Day: August 1, 2025

What Happened To Separation?

Before I go any further let me state here and now….when it comes to religion I just do not care….it is a personal practice and should be left to that….it should not be forced onto anyone by anyone for any reason.

If you will recall the first amendment states….The first clause in the Bill of Rights states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”

And yet the Donny show wants religion at work….

Federal workers now have broader leeway to pray and discuss their faith at the office under new guidelines from the Trump administration. The changes, outlined by the Office of Personnel Management, permit employees to share religious beliefs and try to “persuade others of the correctness of their own religious views,” as long as they don’t cross into harassment, per Politico. Supervisors can also encourage religious expression, including prayer, without fear of violating workplace rules.

  • OPM Director Scott Kupor framed the move as a step toward making federal workplaces more accommodating for employees of all faiths. The White House noted that similar language appeared in a Bill Clinton-era memo.
  • Reaction has been mixed. Supporters like Andrew Walker of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary say the policy simply reinforces basic constitutional rights, provided no one is coerced or harassed. “To me, that’s simply reaffirming the First Amendment,” Walker tells Politico.
  • On the other side, advocates for church-state separation voice concern about potential pressure in the workplace. Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation warns the new rules might blur lines between personal faith and professional advancement. He questions whether employees might feel compelled to conform to a supervisor’s religious preferences, framing it as a potential constitutional conflict.
  • Still other critics note that allowing religious talk in the workplace also raises the potential for more conflict. “The more religion is allowed into the workplace, the more likely it is that differences of opinion are raised,” Stefanie Camfield of HR firm Engage PEO tells the Washington Post. “In the current political environment, these types of differences have a way of turning into arguments. In some cases, it leads to outright hostility, which makes it more likely that an employee will feel singled out and discriminated against for their beliefs.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5423969-trump-memo-religious-expression/

I am sorry if this upsets anyone but I refuse to step anywhere near some ‘prayer group’ if I were at work….I would be paid to act in the interest of my country not some form of religious missionary work.

This needs a challenge but that would be a fart in the wind for the political hacks we have at SCOTUS are worthless and not working in the interests of the Constitution or this nation.

+++Off I go to get juiced(chemo) so this will be it for today I will be trying to shake off the funk afterwards….have a good day and a better weekend….+++

Peace.  Out.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Tariffs: The Big Day Has Arrived

Today is 01 August and the pause of Donny’s yo-yo economics of tariffs is ended and the gas pedal of economic war will be pushed.

Well maybe not so fast…right on cue Donny has hit the brakes….yet again….

Hours before the midnight deadline he imposed on himself, President Trump signed a new executive order Thursday evening imposing tariffs on dozens of US trading partners. The plan confirms some previously announced provisions while changing other parts, including the deadline: The tariffs apparently take effect at 12:01am Aug. 7, the New York Times reports, instead of Aug. 1. The rates seem to go as high as 50% on imports from nations Trump wants to punish or did not make enough concessions to the US.

Among the highest adjusted reciprocal tariffs, per CNN, are: Syria, 41%; Laos and Myanmar, 40%; Switzerland, 39%; Iraq and Serbia, 35%; Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Libya, and South Africa, 30%. Canada goes from 25% to 35% in theory; goods trading under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement are exempt, per the Times. That covers most Canadian exports at the moment, economist said. A senior administration official told CNN that talks with Canada over fentanyl and tariffs haven’t been as constructive as the negotiations with Mexico, which was granted a 90-day reprieve on higher tariffs on Thursday. The increase on Canadian imports still goes into effect on Friday, per CNBC.

The order applies to 68 countries and the 27-member European Union, per the AP. Countries not named in the new order will face a baseline 10% tariff. Many countries that Trump listed in his Liberation Day reciprocal tariffs have settled in at 15% or 20%. Some of the tariff levels reflect frameworks already reached with trading partners, such as the UK and European Union. “The president has essentially reordered global trade,” an administration official told reporters.

This should inject some joy into the markets (again)….on the upside consumer prices should not rise too much during this lull.

Did Donny decide to extend the deadline because the Fed ignored his desire and did not raise points?

As long as we are on tariffs…..I have never thought this was a good idea….to me it was just a cope out to manipulate market prices…..but just how ‘legal’ are these exorbitant Tariffs?

A federal appeals court showed clear doubts Thursday about the Trump administration’s claim to sweeping tariff powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act—a law that, notably, never mentions tariffs. The Justice Department contends President Trump can use the statute to levy broad new taxes on imports, but judges pushed back, questioning whether the law’s actual language supports that authority, CNBC reports. Justice Department attorney Brett Shumate admitted that “no president has ever read IEEPA this way” but said Trump’s actions are lawful.

The 11-judge US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit panel drilled into the statute’s intent, with one judge noting that the IEEPA mentions foreign exchange and currency but not tariffs. “There’s an old expression in the law, ‘noscitur a sociis’: ‘you know it by its friends,'” the judge said. “Tariffs seems to have no friends in that statute. So, why?”

  • The 1977 law gives the president the power to regulate commerce in times of war or national emergency. Judges questioned Trump’s claim that trade deficits are a national emergency that tariffs can address, the AP reports. “If the president says there’s a problem with our military readiness, and he puts a 20% tax on coffee, that doesn’t seem to necessarily deal with (it),” Chief Circuit Judge Kimberly Moore said.
  • Neal Katyal, representing opponents of Trump’s tariffs, argued the administration’s reading of the law would let the president “do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, for as long as he wants, so long as he declares an emergency”—a level of executive power he called “breathtaking” and unprecedented in American history.
  • A lower court struck down Trump’s sweeping tariffs in May, but the Federal Circuit Appeals Court paused that ruling, keeping the tariffs in place as the legal fight continues. The case—VOS Selections v. Trump—could become a landmark test of the president’s authority on trade, potentially shaping the fate of several similar lawsuits. The plaintiffs argue that Trump has usurped Congress’ authority to set tariffs, CNBC reports.
  • Trump, for his part, has cast the case as crucial for his trade agenda and national security, warning in a Truth Social post Thursday that without the power to impose retaliatory tariffs, “our Country … would be ‘DEAD,’ WITH NO CHANCE OF SURVIVAL OR SUCCESS.”
  • A ruling in the case isn’t expected immediately, but whatever the court decides, the case is likely to end up before the Supreme Court, the New York Times reports.

SCOTUS?  That is where the Constitution and laws go to die.

Sad that this nation has no one but political hacks that will protect the system….and we all know how pathetic these d/bags are on the Court.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”