good day and enjoy life.

As always….Be Well and Be Safe….

The Power Of Political Ignorance

For a couple of decades I have been preaching that our political system is bordering on stupid…..that the vote is now moved by innuendoes and lies more than truth and facts.

I recently read an opinion on reason.com that says it all……

I’ve never been a big believer in the wisdom of voters. Indeed, I’ve devoted much of my academic career to writing about the dangers of widespread political ignorance, going all the way back to my first academic article. It was published in 1998, at a time when most experts tended to be relatively optimistic about voter competence. Since then, I published a book on the subject—Democracy and Political Ignorance– and many other articles exploring various dimensions of the problem, its implications for legal and political theory, and possible solutions.

In these works, I explained how most voters often don’t know even basic facts about the political system and government policy, and those that know more (the “political fans”), often tend to evaluate political information in a highly biased way. I also argued that information shortcuts and “miracles of aggregation” largely fail to offset ignorance and bias, and sometimes even make thing worse. Moreover, this sad state of affairs is not the result of stupidity or lack of information, but of generally rational behavior on the part of most voters: a combination of “rational ignorance” (lack of incentive to seek out political information) and “rational irrationality” (lack of incentive to engage in unbiased evaluation).

Since the rise of Trump and similar right-wing nationalist politicians in other countries, academics and political commentators have become more aware of the dangers of public ignorance. I wish I could say my own take on the subject has been vindicated. But in one crucial respect, the Trump era has shown I wasn’t pessimistic enough.

Political Ignorance is an Even Worse Problem than I Thought

The last few elections, including the most recent, is proving the Power of Dumb….

There is a power that dumb things have in this world. It is not the power of imperviousness to criticism, but rather of being so permeable that all criticism passes through with no effect, like the invisible neutrinos that stream through our bodies every second. Grappling with the dawn of the Second Trump Era will require an acceptance of the disquieting truth that Dumb Things and Important Things are about to merge into a single excruciating category of existence.

Donald Trump is an ignorant, overconfident, narcissistic, grievance-ridden man — a dumb man, who over time has attracted around him an asteroid field of dumb allies who are but lesser versions of himself. His invariable instinct to act without knowledge is dumb; his unwavering instinct to make consequential decisions based upon minor personal whim is dumb; his unshakeable belief in his own laughable reasoning is dumb. No sober analysis would grant him any benefit of the doubt. He possesses the poisonous combination of great power and the utter absence of concern for responsibility. He knows little and does much. He lives the child’s fantasy of arranging the immediately visible parts of the world for his own flattery and receiving in return the praise of all the people who wish that they themselves could live such a charmed and feckless existence. 

In 2004, a Bush White House official was famously quoted in the New York Times Magazine deriding the ​“reality-based community.” 

https://inthesetimes.com/article/donald-trump-elon-musk-election-2024-dumb

This past vote has illustrated just how despicable the American voter has become….this is an opinion piece….

The electorate affirmed that the worst human being to hold the presidency deserves a second turn in the job. Despite Trump being eight years older and obviously losing his mind; despite the fact that he ran a corrosive campaign on naked malevolence; and despite his having promised to mass arrest, cage, and deport immigrants, Americans rewarded him with ultimate power.

Toward the end of the 2024 election, the candidates made their closing arguments. Trump painted the United States as a dark, terrifying and infested place, festering with pet-eating immigrants, violent criminals, and deviant trans people. America was a savage hellscape where good, “normal” Americans were forgotten as their white, heterosexual world was reshaped by Democrats into something alien and repulsive.

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-voters-failed-america

I am so glad that I still have the desire to look at all sides and then make my decision without any interference from social media….I guess I still practice the lost art of critical thinking.

How dumb can this situation become?

I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend and that all will remain safe.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

One More Reason To Reform The War Department

I know I am one of the biggest critics of the War Department but I do have my reasons for my dislike of the organization.

The latest audit of the Pentagon shows that they piss money away and are not held accountable for their carelessness.

The Pentagon announced late last week that it failed its seventh consecutive audit as the sprawling, profiteering-ridden department wasn’t able to fully account for its trillions of dollars in assets.

As with its past failures to achieve a clean audit, the U.S. Defense Department attempted to cast the 2024 results in a positive light, with the Pentagon’s chief financial officer declaring in a statement that “momentum is on our side.”

The Pentagon is the largest U.S. federal agency and is responsible for roughly half of the government’s annual discretionary spending, with its yearly budget approaching $1 trillion despite long-standing concerns about the department’s inability to account for vast sums of money approved by lawmakers and presidents from both major parties.

The latest financial assessment published Friday by the Defense Department’s inspector general office estimates that the Pentagon has $4.1 trillion in assets. It is the only major federal agency that has never passed a clean audit, as required by law.

“Of the 28 reporting entities undergoing stand-alone financial statement audits, nine received an unmodified audit opinion, one received a qualified opinion, 15 received disclaimers, and three opinions remain pending,” the Pentagon said Friday.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/pentagon-seventh-audit

Let me ask you….what if this was a corporation that consistently failed its audit what would happen?

I will tell you….the leadership would be held accountable and it would be fired and cuts made to bring it back into line….but not the War Department…..it is our cash they cannot held so why do they stay in control and continuously lose and mismanage our money?

Apparently no one gives a shit about their waste because we go through life thinking we are all that and that we have an efficient defense mechanism….we do not!

And Biden as a parting gift to Ukraine wants to send them more cash….

The Biden administration has asked Congress to approve $24 billion in additional spending on Ukraine as it’s working to ramp up the proxy war as much as possible during President Biden’s final weeks in office.

POLITICO Pro obtained a request from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget that asked Congress to include additional Ukraine spending in a continuing resolution that’s expected to be voted on next month. Two congressional aides said Congress received the proposal on Monday.

The request asks for $8 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance initiative, a form of military aid that allows the US to purchase weapons for Ukraine, and $16 billion to replace US military equipment that’s been sent to Ukraine.

(antiwar.com)

I am sick and tired of watching Ukraine get attention and the nation is secondary…..such bullshit…but it appears that I am not aslone in my disgust…

CBS News/YouGov poll has revealed that most Americans support ending U.S. military aid to Ukraine. 

The poll, which was conducted November 19–22, found that 51 percent of Americans believe that the United States should not send further weapons or military aid to Ukraine. At the same time, 49 percent of Americans back further military aid to Ukraine. The finding comes at a time that the Biden administration has rapidly escalated the conflict

This nation’s people should be priority one but that has not been the case in about 40 years….these days it is about who can throw the most money at politicians and the peasants like you and me settle for scraps.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Trump And Climate Change

This is my continuation of my series looking at the possibilities we can expect from a Trump administration…..this post is about the possibilities in climate change policies…..

Climate change will be a sore spot for many with the incoming Trump administration

World leaders, negotiators, lobbyists and NGOs are meeting in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, for COP29.

COP (Conference of Parties) is comprised of approximately 200 countries that ratified the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) in 1992. The representatives of these countries meet every year to negotiate the best approaches to tackling the root causes of climate change.

But this year, a black cloud hangs over the conference as the United States is expected to pull out of climate discussions under a Trump administration.

President-elect Donald Trump aims to give a free pass to polluting nations while ignoring the catastrophic weather changes such as massive fires, floods, and storms that have devastated cities and communities around the world.

Many experts see this as not just irresponsible but downright dangerous, risking lives and livelihoods for the sake of short-term political gains.

The UN climate conference – the 29th such gathering, which will run from 11-22 November – has been billed as the “finance COP” as countries are due to set a new global climate finance goal this year.

Ahead of COP30 in Brazil next year, representatives will be submitting strong national climate commitments – known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

More than 100 heads of state and government have confirmed their attendance, according to UN sources.

But several world leaders and government officials have said they won’t be attending the conference.

The UN’s decision to host COP29 in Baku has been criticized, given the ongoing tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/11/21/trumps-outrageous-disregard-for-climate-change-endangers-the-world/

Trump has nominated a fracking CEO as head of the Energy Department….

President-elect Trump on Saturday announced he’s chosen campaign donor and fracking company CEO Chris Wright for the top job at the Department of Energy. Wright, who runs Liberty Energy, also will be a member of Trump’s planned Council of National Energy, CNN reports. The chair of that body is to be Doug Burgum, the nominee for Interior secretary. Trump called Wright “a leading technologist and entrepreneur” in his statement. He’s been a leading advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking, per the AP, which Trump supports to achieve what he calls “energy dominance” in the global market. The president-elect said Wright and Burgum would drive that effort, per the New York Times, partly by cutting regulations.

Wright has recognized the connection between the burning of fossil fuels and climate change, though he’s been skeptical that climate change has anything to do with the increase in extreme weather. He’s said the use of fossil fuels is necessary to bring the developing world out of poverty. “The world runs on oil and gas, and we need that,” Wright told CNBC last year, adding that the idea of completely moving away from fossil fuels in a decade an “absurd time frame.”

The earth will soon be suffering from extreme stupidity all in the name of profit….but that is a word the Trump loves above all else.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Worried About Those High Food Prices?

Consequences of a mindless vote.

I know that everyone has had sticker shock when they go grocery shopping…..but we have a new president and that will soon change, right?

Let’s start with fresh produce….do you buy such items as…. Corn, beans, tomatoes, squash, cotton, vanilla, avocados, cacao, and various spices….or maybe such items as….fresh cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce, squash, and strawberries….

Those items are grown and brought into the US in Mexico and Canada…and in 2025 those and other items will be hit with tariffs….

President-elect Donald Trump vowed Monday that on his first day in office he would impose a 25% tariff on all products coming into the United States from Mexico and Canada.

“As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before,” Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

Trump said that on Jan. 20, in one of his first executive orders, he would sign all the necessary paperwork to levy a 25% tariff on all products arriving from the U.S.’s North American neighbors.

“This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” he wrote. “Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!”

Trump said in another Truth Social post that he also would levy an additional 10% tariff on top of existing tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States.

(usatoday.com)

The key to that statement is the word ‘ALL’….

That means that YOU will be paying higher prices for your fresh veggies and fruit.

Let me help you understand…..the cost of the tariffs will be paid by the importers not the nations affected….and that means YOU will pay for the tariffs because importers will stick you with the extra cost.

So people get ready….bend over and spread ’em….

But not to worry the wealthy will be making lots more money while you spend more just to feed your family….

Trump is not even president yet and already the wealthy has made a killing….and that does not include the proposed tax cuts they will be getting…

An analysis released Wednesday showed that the United States’ 815 billionaires have seen their combined wealth surge by roughly $280 billion since Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election earlier this month, a finding that came as Republicans continued to lay the groundwork for another massive tax giveaway for the rich.

Citing Forbes data, Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) noted that the collective net worth of the nation’s billionaires jumped $276 billion between November 4—the day before Election Day—and November 12. Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man and a Trump confidant, accounted for 20% of the total billionaire wealth surge, with his net worth growing by $57 billion in just a week.

ATF found that U.S. billionaire wealth is now at an all-time high of $6.7 trillion—a fact that hasn’t deterred Republican lawmakers from pursuing additional tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, which they want to pay for in part by slashing Medicaid and federal nutrition assistance.

(commondreams.org)

Something for us all to look forward to in the coming Trump administration…

But not to worry the GOP will blame the Dems or immigrants for their screwing of the American people and the humorous thing is morons will believe the bullshit.

This is what YOU voted for….merry christmas.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Make Room For Bondi

Gaetz had the good sense (questionable) to withdraw his name from the list of Trump nominees….and now the AG spot will mostly go to Pam Bondi….

Just what is known about this nominee….besides she is a Trump boot licker and a fake blonde…..and if confirmed will be the first female attorney general…but there is more….

Matt Gaetz is out and Pam Bondi is in as the new nominee for attorney general. Here are some highlights from the slew of biographical pieces now moving about her:

  • A first: The big fact about the 59-year-old Bondi is that she served as the first female attorney general of Florida from 2011-2019, notes the AP. Before that, she was a prosecutor in Hillsborough County for nearly 20 years. She thus has far more experience for the post than Gaetz, as well as less political baggage. The Hill sees her as a “more palatable choice” for Senate Republicans.
  • As attorney general: The Tallahassee Democrathits key moments of her AG tenure, including how she led an unsuccessful multistate lawsuit to overturn ObamaCare. Bondi also “led a statewide effort to eliminate ‘pill mills,’ pulled the state into a lawsuit against Obama’s immigration policy, defended Florida’s same-sex marriage ban (although she has said she was simply upholding the constitution), co-authored a presidential report on the opioid crisis and worked with multiple agencies and legislators for programs and laws to fight fentanyl trafficking.”
  • Trump’s circle: Bondi was a Democrat until 2000 before switching parties. In more recent years, she has become “one of Donald Trump’s most loyal supporters,” per Politico. She worked on his first presidential transition team, assisted in his first impeachment fight, and played a public role in his effort to overturn the 2020 election. She is also close to Trump daughter-in-law Lara Trump and is a partner at Ballard Partners, the lobbying firm previously run by incoming Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles.
  • Conservative bona fides: Bondi has leadership roles with the Center for Litigation and the Center for Law and Justice at the America First Policy Institute, per the Washington Post, which adds: “Her selection for a Cabinet role reinforces the right-wing think tank’s status as a leading source of political appointees for Trump’s second term.”
  • Controversies: In 2013, Bondi apologized for getting the execution of a prisoner delayed in Florida because it conflicted with a political fundraiser for her. Bondi was accused of improperly accepting a $25,000 donation from Trump in 2013 as she weighed joining a case against Trump University. She eventually opted not to join the litigation, per the New York Times. Politico also notes an odd controversy involving a dog she adopted in 2005 after it became separated from its owners during Hurricane Katrina. She ended up returning the animal after a 16-month legal fight.

She is a scary person and the nation should brace themselves for her rule…..and her control over the law enforcement mechanism.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Remember Putin’s Nuke Thing?

And the stew thickens.

Ever since the West has been supplying the implements of destruction to Ukraine Russia has been mouthing all sorts of crap about Russian nukes….and of course those naysayers think he, Putin, will eventually use his nukes and then stroll down Main Street.

You do remember those days….I mean it has not been that long ago or is the gold fish analogy accurate?

In the 1990s Ukraine was one of the first nations of the former USSR that started disabling and destroying the nukes that was left in their country….and now Biden wants to possibly change that….

According to the New York Times, US and European officials have discussed a range of options they believe will deter Russia from taking more Ukrainian territory, including providing Kiev with nuclear weapons. The outlet reports that Western officials believe the Kremlin will not significantly escalate the war before Donald Trump is sworn in as President in January.

Following the election of Trump earlier this month, the US and its NATO allies began taking steps to rush weapons to Ukraine and give Kiev the ability to strike targets inside Russian territory with long-range weapons.

American officials who were briefed on the intelligence community’s assessments told the Times that weapons will not alter the challenging situation that Kiev is currently facing. “US spy agencies have assessed that speeding up the provisions of weapons, ammunition and matériel for Ukraine will do little to change the course of the war in the short term,” the Times reports.

Desperate to bolster Ukraine’s standing in the war before the transition of power on January 20, the Biden administration is looking at a range of serious escalations. “US and European officials are discussing deterrence as a possible security guarantee for Ukraine, such as stockpiling a conventional arsenal sufficient to strike a punishing blow if Russia violates a cease-fire.” The article continues, “Several officials even suggested that Mr. Biden could return nuclear weapons to Ukraine that were taken from it after the fall of the Soviet Union.”

(antiwar.com)

Now you see why I have labeled the Dems as a party of war….this is a horrible idea and could will lead to an escalation of the conflict that could engulf the whole region and possibly the world.

Former military Commander-in-Chief and Ukraine’s current ambassador to the UK, Valery Zaluzhny, made the dire statement in an interview with Politico published on Thursday. “I believe that in 2024 we can absolutely believe that the Third World War has begun,” he said. 

Zaluzhny argued that Chinese, Iranian, and North Korean support for Russia supported his statement. “It is obvious that Ukraine already has too many enemies. Ukraine will survive with technology, but it is not clear whether it can win this battle alone,” he explained. 

This type of intervention is another reason that I do not vote Democrat….they are bigger neocons warmongers than any other party.

If you would like to see how this happened….

How the Democrats Became the War Party

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Health Update #1

When I posted about the medical fight I am dealing with there was such outpouring of of support I thought I might keep my readers up to date….

I started my treatment for the prostrate and the meds are kicking my boney butt and after a week of tests my lung treatment should start next week….I tell you this because I have a feeling that the two together is going to be rough and I may have to limit my blog time.

After all the poking and prodding and scanning last week I am told that I will be getting radiation 3 times a week for 6 weeks and then a re-evaluation to decide the next course of treatment…..all that enjoyment should begin in a wee or so as soon as the tests are reviewed and the doctor settles on the course of action.

I so look forward to the side effects (sarcasm).

I am trying to get some drafts ahead of time that will let me blog as often as possible.

So if I am not around much I hope you will understand and stick around until I can bounce back.

I would like to thank all my regulars and those occasional visitors for their time and their interest in IST.

I will try to keep those interested in my progress as often as I can.

Thanx again for your support.

Have a great Sunday….and as always….Be well and Be safe….