Month: March 2025

Has A Diarchy Arrived?

There is a term that not many Americans will be familiar with unless they are a student of history…..think Sparta…..not some romanticize BS from the film 300 but their way of government.

Diarchy….Diarchy (from Greek δι-, di-, “double”, and -αρχία, -arkhía, “ruled”), duarchy, or duumvirate is a form of government characterized by co-rule, with two people ruling a polity together either lawfully or de facto, by collusion and force. The leaders of such a system are usually known as corulers.

That out of the way that brings us to the meat of this post….

Now, I arrive at my point, such as it is. Sparta’s government was unique in that it had two chief executives, call them “kings”, if you like, who had equal power (and powerful they must have been since both “royal” families traced their origins to the seed of Hercules). Sparta was one of the few Diarchies that we know of (the Roman Republic model its two consuls after the Spartan system, though the consuls were limited to one-year terms and, until the rise of the dictators Sulla, Crassus, Pompey and Julius Caesar in the first century BCE, the real power resided with the Senate).

And now a Diarchy has assumed power in the United States, featuring a duumvirate of Trump and the world’s richest human, Elon Musk. The difference being: in Sparta, the diarchy, according to Aristotle, was meant to serve as a check on absolutist power and here it is being used to consolidate it.

…

Last week our co-rulers made separate appearances at CPAC, a kind of Dionysian festival for the Cult of MAGA, where both of them were far from laconic about their plans to recreate the Republic in their own images.

Taking Xenophon as my model, I’ve pulled some relevant quotations from our two Diarchs (Trump and Musk) so that we’ll have a keener sense of exactly the kind of tyranny-by-two that is in store for us…

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/02/28/american-diarchy-our-two-kings-in-their-own-words/

Donny and Elmo show continues…..if I were VP I would watch my back since Elmo is notorious for backstabbing.

Welcome to the Diarchy.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

This Is For My ‘Boomer’ Buddies

Many of my friends voted for Trump in the last election and many are retired and depend on Medicare for their health issues…..so I would like to let them know what their vote will do for the medical necessities….

As part of a flurry of executive actions on the first day of his second White House term, President Donald Trump on Monday rescinded an order signed by his predecessor that aimed to develop programs to lower prescription drug prices in the United States—where residents pay far more for medications than people in peer countries.

News of Trump’s rollback of Executive Order 14087—titled Lowering Prescription Drug Costs for Americans—was buried amid dozens of other rescissions the president ordered shortly following his inauguration.

The decision to scrap Executive Order 14087 brings to a halt several pilot programs undertaken by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, including an experiment that involved offering generic medications for a $2 copay to Medicare Part D recipients.

“This act is a good indication of how Trump will approach lower drug prices,” Social Security Works, a progressive advocacy group, wrote in response to Trump’s rescission of President Joe Biden’s executive order.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-drug-prices

There is more on this subject…..more screwing to come?

Donald Trump has rescinded yet another Biden-era executive order, and drug prices could skyrocket as a result.

The president recently tossed out executive order 14087, a measure taken by Biden in order to cap certain generic drug prices at $2 for Medicare recipients, improve access to expensive cell and gene therapies for Medicaid beneficiaries, and make new medical procedures more widely available by reducing the evidence gathering process required for drugs. The order was made to allow average Americans faster and more widespread access to affordable care.

While Trump didn’t personally raise the cost of prescription drugs, he did remove one of the barriers that prevents pharmaceutical companies from doing so. While Biden’s order has been rescinded, there are still numerous laws and regulations in place to prevent price gouging for drugs. Pharmaceutical companies do not have free rein over drug prices, yet, but some Democrats believe that the killed executive order is a harbinger of high drug costs to come.

“Donald Trump is already following through on his dangerous plans to jack up the costs of drugs to appease his billionaire backers” said Democratic National Committee rapid response director Alex Floyd in response to the decision. “He lied to the American people and doesn’t care about lowering costs—only what’s best for himself and his ultra-rich friends

According to Bloomberg, pharmaceutical companies are trying to bend the president’s ear. Drug manufacturer Eli Lilly & Co. has petitioned Trump to pause drug price negotiations. Biden’s policies currently allow the U.S. government to buy drugs at a lower cost in order to distribute them to Medicare recipients. While these policies have yet to be rescinded, some worry that it soon will be. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has petitioned the Trump administration not to overturn the policies, saying they grant everyday Americans “substantial benefits” and that repealing them would be a “grave mistake for our nation.”

https://www.themarysue.com/it-was-all-lies-trump-destroyed-for-selfishly-raising-prescription-drug-costs-reversing-cost-caps/

To be fair Trump did not personally raise the price of drugs but he did give big Pharma an opening so they can do as they like.

Now aren’t you glad he is building a wall and could care less about your medical issues.

Your vote was well placed you idiots.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Last Week At The Sh*t Show–30Mar25

There is so much happening in DC especially with Donny and the Magic Sharpie it is hard to keep up with the stuff happening just off camera.

Last week was full of news….some bad and some even worse….

The most disturbing, well one of the most disturbing stories was Panana….

President Donald Trump has directed the Pentagon to prepare plans for carrying out his threat to “take back” the Panama Canal, including by military force if needed, two U.S. officials familiar with the situation told NBC News Thursday.

According to the outlet, the officials said that U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) is drawing up potential plans that run the gamut from working more closely with Panama’s military to a less likely scenario in which U.S. troops invade the country and take the canal by force. They also said that SOUTHCOM commander Adm. Alvin Holsey has presented draft strategies to be reviewed by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is scheduled to visit Panama next month.

The officials explained that the likelihood of a U.S invasion depended on the level of cooperation shown by the Panamanian military.

Trump has repeatedly refused to rule out use of military force to seize control of the vital U.S.-built waterway, as well as Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-panama-canal-invasion-plan

Speaking of the military….Like that underlying problem of razor bumps for male soldiers….

Based on a new policy, people who are inflicted with a skin condition that can cause pain and scarring on their face (razor bumps) from shaving can be kicked out of the Marines if it does not clear up within a certain amount of time. This may greatly affect Black men.

According to the Marine Corps Times, the U.S. Marine Corps has stated that any Marine who has been diagnosed with pseudofolliculitis barbae has to undergo medical reevaluation within 90 days to see if they will still require a shaving waiver due to the condition.

“Ensuring the health, resilience, and discipline of our Marines and Sailors is essential to sustaining our warfighting capability and maintaining the high standards required to remain ready for any challenge,” a message sent from the Marines states.

“These standards ensure we remain the world’s premier fighting force, ready to fight and win with unwavering readiness, discipline and lethality.”

Black Marines With ‘Razor Bumps’ Could Be Kicked Out The Military Due To New Policy

Have you ever heard anything so damn ludicrous?

Making media outlets illegal?

President Trump railed against the media on Friday, suggesting some of the actions of the press be deemed illegal and should be investigated.

In a speech at the Department of Justice (DOJ), during which Trump railed against people and entities that he claims have targeted him, said he views CNN and MSNBC as corrupt.

“I believe that CNN and MS-DNC, who literally write 97.6 percent bad about me, are political arms of the Democrat Party and in my opinion, they’re really corrupt and they’re illegal, what do they do is illegal,” Trump said.

He also claimed the media outlets work in coordination and that their reporting is able to influence the opinions of judges.

“These networks and these newspapers are really no different than a highly paid political operative,” Trump said.

“And it has to stop, it has to be illegal, it’s influencing judges and it’s really changing law, and it just cannot be legal. I don’t believe it’s legal, and they do it in total coordination with each other,” he added.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5195881-trump-media-illegal/

If they do not kiss his ass then Clueless Leader wants them deemed illegal.

More clamp down on your civil liberties……

If you’re not thinking about how the rapid clampdown on individual liberties could affect you, if you’re still mostly thinking about your job or your house or your social life, you are, frankly, a fool.

Because things are getting worse, much worse, by the day.

I could cite so many examples. Like the French scientist on the way to a conference near Houston who was stopped at an airport, where authorities conducted a “random search” of his computer and phone.  When they found emails in which he expressed critical views of Donald Trump’s impact on science, he was accused of making unspecified “hateful and conspiratorial” comments.

Then they decided to bar him from entry into the United States.

At one point, in the not so distant past, this apparent watershed moment would have generated big headlines and outrage, and the government, embarrassed, would have scrambled to undo the damage, very likely clarifying or apologizing.

No more.

You Could Be Next: Trump Can Seize Your Devices and Then….

Then the despicable billionaire that thinks he is all that….Elmo….

As a U.S. military contractor, SpaceX sees allowing Chinese ownership as fraught. But it will allow the investment if it comes through secrecy hubs like the Cayman Islands, court records say. “It is certainly a policy of obfuscation,” an expert said.

Elon Musk’s aerospace giant SpaceX allows investors from China to buy stakes in the company as long as the funds are routed through the Cayman Islands or other offshore secrecy hubs, according to previously unreported court records.

The rare picture of SpaceX’s approach recently emerged in an under-the-radar corporate dispute in Delaware. Both SpaceX’s chief financial officer and Iqbaljit Kahlon, a major investor, were forced to testify in the case.

In December, Kahlon testified that SpaceX prefers to avoid investors from China because it is a defense contractor. There is a major exception though, he said: SpaceX finds it “acceptable” for Chinese investors to buy into the company through offshore vehicles.

https://www.propublica.org/article/elon-musk-spacex-allows-china-investment-cayman-islands-secrecy

More cash for the idiot in the robes of many colors…..

I know why not re-write history to fit some moronic ideas…..

Donald Trump opened yet another squirmish yesterday in his fascist Culture Wars on American institutions, issuing an executive order that purports to “[Restore] Truth and Sanity to American History” by ordering the Smithsonian Institution to teach only the good stuff about America, which has always been just and right and perfect except when Democrats stole elections.

The order instructs Vice President JD Vance, who by law is one of 17 members of the Smithsonian’s board of regents, to “work to eliminate improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology from the Smithsonian and its museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo,” because, the order lies, Joe Biden came in and made the Smithsonian, and indeed all American history curricula everywhere, all woke, all by himself.

https://www.wonkette.com/p/donald-trump-orders-smithsonian-to

We know that all the deportation is hitting the economy hard….but but the idiot in Florida has a ‘better’ idea….

Long before President Trump returned to the White House, Florida began cracking down on companies hiring undocumented immigrants. Now, a new dilemma: Who will take on the lower-paying jobs in the state that those immigrants held? The state Legislature has an idea: loosening labor laws so kids can slip into those spots. Per a new bill advanced by the Legislature on Tuesday, teens as young as 14—if they’re homeschooled or meet other criteria—would be able to work overnight shifts, overturning current state restrictions on them working before 6:30am and after 11pm, reports CNN. Other limits would be removed for 16- and 17-year-olds, including meal break guarantees and other restrictions on work hours.

“This is a parental rights issue,” Republican state Sen. Jay Collins, the bill’s sponsor, told the committee on Tuesday, per the Tallahassee Democrat. The bill squeaked by the Florida Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee in a 5-4 vote and now heads to two other panels before a full Florida Senate vote. And Gov. Ron DeSantis appears poised to sign the bill if it eventually makes its way to his desk. “Yes, we had people that left because of those [immigration] rules, but you’ve also been able to hire other people,” he said at a roundtable last week in Sarasota. “And what’s wrong with expecting our young people to be working part-time now? I mean, that’s how it used to be when I was growing up.”

DeSantis added: “Why do we say we need to import foreigners, even import them illegally, when you know, teenagers used to work at these resorts? College students should be able to do this stuff.” CNN notes that the state has been slowly easing child labor laws “for years.” Meanwhile, according to a recent fact sheet from the Department of Labor, child labor violations in the Sunshine State nearly tripled from 2019 to 2022.

Don’t gasp….if he is successful then I foresee this heading to Donny’s magic Sharpie…..

Finally one of the most absurd ideas to come from is Clueless Master……

President Donald Trump on Tuesday floated the possibility of financial compensation for people who were prosecuted for taking part in the riot at the Capitol in 2021.

Speaking to Newsmax on Tuesday night, Trump said he had taken “care” of his supporters who attempted to overturn his 2020 election loss and added there is “talk” about compensating them.

“A lot of the people that are in the government now talk about it because a lot of the people in government really like that group of people,” he said, referring to the Jan. 6 defendants, who he described as protesting “peacefully and patriotically.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/25/trump-floats-possibility-of-compensation-for-jan-6-rioters-00250063

These pricks should be in prison for the rest of their miserable lives and not be rewarded for an act of TREASON.

There you are my friends the latest from the Sh*t Show.

A finally word/s…..I hate this stupidity so fucking much!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

IST Saturday News Dump–29Mar25

Once again I return with news that was not a big deal in the past week…my weekly news dump.

Today is Vietnam Veterans Remembrance Day…..celebrate if the mood strikes you.

Locally–Weather has been pleasant….warm day and cool night….it is a joy for a change.  Sad news I lost my tangerine tree because of the extreme cold last month….my best producer.

Personal–I am dealing with grief and it is getting a bit easier but still feel my loss…my treatments continue and still taking a bit of a toll physically.

Let’s get to the real important stuff, at least for today.

I use honey as a sweetener and for the past decade bees have been losing ground and the news is still not good.

It’s not easy being a bee, especially in 2025. Honeybee colonies typically decline 40% to 50% annually, but this year colonies could decline up to 70% owing to a host of problems, including nutrition deficiencies, mite infestations, viral diseases, and potential pesticide exposure, according to entomologists at Washington State University. “I don’t want to be a fearmonger, but this level of national loss could mean increased bankruptcies [among] beekeepers,” says WSU professor of pollinator ecology Brandon Hopkins, per NBC News. In fact, we may be on track for the “biggest loss of honeybee colonies in US history,” says Cornell University assistant professor of pollinator health Scott McArt, per the Guardian.

An ongoing survey of more than 1 million honeybee colonies has found recent colony losses around 60% or above, with some areas reporting losses above 70%, per KLTV. That’s up from 10% to 20% before 2005, after which colony collapse disorder began to be widely reported. This is a major concern for crop growers. About 50% of US crops and about 35% of the global food supply requires pollinators, per the Guardian and NBC. You can slash a colony in half “and make up those winter losses and those summer losses,” honeybee specialist Garett Slater tells KLTV. “But if you have [70%] to 80%, it gets even more and more difficult and more of a financial burden to make up those colony losses.”

“We have been seeing high losses year after year, but if anything it is getting worse, which is troubling,” McArt tells the Guardian. He describes “a shortfall in pollination in some almond orchards this year,” noting other crops could also be affected. Slater says varroa mites are a big part of the problem, as they carry viruses that are fatal to bees. They’re usually combated with the insecticide Amitraz but have recently developed a resistance, allowing them to infect bees more frequently. McArt says Cornell scientists are currently examining the most important stressors for honeybees, but that it will be a month before the main drivers are identified

Not encouraging news at all.

More sad news on the environment….

A new study suggests that the amount of water stored on land around the world—in soil, lakes, rivers, snow, etc.—has dropped by such steep levels that it may be irreversible, reports the Washington Post. “At first we thought, ‘That’s an error in the model,'” University of Melbourne hydrology professor Dongryeol RyuRyu tells the AP. But the new study in Science lays out the numbers: Earth’s land lost about 2,614 gigatons of water from 2000 to 2016, with the loss most pronounced from 2000 to 2002 at 1,614 gigatons, per Australia’s ABC News. To the researchers’ surprise, that outpaces the amount lost by Greenland’s melting glaciers.

“The rate of water dumping into the oceans was bigger from terrestrial water storage than from what we normally think of as the biggest source, which was the melting of Greenland,” says co-author Clark Wilson of the University of Texas at Austin. That suggests the evaporation of moisture from soil is a bigger factor in rising sea levels than previously thought. One problem is that groundwater isn’t recovering amid rising temperatures, with the frequency of severe droughts around the world accelerating. Even headline-making catastrophic floods don’t seem to help. “It seems that lands lost their elasticity to recover the previous level,” says Ryu. The researchers warn that fundamental changes in regard to water use, particularly in agriculture, are needed.

“There are long-term climate changes that have happened in the past and presumably could occur in the future that could reverse the trend described, but probably not in our lifetimes,” says environmental science professor Katharine Jacobs of the University of Arizona, who was not involved in the study. “Because greenhouse gases will continue to cause global warming well into the future, the rate of evaporation and transpiration is not likely to reduce any time soon.”

More of the food thingy…..the fad of plant-based diet….

Researchers define “healthy aging” as making it to age 70 without major chronic disease. Believe it or not, this is not entirely out of your hands. A new 30-year study tracking the eating habits of 105,015 middle-aged health professionals in the US finds diets high in plant-based foods with low to moderate amounts of animal-based foods and minimal ultra-processed foods had a higher likelihood of healthy aging independent of body mass index, physical activity, and smoking habits. “This suggests what you eat in midlife can play a big role in how well you age,” University of Montreal nutrition researcher Anne-Julie Tessier, lead author of the study published Monday in Nature Medicine, tells the Washington Post.

Most older adults have at least one chronic health condition, such as diabetes, heart disease, or cancer. Just 9,771 study participants (9.3%) reached the age of 70 without one. Their self-reported diets tended to highly adhere to one of eight healthy diets—the Mediterranean diet, the Planetary Health Diet Index, and the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) among them, per the BBC. These emphasize fruits, vegetables, whole grains, unsaturated fats, and nuts and legumes, with low amounts of processed meat, sugars, and trans fat. Participants who scored the highest on the AHEI, specifically developed to prevent chronic disease, had an 86% greater likelihood of healthy aging compared with participants with the lowest scores, NBC News reports.

Diets higher in red and processed meat, trans fats, sodium, and sugary beverages were linked to a lower likelihood of healthy aging. Participants who consumed the most ultra-processed foods were 32% less likely to achieve healthy aging, per the Post. “Our findings suggest that dietary patterns rich in plant-based foods, with moderate inclusion of healthy animal-based foods, may enhance overall healthy aging, guiding future dietary guidelines,” reads the observational study. This may be of interest to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who’s linked rising rates of chronic disease with processed food, per NBC.

Because of my treatments I am supposed to eat a lot protein….veggies are secondary concern.

Then there is the problems with baby food…..

Nutritious food is always important, whether for an infant or a senior, but it’s especially critical for newborn babies. The global baby food market is rapidly growing, with the United States being the second biggest market.

The global baby food market is projected to grow from 71 billion U.S. dollars in 2023 to about 100 billion U.S. dollars by 2029. In the United States, this market is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

A new study found that 60% of the baby foods in the United States don’t meet the nutritional guidelines set by the World Health Organization. This is eye-opening and concerning, considering proper nutrition is crucial for a child’s health, development, and overall well-being.

Findings from this new study and similar research show that the baby food market is filled with nutritional shortcomings. Professionals who have pursued an accelerated BSN online, family nurse practitioner degrees, or related qualifications can help empower parents to learn more about food labels, the importance of nutrition, and dietary requirements.

https://www.zmescience.com/medicine/majority-of-us-baby-food-products-do-not-meet-nutrition-guidelines-study-finds/

Did you succumb to the hype from 23andme?  If so your information may be a risk.

In 2006, 23andMe invited people to spit in a tube and discover themselves.

It was a simple promise: for $99, your DNA would reveal your ancestry, some genetic traits, even your health risks. The company became a Silicon Valley darling, once valued at $6 billion. Millions mailed in their saliva and waited anxiously for answers about their heritage.

But on Sunday, that once-rising biotech star has filed for bankruptcy.

As the company seeks a buyer under Chapter 11 protections, privacy experts and former customers are asking the same urgent question: what happens to 23andMe’s most valuable asset—your DNA?

https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/23andme-bankrupt-dna-at-risk/

Finally a story that is as they ‘out there’…..did you see the film Matrix?

In the early 4th century BCE, the legendary ancient Greek philosopher Plato put forth a simple thought experiment. Known as the Allegory of the Cave, the idea suggests that what we believe to be “reality” could be little more than shadows dancing upon a cave wall. Fast forward to the 21st century, and scientists are pondering the same question albeit in a more technological context.

In 2003, University of Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom put forward the idea that it was probably likely that what humans perceived as reality was actually a hyper-advanced simulation created by beings with almost infinite technological capability. In the decades since this famous formulation, scientists have pondered exactly how we could discover some evidence of this simulation—or even escaping the simulation altogether.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a64300338/source-code-simulation/

There you have all the news that did not make the evening news….enjoy.

Go out and have a lovely Saturday and as always….Be Well and Be Safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is Recession Waiting?

The economic news is not what I would call good….between tariffs and DOGE screwing with the government things are , according to lead economists, pointing to a serious recession looming….

A former Obama administration economic adviser said Wednesday that the Federal Reserve’s forecast of increased unemployment, accelerating inflation, and slower growth driven by President Donald Trump’s economic policies could portend a return of the “stagflation” that plagued the nation in the 1970s.

The Federal Open Markets Committee, which sets U.S. monetary policy, downgraded its economic outlook for 2025 from an initial projection of 2.1% growth to 1.7%. FOMC also revised its inflation forecast upward from 2.5% to 2.8%.

While FOMC said that “recent indicators suggest that economic activity has continued to expand at a solid pace,” the committee noted that “uncertainty around the economic outlook has increased.”

Fears of an economic slowdown or even a recession have increased dramatically since Trump took office and imposed tariffs on some of the nation’s biggest trade partners while moving to gut critical social programs in order to fund a $4.5 trillion tax cut that will overwhelmingly benefit wealthy Americans.

“Inflation has started to move up now. We think partly in response to tariffs and there may be a delay in further progress over the course of this year,” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said during a Wednesday news conference, at which he said interest rates will remain unchanged. “The survey data [of] both household and businesses show significant large rising uncertainty and significant concerns about downside risks.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-stagflation

But as far as the news I see on the tube do not take this outlook….why is that?

Could any bad news be withheld from the public?

As Politicoreported Friday, experts serving on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Technical Advisory Committee were informed this week that they were no longer needed, leaving the BLS without a panel that has long advised the Labor Department on how economic changes can impact data collection.

A page for the committee was removed from the Labor Department’s website, along with one that had information about the Data Users Advisory Committee, which has advised on how businesses and policymakers can use the agency’s economic reports.

“It would be a bad sign for a software company to cancel all beta testing if you expect to keep making better software,” Michael Madowitz, an economist at the Roosevelt Institute who served on the data users committee, told Politico. “This feels like the same sort of thing.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/how-will-trumps-tariffs-affect-the-economy

This info is info that every American family needs to have access to so they can determine their family economic health.

No info like this should ever be kept from the public.

Then came more bad news for the economy….Donny and the magic Sharpie will add a new 25% tariff on autos…..

President Trump announced a 25% tariff on imported cars Wednesday, a move he said would “lead to tremendous growth in the automotive industry.” The tariff, to be implemented April 2, will apply to finished cars and trucks imported to the US, including American brands assembled in different countries, the New York Times reports. In remarks at the Oval Office, Trump seemed to rule out exemptions for vehicles from Canada and Mexico, reports the Wall Street Journal. “What we’re going to be doing is a 25% tariff on all cars not made in the US,” he said. Asked if the tariff could be lifted, Trump said it is “100%” permanent.

Trump said car prices would go down, though since almost half the vehicles sold in the US are imported, analysts expect prices to rise significantly. The current tariff on auto imports is 2.5%. After Trump’s announcement, shares in top US automakers dropped sharply in after-hours trading, NBC News reports. European and Japanese automakers will be hit hard by the tariff, and countermeasures are expected, the Times reports. The Detroit News predicts that the “entire industry will likely face severe consequences, from higher vehicle prices to supply chain breakdowns,” if high tariffs are in place for long.

Tesla, which makes all of its vehicles sold in the US in California and Texas, will be less affected than other major US automakers, but Trump said Elon Musk did not influence tariff policy and has “never asked me for a favor in business whatsoever.” Tesla would be hit a lot harder if the tariff was applied to components as well as finished vehicles, the Times notes. If the tariff is fully passed on to consumers, the average auto price could rise $12,500, according to the AP. Trump said Wednesday that he could give car buyers a break by allowing them to deduct interest paid on auto loans from their federal income tax—as long as the vehicles were made in America.
With these new tariffs beginning next month and you may be looking for a new car a few things that you need to watch…..

Wall Street got pulled in opposite directions Thursday as President Trump’s latest tariff escalation created winners and losers among auto stocks, while better-than-expected data on the economy helped support the market.

  • The S&P 500 slipped 18.89 points, or 0.3%, to 5,693.31 after drifting between small gains and losses through the day.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 155.09 points, or 0.4%, to 42,299.70.
  • The Nasdaq composite fell 94.98 points, or 0.5% to 17,804.03.

Even General Motors sank 7.4% for one of the market’s sharper losses after Trump announced 25% tariffs on imported cars. Ford Motor dropped 3.9%.

US automakers selling vehicles in the country can feel the pain of tariffs because their supply chains are spread throughout North America, the AP reports. Trump says he wants more manufacturing to take place within the US. “There are still a lot of unknowns, but if this remains in place, there will clearly be some pain for the companies to digest,” according to UBS analyst Joseph Spak. Among the uncertainties are how the government will determine how to apply tariffs to parts that are compliant with the free-trade agreement that it has with Mexico and Canada but are not made entirely within the US. Tracking parts could be difficult, according to Spak.
All you need is information you can trust.
Let the recession begin!

Watch your finances

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Text Read Around The World

The big deal in the news for the past few days has been the screw up in a NatSec meeting…..was it a breach or not?

Here is the story as of today….

Much of the discussion around the bizarre national security texting breach has been focused on how it happened and what, if any, punishments are warranted. But some outlets also are assessing the text conversation itself among high-ranking White House officials discussing a pending military strike. Jeffrey Goldberg, the Atlantic journalist accidentally looped into the chat, published some of the back and forth, though no details about the strike itself. Some of the takeaways:

  • Vance disagrees: An editorial in the Wall Street Journal points out that Vice President JD Vance disagreed with President Trump’s decision to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen. “I think we are making a mistake,” he wrote, suggesting that it was more in Europe’s interest. “I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now,” he said. “There’s a further risk that we see moderate to severe spike in oil prices.” Others disagreed, and planning went forward, but “Trump now knows which of his deputies tried to block it and which tried to carry it out,” notes the editorial. A piece at New York magazine on this is headlined, “Maybe J.D. Vance Isn’t Trump’s Puppet.”

  • Hegseth slams Europe: At one point in his back-and-forth with Vance, defense chief Pete Hegseth slammed European allies, reports the BBC. “If you think we should do it let’s go,” Vance texted to Hegseth. “I just hate bailing Europe out again.” To which Hegseth replied: “I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.”
  • Blaming Biden: Axios notes that, at least in this conversation, the debate was not so much about military strategy as about how to convey the message to the public that it’s necessary. Hegseth: “I think messaging is going to be tough no matter what—nobody knows who the Houthis are—which is why we would need to stay focused on: 1) Biden failed & 2) Iran funded.”
  • Stephen Miller? Goldberg noted that one participant was “SM,” whom he assumed was Stephen Miller. This person was fully on board with the president and also wanted accountability from Europe. “As I heard it, the president was clear: green light” to strike the Houthis, SM wrote during the discussion on whether to move forward. In terms of Europe: He said the US must make clear “what we expect in return,” adding that the real question was, “If Europe doesn’t remunerate, then what? … If the US successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return.”

My favorite part of this story is the blaming of Biden….

Free-loading Europe?  These guys are idiots.

The Atlantic has released the transcripts of this now ‘infamous’ exchange…..

Two days after revealing that its editor-in-chief was included in a group chat where high-ranking members of the Trump administration discussed plans for strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Atlantic has published those attack plans. As Jeffrey Goldberg, said editor-in-chief, and staff writer Shane Harris write, in the first story on the Signal chat, the Atlantic held off on publishing specific details of the attacks that were contained in the text in keeping with a policy of not publishing information related to military operations if it could potentially lead to harm to US personnel. The calculus changed Tuesday, they write.

Throughout Tuesday, they explain, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and President Trump all insisted there was not classified information in the messages. “These statements presented us with a dilemma,” Goldberg and Harris write. The crux of their decision:

  • “The statements by Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, and Trump—combined with the assertions made by numerous administration officials that we are lying about the content of the Signal texts—have led us to believe that people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions. There is a clear public interest in disclosing the sort of information that Trump advisers included in nonsecure communications channels, especially because senior administration figures are attempting to downplay the significance of the messages that were shared.”
  • Those messages held details on the attacks two hours before the bombing of Houthi positions was due to begin, including “the exact times American aircraft were taking off for Yemen.” In the wrong hands, that info could have been used against American pilots and other US personnel, they write. Based on administration officials’ insistence that the information was not classified, the Atlantic on Tuesday asked the White House if it objected to the messages being published; in the evening, it got a response from Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who reiterated there was nothing classified within but said the White House objected as it was intended to be a “private deliberation” of “sensitive information.” It went ahead, with one detail redacted: the name of Ratcliffe’s chief of staff, which appeared in the messages, as CIA intelligence officers are typically not publicly identified.

Let the dance begin.  Who will take the hit for this screw up?

Well the answer is NatSec Adviser Waltz….

National security adviser Mike Waltz, who inadvertently added Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a group chat discussing plans for strikes on Yemen, says he takes “full responsibility” for the Signal breach, but he’s not sure exactly how it happened. “It’s embarrassing. We’re going to get to the bottom of it,” he told Laura Ingraham on Fox News‘ The Ingraham Angle in an interview Tuesday.

  • Waltz went on to attack Goldberg, calling him “the bottom scum of journalists” and implying that he was somehow to blame for the breach. “I know him in the sense that he hates the president, but I don’t text him,” Waltz said. “He wasn’t on my phone. And we’re going to figure out how this happened.” Waltz said he’s not a conspiracy theorist, “but of all the people out there, somehow this guy who has lied about the president … he’s the one that somehow gets on somebody’s contact and then gets sucked into this group.”

  • President Trump blamed a Waltz staffer for the breach Tuesday, but Waltz told Ingraham that it wasn’t a staffer’s fault, the Washington Post reports. He said he meant to add somebody else to the group—he didn’t disclose who—but the number for the contact was Goldberg’s. “You got somebody else’s number on someone else’s contact. So, of course, I didn’t see this loser in the group. It looks like someone else,” Waltz said. “Whether he did it deliberately or it happened in some other technical mean is what we are trying to figure out.”

Waltz said he was consulting with Elon Musk, the Guardian reports. “We’ve got the best technical minds looking at how this happened,” he said.

Democrats have called for Waltz to be fired, but Trump said Tuesday that Waltz won’t lose his job over the breach. He described Waltz as a “good man” who has “learned a lesson.”

In an interview the Atlantic published Monday, Goldberg said the episode is “very relatable,” because everybody has sent a text or email to an unintended recipient, and it shows why government officials discussing sensitive issues shouldn’t use Signal. “Until almost the very last minute, I could not believe that this was actually happening, that there could be a Mack-truck-size breach, that somehow, the editor in chief of the Atlantic was invited into a conversation with the intelligence agencies, secretaries, the national security adviser,” he said. “Like most reporters, I’ve been a recipient of leaks. A leak is a totally different thing. That’s a whistleblower trying to make complaints. This is just reckless.”

There is the story so far….I am sure there is more to come.

Watch This Blog

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Donny And The Magic Sharpie

Once again king-in-waiting has taken out his magic Sharpie and signed yet another EO (how many is that now?)….this time another wasted time and something for him to go on about…..voting.

President Trump signed a sweeping executive action Tuesday to overhaul elections in the US, including requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and demanding that all ballots be received by Election Day. The order says the US has failed “to enforce basic and necessary election protections” and calls on states to work with federal agencies to share voter lists and prosecute election crimes. It threatens to pull federal funding from states where election officials don’t comply. Trump says more election actions will be taken in the coming weeks.

  • The move, which is likely to face swift challenges from voting rights organizations, is consistent with Trump’s long history of railing against election processes, the AP reports. He often claims elections are being rigged, even before the results are known, and has waged battles against certain voting methods since he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden and falsely blamed it on widespread fraud.
  • Trump has focused particularly on mail voting, arguing without evidence that it’s insecure and invites fraud even as he has shifted his position on the issue given its popularity with voters, including Republicans. While fraud occurs, it’s rare, limited in scope and gets prosecuted, reports the AP. The Wall Street Journalnotes that it’s already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, and studies have found no evidence of ineligible people voting in numbers large enough to affect election outcomes.
  • The Guardian describes many of the provisions in the order as “legally suspect” because the Constitution gives states and Congress, not the president, the authority to set election rules.
  • “The short answer is that this executive order, like all too many that we’ve seen before, is lawless and asserts all sorts of executive authority that he most assuredly does not have,” says voting rights lawyer Danielle Lang at the Campaign Legal Center nonprofit.

How much longer will this country have to suffer from these senseless acts and get about the business of actually running, not ruining, the country?

Finally, just what the Hell is Congress doing?

Is Trump trying to male our reps obsolete?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

More Assassination Files Released

Recently the government has released otherwise classified files about the death of JFK…so this controversy can continue (seems like a misdirection to me)….

Previously classified documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy were released Tuesday following an order by President Trump shortly after he took office. The 1,123 files were posted on the website of the US National Archives and Records Administration. The vast majority of the National Archives’ collection of over 6 million pages of records, photographs, motion pictures, sound recordings, and artifacts related to the assassination have previously been released, the AP reports.

  • Trump told reporters Monday that has administration will be releasing 80,000 files, though it’s not clear how many of those are among the millions of pages of records that have already been made public. “We have a tremendous amount of paper. You’ve got a lot of reading,” Trump said while visiting the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington.
  • Researchers have estimated that 3,000 records or so hadn’t been released, either in whole or in part. And last month, the FBI said that it had discovered about 2,400 new records related to the assassination.
  • Many who have studied what’s been released so far by the government say the public shouldn’t anticipate any earth-shattering revelations from the newly released documents, but there is still intense interest in details related to the assassination and the events surrounding it.
  • Trump’s January order directed the national intelligence director and attorney general to develop a plan to release the records. A year after the Nov. 22, 1963 assassination, the Warren Commission, which President Lyndon B. Johnson established to investigate, concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone and that there was no evidence of a conspiracy. But that didn’t quell a web of alternative theories over the decades.
  • In the early 1990s, the federal government mandated that all assassination-related documents be housed in a single collection in the National Archives and Records Administration. The collection was required to be opened by 2017, barring any exemptions designated by the president. Trump, who took office for his first term in 2017, had said that he would allow the release of all of the remaining records but ended up holding some back because of what he called the potential harm to national security.

This ought to keep the conspiracy theorists busy for awhile and not paying attention to the happening daily.

However I would like to add a little fire to this debate…..

If anything, the latest declassification of records in December 2022, coming after an inexplicable five-year delay, only sparked further debate. As one poll showed, over two-thirds of Americans were unhappy with Joe Biden for upholding the redaction of thousands of documents with the vague excuse of preventing ‘possible harm’.

The facts are these: on 22 November 1963, President John F. Kennedy was visiting Dallas, Texas, to shore up support in the south for his re-election. To connect with future voters, Kennedy sat in the back of a slow-moving limousine next to his glamorous wife, Jackie. As the motorcade turned onto Elm Street towards the Dealey Plaza, several shots were heard and Kennedy’s head jerked violently backwards. Abraham Zapruder, a spectator, captured the scene on his home-movie camera.

Within an hour of the president’s death, local police had arrested Lee Harvey Oswald, who worked at the Texas School Book Depository overlooking the parade route. The media soon circulated a picture of Oswald holding a Carcano bolt-action rifle resembling the one found on the sixth floor of the book depository. A former US Marine and self-declared Marxist, Oswald had defected to the Soviet Union in 1959 and returned to the US with a Russian wife in 1962. He fitted the profile of a communist agent. His mysterious visits to the Cuban and Soviet embassies in Mexico two months before the assassination only furthered suspicion.

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/what-killed-kennedy

Let the theories abound.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Tactics To Survive

The US has entered into some unexplored regions….the whole mechanism of governing is seemingly being dismembered….some even say it is looking like a dictatorship.

The question has been asked….can we solve this problem with a political solution?

Meaning through elections.

If successful then how do we rebuild a 200+ year tradition that has been lost?

I read an article that was a bit disturbing, at least for me, of one solution.

It takes the Civil War as a pseudo solution and a possible session of blue states….

Such a situation presents an unwelcome and uncomfortable choice, but one no less real for being so unsettling. The three bad options: dictatorship, revolution, secession.

A revolution would be inherently catastrophic, with no guarantee of victory. Might a secession of blue states, either individually or in concert, possibly be less violent and destabilizing? Of course, like a revolution, a secession could trigger a civil war, but one that would have the advantage of being a defensive rather than an offensive one. Ukraine has shown us that it’s possible to defend oneself against a far stronger military power for years. And that in turn might just discourage even an enraged dictator from military adventurism.

The advantages that geographic secession might have over general uprising should of course not blind anyone to the seismic upheaval either one of these two last-ditch courses would entail. But should that “when in the course of human events” day arrive, it may be useful to have thought through what the breaking of bonds might look like.

This course also has the advantage, in the event of success, of not needing to reinvent government. California and other blue states already provide protection of civil rights and regulation of industries for their residents. A revolution certainly would provide no such protection during the fight and quite possibly not after either. And the disruption to people’s lives would be enormous.

Tactics to Survive Dictatorship: Secession Enters the Conversation

Since most people think that there are two Americas here…..is this solution likely?

There has got to be an answer to all this divisiveness….or this country is truly entering into its final days.

Please I am not advocating one way or another all I am doing is presenting an idea so keep the hate to a minimum and give us your thoughts.

Or if you have a better solution then by all means drop it on us for we need all solutions to be presented and analyzed….there is an answer….some we may not like but if we are to keep this country united and together we need to act and act soon.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

What The Hell Is This “Woke” Crap?

Woke–word du jour or should I say the word for many years not just today.

You hear the term used multiple times a day in news reports, politicians and average person and they are so cute when they use the word because most of them have heard it and it sounded cool so they want to be in with the in-crowd.

But do any of these so-called ‘intellectuals’ actually know the word they use so liberally?

This is where your lovable old professor comes into the picture….

In his recent address to Congress, President Donald Trump declared that the United States is “woke no longer.” This statement signals a shift in the nation’s cultural and political landscape. But what does “woke” truly mean, and how has its significance evolved over time?

The term “woke” originates from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), where it initially meant being awake or alert. In the early 20th century, it began to embody a sense of awareness about social injustices, particularly racial discrimination. For instance, blues musician Lead Belly used the phrase “stay woke” in the 1930s. It was a caution to be vigilant against racial violence.

The term gained renewed prominence during the Black Lives Matter movement in the 2010s. Those using it urged individuals to stay informed about systemic injustices and to advocate for marginalized communities.

Over time, the term expanded beyond its original context. It began to encompass a broader awareness of social issues, including gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, and environmental concerns. However, this broadened application led to varied interpretations across the political spectrum.

In conservative circles “woke” has often been used disparagingly, critiquing what some perceive as overreach in social justice initiatives or political correctness. This shift is evident in political rhetoric, where “woke” is sometimes portrayed as a threat to traditional values or free speech. Similarly the term diversity, equity and inclusion or DEI has also been co-opted by conservatives and others against the practice. They claim DEI initiatives prioritize less-qualified candidates over more deserving ones.

President Trump’s recent proclamation that America is “woke no longer” shows his administration’s intent to move away from policies and ideologies associated with progressive social movements. This sentiment reflects a broader backlash against “woke” culture, with critics arguing imposes restrictive norms and stifles open discourse.

In today’s complex socio-political environment, it’s important to approach the concept of “woke” with a discerning perspective:

  • Stay Informed: Engage with diverse sources to understand the multifaceted nature of social justice issues.
  • Critical Engagement: Recognize the difference between performative activism and genuine efforts toward equity.
  • Community Focus: Prioritize initiatives that directly benefit and uplift Black communities, ensuring that the core message of “wokeness”—awareness and action against injustice—remains central.

(21ninety.com)

There you have the short history of the term “woke”….

The conservatives have taken a word that means something and turned into an ugly insult….after all it is what conservatives do….twist words, terms and ideas into something ugly.

At a more in-depth look into evolution of the term ‘woke’…..this can help….

The term woke gained popularity in the United States as a synonym for liberal policies advocating legitimate causes such as racial and social equality, feminism, LGBTQIA+ rights, environmental activism, and more. As these causes become targets of far-right criticism, accused of fostering “cancel culture” and control, many of the same mechanisms have been repurposed to strengthen a sectarian and moralistic identity politics.

Woke, Identitarianism and the Extreme-Right

Now you know and can actually use the word properly (as if)…..

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”