Blog: If I understand this

MSNBC:  Trump is carrying out a power grab the likes of which the U.S. has never seen

Once the president realized how hard it was to legislate, he turned away from it and has never really come back.  He ignores judges, too, except when they agree with him.

……………………………………..

If I Understand This:

The federal government on Saturday dismissed charges against a Utah plastic surgeon accused of throwing away COVID-19 vaccines, giving children saline shots instead of the vaccine and selling faked vaccination cards.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on the social media platform X that charges against Dr. Michael Kirk Moore, of Midvale, Utah, were dismissed at her direction.  Your AG, at work for truth, justice, and the American way!

…………………………………

A bit of history for your Republican friends (if you have any):  While Reagan is universally known for cutting taxes, Americans are less aware today that he also raised them, repeatedly, a total of 11 times over his two terms. His Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, in fact, was among the largest tax increases in U.S. history.

………………………………..

Many government agencies are becoming dysfunctional due to budget constraints.  In many, you can still use a government credit card – for purchases under one dollar, and no, I am not kidding.   In FEMA, you cannot just buy a replacement part, locally, where you are, even for say, a shovel.   This, on top of leader Noem saying you can’t spend over $100k without her signature.  Update: how did that work out for Texas?

…………………………………

From the New Yorker, 7/15/2025:  Trump’s dismantling of the Department of Education: In an unsigned order yesterday, the Supreme Court permitted the Trump Administration to fire some thirteen hundred employees from the D.O.E., overturning two lower-court decisions and effectively green-lighting President Trump’s plan to destroy the agency.  — Only Congress can remove an agency like this, so Trump is dismantling it so it can’t function.

…………………………………..

………………………………….

Trump, about Jeffrey Epstein: “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Trump said. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.” – Update, now Trump Says Comey, Biden and Obama ‘Made Up’ The Epstein Files – Wait, that’s not what  his AG said!  She said the files were on her desk.  So, was she lying then or now?  — I think there are files (and bribery) and Trump’s name is all over it, why you might never see them, at least not until they have been wiped clean.  Just me, maybe.

…………………………………..

In baseball:  the All-Star Game is tonight, and, as usual for the last many years, I probably won’t watch it, or much of it. This, in spite of the fact that when I was a kid, I would not miss it for anything.  What changed?  TV coverage.  When I was a kid in Connecticut, we had rabbit ears, then a rooftop antenna.  We could get a few stations from New York City, so we got some Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants games, mostly all on weekends.  So, if you liked a player from any other team, you only saw them on TV when they played a NY team.  Therefore, the All-Star game was a big deal to me.  I could see all the best players in one game!  Now, you can get almost any game, anywhere, on any day.  The game is not special.  Also, I learned than many of the players don’t bother with it; some of the best players don’t even go, usually faking a minor injury, because they would rather have a few days off.  Guys like Bonds would play a few innings, then go to his private plane and be home before the game ended.  That effort a few years ago to make the game mean something – by giving the winning league home field advantage in the World Series — was a flop.  Why, for example, would a Red Sox player do anything that might help the Yankees in the World Series?

………………………………

I have learned how to download eBooks on my iPad, thru the Apple Books app, and change the font, line spacing, and word spacing!  A simple thing to some younger folks, but this is cool because I don’t have to worry about ordering a hard copy book, and then be disappointed that the font is so small that, in spite of my improved eyesight (surgeries), it is difficult to read.

My first use of the app was a purchase of one of my own, as it is an audio book now, and I wanted to listen to it — it was generated by AI (for free, an offer I could not refuse).  Now I have the new Ron Chernow biography of Mark Twain, as an eBook, and like it a lot.

………………………………….

In the Even More Hypocrisy Dept.:  The lead investigator in the conspiracy-driven effort to discredit Joe Biden’s presidency — because Biden occasionally used an autopen to sign documents — uses digital signatures.

………………………….

Women’s tweet of the day:  ‘I’m glad I got married and had kids so I could always be surrounded by people who can’t find anything.”

……………………………

Do You Know Dept.:  What the letters in the emergency message, S-O-S stand for?

“Save our Souls” you say?

No.  They don’t stand for anything.  Simply easy and quick to send via Morse code.  Or:

 . . . – – – . . .

………………………………

From MSNBC:  Trump says he was surprised that Jerome Powell, the Fed chair he appointed, was appointed – Well, he did say that “No one knows what I am going to do.”  I assume starting with himself.

………………………………

Headline on BBC:  The happy couple realised their would be a scheduled flypast and were surprised with a smoke display. – “Their?”  I know the English are different, but really!

……………………………..

Didja Know Dept.:  that Woody Guthrie was in the Merchant Marine during WWII?

……………………………..

Well, another cosmic event that I don’t think I could ever really grasp the dimensions of:

Using ripples in space-time predicted by Einstein, researchers detected a cosmic merger of unprecedented proportions. A collision between two black holes — each more massive than 100 suns — is the largest of its kind ever recorded, astronomers said.  From CNN.

……………………………….

And I thought it was bad to have one’s head “in the clouds.”

All from me for now

Take care,

Kevin