Month: February 2025

Back when Joe Biden shut down the Keystone XL pipeline with the loss of 10,000 jobs, I do not recall widespread remorse in the Main Stream Media for those who lost their jobs. Those 10,000 who suddenly were in the unemployment line were supposedly there for the good of mankind as there would consequently be less fossil fuels being used.
Now the shoe is on the other foot as an executive order issued by President Donald Trump last month instructed agencies to immediately pause monetary aid being sent to foreign countries. The administration said it is eliminating more than 90% of USAID’s foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall U.S. assistance while thousands of USAID employees continue to clear out their workspaces.
DOGE has discovered that USAID was sending billions of dollars to other countries to promote DEI initiatives, and was funding groups tied to terrorism among other things.
Now, do not get me wrong as I do feel bad for those USAID individuals who are doing to lose their jobs. They are losing their jobs, because the U.S. is slowly going bankrupt with the huge and increasing debt. At present the interest on this debt is more than the U.S. spends every year on the military. Everyone with any common sense knew that this debt was unsustainable, but no one was willing to attempt any solution … until President Trump allied with Elon Musk to form DOGE.
Certainly there will be pain for those individuals who are going to lose their jobs, but unfortunately certain things must be done.
2/28/25

It used to be that one could go out to lunch with friends once a week or so. Going out to lunch was less expensive than going out to dinner, and one would always be home while it was still light outside. It is still cheaper to go out to lunch, but now going out to lunch costs what it used to cost to go out to dinner. What changed? Here in California we have been hit with a double-whammy
First, just as in the rest of the country, Biden’s inflation has raised the cost of everything. In the context of eating out, it is the rise in the cost of the food, as well as the rise in gas prices that has caused the cost of going to lunch to rise significantly (N.B. The food has to get from the supplier to the restaurant, and thus someone has to pay for these increased transportation costs,and the restaurant passes this cost on to the customer.)
However, here in California we are further punished because we have a Democrat legislature and a Democrat governor, we now have a $20 fast food minimum wage law. Anyone with an ounce of common sense could predict that the cost of going out to lunch or dinner would escalate.

For months, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has shown job losses in our state’s fast food sector. Multiple surveys also found that fast food establishments across the state slashed workers’ hours, drastically increased prices, and even shuttered completely. The most recent report from the Berkeley Research Group shows the state lost over 10,000 jobs from June 2023 to June 2024.

So who wins here?
Not the restaurant employees, as the data shows that workers have suffered due to his law. No amount of spin will pull the wool over the eyes of employees who find themselves with less hours or out of work entirely.
Not the restaurants as many common folk can no longer go out to lunch, and certainly not out to dinner, and so many restaurants are being forced to shut down.
Not the hungry consumer who is forced to eat more at home and much less in a restaurant.
2/27/25

As the Ukraine/Russia war appears to be winding down there are two past things that we should remember when considering President Trump’s role in the negotiations.
From Tip’s Newsletter (Rip McIntosh):
“The president is well aware that in 2016 the then-Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., Valeriy Chaly, in an op-ed, inappropriately warned Americans of the dangers of a Trump candidacy and openly sided with Trump’s then-opponent Hillary Clinton, who spread false stories that the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia.

“Trump also likely remembers that in September 2024, the Biden administration foolishly air-dropped Zelensky into the critical swing state of Pennsylvania, where in Scranton, Biden’s iconic hometown, the Ukrainian president did a media tour of an ammunition factory with Democratic officials—to the outrage of many observers. Zelensky seemed to imply to blue-collar workers that their jobs might be predicated on continued Biden administration military support for Ukraine.”

As also alluded to in Rip’s Newsletter, President Trump, as opposed to Joe Biden, has a good memory. Some would say a ‘vindictive’ memory, but I will stick to a “good” memory, and he is not likely to forget what Valeriy Chaly said in 2016 or what Zelenskyy did in 2024.
Just sayin.’
2/26/25

Sometimes I wonder if the more the leftist opposition complains about a policy or a choice, the better that choice actually is. If that is indeed the case then the news that FBI Director Kash Patel has tapped former U.S. Secret Service agent and popular conservative commentator Dan Bongino to be his right-hand man, has got to be very very good news as the left is close to apoplectic with this choice.
On the left there was weeping and gnashing of teeth — par for the course given that Democrats and liberal pundits were still in the process of melting down over Kash Patel’s confirmation last week.
According to the website for his unsuccessful 2012 U.S. Senate campaign, Bongino started as a police cadet with the New York Police Department in 1995 and became a full officer in 1997. After two years spent patrolling the streets of Brooklyn, he joined the Secret Service in 1999 as a special agent. The 50-year-old father of two who beatHodgkin lymphoma during the pandemic joined the USSS’ Presidential Protection Division in 2006 and remained on protective duty with former President Barack Obama.
Sporadically, in the past I listened Bongino on T.V, and also occasionally listened to his podcast. I especially liked his take after the near assassination of Donald Trump. He did not hold back with his criticism of the secret service and their apparent ineptitude surrounding what happened in Butler, Pa.
In contrast to the whining, crying, and screaming coming from the left, I am looking forward to see how the Patel/Bongino combo goes about restoring respect to the FBI.
2/25/25

Last week, after I listened to J.D Vance’s speech
at the Munich Security Conference, I recommended that each of you also listen to what our Vice President had to say. While the elitists in Europe did not appreciate what Vance said, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hopped right on the Vance bandwagon.
From Politico:
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni came to Vice President JD Vance’s defense on Saturday, blasting the “elites” who were outraged by Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference last week. She denounced the “American liberal leftism” that she said was being replicated in Europe, and said Vance was right in his speech about the greater threat to the continent… Vance made waves in Munich with his “America First” address that left European leaders stunned, and without the guidance they had hoped for on the U.S.’s approach to negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. Now, Meloni is echoing Vance and President Donald Trump’s talking points — saying Europe has been “sacrificed on the altar of wokeness, bureaucracy and mercantilism”

Is her speaking out in combination with the results of Germany’s recent election marking the beginning of a change in European thinking?
One can hope!
2/24/25

Two fishing buddies Brock Newcomb and Tyler Dauzat had just seconds when they saw an elderly man’s car sink into a Louisiana river last Saturday. Their swift actions prevented a likely drowning, according to authorities.

From Fox Weather:
Newcomb and Dauzat were fishing on the Cane River near Bermuda when an 80-year-old driver veered off Louisiana Highway 494, down an embankment, and into the 12-foot-deep water. Deputies said the men initially mistook the sinking vehicle for a submerged boat but quickly realized it was a car. Without hesitation, they raced their boat to the scene.
Seeing the driver inside as the car began to sink, the fishermen yelled at him to lower his window. He complied, appearing disoriented and with a cut on his face. Newcomb and Dauzat struggled to free the man, whose feet appeared to be tangled.
Undeterred, they managed to grab the man by his belt and pull him through the window to safety aboard their boat. They quickly rushed him to a nearby boat launch, where he received medical attention before being transported to a hospital. He is expected to survive.

For Newcomb and Dauzat, they remain humble about their actions.
“We just did what anyone would do. We saw someone in need and did our best to help,” the men told deputies. “We’re just glad we were able to get him out of there.”

“What Brock and Tyler did was nothing short of heroic,” Natchitoches Parish Sheriff Stuart Wright said. “They risked their own safety to help a stranger in need, and without their intervention, the outcome could have been much worse.”

True heroes … Brock and Tyler!
2/23/25

As RFKJr is now our newly confirmed HHS Secretary perhaps we as a country can start to look into the life-changing scourge of autism.
For those not familiar with autism and ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) perhaps the following will help.
From AI Overview:
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the prevalence of ASD in children aged 8 years in the United States is estimated to be:
* 1 in 36: children (2.8%) 
(This estimate is based on data from the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network, which includes 11 sites across the country.)

Other Statistics: 

* Boys are more likely to be diagnosed with ASD than girls, with a ratio of about 4:1.
* The prevalence of ASD varies by race and ethnicity, with non-Hispanic white children having a slightly lower rate than other racial groups.
* The prevalence of ASD has increased over time, from 1 in 150 children in 2000 to 1 in 36 children in 2020

To me it’s infeasible to assume that an incidence going from 0.67% to 2.8% over the course of twenty years is happenstance. While some attribute this increased incidence to better diagnoses, the marked increased incidence in males as opposed to females would argue against this. In addition the geographic differences across the U.S. would argue against the supposition that the increased incidence is due to better diagnostic acumen in different states. (Prevalence estimates also differed across the 11 data collection sites, ranging from 1 in 43 children (2.3%) in Maryland, to 1 in 22 (4.5%) in California.
Among 4-year-olds, ASD prevalence in 2020 ranged from 1.2 percent of children in Utah to 4.6 percent in California.)
To further complicate the situation the incidence of ASD across the different continents seems significantly different. (Subgroup analyses have indicated that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in Asia is 0.4%, in America is 1%, in Europe is 0.5%, and in Africa is 1%.) Unlike the differences from state to state, these continent to continent differences could well be due to differences in diagnostic acumen.

If any of you know of an autistic child, you are certainly familiar with the dramatic effect that this child has on the involved family.
While neither I nor RFKJr profess to be epidemiologists, is there a way to “follow the science” when it comes to what causes autism? Is it possible the one of the childhood vaccines could be a causal factor? Is it possible the fluoride in our water supply could be contributing?
The answer to each of these questions is “we do not know.” If we were to revert to “follow the science” perhaps population studies could be designed to look at individual variables. Would it be possible to randomly remove fluoride from the water in a certain area and see if the rate of autism changes over the ensuing ten years. Would it be possible to stop a certain childhood vaccine, e.g. the measles vaccine, for a subsegment of the population and see if the rate of autism in that area changes?
Would there be a downside to doing either of these? … Yes. But would it be worth it?
2/22/25

In a marked contrast to the way things have been over the last four years, President Trump is attempting a return to normalacy. What we are seeing is the pendulum now swinging from the far left back toward the center. Might the pendulum over swing across the middle and over to the right? … Probably … Hopefully!
I just watched a four-plus minute video in which Victor Davis Hanson points this out. He emphasizes that what we are now seeing is not a revolution, but a counter-revolution. It is a return toward normal. It is a return to common sense. Trillions of dollars in deficits -> cut unnecessary government spending in an attempt to return to common sense. Three genders! -> return to normal common sense! Men participating in women’s sports? -> nonsensical as there are men’s sports and women’s sports and nothing in between. Breaking laws with no apparent consequence-> if you commit a crime, you go to jail.
I could go on and on … about tearing down statues, DEI instead of merit based hiring and promotions, flippantly renaming Mount McKinley, voting on Election Day instead of an “election month,” etcetera. I will close with the nonsensical concept of “sanctuary” cities or states, and open borders … both absurd, and what we are seeing is a return to normal. A return to common sense.
If you have the time, I would advise you listen to Victor Davis Hanson on Tik-Tok … it is well worth it!
2/21/25

Yesterday President Trump answered questions about Ukraine and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. A lot of what follows are excerpts from this Q&A session.
It has been almost three years since the Russia-Ukraine war started, and there has been no movement towards resolution, until here just recently with President Trump now directing the symphony. According to DJT, at this point the U.S. has “contributed” around three hundred billion dollars and per Zelenskyy a lot of that money went to ?.
Now those that did nothing for years are in a tizzy because President Trump wants to stop the killing. Millions of people have died with no end to the killing in sight. A lot of the cities in Ukraine are a shambles, and Trump questions how people can still live there.
Europe and Zelenskyy are offended because they are not being included in the ongoing talks between the U.S.and Russia. They both put their faith in Joe Biden and now are going to pay a price for siding with that ineffective leader who has a past record of foreign policy miscues. Consequently they are now in a position of seemingly wanting this endless war to continue as Trump wants to negotiate a way to end it.
Trump campaigned on ending this war, and those that know his modus operandi are aware that he usually follows through on what he promises. Instead of immediately jumping on the Trump bandwagon, they find themselves on the outside looking in.
2/19/25

In the midst of the recent revelations about how USAID was spending our tax money, a friend of mine commented that as a U.S. taxpayer that he was really p.o.-ed about the government was wasting his hard earned tax payments. I suspect that most rational people would agree that wasting our hard-earned money is unconscionable, but some on the left appear to be saying that DOGE and Musk should mind their own business! Either they do not pay taxes or they are so overwhelmed with TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) that they are not thinking straight as fraud can never be acceptable.
A today I saw the following on TCN and felt that it was exactly what my friend was alluding to:
You Have a Right to Be Offended
There’s good fun to be had when talking about government waste. Some of the examples are so absurd you can’t help but laugh.

8,000% soap dispenser markups. Ecuadorian drag shows. Russian cat labs. Trans monkeys.

That’s really where Washington sends your hard-earned money. We couldn’t make it up if we tried.

Although somewhat humorous, those kinds of expenditures represent one of the biggest problems plaguing 21st-century Washington: a lack of respect for the American people. No leadership class that actually admires its citizens would allow the government to light their tax dollars on fire like that. It’s like if a child came home from summer camp with a batch of muffins they made during baking class and their parents immediately tossed them in the garbage disposal. No one who loves their kid would do that.

You work diligently for your paycheck. And in economically turbulent times like these, you need every dollar. Uncle Sam yanking chunks of your earnings from your grasp hurts, but it wouldn’t sting so bad if he spent them appropriately. But no. African LGBTQ programs it is, despite America’s lack of adequate healthcare, veterans programs, education, and ability to control its ongoing drug epidemic.

The above comparison to the young muffin man does not paint the full picture. The government’s spending habits equate to that situation but worse. It’s like if the boy came home, his parents disposed of his prideful creation, then turned around and said there would be no dinner tonight. Or tomorrow. If we were him, we’d be pretty offended. And American taxpayers should be too. The public deserves a government that respects it enough to at least try not to set its money ablaze. It seems like Elon Musk is moving in the right direction.

Right on! You go, Elon!
We are all p.o-ed!
2/18/25