The Brain Worm is Winning!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Scientists and public health officials are dropping like flies at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), our nation's premier research and policy institute for stopping the spread of  disease in the United States and around the globe, and protecting the health of people worldwide.  No, the agency isn't succumbing to some strange new virus, it is instead being beaten into submission by ignorance and political operatives who seem hellbent on trashing years of scientific research and medical advancement, and instead anchoring the health and well being of Americans, and those in the world beyond our borders, to crackpot medical advice posted to social media by conspiracy theorists and kooks.

The CDC, which is headquartered on its own "campus" consisting of several buildings in Atlanta, Georgia, came under physical attack on Friday, August 8th, when a young male gunman opened fire with a with an automatic rifle and sprayed some of the buildings with over 500 rounds of ammunition.  None of the agency's employees were hit, but the gunfire did kill one responding policeman.

The shooter claimed to be depressed and blamed his depression of COVID 19 vaccinations, a nonsense theory that originated and was spread on social media.

But that shooting was just an opening salvo in what is rapidly shaping up to be a full attack on our nation's disease prevention capabilities that seems to be rooted in the boss's office at the US Department of Health and Human Services.  Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, came to the world's attention over the past few years not as the eldest son of the former Us Attorney General and nephew of President Kennedy, but rather as a social media promoter of conspiracies that question modern  medical techniques and practices - such as the widespread use of vaccinations to combat the spread of disease.  

In Donald Trump's never-ending quest to "own the libs" and operate through shock announcements to keep his name in the news, he appointed the totally unqualified RFK, Jr. to head the US Department of Health and Human Services, which gave the former long-term heroin addict, parasitic brain worm survivor, and roadkill enthusiast an official government platform from which to spout his Facebook beliefs regarding the dangers of modern medicine.

In June Kennedy announced that he had removed (fired) every member (17 in total) of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) panel that was key to vaccine policy and access in America, and he replaced them with  eight people who are, by and large, vaccine skeptics.  Kennedy, in essence, reshaped the panel to give him the advice which he wanted to hear.  The reconstituted panel said at its June meeting that it would revisit some childhood immunization practices at its next meeting in September.

While some panic began to set in among the public with regard to the abrupt changes taking place at the top levels of our nation's healthcare system, many noted that a cadre of highly qualified scientists were still in charge overall, and they would keep American health and wellness from sinking into third world status. This past week, however, even that began to change - with a vengeance.

Donald Trump appointed Dr. Susan Monarez to head the Centers for Disease Control CDC one month ago.  Dr. Monarez holds a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology, has a strong background and expertise in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious diseases,  and work experience in several government agencies.  In short, she was the perfect candidate for the job of heading the CDC, and the fact that Trump made such a wise choice was nothing short of astonishing.

But the extremely well qualified Dr. Monarez was immediately on a collision course with her boss at HHS, RFK, Jr, who gets his very limited medical expertise from social media.  Last week she and Kennedy locked horns, apparently as a result of her belief that HHS policies and practices should be rooted in science, and Kennedy told her to resign and or be fired - but Dr. Monarez declined to leave.  Eventually the White House got involved and Donald Trump, the man who had hired her initially, had to fire Dr. Monarez.  Trump quickly replaced her with one of Kennedy's assistants from HHS who lacks a medical background.

Okay, one major scientist down who was replaced by an office flunky who used to work for billionaire Peter Thiel.  That still leaves several really competent scientists to run the actual CDC, doesn't it?

Sadly, no.

When Dr. Monarez left the CDC last week, four very good and necessary people walked out right behind her.  The rapid departure list included:

• Debra Houry (Chief Medical Officer);
• Demetre Daskalikas  (Director, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases);
• Daniel Jernigan  (Director, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases);  and,
• Jennifer Layden (Director for National Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology).

The CDC has been decapitated.

The adults have left the building

The inmates are running the asylum!

Consult with your family physician regarding vaccinations for yourself and members of your family.

Democracy Suffers While Jim Crow Surges in Missouri

 

by Pa Rock

Missouri Voter

Missouri's excuse for a governor, Republican Mike Kehoe, has been instructed by Donald Trump to get the state's congressional maps redrawn prior to the 2026 midterm elections with the objective being to gain one more congressional seat for the Republican Party.   Kehoe, of course, folded like a cheap card table and announced yesterday that a special session of the state legislature will commence next Wednesday with two items on its agenda, and one of those is a "Missouri First" congressional map gerrymandered to insure that the state will lose its Democratic congressman from the Kansas City area.

Missouri currently has nine seats in the House of Representatives.  Six of those are held by white men, all Repulbicans, from largely rural areas of the state, and one other rural area is held by a white woman who is also a Republican.  The other two seats, one in uban St. Louis and the other in urban Kansas City, are held by black men who are Democrats.  The Trump team in the White House believes one of those seats, the one in the Kansas City area, could be sliced and diced in such a way as to eliminate the Democrat there, and they have instructed Kehoe to get 'er done!

The current Democratic representative from the Kansas City area is Emanuel Cleaver, an 80-year-old United Methodist Minister who served as the first black Mayor of Kansas City for eight years during the 1990's.  Cleaver is currently serving his tenth term in Congress.

The Trump-Kehoe plan is to split the urban black vote in the 5th District (Cleaver's) in such a way as to render the remaining black voters a minority.   That will require moving some of Cleaver's voters into neighboring Republican districts and bringing Republican voters into Cleaver's.  Apparently Trump's map people in the White House could not figure out a way to do that in Wesley Bell's 1st District in central St. Louis - yet.

Missouri's Republican legislature, a panoply of of good ol' white boys with a few good ol' white girls, will dutifully bend a knee to Donald Trump, do his will, and then piously return to their rural homes knowing that they have done their part to make the state more like themselves, as God intended.

Democracy suffers while Jim Crow surges.

But Kehoe is planning on doing more with his special legislative session that just white-washing the state's congressional delegation.  He also wants to make sure that progressive measures never again pass through statewide initiative and referendum process.  Missouri has passed several statewide measures over the past few years that many conservatives do not like - including reinstating a woman's right to have an abortion in the state, legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes, and a state-wide sports-betting bill.   Once petitions are passed and enough signatures gathered to put a measure on the ballot, it becomes law or even a part of the state constitution with a majority vote of the state.  The less populated counties would often vote en masse against progressive measures, but they passed anyway through large majorities from the Kansas City and St. Louis urban areas along with the educated populace of Boone County where the University of Missouri is located.

Now Kehoe wants ot institute a "double majority" system where not only would the state have to approve statewide measures by majority vote, but so would each of the eight congressional districts - thus ensuring that in the future no progressive measures would ever make into the state statutes or the state constitution via the public initiative process.

The special legislative session which will begin next week in Jefferson City is about limiting the powers of Missouri voters, and decimating the powers and representation of black voters living in the state's urban areas.  It's a nasty confluence of power-stealing and racism.

I'm old enough to remember when Missouri was run by Missourians.  Shame on Donald Trump for trying to step in and run our state, and shame on Mike Kehoe for letting him do it!

Grand Jury Declines to Indict Hoagie Hurler

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Most Americans have vivid recollections of the awful rioting at our nation's Capitol on January 6th, 2021, a scene of mass carnage and destruction that Donald Trump, as President, seemed to be encouraging and failed to send in the National Guard to quell.  One-hundred-and-seventy-four police officers were injured in that melee, and four later died by suicide.  As soon as Trump came back into office four years later, one of his very first acts was to pardon all of the rioters from January 6th, an act which did not align well with his stated "back the blue" philosophy.

Now that Trump is back in charge and the law enforcement apparatus is more firmly under his control, he has once again assumed the mantle of being aggressively pro-law enforcement.

On August 23rd Sean Charles Dunn, a lawyer with the Justice Department, was taking part in a public protest in Washington, DC, where he reportedly was shouting obscenities at members of Trump's highly-prized Customs and Border Protection Unit and calling them as "fascists."  While the protest was occurring,  Dunn threw his lunch, a hoagie (submarine style) sandwich, at a CBP officer and struck the man in the chest.  No injuries were reported.   The attorney openly admitted while at the scene that he was the one who threw the sandwich.

Later that day the hoagie hurler learned that a warrant had been issued for his arreest, and he was in the process of securing an attorney to turn himself in when twenty - count 'em - twenty law enforcement officials came to Dunn's apartment and arrested him.   The officers also conveniently brought along a cameraman to film the production.  Mr. Dunn was arrested and charged with a felony, and the Justice Department fired him upon his arrest.   He spent one night in jail and was released  the next morning.

Yesterday Dunn's arrest on a felony charge went before a grand jury and they failed to indict.  The Justice Department quickly regrouped and charged the man with a misdemeanor based on information that will be heard before a judge.  The hoagie hurler has yet to make a pleas on the misdemeanor charge which could result in a maximum of one year in jail.

Protest signs are now going up in Washington, DC, wich show the outline of a man preparing to launch a submarine sandwich like a football pass.

Donald Trump would not deploy the National Guard to the nation's Capitol in 2021.  Now, four years later, he has sent them in and they are reportedly picking up trash.  Maybe if Trump had served in uniform himself, he might have a better understanding of the proper role of both our nation's military as well as its law enforcement

Just sayin' . . .

(Also, if it takes twenty law enforcement officers and a cameraman to arrest a lawyer who may or may not be armed with a sandwich, how many would it take to break up a bar fight?  The First Infantry Division, perhaps?)

Two Strong Women Say No to a Bully

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

In a move that undoubtedly sated his addiction to bullying on multiple levels, Donald Trump announced Monday night on Truth Social that he was firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, effective immediately.  Ms. Cook, the first black female to serve as a Governor of the Federal Reserve System, is currently at the front end of a fourteen-year term and can only be removed for cause.  Trump and his head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte, are accusing Ms. Cook of mortgage fraud, claiming different homes as primary residences on two separate mortgage applications.  (That charge, coming from Donald John Trump, is exceedingly rich in irony!)

As of yet Lisa Cook has not been charged with, nor convicted of, anything.

Ms. Cook chose not to go quietly into that dark night, and instead hired a lawyer, a damned good one - Abbe Lowell of Washington, DC.  Ms. Cook asserts that she will not resign, that no "cause" exists for her firing, and that Donald Trump does not have the authority to fire her.  She and her attorney will be seeing the President, or his toad de jure, in court.

In a similar matter, Dr. Susan Monarez, an American health scientist, was fired yesterday as the head of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) after only serving in that capacity for thirty days.  She was apparently asked resign by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy because she was not aligned with some of his initiatives, and she declined to quit.  She was then notified that she had been fired by members of the Trump administration, but through her lawyer,  Dr. Monarez stated that the President had appointed her, and only he could fire her - and she was not leaving short of that.

Now, while the rest of DC waits for the other shoe to drop in the Monarez firing, Donald Trump, not the poster boy for healthy America, struggles to pull that shoe off his elderly foot.

Give him hell, ladies!

Climate Change Impacts Wild Fires and Dust Storms

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Yesterday in this space I posted about the "Flat" forest fire that is currently raging in Central Oregon and has consumed more that 22,000 acres.  That fire had been threatening the scenic little town of Sisters, which I also discussed, and although it had been diverted away from Sisters, it was still less than ten percent contained.  I also quoted a finding on Google Search which backed up my belief that climate change impacts the frequency and intensity of forest fires.

Today I would like to again emphasize the dangerous impacts of climate change on another weather-based phenomenon, the massive dust storms of the American West.   

A dust storm is referred as a "haboob" by the people living in the areas where they occur, and there were two enormous ones which hit within hours of each other this past Monday.  The storms were separated by more than eight hundred miles.  One was in Phoenix, Arizona, an area where dust storms are not all that uncommon.  (I lived in Phoenix a little over five years more than a decade ago and endured three fierce ones while I was there.  Now I understand they are even more common and smaller ones may occur several times a month during the summers.). The other one that made news this week was at the "Burning Man" festival in Black Rock City, Nevada.

My first query to Google Search was to see if the two storms were connected, and the AI-powered search engine assured me that:

"Yes, a single monsoonal weather system brought severe winds and a massive dust storm, also known as a haboob, to both the Phoenix, Arizona, area and the Burning Man festival in Nevada this week."

The one in Phoenix knocked out power to large parts of the city, and forced the closure of the city's major airport, Sky Harbor, for several hours.  The haboob that hit Burning Man closed the festival for an extended period of time and destroyed some of the makeshift structures at the site.   Both caused significant interruptions in the lives of thousands of people.

I also queried Google Search as to whether the frequency and intensity of dust storms were impacted by climate change (essentially the same question that I asked about wild fires yesterday - and the answer was basically the same as the day before):

"Yes, climate change is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of dust storms by creating conditions like prolonged drought and reduced vegetation that expose soil and fuel wind erosion."

(Of course that finding is essentially a no-brainer, and even Elon's Grok could have probably sussed it out eventually.)

But, long story short, climate change is real, and it is showing itself so frequently and intensely that even our government may soon have to admit that it is a major concern to the health and well-bieng of all Americans.  Well, it will admit that if it is honest!

Stand Strong, Sisters!

 

by Pa Rock

Road Warrior

As climate change spreads across the United States and around the globe, it manifests itself in many tangible and measurable ways, and one of those ways is through the increased frequency and intensity of forest fires.  According to Google Search:

"Climate change has resulted in more frequent, intense, and larger US forest fires by creating warmer, drier, conditions that increase fuel activity and extend fire seasons.  Rising temperatures, earlier snowmelt, and more severe droughts, all linked to human-caused climate change, have been identified as dominant contributors to increased wildlife risk and activity, particularly in the Western US."

And it is the Western US that I am writing about today.

Sisters, Oregon, with a population of around 3,000, is one on the loveliest places in the generally lovely state of Oregon. It is just over 100 miles south and east of the state capital of Salem, and just over twenty miles north and west of the city of Bend which is located in the Oregon High Desert.  There is, however, nothing "desert" about Sisters.  It is surrounded by hills and large conifers, and the town, which was only founded in 1946 has obviously been designed to blend in with its beautiful natural environment.  While it is "touristy" to a point, the local population is still very "small town."

I stopped in Sisters twice on my most recent trip to Oregon, once heading west and the other time as I was returning home heading east, both times to buy gas and a drink for the road.  It was a Saturday evening when I came through on the westward trek, and traffic on the two lane road was heavy.  The man who filled my tank (still a common practice in Oregon although the law mandating that service has reportedly changed) was exceptionally friendly, told me quite a bit about the community - of which he was a native - and kept an eye on my car while I went inside to get a drink.

Coming back through town a week later, this time on a Sunday morning, I stopped at a gas station on the other side of the road and was greeted by a woman who filled the car tank while I went inside.  I asked about a restroom and thw woman working the cash register pointed m toward the back of the store.  It was locked with someone inside making use of the facilities, so I roamed around the store for a few minutes, not making a fuss, and  fixed an iced tea which I took to the counter to pay.  After paying, I left the drink at the counter and went back again to check on the restroom, and it was still busy.  About that time the cashier came back to where I was, apologized for the other customer, and unlocked the employee restroom for me.  It was a courtesy which took me by surprise and was much appreciated.

Sisters is a very friendly town.

Yesterday while listening to a national newscast I heard about a forest fire burning in central Oregon that was two miles from the town of Sisters.  It was called the "Flat Fire."   The fire had begun on Thursday, and by yesterday (Monday) it had already burned 22,000 acres and consumed just a few homes and buildings, but more that 4,000 homes were under some sort of evacuation orders.  It now looks as though firefighters were able to stop it from reaching Sisters, but still only about five percent of the fire is seen as contained.

This would be a great day for a long, hard, drenching rain in central Oregon.

Stand strong, Sisters.  Your little town is definitely worth the fight!

Chicago is My Kind of Town!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

In his never-ending quest to incite rioting in select American cities - those with large populations of people of color and Democratic mayors, this week Trump's tool at the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, authorized National Guard troops patrolling Washington, DC, to begin carrying loaded firearms.   According to reliable news reports the Guard have essentially been patrolling tourist areas of the nation's capital, places where crime is rare, an avoiding areas where they might actually prove useful - and the occupation has been a dud as far as images of crime and violence is concerned.  Maybe giving adrenaline-fueled young men weapons with real bullets can crank things up a notch or two.

Crime is down in Washington, DC, at a 30-year low, which Trump's own Department of Justice confirms, but that's not the point of Trump's vulgar authoritarian crackdown.  The primary purpose is to draw attention away from the sordid and scandalous sexual exploitation of minors by Jeffrey Epstein and his friends, one of whom has the power to launch government invasions of American cities to serve as news distractions.

In the last few days Trump has announced a short list of cities which can expect to be next in his military occupation of America.   Chicago appears to be at the top of the list, followed closely by New York City and Baltimore.   Cities where crime actually is a big problem, places like Memphis, New Orleans, and Jackson. Mississippi, are under GOP control and therefore will remain Gestapo free.

I was in Chicago for several days a year ago this month.  It was during the Air and Water show, and the city was packed.  I stayed in the heart of downtown at the famed Drake Hotel, the place where mobster Frank Nitti once had his office, which is right in the heart of downtown.  I walked the area around the hotel, ten blocks or so in all directions during the day and at night, and had meals at several outdoor venues - and felt totally safe the entire time I was there.   I also spent time on the Chicago River and Lake Michigan and never saw or experienced anything alarming - other than the bikes (in bike lanes) and mopeds zipping through traffic.  (The two-wheeled traffic will likely become the Guard's go-to easy target as they crackdown on people delivering food like thy have in Washington, DC.)

Chicago is a great American city - one of the very best!

My only negative memory of Chicago was the large "Trump" building downtown on the river's edge.  Other than that eyesore, its a great city - and I hope to make a return visit at some point in the not too distant future.

If OUR government wants to improve the quality of life in American cities, it should invest time, energy, and resources, in them instead of trying to subjugate their people with mindless toil and endless poverty.  Saving America's cities, if that is indeed what the Trump administration actually wants to do, will take planning and hard work - not bullhorns and bullets.

America needs more classrooms, and fewer ballrooms - more public transportation, and fewer military convoys - more child care providers, and fewer angry (or scared) young men with guns.

Being a pain-in-the-ass bully isn't going to fix a damned thing!

The Jackalope Trail

 

by Pa Rock

Nature Lover

A way out west where I have driven the past two summers, it is not uncommon to come across tourist merchandise featuring what some claim is a representation of a "mythical" creature that resembles a rabbit or hare with deer antlers - and is commonly known as a "jackalope," which, one supposes, represents a biological cross between a jackrabbit and an antelope.  (A cross between a jackass and a cantaloupe would bear no resemblance whatsoever to the horned bunnies on the postcards, but, if it was wearing a long, red tie . . .)

Let's begin by clarifying the difference between rabbits and hares.  Google's AI, whose name I have yet to learn, coughed up the following quick assessment:

"Rabbits are typically smaller, more compact animals that live in social groups in underground burrows called warrens, while hares are larger with longer legs and ears, are more solitary, and build simple, above-ground nests.  Other key differences include baby hares being born fully furred and alert (leverets), unlike helpless newborn rabbits (kittens), and some hares changing their fur color seasonally for camouflage."

(Most of what we have here in the Ozarks are the small, furry rabbits who are always on the lookout for a nice garden to ravage, but in my youth I did see one jackrabbit (a hare) in the wild on the edge of Swars Prairie in Newton County, MO, which is technically part of the Ozarks.  There were also several hares residing the depths of an extremely large ground-cover cactus outside of my office at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.   Many afternoos I would walk to the base quick stop on my break, buy an apple, consume it on the way back to work, and toss the core into the cactus, something which the desert hares seemed to greatly appreciate.  But I digress.)

American folklore about the jackalope creature goes back at least to the 1930's when a pair of brothers in Douglas, Wyoming, who also happened to be taxidermists, threw the carcass of a jackrabbit onto the floor next to a pair of deer antlers and a legend was born - or at least transformed into a life-like visual.  In 1985 Wyoming officially declared itself the "Home of the Jackalope."

This week there was an article in the on-line version of Smithsonian Magazine which discussed  recent sightings of horned, cotton-tail bunnies in northern Colorado not far from the Wyoming border.  The article discussed and quickly dismissed the myth of jackalopes and revealed the cause of the bone-like growths recently seen rabbit's foreheads.  The "horns," which have been known about and studied for some time, are the result of a virus that often surfaces around this time of year.  The rabbits' immune system will combat the virus, usually defeat it, and the horns will fall on later in the season, posing very little health risk to the animals in the process.

Of course it could also be the case that jackalopes are real, perhaps brought to earth by visiting aliens from outer space or something conceived at a kinky orgy on Epstein Island, and our government is lying to us like they have been about Bigfoot, chupacabras, and the Epstein "suicide."

But who am I to say?

It's time to climb into my saddle

And ride the Jackalope Trail!

A Letter from the Court

by Pa Rock

A Great Listener

 

I pulled a really bonehead traffic move while on my roadtrip out west this past June, one which I strongly suspect was filmed by a traffic cam, and I have been quietly expecting some sort of communication from that state for the past two months, an official envelope containing a ticket, or worse yet, a summons.  (My indiscretion at the wheel did not involve an accident or damage to property or any personal injuries.  In fact, no other drivers or vehicles were involved in any manner - just me trying to get turned around on an interstate at a place where it could have been allowed, but probably wasn't.)

But it has been two months, and each day I feel a little less nervous as I slowly pull open the door to my country lane mailbox.  Maybe I dodged the bullet.

Earlier this week my nervousness and paranoia amped back up when I opened the mailbox late in the afternoon and saw a very official looking letter addressed to me on top of my usual daily pile of junk mail from people trying to sell me storm guttering, dual-paned windows, or hearing aids.  I noticed the word "Court" displayed prominently on the envelope's return address, and that was enough for me.  I stuffed the government missive into the pile of junk mail and carried it back into the house where I could learn my fate in a more comfortable and private setting.  

A few minutes later after seating myself on the couch with a fresh bottle of cold water and my checkbook at the ready, I pulled the letter from the junk mail and proceeded to inspect it.  I breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that it was not from the state where I had committed my questionable turn, but rahter had been generated in district branch of the federal court - but that, too, was a bit nerve-wracking.   I opened the envelope and learned that my name had been drawn from local voter rolls as a potential juror.   I was being considered for a future spot as a jury member on some federal court case.

The letter directed me to a web sight with an eligibility questionnaire that wanted to learn or verify information like my citizenship status, contact information, length of time at my current address and in the state, and any known disqualifiers from serving on a jury.  Most were yes/no questions or things where a box could be checked, but there were a couple of places where the potential juror could enter brief comments.

I didn't try to find a way to weasel out of the selection process because I'm old and don't work, and going to Springfield to serve on a jury would be an interesting break in my normal routine.  There was one item on the survey that might have provided an escape hatch - a question asking if the respondent was over seventy (which I am), was there anything about serving on a jury that would impact my health or safety?  My answer was "no."

I doubt that I would ever be chosen to serve on a jury because I am opinionated about many things, but it is nice to at least finally be considered for service in that aspect of a democratic society.  My father was called to serve on a coroner's jury when I was very young.  A local high school boy had died in a car crash at a notoriously dangerous spot on one of our local roads, and the coroner called hs group of jurors in to view the body and watch the coroner point to the various injuries that contributed to the boy's death.  Dad talked about that experience for many years.

As a former state child protection worker, I have testified in quite a few court cases where I hoped that the jurors were really following the important things that I had to say, but this would be my first opportunity to be an official listener and one of the deciders.

I think I would like to do that.

Choose me!  Choose me!

The Powers of the Presidency

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Donald Trump sought to reoccupy the White House in the 2024 election for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the boost that holding the office again would give to his ego.  But in addition to using the presidency for self-glorification (like having a military parade march past the White House on his birthday), Trump and his family also knew that it offered an almost unlimited potential for personal profiteering, and this time the Trump Organization has been shameless in its pursuit of financial gain through the powers and connections of the office.  A recent expose in THE NEW YORKER magazine indicated that Trump and his family members have profited in the billions of dollars from his current stint in the White HousE, which is still just in its first year.

Being elected to the presidency again also short-circuited the glide path to prison that Trump was on prior to the election - with judgments, court dates, and convictions piling up.  As President much of his legal troubles evaporated from the court dockets and the news.

The presidency also presented Donald Trump with a clear shot at getting even with his perceived enemies, the people who tried to hold him accountable when he was without the protective cloak of  the Oval Office.  A return to power gave him a perch from atop "his" Justice Department to begin investigations of those who had investigated him and tried to hold him accountable for his criminal behaviors.  His Justice Department could also begin investigating former associates and employees who had shared too much information about Trump's past activities.  It was a great place from which to "get even."

This morning there are news stories on the internet stating that an FBI raid is currently underway at the Maryland home of John Bolton, Trump's former National Security Adviser.   Bolton has not been bashful in his criticisms of Trump since leaving office, and now apparently the FBI is invading his privacy in a search for classified government materials - presumably like those the FBI found stacked in a restroom at Mar-a-Lago during the four years between Trump's two terms in the White House;  

With Trump, the level of hypocrisy is often astounding.

The presidency also gave Trump a way to quickly reward his friends through things like tax breaks for the extremely wealthy - and presidential pardons for common criminals.  One of his first acts upon returning to power was to blanket pardon all of January 6th (2021) rioters, insurrectionists, and terrorists  who ransacked the Capitol and attacked police in an effort to keep Trump in office after he lost the 2020 election.

But Trump's pardon powers only extend to federal felons.  Yesterday he also tried to strong-arm the state government of Colorado into releasing a state prisoner.  Tina Peters, the former clerk of Mesa County, Colorado, was convicted in a jury trial in state court of opening state voting machines to unauthorized people in Trump's frantic 2020 search for more votes.

Peters was convicted of multiple felonies and was sentenced to nine years in prison.  So far Trump has not figured out a way to interfere in her case and free the state prisoner.  So now he has reverted to his fallback position of bullying.  In a post yesterday Trump said:

"FREE TINA PETERS, a brave and innocent Patriot who has been tortured by Crooked Colorado politicians, including the big Mail-in-Ballot supporting governor of the State.  Let Tina Peters out of jail RIGHT NOW.  She did nothing wrong except catching the Democrats cheat in the Election.  She is an old woman and very sick.   If she is not released, I am going to take harsh measures!!!"

The "old woman," Tina Peters, is sixty-nine.

Donald Trump is seventy-nine - and it is certainly showing.

I miss the old days when we had Presidents who wrote and spoke like adults, but, then again, I'm old, too!!!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!!!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

For years now Americans have been subjected to daily morning recaps of Donald Trump's crappy-assed, overnight tweets - usually random thoughts and bizarre belchings that seem to be untethered to the reality of everyday life on Planet Earth.  Crackpots in the Republican Party cheer him on, and the cooler heads in the party just smile and try not to draw attention to themselves - especially Trump's attention.

And Democrats sit in a corner, sucking their thumbs and looking the other way while the Emperor dances naked on the world stage.

Nobody in either party wants to risk political suicide by ridiculing the ridiculous Donald Trump.  America's gasbag has been safely secure behind a great wall of public indifference and right-wing press glorification.   Let him talk, it's just Trump being Trump.

But the days of being able to just ignore Donald Trump's raging incoherence and ignorance may be coming to an end.   Over the past week or two the staff of one of our nation's more prominent Democratic politicians has started responding to Trump's unhinged, late-night postings on his "Truth Social" second-tier social media platform with posts on the more widely used "X" (Twitter) in a manner that trolls (mocks) both the style and content of Trump's postings.  The postings by the office of California Governor Gavin C. Newsom are proving to be some of the hottest memes on the internet, securing thousands of likes almost as soon as they are posted.

Trump, by his cartoonish character, shallow understanding of the world around him, and personal pettiness, is highly mockable, and Governor Newszom and his crew have rolled up their sleeves and gotten right down to it.  Here are just a few recent examples:

Two days ago the Newsom team posted an AI image of a bust of his head carved on the leading edge of Mt. Rushmore,  preceding George Washingtom.  Trump has pined openly about wanting to be included on Mt. Rushmore.

Newsom, like Trump, puts lots of words in all caps for emphasis and he peppers his postings with cheap personal insults like referring to Trump  as "TINY HANDS."    (Trump calls the California governor "Newscum.")   The governor and his team, like Trump, also pepper their tweets with exclamation points, and often close with the Trump tagline:  "THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!"

The Newsom mockery of Trump is brutal, hilarious, and unrelenting.  More Americans are following the governor's Twitter account every day and are being swept up in the relief of finally being able to laugh at something the rest of the world has seen clearly for a very long time:  the emperor is buck-ass naked and needs to be scorned.  He has brought it on himself!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!

Bootheel Bastille, Hillbilly Hellhole, or Worse

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Florida got the ball rolling several weeks ago when it accepted federal funding to open a state-run migrant detention facility in a remote part of the Florida Everglades, a tent city prison dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" by PR hacks in the government and right-wing news organizations.  The concept was to make a big, memorable show of locking brown human beings away in the cruelest circumstances possible,

Florida, like so many other Republican-run states, has plenty of money to spend on fascist propaganda stunts like detention centers, but damn little for things that would actually improve the state's long-term economy and quality of life, such as public schools and universities.   But "Alligator Alcatraz" sounds cool and it gives the governor, in his white vinyl boots, a certain air of virility.

Nothing says "manliness" louder and more forcefully than the trappings of a police state.

Florida is also in the process of opening a second of these immigrant penal colonies.   The new one near Lake City will house individuals awaiting deportation by ICE, and has been named "Deportation Depot."

Tee shirts featuring "Alligator Alcatraz" and "Deportation Depot" logos are already widely available on the internet, although it is unclear at this time whether the Trump Organziagtion is officially marketing their own versions of the shirts yet or not.

The idea of immigrant detention camps  with catchy alliterative names is spreading faster than venereal disease around a military base.  Indiana now has the "Speedway Slammer," and yesterday it was announced that Nebraska will convert an existing medium security prison in McCook into  the "Cornhusker Clink" for the immigrants they intend to terrorize and abuse.   Tee shirt sales should be off the charts!

The Missouri Republican state legislature has yet to announce where they will build their state's gulag for hotel housekeepers and day laborers, but it is almost a certainty that a state with the caliber of legislators that Missouri has would not let an opportunity to dehumanize people in such a fun manner slip away.  

It would make the most sense for Missouri to place its immigration detention camp somewhere in least populated portion of the state - the southeast. I sort of like the "Bootheel Bastille," but, of course, people in these parts hardly know the basics of the American Revolution, much less the one that happened in France.  Maybe they could put it underground and go with the "Dexter Dungeon."  My state could also poach from Indiana and call our abomination the "Show Me Slammer," "St. Louie Slammer," or borrow one of Donald Trump's favorite adjectives when talking about poor countries with large black populations and label it the "Shithole Slammer."  

Missouri or Arkansas either one could latch onto "Hillbilly Hell Hole," and Arkansas would also have the option of "Razorback Hog Pen."

 

So many possibilities, so little regard for human dignity.

MAGA Lacks Humanity and Christianity

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Rightwing noisemaker Laura Loomer, a fringe provocateur who has Trump's ear (the good one, not the one he scratched in Pennsylvania), has been on a tear over the last several days bitching about children in Gaza who are suffering war wounds and birth defects caused by the war, and are being flown to the US for medical treatment.  In a just and civilized world her hateful rhetoric about the US squandering medical resources on someone other than bonafide Americans would be dumped into a dirty toilet and then flushed into the sewer where it belongs, but in our MAGA dominated alternate universe where white makes right, she is actually influencing official government policy.

After Loomer spent several days stirring up the crazies, the US State Department relented and announced on Saturday that it was pausing all individual visitor visas from Gaza - including those of badly injured children.   The next day, Sunday, Loomer posted her disgust with even that move on"X":

"The GAZA visas don't need to be temporarily halted.  They need to be TERMINATED FOREVER."

It is unclear at this time whether Loomer poured her hate slop onto the internet before or after her church services on Sunday.

Response to Thursday, August 14 Pa Rock Post: "The People Support Zohran Mamdani Even if the Democratic Establishment Does Not"

 

(Editor's Note:  Ranger Bob sent the following in an email a couple of days ago and invited me to post it in the blog if I wished.    Bob is a deep thinker and a talented writer, and I never pass up an opportunity to share his thoughts on any matter - even when they aren't in sync with my own - as with this piece.  It is a rebuttal to a posting that I wrote in praise of NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani a few days earlier..  One point Bob made with which I totally agree is that friends can disagree without being disagreeable.   We invite others who have opinions on this matter to post them in today's comments' section, or if you have a lengthy response and wish to have it presented as an independent blog posting, email it to me and I will make that happen.  Enjoy the discussion - and refer back to my original posting of August 14th for my take on the matter.  Stay out of the heat!  Pa Rock)

by Bob Randall 

I'm not a Democrat, I consider myself independent.   I was a fiscal hawk and law-and-order Republican for years.  The Repubs drifted away from me as they don't save money, they just waste it differently.  They became too Christian, insisting there is no separation between church and state.  They also went MAGA which I consider to be the American version of fascism.  I could go on.

I wrote in a Pa Rock comment about ranked choice voting a while back.   My preference for that is because a moderate has at least a chance of winning because they don't have to go through a primary process.   Said another way, the current system gives us extremists.  Well, New York City just used the ranked choice system and came up with a far-left candidate.  Pa Rock calls the winner, "the people's choice."  It was only a primary.  It is appropriate to call him the NYC Dem choice, but he's not yet the people's choice.   He will probably win the general election because there are so few Repubs in NYC.  We can argue the use of "people's choice," but it's not an important point.

This is the point:  Rock (our Pa, not the wrestling movie star) also says other Dems should support him publicly.  I say they should run like hell from him and his Democratic Socialist label.  NYC is not the US.  It's only NYC.  I would consider Zohran Mamdani's potential win as a loss for the Democrats on a wide swath.

Without deconstructing the political ideas here, the Repubs will make hay with his candidacy and more so with his probable win.  "Yep,   this proves the Dems are communists.  We gotta vote against all them commie pinkos."   Yes, they are still fighting the commies and NYC Dems just handed all Repubs and many moderates an argument against blue.  If I were a politician (I'm not), I would include the NYC primary phenomenon in my campaign speeches, and it wouldn't be pretty.

Dems supporting far, far left candidates will not save the Democratic Party.   They are leaving the moderates (and some of the non-MAGA Repubs) desperate for candidates.  Don't make me vote a third party that stands no chance of winning.  I don't want to waste my vote

P.S.  I'm not an adversary of Pa Rock, we are old friends who have our own opinions.   We can disagree without being disagreeable or angry with each other.

A Neighbor Departs

by Pa Rock

Neighbor

Yesterday I used this space to discuss a friend who departed this life unexpectedly through a heart attack a couple of months ago.  Daniel and I were out of touch when he died and it took a while for news of his passing to get to me, and then another month or so before I had my thoughts organized to the point that I felt I could pen an adequate tribute.  Daniel and I had a lot in common and were close - even if we were "out of touch" when he died.

Two days ago another friend of mine "departed," but his was a simpler departure in that he just packed up and moved away.

This friend and I were not close.   We might speak to each other once a week or so and maybe have a real conversation several times a year.  We were neighbors, and that brought us into contact whenever there was a weather emergency, power outage, or other incident impacting the neighborhood. In addition to living across the street from one another, we also had a house in common.

My home, which was built in the 1950's or early 1960's was constructed by my neighbor's father, a local master carpenter, who built it specifically for his own family.    My neighbor and his three brothers grew up in the house where I now live.  The brothers seemed to have scattered as they reached adulthood, but one remained, across the street, to look after his widowed mother when she still lived where I do today.   My house sits on ten acres, a situation which makes for a lot of work.  My neighbor helped his mother look after the place, but she eventually decided that life would be easier in a smaller place and "moved to town."  The house and property was sold to a man and his adult son who lived here several yearss, and then I blew in from Phoenix one weekend a dozen years ago, looked at the place once, and bought it.  Today it is still more work that any sane old person would want to tackle.

My neighbor and his wife built a house across the road from his mother where they raised their own children.  Those kids scattered when they were grown, like seeds in the wind, and the older generation gradually passed way.  With the relatives all gone - passed away or moved away - the husband and wife across the street both retired, something which is not as easy and carefree as it sounds.

Recently on a trip out-of-state to visit kids and grandkids they looked at a place that was for sale - probably just out of curiosity - and wound up putting in an offer and purchasing a home eight hours away from literally the only home my friend and former neighbor has ever known.

The moving van rolled out of here on Friday.

Doug, it's an adventure.   Remember that, and make every day better than the one before.  I'll keep your old home place looking as good as I can.  Enjoy those grandkids - I'm envious!

Daniel Thomas Murphy, a Friend Departs

 

by Rocky Macy

I lost a very close friend this past April and have been negligent in not addressing his passing in this blog until now.  It was hard for me to talk about.

Daniel Thomas Murphy, a PhD clinical psychologist, and I met when I returned to Okinawa in 2010 after an absence of nearly forty years.  We both worked at the Mental Health Unit of Kadena Air Base, the largest US Air Force base in the Pacific.  Daniel had already been at Kadena for several months before I arrived, so he took me underwing and helped to re-orient me to life on the small Pacific island.  He immediately became a close friend and remained so throughout my two years on the island.   My contract was only for two years, and Daniel remained in place there when I left in July of 2012.

Daniel and I were part of a small group of five or six mental health professionals who worked, played, and traveled together.   In varying combinations we hit such exotic locales as Korea, Taiwan, Yoron and Ie Shima (Japanese islands just off the coast of Okinawa), Guam, and even Vietnam.  He and I did a ten-day tour of Vietnam over the Christmas holidays in 2011 in which we traveled with a pair of Vietnamese guides in a road trip from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to Hanoi, and that proved to be one of the most  fascinating travel experiences that I had in the Far East.

When I returned to the United States in the summer of 2012, I was reassigned to Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix.  Daniel visited me there in June of the following year - the absolute very worst time to come to Phoenix - and we raced from air-conditioned building to air-conditioned building as I showed him around town.  I remember Daniel saying during that trip, "My God, Rocky, how can you live like this?"

I didn't live that way much longer, and retired from my civilian career with the Air Force the following spring when I moved back to the Ozarks and began puttering around my little farm and petting zoo.  Daniel came to visit at the farm three times, once with our friend Valerie, whom we had worked with on Okinawa, in tow.  During one of his visits I introduced him to the American comedy/drama "Shameless,"  which featured many types of characters familiar to mental health workers.  He enjoyed the show so much that he streamed several complete seasons during his visit, with each episode leading to discusions about various clients or situations with whom we had worked. 

Daniel phoned in April of 2020 at the height of the pandemic saying that he would like to come for a visit, but I had a genuine fear of the virus and put him off.  That must have offended him because he never visited after that.  He had retired to Indianapolis, the area where he grew up, and I intended to drive out that way and pay him a visit, but the best laid plans . . . 

I did receive a couple of emails from my good friend during the last few years with the final one on July 21, 2023, which he sent from Spain - with a view from his balcony in a small Spanish town.  I emailed back saying that I was envious - and I was!

Nefredia, another mutual friend from our days on Okinawa, called late one evening in early June of this year from her home in North Carolina with the sad news that Daniel had died at his home in Indiana - unexpectedly - of a heart attack several weeks earlier in April.   Nefredia had just learned the news.  After she hung up, I called Valerie at her home in Alaska and updated her.  

Daniel Murphy in death was following the example of Daniel Murphy in life, and slowly making his way around the globe.

My good friend was two years younger than me at the time of his passing, but as he liked to point out, we were both born during the Truman administration.

Daniel, you are missed by many.  Happy trails, my friend, and my your travels and wonder at the world around you never cease.

Only Thing Missing from Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks Is Ukraine

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Former KGB Agent and current international war criminal and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is meeting this afternoon at an American Air Force base in Anchorage, Alaska, with former American reality television personality and current US President Donald Trump where they will reportedly look for ways to end the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.   

Putin, age 72, ordered Russsian troops into Ukraine initially in 2014 in an occupation that resulted in Russia annexing to Crimean portion of Ukraine.   Russia upgraded that "conflict" to a major war eight years later when it invaded the country in a full-blown military assault.  That "war" has dragged on since February of 2022 with Ukraine proving to be a much tougher opponent that Putin had originally expected.  Today Ukraine stands tall as the only major impediment to Russia rolling its war machine across much of Eastern Europe

Trump, age 79, presented as little more than a fan boy of Putin during his first erm in office, but this time around the American leader  is beginning to show signs of aggravation with Putin's intransigence in not moving to end the war.  Trump appears totally fixated on winning a Nobel Peace Prize for himself and sees either having a role in ending the war in Ukraine or the war in Gaza as being a key to that honor, and right now he apparently senses a clearer path to his goal through Ukraine than he does through Gaza. 

So Vladimir Putin, a man known for his determination and cruelty will have a sit-down this afternoon with Donald Trump, a man known for his love of flattery, and together they will try to broker a plan that will resolve Russia's war of aggression on Ukraine.  Significantly, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the leader of Ukraine and the man whose nation is being torn asunder by the Russian war machine has not been invited to attend the meeting in Alaska.

What could possibly go wrong?

If Trump fails to get a "deal" today in Alaska, perhaps he can at least sell Putin some crypto, or maybe a membership at Mar-a-Lago.  It would be a damned shame to fly all that way and not profit somehow!

The People Support Zohran Mamdani Even If the Democratic Establishment Does Not

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist 

New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani calls himself a Democratic Socialist, a political appellation also used by Vermont's Senator Bernie Sanders, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, as well as several other prominent individuals who are on the progressive end of the American political spectrum.  He also considers himself to be a member of the Democratic Party.

Mamdani, who has been serving in the New York State Assembly since 2021, decided this year he wanted to move up in the political world by running for Mayor of New York City.  He ran as a Democrat and won the city's Democratic primary in late June by coming in first with over 43% of the vote in a race that featured several candidates.  His lead was so substantial that the 2nd-place finisher, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, conceded on the night of the election.  New York has a ranked-choice system of voting, so when the 3rd-place finisher, Brad Lander was  eliminated and his 2nd-preference votes were awarded, Mamdani actually won the primary election with a solid majority of over 56 percent.  He was, and is, clearly the people's choice.

Mamdani's victory in the NYC Democratic Primary was formidable - and he became the official Democratic nominee for Mayor of New York City in the upcoming November election.  

But Andrew Cuomo was not finished in his effort to become Mayor, and he has chosen to run in the November election as an independent.  The current Democratic mayor, Eric Adams, who has been plagued by corruption scandals and appears to be favored to keep the position by former New Yorker, Donald Trump, did not run in the primary, but he wants to keep the job anyway and is also running as an independent.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani tends to get people excited (negatively) with his exotic sounding name, the fact that he was born in Uganda, and is of Indian descent and a Shia Muslim.  He has lived in the United States and New York City since the age of seven.  He currently holds dual citizenship in the United States and Uganda.  He is thirty-three-years-old and married for the first time this year.

Mamdani also excites people (often positively) through his ideas and proposals for bettering the lives of his fellow New Yorkers:  some of his initiatives call for stabilizing rents, making city bus service free, sponsoring community safety programs to address crime before it happens through proven strategies and solutions, city-provided free childcare for children aged 6 weeks to 5 years, and city-owned grocery stores.  

Donald Trump has referred to Mamdani as a "communist," and spoken openly about trying to have his citizenship revoked.

The Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, has strong support for the voters of New York City.  A Siena College poll released two days ago puts Mamdani in the lead with 44%, followed by Andrew Cuomo at 25%, Republican candidate Curtis Silwa at 12%, and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams at 7 percent.

Where candidate Mamdani comes up short is with support from other New York elected Democrats.  He has the support of New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but has not yet been endorsed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries who is from New York, New York Senator and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul.  Jeffries, Schumer, and Hochul are three of the most powerful Democrats in the state and the nation.  Former President Bill Clinton, now a New Yorker, sent Mamdani a congratulatory note but stopped short of an endorsement, and Hillary Clinton did not even do that.

By and large the Democratic establishment of New York seems to be staying clear of the clear people's choice in the race for Mayor of New York City.

Democrats not supporting Democrats.  

And they wonder why we can't win elections!

The Vance Family's Big, Beautiful Vacations

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

US Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, have three children, sons ages eight and five, and a daughter who is three.  By all accounts they are normal, healthy, and happy kids who now have unfortunately found themselves living in a fish bowl where their every movement is subject to public scrutiny.

Like most American families, the Vance's try to carve out time to relax and enjoy life, but by virtue of Daddy's important government position, certain protections and privileges kick in which cause the Vance family to receive different treatment than the families of ordinary citizens would receive.  As was previously mentioned in this space, the Vance family took a float trip on the Little Miami River in Ohio several days ago to celebrate JD's  41st birthday - and because his Secret Service handlers, and perhaps even JD himself, did not want to have get out of their kayaks or canoes and pull or carry them across bothersome low spots along the river, the Secret Service had the Army Corps of engineers open some flood gates on local lakes and raise the water level of the river.  That maneuver made what the press referred to as "perfect river conditions for floating."

Bless their hearts!

This week in a pre-recorded poscast with Stepjhen Miller's wife Katie,  Vance also talked about a trip that he and his family took to Disneyland in California last month.   The fact that the family's unannounced visit resulted in longer lines for others to enjoy the rides should not be surprising considering JD's political status, but what is surprising is the glib way in which he discussed the aspects of his trip which inconvenienced so many others.

While apparently speaking about "Tom Sawyer Island" at the park, Papa Vance said:

"So we had the island to ourselves, which was very cool.  I'd never been to Disneyland.  Sorry to all the people who were at Disneyland for the longer lines, but we had a very good time."

And that's important - the Vance family had a very good time.

Meanwhile Joe Bob and Wanda saved all year for a one week, car trip to California and a two-day park pass to Disneyland for them and their three kids.  But when they got to the park not only did they have to suffer the indignity of all of the rich kids whose parents bought them special passes so that they could go to the front of the lines and make the poor kids stand in the hot sun waiting for their eventual turn at the rides, but now they also got pushed aside so a politician and his family could have some privacy and quiet time while they enjoyed the park.

French peasants solved a similar problem two centuries ago.

This week the Vance family is visiting, vacationing, and entertaining in the British Cotwolds, and the owners of the mansion where they are staying have been out apologizing to their neighbors for the "circus" that the American politician has brought along in his wake.

All things considered, I suspect the Clampett's would have made better neighbors than the Vance's.  Jed, Granny, Ellie May, and Jethro were wealthy, but they weren't obsessed with trying to show it.

Vaccines Save Lives, Guns End Lives

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

A deranged 30-year-old white man with plenty of ammunition opened fired on the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) office complex in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday.  Patrick Joseph White had apparently first tried to gain entry to the main CDC building but had been turned away, so he instead went across the street to a multi-story CVS drug store  and began firing on the CDC building from an upstairs vantage point.

The assailant, who felt that his depression was due to COVID vaccines, reportedly had a hatred of vaccines and that was why he targeted the CDC.  The young man's father also reported that the shooter's dog had recently died.  The shooter died at the scene, but it is presently unclear if his death was suicide or from shots fired by police.

A police officer named David Rose, who had a young family, was killed in the shooting, but no one from the CDC was even injured - a miracle in that at least 180 rounds were fired into 150 "blast resistant" windows, shattering many of them.  Replacement of the glass may take months.

Many of the employeees at the Atlanta CDC site have been told to work from home for the time being.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr,, visited the site yesterday and had a private meeting with the wife of the slain police officer.  Kennedy's visit with the widow and his tour of the damage were brief, so abbreviated, in fact, that one commentator noted he was on the scene for less time than the shooter had been.

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) headed by Secretary Kennedy supervises the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  Some of the employees who were in the building during the shooting have expressed concerns about Kennedy's skepticism regarding the efficacy and safety of vaccines.  Those workers believe that some statements made by Kennedy that disparage vaccines help to generate false beliefs and fears among certain susceptible people, like the shooter in Atlanta, and put government employees at increased risk.

Vaccines are safe and save lives, (regardless of what Secretary Kennedy may have read on Facebook), and guns are unsafe and end lives.

The Great DC Crackdown

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Let's begin with this:

Jeffrey Epstein was a monster and so are all of the rich old men who used Epstein's services in order to have sex with children.  Ghislaine Maxwell is a monster, too.

I have no way of knowing why that obvious reality makes the President of the United States so nervous, but it is readily apparent that he is anxious, almost desperate, to replace that topic of national discourse with something else - anything else.  For the past couple of days he has been trying to redirect our focus to "rampant, violent crime" in Washington, DC, even though government statistics show that the level of crime there has dropped precipitously over the last two years, and the mayor of the city says it is at a 30-year low.  Donald Trump is not a fan of government statistics - unless, of course, they can be used to prove whatever point he is trying to make.  He believes what he wants to believe.

Trump believes that violent crime is rampant in Washington, DC, and his belief is all that really matters.  He is going to do something about that, and he is also going to do something about homelessness in the nation's capital, too.  

Donald Trump is going to clean the place up.

Trump's big push in fighting crime in Washington, DC, seems to have been precipitated by an attempted car-jacking in DC last week in which one of Elon's former Lost Boys of the Department of Government Efficiency, Edward "Big Balls" Coristine, was either attacked in his own car by a "gang of boys" or was attacked when he gallantly rushed to the rescue of a young woman who was having her car stolen (both stories were in various news sources).  Coristine received a beating in the inccident, and Trump, who took the incident very personally, posted a picture of the Coristine, shirtless, showing his injuries.   Two arrests have been made so far:  a young man and a young woman.

Some cooler heads are contending that one attempted car-jacking does not equate to a crime wave.

This morning I saw a couple of stories on the internet which said Trump was fixing to announce plans to "crack down on crime and homelessness in DC," and he has apparently had personnel from several government agencies, including the FBI. on the streets for the past couple of nights.  He has a news conference scheduled for this morning (right about now) where he will reportedly issue more specifics.

Trump's plan for "cracking down" on homelessness sounds as though it will be focused on punishing the victims rather than fixing the problem.  Instead of funding some type of housing for those living on the streets or offering programs that would give them the skills necessary to become productive members of society and capable of securing housing, Trump's plan for "cracking down" on homelessness is, more accurately, to get rid of the homeless.  He has already issued an edict telling them that they must pack up and leave the city.  Winter is coming, so that sounds about right.  Phase II will likely be the government "helping" them to move by busing them off to concentration camps and hiring private prison companies to mistreat them.

Undocumented immigrants are going to have to move to the back of the line, yet again, while America's homeless take their place as public enemy number one.  They will be our new national focus and provide our burgeoning police state with a good reason to put even more jackboots on the streets.

The homeless will be the new national focus - and maybe crime, too - anything but Epstein and rich child rapists.  

Incarceration is a really piss poor way to resolve chronic social problems, but it is very appropriate for dealing with sexual predators of children.

GIVE US THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW - UNREDACTED!

Radioactive Wasps, Anyone?

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Next year will mark the 40th anniversary of one of the better sci-fi, horror movies to ever come out of Hollywood, at least IMHO.   Yes, it was 1986 when David Cronenberg's "The Fly" first buzzed into our lives, giving a glimpse the horrifying realities that could emerge as man tries to master his universe through science and technology.  A young and very fit Jeff Goldblum was experimenting with teleportation ("Beam me up, Scotty."), when a fly inadvertently flew into  his transport chamber just as Goldblum was breaking down to a molecular level for transport.   When Goldblum emerged from the other end of wherever he was being transported, he began to gradually transform into a large fly.

Cronenberg's "The Fly" was actually a remake of a 1958 film of the same name, but nobody (again, IMHO) does psychological horror as well as Cronenberg, especially with Hitchcock no longer among the living.    (There was at least one sequel - "The Fly II - of Cronenberg's film, and it was also far below the quality of his film.)

But my objective today is not to talk about flies, they have been around forever.  My goal today is to talk about wasps, which ahve also been around forever.

There was a story in the news last week about a collision between the waste product of modern science and wasps, and it could, at the very least, become fodder for another great "insect as predator of man" film -  or it could foretell the end of mankind.

Since early July scientists in South Carolina have discovered four or five radioactive wasp nests near a site on the Savannah River, not far from Augusta, Georgia, where parts for nuclear weapons used to be manufactured and where nuclear waste is currently buried.   Some reports indicate that the radiation may have originated in leaks that developed in the old factory, or from the soil surrounding the factory.

The radioactive nests were sprayed and then tested along with the dead wasps who had inhabited the nests.   According to at least one news source, radiation levels in the nests were low, and those of the wasps, even lower.  Uh-huh.  Officials said that radiation could not be passed through the wasps' stingers, though how they know that is unclear.  Officials (presumably the same ones) also said that the only way radioactive wasps would pose a danger to humans would be if they (the humans) were to ingest the wasps - and even then it would have to be several.   They also said that the radiation levels from the wasps and their nests were lower than the levels people are normally exposed to as they go about living their lives.  Again, uh-huh.

With technology and industry becoming increasingly deregulated, environmental protections being rolled back or discarded, science being scorned, vaccines being vilified and made less available, and modern medicine being guided by Facebook posts and kooks, we are entering uncharted territory with regard to our health and the health of our planet, and we are definitely on the precipice of an insane new world.

Maybe thinning the population has been the goal all along, and not the side effect.

Long Gone

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

In his never-ending quest to hire "only the best" people, Donald Trump selected former auctioneer Billy Long of Springfield, Missouri, to head the Internal Revenue Service.   Long did not gain Senate confirmation for the position until just two months ago, and in the interim, the second Trump administration burned through four acting IRS commissioners.  Yesterday Trump asked Long to "step aside" as  the head of the IRS and said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent would fill the role until another nominee was selected and approved by the Senate.

Billy Long, a former member of Congress who gave up a safe Republican seat to run for the US Senate from Missouri in 2022, had no experience as a tax administrator, but had been a tax adviser since leaving office in early 2023, and had briefly worked for a firm that distributed pandemic-era employee retention tax credits,  a program that was widely seen as fraud-ridden and later shut down by the IRS.  Long has also been accused of accepting campaign contributions after Trump nominated him to head the IRS.  He won Senate confirmation on June 16th of this year to head the IRS on a vote of 53-44.

Only the best!

Long's dismissal seems to be related to an inability on his part to get along with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the man who now becomes his temporary replacement.

With his abrupt departure yesterday,  Billy Long can claim the title of serving the shortest tenure of IRS commissioner since the agency was founded in 1862.  He was the agency's 51st commissioner.

Only the best!

And while the former auctioneer may have not been up to the rigors of managing an agency as complex as the Internal Revenue Service, he remains a steadfast supporter of President Trump, and Trump takes care of his people - when it's convenient for him to do so.  Trump announced yesterday that he would now be appointing the ex-auctioneer as Ambassador to Iceland.

Long then joked on "X" that he had called Trump and asked if he could join Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) like the actor Dean Cain.  "I guess he thought I said Iceland," Long lamented..  "Oh, well."

Pack those "long" johns if you got 'em, Billy!  

Only the best!

Versailles It Ain't

 

by Pa Rock

Taxpayer

Yesterday I wrote about Donald Trump's mismanagement of the economy, stressing his mean-spirited tariff's on imported goods that Americans will be paying from our own pockets,  I also highlighted a couple of examples of massive waste which we are also funding, including the one billion dollars (or more) of our taxpayer money that will go into rebuilding the enormous passenger jet that the Qatari royal family "gave" to Trump.  He, in turn, signed it over to the US Air Force so the government could pay for the needed upgrades to turn it into an Air Force One - with the stipulation that the plane is returned to his control (as a gift to his presidential library) just before Trump leaves office.  He will be able to fly in it himself for the rest of his life.  What a sweet gift - thanks, suckers!

In yesterday's blog I also talked about the Secret Service getting the Army Corps of Engineers to raise the water level on an Ohio river last weekend to convenience them as well as Vice President Vance's birthday river float.  There were no canoes or kayaks that had to be dragged across the rocks that day!  Another very sweet deal that we paid for!

Donald Trump may bellow about saving money, but clearly the sacrifices for doing so fall squarely on the shoulders of the little guy, while Trump is off flying the friendly skies and Vance is floating comfortably down the river.

Today I want to talk about another Trump spending outrage.  This one he says will be covered by his rich friends, but this skeptical taxpayer will believe that only when he sees it!

Ever since he assumed office the first time Trump has seemed focused on turning the White House into some sort of white trash Palace of Versailles.  During his first term he gave Melania authority to putter around in the yard, and she redesigned Jacqueline Kennedy'ss famous rose garden by having the roses removed.  Now, in the second term, the once beautiful garden hs been paved over, thus ensuring that nothing beautiful can ever grow there again.  The pettiness is astounding!

But it didn't end there.  Earlier this year Trump turned the South Lawn of the White House into a de facto car lot to help Elon Musk sell Teslas.   He has placed one giant flagpole in front of the White House and another behind it, and the one in the back is so big that it interferes with the presidential helicoter's access to its flight pad.  According to recent news reports, Trump has also liberally splashed gold gilt around the Oval Office and other areas of the White House in an effort to give it the same tacky ambience as his Winter Palace in Mar-a-Lago.   Trump's social insecurity is also astounding!

Now comes word that Trump is planning to add a 90,000 square-foot ballroom to the White House.  That addition alone will leave a bigger footprint than the entire current building.  One news report stated that it will be the size of a football field minus the end zones, and another suggested it would be about the same as adding a Walmart Super Center to the existing structure.  It is also being described in the press as Trump's vanity gymnasium.  And no doubt the whole place will be awash in cheesy golden trappings.

The early estimated cost for the ballroom is a pricey $200 million.

The White House has long been known as the "People's House," and it should stand to reason that if our house is to undergo renovations, the people should foot the bill.  It is "our" house, after all.  But if we foot the bill we might actually feel the need to have some say in the wisdom and necessity of such a project - as well as the design and process for building it.   Donald Trump doesn't really want the peasants having their handprints on his grand, gawdy, golden ballroom, and he has decreed that he will pass the hat and have his rich friends, the oligarchs, pay for it.  And after that, of course, certain people like Jeff, and Mark, and Zuck, and Elon and countless oil company execs will have more actual ownership in "our" house than we do.  (And buying Old Flatterpuss gifts is still a lot cheaper than paying their fair share of taxes!)

A few days ago Trump was spotted walking around on the roof of the White House, adding to speculation that perhaps he has some addition planned for up there as well.  His flunkies managed to rustle several reporters out onto the lawn where they could look up and "discover" the President peering over the edge of the building, so maybe it was just one more way to distract them from the Epstein story.*  

It almost feels like we are the victims of eminent domain or bankruptcy proceedings, and our house is being forcefully taken from us by people by the filthy rich.

I do not believe this President or any President should have the power to order physical changes made to "our" house without the consent of the owners.    A 90,000 square-foot, vanity ballroom should at least require the consent of our elected Congress, if not a direct vote of the owners!

Donald Trump is not Louis XIV (the Sun King) working on his own home at Versailles, nor is he Napoleon,  nor even Jed Clampeett.   Trump is a lease-holder who lives free on the public's dime, and he should make no permanent changes to the structure.  If he needs a 90,000 square-foot room to accommodate his ego, he should begin by discussing it with his landlords - and that would be us!

The White House is "ours," and it is not Versailles!

* (Never forget the awful crimes committed against children by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, and the depraved old men who preyed on those child victims.)