Blog: If I understand this

“Make no mistake, they’re coming after you,” Arizona Sen. Kelly warned at the town hall.

“All of this stuff you’re hearing every single day is so they can give a big giant tax cut to people who don’t need a tax cut,” he said of Trump and the Republicans. “We could raise the taxes of billionaires and they will still be billionaires. And that’s what we should be doing.” – Maybe the first step is to eliminate the cap on social security taxes — no limit, and some tax on at least large capital gains, for social security, too.

………………………………………

On Huffpost:

Trump Fires the FTC’s Democratic Commissioners

The president has tried to assert unprecedented control over independent, bipartisan bodies like the Federal Trade Commission. . .  Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya said on X that Trump had illegally removed him from the antitrust enforcement agency in the middle of his term, calling the move “corruption plain and simple.”

………………………………………….

I don’t know what the solution is in Gaza, but I thought a cease fire was a good start.  Now this.  Hundreds more dead as the Israelis attack.  I guess they are mad all their hostages have not been returned?  Or maybe Netanyahu agrees with Trump and wants to wipe Gaza completely out and rebuild it? 

……………………………………………

If you can believe it, when I was 19 years old, I walked the streets and beaches of Beirut, Lebanon, which was the playground of the Middle East back then.  No one bothered me.  I even sat in on the drums with a quartet in a fancy nightclub, of which there were many.  I went into some “coffee shops” where I was the only one not in a robe, pointed to what some other guy was having, and drank it (or tried to) Hint:  The rich Arab guys who went there without their wives went to some other “clubs” too.

……………………………………………

Now the Guardian, citing “two people familiar with the matter,” reports Hegseth is planning a “sweeping overhaul of the judge advocate general’s corps as part of an effort to make the US military less restricted by the laws of armed conflict.”  He has already gotten rid of some military lawyers who might oppose this.

…………………………………………..

A job:  Getting paid for what you do.

A career:  Getting paid for what you know.

……………………………………………

After a recent change by the Trump administration, the federal government no longer explicitly prohibits contractors from having segregated restaurants, waiting rooms and drinking fountains. – Is it 1962 again?

…………………………………………………..

Has anyone told Trump this: “These retaliatory tariffs will hurt America’s Farm Belt — mostly Republican states and Trump voters.  But someone likely told him this: “Trump’s tariffs will especially hurt lower-income Americans, while his tax cuts will especially benefit the wealthy.” Ahh, now he has a reason!

………………………………………………

BBC headline 03/20/’25:  US President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Thursday that aims to dismantle the Department of Education, the White House says.

Well, I don’t think he has that power.  Congress does, and he might get what he wants eventually, but I think this requires 60 votes in the Senate and he doesn’t have that many.  My guess is that he will weaken it through firings or budget crap, like he is doing to many other departments to the point where people say the dept. is no good.  This is what Republicans have done to Amtrak for decades – almost starve it and then say how poorly it is run, and we should get rid of it.

………………………………………..

From Robert Reich: “Trump’s attack on the American mind — on education, science, libraries, and museums — is an attack on the capacity of Americans for self-government.

It is coming from the oligarchs of the techno-state who believe democracy is inefficient, and want to replace it with an authoritarian regime replete with technologies they control.”

……………………………………….

Ronny Reagan would be so proud today!  — As he strode into Congress for his State of the Union speech in 1982, US President Ronald Reagan was prepared to deliver a message that resonated with many Republicans: let’s end the Department of Education.

“We must cut out non-essential government spending,” Reagan told lawmakers, vowing to cull the wider federal workforce by 75,000. – So, education is “non-essential?”  Maybe it’s just more of a “keep the voters ignorant” policy.

………………………………………….

In baseball:  I think the Dbacks will be a good team this year.  The perennial question is whether they can challenge the Dodgers.

……………………………………………

There is a new movie coming out on April 11^th, in theatres, that I want to see – The Amateur.  I have watched the trailer a couple of times and think it will be good.  Hope it comes to our local, fancy theatre!  We have lunch at our seats there.

…………………………………………..

The Trump administration confirmed Wednesday that it has slashed funds for a research program that had been tracking children believed to have been abducted during Russia’s deadly invasion of Ukraine. The move delivers a tremendous gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin.  – MSNBC — Well, aren’t they mostly, you know, poor kids?  And foreigners, right?  Who cares about them?

…………………………………………….

The House GOP’s proposal attempts to offset some of the extension (of tax cuts) by kicking millions of people off Medicaid and cutting food benefits down to just $1.67 per person per meal on average. Yet deficits would still increase by around $3 trillion over the decade. – MSNBC – I know . . . let’s have a law than takes Congressmen’s free health care away and makes them eat on $1.67 per meal!

…………………………………………….

In the “Can You Believe This” Dept.:  A Texas couple whose unvaccinated 6-year-old daughter died after being hospitalized for measles last month, marking the nation’s first child death from the virus in a decade, said they have no regrets about not vaccinating their children and would urge others not to.

………………………………………………

A volunteer doctor in Gaza:  “Israel has no trouble bombing hospital grounds. Fifty feet from me is a mosque that was thoroughly destroyed. There’s no inhibition on their part to focus on population centers.” – Update on Sunday:  DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel’s military struck the largest hospital in southern Gaza on Sunday night, killing one person, wounding others and causing a large fire, the territory’s Health Ministry said.

………………………………………………….

The meaning of the word “drop” seems to have changed.  It used to be that if a company said something like this: “Nike has dropped the sneaker a lot of players like,” it meant that it was no longer for sale, or produced, hence, it was “dropped.”  Now it seems to mean the opposite, as in a new shoe, and it has been “launched,” or “dropped” on the market.  Of course, lots of words change meanings over time.  I can think of a couple like “great” and “gay.”  Even “computer” at one time referred to a person.

………………………………………………………

One of the things I do lately when I feel a bit down is check in on the Big Bear Mtn. eagle cam. One chick did not make it.  Looks like Jackie put him out on the side of the nest.  The other two look healthy, and are eating. The surviving eaglets are getting bigger all the time!  And they always seem to have a fish to eat, thanks to Shadow.  In time, the eaglets will get names.  I read that a local 3^rd grade class names them.

……………………………………………………..

Lastly, baseball season starts this week!  Another alternative to watching yet more depressing news about Trump, Musk, Vance and the rest of the class of clowns.

……………………………………………………..

All take care,

Kevin