Category: Uncategorized

I’m sure that a lot of you remember how President Trump dealt with our enemies in the Middle East. He was pro-active. That approach worked because they only understand a show of force.

In addition President Trump designated the Houthi’s as a terrorist organization. As most of you remember, Joe Biden almost immediately removed the Houthi’s from this list. In the last few months the Houthi’s have been terrorizing shipping in the Yemen-Somalia Red Sea area. As a reaction to this, Joe Biden moved many American Navy ships into the area. Finally, Biden re-designated the Houthi’s as a terrorist group, and subsequently reactively started firing missiles into the Houthi’s locations in Yemen. Too little? Too late?

In January, two Navy SEALS were presumed by the U.S. military to have died after going missing during an operation near the coast of Somalia, although few details were provided. Officials said they were attempting to seize Iranian-made weapons that were being sent to the Houthi terrorist group based in Yemen, which has carried out a number of attacks on U.S. military ships and commercial vehicles since the start of the Israel–Gaza conflict.

Now on Jan 28, 2024 after months of attacks on our troops stationed around the Mideast, what everyone knew was very possible, happened.

Three American servicemembers were killed early on Jan. 28 in a drone attack on a small U.S. base in Jordan, the Biden administration said in a statement. At least two dozen other troops were injured in the incident, according to U.S. officials.

They were the first U.S. fatalities after at least 150 strikes by Iranian-backed groups against American forces across the Middle East. Joe Biden vowed to hold the perpetrators to account; so far, no organization or government has claimed responsibility.

Two important things:

First, Two months of attacks on our troops. Not two days. Not two weeks. But two months! More than 150 attacks on our troops. Not ten. Not fifty. Not one hundred. But more than 150!

Second, Joe Biden has now vowed to hold the perpetrators accountable. Perhaps, if Joe Biden was more pro-active, these three servicemen would still be alive, and he would not have to now be reactive.

1/29/24

The following is an amazing Sunday story from Epoch Inspired:

Mr. Sean Desmangles’s son, 18-year-old Niem, was born with a rare blood disorder that caused brain damage, preventing him from developing and leaving him unable to talk or walk. Every three weeks, his father chaperones him to NYU Langone Health for a blood transfusion.

When Niem turned 18, it got difficult for Mr. Desmangles to continue carrying his son up and down the stairs so he created a GoFundMe page to raise money for a stairlift.

“Sometimes you have to swallow your pride when it comes to doing stuff for family,” Mr. Desmangles told The Epoch Times. “I was trying to figure all my friends, send them the links.”

Mr. Desmangles also reached out to Officer Abdelaziz, whom he’d known for more than a decade.

New York City Police Officer Kareem Abdelaziz, 38, and his brother, New York Fire Department Lt. Abdelrahman Abdelaziz, 43, have known 51-year-old Sean Desmangles since he moved to their neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, from St. Lucia in the Caribbean for better medical care for his teen son.

“He was a customer at my dad’s convenience store that we had for nearly four decades,” Officer Abdelaziz said. “He would bring his disabled son in a wheelchair on a daily basis, buy groceries, and hang out on the weekends.”

When Officer Abdelaziz first learned about Niem’s condition, he became very emotional.

“It’s a lifetime condition that he has to live with so it was just more about supporting him and his family from day one,” he said.

So when Mr. Desmangles sent the GoFundMe link to Officer Abdelaziz on a December morning asking for help, he immediately reached out to his brother.

‘I didn’t even get to finish my sentence; my brother absolutely said, ‘We’ll help him out, there’s no question about it,’” the officer said. “I hung up the phone. I got my thoughts together, my emotions together, and I reached out to Sean.’”

To make a long story short the Abdelaziz brothers funded the installation of the stairlift. After the stairlift was installed, Mr. Desmangles was able to show the life-changing apparatus to his son. It “meant a lot” for the Abdelaziz brothers to relieve their friend’s burden ahead of the holiday season.

“In the afternoon my son came and used it for the first time,” Mr. Desmangles said. “My son had the right to smile, and, for me, it was a great help because no more carrying over steps. He is heavy, he is big.”

Kudos to these two brothers. Certainly New York’s finest!

1/28/24

Even though it is only January I already have two candidates for “Bozo of the year!” (Last year the “Bozo of the year” serendipitously had a last name that began with ‘B,’ but that is not a hard and fast rule.)

The first candidate is Swiss banker, Hubert Keller.  

From Valuetainment: 

During a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland last week, Swiss banker and ‘agenda contributor’ Hubert Keller said coffee production is bad for the environment and is exacerbating climate change.

At a panel discussion Keller said, ‘The coffee that we all drink emits between 15 and 20 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of coffee… Every time we drink coffee, we are basically putting CO2 into the atmosphere.”

Keller went on: ‘And one of the reasons is because most of the coffee plantation or most of the coffee is produced through monoculture and monoculture is also affected by climate change… The quality of these natural assets is deteriorating quite rapidly.’

Not surprising, Keller is a managing partner of global wealth management firm Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch, a bank deeply committed to Environmental, Social, and corporate Governenace (ESG) philosophy.

However before you cast your “Bozo of the year” vote for Keller, consider another WEF speaker, Jojo Mehta, who described fishing and farming as environmentally destructive activities. She advocated for destructive activities to be recognized as “ecocide” under new international laws that would punish crimes against nature in the same way genocide is prosecuted.

BTW: Jojo Mehta, the co-founder and CEO of Stop Ecocide International, which compared the side effects of “farming,” “fishing,” and energy production to mass murder and torture. Her organization is currently working with diplomats, politicians, corporations, NGOs, and academics to advocate for the recognition of such acts of “ecocide” as serious crimes.

I am sure as the months pass by, other noteworthy candidates will arise.

However, keep in mind that future candidates do not have to be members of WEF!

1/27/24

To me throughout this whole Jan 6th thing there are many things which just do not add up. Each take individually .. well okay. But when one questionable thing is on top of another … my suspicion antenna goes up.

First, there is the Jan 6 house panel on which Nancy Pelosi would not put a reasonable Republican representative, but rather chose two very suspect pseudo-Republicans, neither of which will be back in the House. 

Then as has recently become apparent, that committee released only partial selected tapes of what happened. Apparently what was withheld did not fit the forgone conclusion that the Democrats had predetermined ahead of time.

Many many FBI agents (some think up to 200) were infiltrated into the crowd, and although there were many suspicions that something untoward was going to occur on that day, nobody felt that additional security was necessary. I still cannot understand that, and thus far there has been no credible explanation for the absence of additional security.

The doors to the Capitol were held open by those on the inside … very mysterious!

Next, the only one who died on that day was a rather small female Air Force veteran. She was unarmed and yet was shot point blank. The individual who shot her was neither charged nor prosecuted. Apparently this  shooting was quietly “taken cate of” by someone who knew best.

In December, the Supreme Court decided it would take up the appeal by Jan. 6 defendant Joseph W. Fisher of the Biden administration’s novel use of an Enron-era evidence-tampering law to prosecute hundreds of defendants for obstruction of Congress during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol incident.

Many of these defendants were charged with obstruction of Congress based on 18 U.S. Code Section 1512(c)(2), or “Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant.”

Several legal experts have said, in earlier interviews that the high court is likely to find that 1512(c)(2) is being improperly used against Jan. 6 defendants.

The implications extend beyond individual cases to the core strategy employed by the Justice Department (DOJ) in securing convictions.

Defense lawyer Kira Anne West, who has been involved in more than 50 Jan. 6 cases, has accused the Justice Department of overreach in prosecuting some of the approximately 1,300 Jan. 6 cases.

Ms. West, who volunteered to defend dozens of Jan. 6 defendants, said during a recent C-SPAN “Booknotes” podcast that most of her Jan. 6 clients had neither a criminal history nor did they engage in any violence that day.

“Some simply went into the building, turned around, and went out,” she said. “Many were in for a very short period of time, less than 20 minutes. Yet the government is charging them with felony charges that you can get up to 20 years in prison for. That makes absolutely no sense to me.”

Going into the Capitol on January 6th is not excusable. A misdemeanor … yes, but a felony warranting 20 years in federal prison? … not hardly!

Hopefully the Supreme Court will make amends for turning its back on all of the fraud and illegality surrounding the 2020 election. If they had done what they should have done in the first place, January 6th would have never happened.

1/26/

Initially I was going to start this piece by saying, “I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but …” However it then dawned on me that a lot of readers would not be familiar with a ‘record,’ never mind a ‘broken record’!

So I changed gears.

Suffice it to say, I have written many times about the many pitfalls of  marijuana legalization, and here is another one.

From NewsNation:

“New data suggests more people who use marijuana experience psychotic episodes. In some cases — particularly in young people — it can lead to permanent psychiatric disorders.

Truveta, an analytics firm, reports diagnoses of marijuana-induced psychosis emergency department visits increased by more than 50% between 2019 and 2020. Additionally, the rate of cannabis-induced disorder emergency visits continued to increase through 2023.

“A 2017 study in the American Journal of Psychiatry found even one psychotic episode after cannabis use increased the risk of developing schizophrenia or bipolar disorder by 47%. The risk was found to be higher for those between the ages of 16 and 25.

‘You have to be very careful, particularly careful, using cannabis if you have a family history of bipolar or schizophrenia because you are particularly vulnerable,’said Dr. Peter Grinspoon.

“Critics argue the research should differentiate between types of marijuana and its effects on psychosis.

Doctors urge teens to wait until they’re adults to use cannabis, as it is much safer.”

I sometimes wonder who is the big pusher of marijuana. Is it George Soros or the devil … assuming those are actually two different entities.

Either way neither marijuana induced bipolar disorder nor schizophrenia go away. Ergo, I say particularly to young people, “just say no!”

1/25/24

Sport’s Illustrated has just gone the way of Bud Light and Target. Just last week the iconic magazine fires all of its staff. Rather than focus on this year’s disastrous Swimsuit Issue, I thought that the following article from the Babylon Bee said it much better than I ever could. 

Babylon Bee 1/19/24:

“NEW YORK, NY — After sending a company-wide email to notify all of its staff that they were being laid off, a top executive at iconic publication Sports Illustrated contemplated how things turned out so wrong as he stood in front of framed covers of obese and trans swimsuit models.

“I just don’t know where things went south,” said Jack Weber. “Did we not get woke enough? Should we have featured trans models even earlier? Was the heavy woman we put on the cover not heavy enough? What was it? Maybe we should’ve given more consideration to plastering the Pride flag on our cover back in June. I was certain we signaled the appropriate amount of virtue for every possible cause and movement out there. It just makes no sense.”

The magazine, long seen as the authoritative source for all sports news, finally cut loose all its workforce after realizing no one was reading the publication anymore. “This really threw us for a loop,” Weber said. “We had so many big things planned to turn things around. A salute to Caitlyn Jenner. Naming Lia Thomas our Female Athlete of the Year. We were even in negotiations to have Lizzo as a special celebrity cover model for the swimsuit issue this year. Now, all of that will be lost.”

At publishing time, Sports Illustrated announced it had found a new solution to its problems by hiring an entirely new staff that would be the most diverse and inclusive in the history of sports news publications.”

Perhaps from now on we can refer to Sport’s Illustrated as the ‘Bud Light’ of magazines!

“Requiem in pace.”

1/24/24

Is it possible that we are now seeing the first of the dominos to fall? Is it possible that after what just happened at Ford and Hertz that we will see many similar things at GM or Avis?

For those who are not aware recently realistic thinking came to both Ford and Hertz. The reality appears to be that the market for EVs is not what the government is forcing down the throats of American citizens.

First, from The Epoch Times:

“Ford to Scale Down EV Production, Transfer Crew to Gas Vehicle Assembly Plant”

“Ford’s decision came amid reports that electric vehicles are piling up at dealers’ parking lots and more Americans are hesitant to buy electric vehicles.

Ford Motor Company will transfer some workers from the F-150 Lightning assembly line at Rouge Electric Vehicle Center to another plant for gas-powered vehicles.

The company made the move to “meet demand for the popular Bronco and Bronco Raptor and the all-new Ranger and Ranger Raptor.”

The crew at the Michigan Assembly Plant will work seven days a week on two shifts after the transition.”

Meanwhile at Hertz:

“Rental firm Hertz Global Holdings is selling about 20,000 electric vehicles, including Teslas, from its U.S. fleet about two years after a deal with the automaker to offer its vehicles for rent.

The company will instead opt for gas-powered vehicles, it said on Jan. 11, citing higher expenses related to collision and damage for EVs even though it had aimed to convert 25 percent of its fleet to electric by 2024 end.

The car rental giant lists more than 700 EVs on sale, including BMW’s i3, Chevrolet’s Bolt, and Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y SUVs. It is selling some Tesla Model 3s for as low as about $20,000, nearly half the purchase price for the cheapest variant of the compact sedan, according to its used car website showed.

Analysts expected Hertz’s latest move will press the price of used electric vehicles lower.”

To me while this is big news, it is not unforeseen as both Ford and Hertz are out to make a profit. If consumers are not buying or renting EVs then this was bound to happen. Is it possible that the pendulum is now starting to swing?

1/23/24

If there are to be programs that favor low income individuals, and I think there should be, then these programs need to be made available to all low income individuals and families of all races.

Seems like common sense to me, and especially since in June the Supreme Court ruled against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina’s affirmative action policies in a decision that had a profound effect on the admissions processes at universities across the country.

From the Daily Wire:

“A group of Asian parents filed a federal lawsuit this week claiming that New York’s state-funded STEM summer program is declining to accept their children in favor of black and Hispanic students.

The parents sued New York’s Department of Education on Wednesday, Jan 17, over the Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP), claiming that black and Hispanic kids are accepted to the program regardless of their income while Asian and white kids must show proof of their low-income status.

‘In other words, the Hispanic child of a multi-millionaire is eligible to apply to STEP, while an Asian American child whose family earns just above the state’s low-income threshold is not, solely because of her race or ethnicity,’ the lawsuit alleges.

The free program accepts about 11,000 students in 7th grade and up every year for classes at 56 colleges and medical schools across the state, the New York Post reported. The program features “instruction, exam preparation, hands-on and research training, college admissions guidance and career-focused activities such as field trips and college visits.”

The program’s website says it accepts ‘economically disadvantaged, or African American, Hispanic/Latino, Alaskan Native or American Indian” students.’”

Even though these STEP  admission based criteria have been present since it’s inception in 1985, it is likely that these restrictions are no longer going to pass muster. If a program is for low income families, then it should be for all low income families, and only low income families.

1/22/24

On Sundays I write about individuals who are worthy of our praise. These individuals are not restricted to us hoi polloi, but can also include those more famous individuals.

Earlier this month, “Reacher” star Alan Ritchson said during an interview that he actually imitated his show’s crime-fighting character, Jack Reacher, while on date with his wife when they saw a crook breaking into car.

According to Ritchson

“We were on a date in Montreal walking to a very nice dinner all dressed up, and we saw somebody breaking into a car. And, like, she put it together before I did,” Ritcher recalled noting that there was “glass everywhere” and a crook was “rooting through somebody’s stuff and came out with all these bags.”

He added that his wife said, “I think he’s breaking into that car.” Richter’s response? “By gosh, I think you’re right.”

“And she goes, ‘Don’t do it!’ And I was like, ‘Instant Reacher Mode,’ and I was like, ‘Some justice has to be done here.’ And I chased that dude like four blocks until I tossed him into a building and the cops came,” Richter added.

According to the Internet Movie Database, the hit Amazon series “Reacher” focuses on a retired Military Police officer who’s arrested for a murder he didn’t commit.

It nice to hear that movie stars are sometimes like real people, and do what is the right and the brave thing to do. Kudos to Alan Ritchson.

1/21/24

To me throughout Biden’s immigration nonchalance, one thing is abundantly clear … he and the rest of his Democrat colleagues seem to have no concept of “what do we do, if?”

As I have alluded to many times before, liberals are mostly ‘midbrain thinkers,’ which means that most, if not all, of their thinking is based on emotion. Both logic and the ability to plan ahead are just not in their bailiwick, and often they appear confused and bewildered when problems arise … problems which could have been, and should have been, foreseen.

For example, let’s look at the masses of illegals that Biden et al have allowed to just stroll across our southern border. Did Biden and his Democrat colleagues ever consider that these multitudes would make their way north? It gets cold up north in the winter, and since most of these illegals come from much warmer climates, they are not aware of, nor are they prepared for the cold. So of course, what transpires? Since it is dangerous for anyone to have to spend the night in sub-freezing temperatures, these illegals are then brought inside to schools or recreation centers which are used by U.S. children.

What happens next? Predictably, the U.S. children are told that these facilities are no longer available to them. The parents of these children are then forced to fend for themselves as someone needs to care for these children especially during the day. Predictably, as is often the case with Democrat policies, those in the lower socioeconomic strata are hurt the most as they cannot work online.

When the mayors of both New York and Chicago plead to Joe Biden for federal help, they are ignored. It’s as if this problem could not have been predicted! Yet, Biden and his colleagues seem to be of the “hear-no-evil,’ see-no-evil’ mentality! Indeed this easily foreseen issue should have already been considered … “what shall we do, if?”

Likewise in Denver from National Review:

“Financial Stress from Migrant Crisis Threatens to ‘Break’ Denver Hospital System, CEO Says”

Similar to ‘it gets cold up north in the winter,’ everybody should realize that these illegals have medical issues. In fact, I would guess that as a group, they have comparatively more medical issues than permanent residents …. for a variety of obvious reasons. This issue should not have a surprise, and yet those who have purposely opened our border, are apparently clueless as to what to do about it. The mayor of Denver has appealed to the feds for help … but again he is receiving a ‘hear-no-evil,’ ‘see-no-evil’ response from Biden and the feds. Thing foreseeable problem should have already been considered … “what shall we do, if?”

1/20/24