From The Atlantic: President Donald Trump berated President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. He allowed the Pentagon twice to halt prearranged military shipments to Ukraine. He promised that when the current tranche of armaments runs out, there will be no more. He has cut or threatened to cut the U.S. funds that previously supported independent Russian-language media and opposition. His administration is slowly, quietly easing sanctions on Russia. – lessee, so why would Putin need to make any concessions to Trump?
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WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after conservative activist Laura Loomer posted videos on social media of children from Gaza arriving in the U.S. for medical treatment and questioning how they got visas, the State Department said it was halting all visitor visas for people from Gaza pending a review. – Yeah, let’s pick on defenseless, injured kids! And who is Laura Loomer again?
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I read that many things that have a “Made in America” label, really are “assembled” in America from parts from overseas (read ‘cheaper’).
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“Vladimir Putin, smart guy, said you can’t have an honest election with mail-in voting,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in an interview after Friday’s summit. “And he said there’s not a country in the world that uses it now.” – Fact: It is very safe, and 34 countries allow some form of postal voting. Russia itself also has mail-in voting. – Trump also said he wanted to get rid of voting machines . . .my take is that he knows paper ballots would be the easiest to miscount – get some supporters in election departments to do that – and does not care how much longer (a lot) it would take to count them.
Trump’s comments contradict efforts made during the 2024 election by his own party, which encouraged the use of mail-in and early voting, hoping to turn out voters. Perhaps worst of all, he is saying that we should listen to Putin!
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Even if the DOJ “releases” the Epstein files, I won’t trust it. Would you? Trump’s toadies, like Pam Bondi, have had years to erase/redact his name from them. Maybe a Democrat or two will be mentioned though, eh?
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Another piece of good news for the good guys: Newsmax Agrees to Pay $67M In Defamation Case Over 2020 Election Lies – Remember Fox also paid up, a lot more than this.
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I like this website, but is this true? “James Madison and Thomas Jefferson were once arrested together for taking a carriage ride in the countryside of Vermont on a Sunday, which violated the laws of that state.” Provided by FactRetriever.com
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And, yes, I do watch hurricane paths even though I no longer go to sea and am far from them. I had too many “trips” (what we called voyages) in those areas and had to play “dodge the storm.”
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Yeah, about those states sending troops to DC.: Crime is actually lower in D.C. than it is in the states these Guard troops are leaving. – per MSNBC
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From CNN, with no comment needed: Trump escalates attacks against Smithsonian museums, says there’s too much focus on ‘how bad slavery was’ — yeah, along with that terrible DEI stuff, and affirmative action . . . remember that Republican hero Reagan said that apartheid wasn’t so bad, and when he ran for governor of California, spoke against that state’s fair housing act (and there are tapes of his speech, using the word, “Negro”).
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Observation: Pam Bondi is on her way to becoming the biggest liar in government, taking the title away from our Prevaricator-in-Chief. I think that Rubio is the biggest Suckup-in-Chief, after Trump called him “little” and said his dad helped kill JFK. Vance might get that title away from him, though.
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Tee shirt you can buy:
Protons have mass?
I didn’t even know they were Catholic.
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Tee shirt I did buy once:
Math:
The only subject that counts!
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Okay, can’t resist – one last tee shirt:
My wife says I only have two faults.
I don’t listen, and something else.
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Words from Trump that might end up on a statue:
““There’s no deal until there is a deal,” Trump told reporters at a press conference in Anchorage, Alaska.– Brilliant. Our president.
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From a website called “Delish”:
Mayo is number 1
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Trump now claims to be a war hero:
Referencing how Netanyahu faces calls to be prosecuted on war crime charges, Trump continued: “He’s in there fighting, they’re trying to put him in jail on top of everything else, how about that? He’s a war hero because we worked together. He’s a war hero. I guess I am too.” — Wow! A long way to go for Cadet Bone Spurs!
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In 2022, Social Security lifted 28.9 million Americans out of poverty. Nearly half of all seniors live in households that receive at least 50% of their family income from Social Security benefits. These are earned benefits; retirees have paid into the system over a lifetime of work. But the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress want to hand off the data and the funds to private equity and Big Tech. – MSNBC — I first paid into it in 1963, when I got my first “regular” job (selling shoes in a Thom McCann store in a strip mall, while in high school) and they used paychecks and kept records. And, for the record, I have been paying into Medicare since 1965, the year it became law.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration can slash hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of research funding in its push to cut federal diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, the Supreme Court decided Thursday. – From Huffpost. — Yeah, well, “WE” are taking back all the help that “THOSE” people have been getting for years, right? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
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Oklahoma will soon require teaching candidates from New York and California to take a 50-question “America First” exam to weed out those with “leftist ideology.” – Wait, is Joe McCarthy still alive? I didn’t know he was from Oklahoma.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired a general whose agency’s initial intelligence assessment of damage to Iranian nuclear sites from U.S. strikes angered President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the decision and a White House official. – Well, you gotta go along with Trumpy or else!
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Claire McCaskill says Republicans should be asking this: “Why were the tax cuts for billionaires made permanent, with no sunset clause, and the tax cuts for overtime and tips made temporary?” – I can think of other questions, but coming from a R, ok.
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Historical Curiosity: In the summer of 1930, the U.S. secretaries of war and the Navy developed War Plan Red, a 94-page document laying out detailed plans to strangle the naval and trade capabilities of the United Kingdom in a hypothetical future that involved the U.S. and U.K. at war with each other. – didn’t know that. The plan was not declassified until 1970. Perhaps part of the reason that many in Germany thought the US would enter the war on their side. They also knew our history in our Revolutionary War and War of 1812, and that we had a great many German-Americans here.
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Helping Dad Drive
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All from me. Going away for a couple of days this week, to San Diego. But I will be back on Saturday and should have at least a note or two to post next Sunday.
All take care,
Kevin
Blog: If I understand this 
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