Thomas Sowell's Right, You Know.....

 We've said the same thing in another venue.  

Glad Sowell is here to remind the US Catholic Conference of FIRST things.

 

All Show, No Go, Donald.....

This showed up at AND Magazine, authored by an anonymous ex-spook with umpty-ump years' experience in Central and Latin America.  His topic is the upcoming election in Colombia.

 ...Venezuela’s Marxist regime is still firmly in power. The arrest of Nicolas Maduro and the naming of his friend Delcy Rodriguez as “president” of Venezuela have not resulted in any significant changes in the oppressive Chavez/Maduro government. Venezuelans still live in fear and misery, and they are still threatened by regime thugs if they dare to protest. It appears that an amoral gang of American businessmen with interests in Venezuela pushed President Trump to settle for the illusion of “stability” and oil, rather than freedom for Venezuela. We will pay a heavy price for the incompetence of our Latin American intelligence analysts who fell for this dirty deal and urged it on Trump. A recent article in Politico suggests that some of the worst actors, including a Palm Beach bottom-feeding oil and asphalt mogul, are now under investigation by the FBI for their shenanigans.

If Colombia falls into the hands of Cepeda, the two countries will form a bloc that Trump will be unable to deal with. It will be a disaster for American foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere. If Abelardo is elected, President Trump’s stance in Venezuela will become untenable. Unlike the fools who urged on Trump a false plan of “stability” under Delcy Rodriguez, de la Espriella knows exactly what Delcy Rodriguez is and what she, Chavez, and Maduro have done to Colombia. There will be no “peaceful co-existence”. Abelardo de la Espriella is a friend of the United States, but he will not pretend to be a friend of the junta in Caracas. He was the lawyer for Alex Saab, Maduro’s major bagman. Not even a towering diplomatic intellect like Jared Kushner* will b.s. him into seeing the Delcy Rodriguez regime as illegitimate and criminal....

Cepeda=Very Bad.  Abelardo=Good Guy, but no fool. 

*Denotes heavy sarcasm.

Can Trump do as badly in Central America as he has done in Iran?

Stay tuned. 

Eight Years of Evers: Hiring Takes a Dump

 After only eight years of Tony Evers--not to mention a less-than-friendly tax and regulatory environment--Wisconsin doesn't look very good here.

 

Pp Leo Gets It!

Finally.  Someone told him about reality.

 U.S-born Pope Leo XIV sharply criticized the advocates who encouraged the deadly migrations that have killed many thousands of migrants over the last 10 years....

... "Mafias that profit from despair, traffickers who enslave women and children, and those whose indifference allows the poor to be swallowed up by exploitation or forgetfulness." [he said.]...

... In a later June 12 speech in Spain, the pope also told migrants — including self-segregating Muslim migrants — that they should integrate themselves into the host countries: “Open yourselves with trust to the community that welcomes you, to learn its language, to respect its laws, to get to know its customs, to participate in communal life, and to offer your gifts with gratitude.”...

That might take a few more weeks, Holiness. 

The Pope also took a not-too-subtle slam at "economic migration":

... "While there is a right to seek refuge when life is threatened, there is also the right not to have to migrate: the right to remain in one’s own home without hunger, war, persecution, violence, the land becoming uninhabitable, corruption stealing the bread from the poor or weapons destroying the future of children. We cannot grow accustomed to counting the dead."...

Sending JDVance over there to chat has had good effects.

Now, someone please inform the Bishop of El Paso. 

USCC Loses All on Immigration Law

 Perhaps the US Bishops confused Trump with Biden?

 President Donald Trump signed legislation June 10 providing US$70 billion to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol.

Prior to the bill's passage, the US bishops were among those who urged lawmakers to make immigration policy reforms aimed at protecting the dignity of migrants, such as efforts to prevent the separation of families.

However, after months of debate over possible reforms, none of those measures were ultimately included in the final bill as negotiations in Congress fell apart....

The Bishops' extreeeeeeme left-wing advisors didn't want "reforms."  They wanted capitulation, loopholes, and a foothold for their propaganda campaigns.  They over-reached and got zero.

Too bad, so sad. 

It's The SPENDING, Stupid!!

Ticker makes the case very well.

You can fill in the blank for "Who's Stupid" after reading this.

First he quotes the news:

The Producer Price Index for final demand rose 1.1 percent in May, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Final demand prices advanced 1.1 percent in April and 0.7 percent in March. (See table A.) On an unadjusted basis, the index for final demand increased 6.5 percent for the 12 months ended in May, the largest 12-month rise since moving up 7.4 percent in November 2022....

Then he launches the artillery:

 

This is not Iran.

It is the monetary expansion from deficit spending which Trump did exactly nothing to curtail and is now presenting severe cost-push pressure into the supply chain across the board.

I pointed this out as a serious problem in January before the first shots were fired and it has only gotten worse since.

On the final demand (closest to the consumer) side removing foods and energy the escalation was 0.8% on the month which, on a 12 month rolling basis is just over 10%.  Again that's excluding food and energy.

What's far worse is unprocessed intermediate which again, less food and energy, is up 2.6% on the month and the 12 month total run rate is 22%!  The monthly increase annualized is 36% and processed goods less foods and energy were up 1.8% on the month which once again annualized comes to 23.9%....

It is true that Trump "did nothing" about the spending.  To be fair, neither did Biden.  It is ALSO true that Congress, led by spineless twits with pretty hair, spends money as though it were tossing confetti during a parade.  

Now comes the announcement that Social Security payments will decrease by 25% or so in about 6 years.  The combination of less money AND more costly EVERYTHING will take care of the "aging Boomers are a pain" problem, alright.  But those Costly Everythings are also going to affect everyone else.

It is the spending.  It always has been the spending.  It always will be the spending. And until we get the Beautiful Hair Twits off their TeeVee vanity shots and back down to earth, it will be a Great Depression-causing problem.

Additional takes on this are available here and here. 

Making Evers & Kaul Cry

One prominent election-fraud vehicle may soon disappear.

... The case is Watson v. Republican National Committee, and the issue is whether the State of Mississippi’s statute allowing ballots that arrive after Election Day to be counted violates federal law....

Of course it does.

PowerLine cites both the Constitution AND Federal law.

 ...The Republican National Committee says the federal statutes mean what they say: for national elections, we have an Election Day, not an Election Season. At oral argument, most justices seemed sympathetic to that argument....

This obviously applies only to Federal elections.

But will States jury-rig elections so that State and local results take a few weeks but the Federal ones are apparent same-night?

Dear Justice Thomas:  make Evers and Kaul cry. 

PI Lawyers and FRAUD?? Be Still, My Heart

 There is a reason that Personal Injury lawyers have a certain 'reputation.'

This story underlines it.

California agreed to pay out $4 BILLION to young 'victims of abuse' at various shelters and state-run facilities.  So far, so good.

But then the whispers started......

 ...reports that some plaintiffs fabricated stories of sexual abuse - and sometimes were never even in custody at the facilities.

An LA Times investigation in October found nine people who claimed they were paid small amounts of cash by recruiters to sue the county, claiming they were sexually abused in juvenile halls.

They described how a network of individuals approached them on the street and incentivized them to fabricate stories of sexual abuse within the juvenile justice system in exchange for cash payments ranging from $50 to $200.

Those who spoke to the LA Times said they received the payments when they filed a claim specifically with Downtown LA Law Group, one of the main firms involved in the settlement.

One person even claimed a vendor drove them to the law firm's office and paid them cash after the claim was filed.

Some also said they were plied with scripts about what to tell the attorneys once they agreed to file claim....

You've noticed that local TeeVee stations seem to get a lot of "tips" from lawyers who just happen to have an interest in the story, and often the stories are told with some parts "missing".  Often those "missing parts" are important, such as when the "ILLEGAL" word is NOT used when a Tale of Woe comes up over an immigrant.

Some lawyers are evil bastards. 

"We Spy On YOU!! S 702" No Longer Authorized

 This is a good thing, no matter the DOOM! DOOM!! DOOM!!! DOOM!!!!screeching from the Speaker.  

He knows, and we know, that S702 was and is used to spy on US citizens without a warrant.  Yes, the pretext is "foreign terrorist connections," but that's a stretch, to say the least.

Remember this:  that "connection" runs out to the SIXTH degree.  So if your sister talks to her brother-in-law who spoke with his cousin who talks with his friend in Europe and that friend calls a terrorist-suspect in......say.........Palestine---well, when you call your sister, YOU are "terrorist-linked."

BANGO!!  You get the S702 treatment:  every call, email, and text is checked.  No warrant, no warning.

And that doesn't count the illicit use of the system by rogue contractors or Government employees.

If the "WE SPY ON YOU" legislation is brought up again, it should have serious restrictions--like, e.g., "Get a Warrant".  

N.B.:  every Wisconsin Republican voted to KEEP S 702 active.  Every one of them deserves a swift kick in the ass. 

 

Trump Brags on Piddly Oil Shipments

 The President continues to fight Israel's war.

He brags that the Navy escorted 100 million bbls of oil in the last 30 days.

Really, Donald?

Before Israel's war, the Strait accommodated 20 million bbls every.  damn.  day.

Just get the Hell out of there, Donald.

Agitators Get Active in MKE

About 30 seconds into this vid, you see the obviously-imported (paid?) agitator.

That "Party of Socialism and Liberation"  

white girl with normal hair and good teeth......Yup.  Belongs to that neighborhood, alright. /sarc

She's one of several in the crowd.  Looks like the cops will be busy this summer--again.

Birds, Feathers, McCord and SPLC

A little side-bit of information which is very revealing.

 The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing today on the topic of the Southern Poverty Law Center, operating a program to fund, organize and stimulate racist activity, just so the SPLC could fight against racism and fundraise over it.

Amid the panel of voices presented to discuss the issue is the familiar Lawfare operative, Mary McCord.  It makes sense for McCord to get invited by the HJC because McCord was lead staff for the HJC (Nadler/Schiff) during the impeachment effort.  The relationship between Mary McCord and the HJC is lengthy.

McCord noted that law enforcement agencies routinely pay for operatives to infiltrate organizations in order to target them, so congress should not be too concerned with the SPLC funding white racists for the same purpose. ...

The SPLC has been more than a little suspicious since--to my memory--about 1975-80.  Turns out that it was not only true, but that SPLC was worse than we thought.

That's why Mary McCord fits right in.  She, too, is worse than anyone might have thought.  That's proven by this: 

 ...What McCord carefully avoided was noting how the SPLC is neither a law enforcement entity nor an investigative agency of the government....

She is a practiced liar, but we all learned how to 'parse' during the Clinton regime. 

Sheriff to Judge: 'Stick It Up Your....'

First instance like this that we've ever seen.

 ....Sheriff Kevin McMahill has refused a judge’s order to release a repeat offender. Sheriff McMahill cited Nevada Revised Statute 211.250, which states a sheriff can deny certain releases if they create an “unreasonable risk to public safety.”

Judge Eric Goodman has threatened Sheriff McMahill with contempt of court if he does not comply with the court’s ruling.

The repeat offender, Joshua Sanchez-Lopez, has been arrested 35 times, including for “substantial battery.”...

The judge is PO'd, as is the defense attorney for the scum.  Screw them!

Let's run McMahill for President. 

Not Gonna Take It......

 Apparently the Irish have had it with immigrant Sudanese criminals.

 

According to the Belfast Telegraph, protests over the alleged attempted murder were held across the city, some of which descended into scenes of chaos and violence. Multiple vehicles, including a city bus and a police car, were set on fire by rioters.

Meanwhile, reports have also emerged of demonstrators throwing petrol bombs at police officers in the Cloughfern area of the city. Separately, residents were forced to evacuate their homes after they caught fire in East Belfast.....

...The outbreak of chaos comes a year to the day after similar anti-migrant riots erupted in Northern Ireland after Roma migrant teens had been charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in the town of Ballymena.

This led to multiple days of violence and reportedly forced multiple families of Romanian and Bulgarian heritage to leave the area altogether...

(Roma is the polite word for "gypsy".)

The problem in England is worse, but the English are a bit more docile than the Irish. 

*Shock*! NFL Is Greedy

 When you look up "Greed" in Webster's, you find the NFL shield.

... The [Congressional] report, at its heart, zeroes in on the league's Sunday Ticket offering. It highlights evidence from the ongoing Sunday Ticket antitrust case, including a 2024 jury verdict that found the NFL violated antitrust law and awarded more than $4.796 billion in damages to plaintiffs. That verdict was later vacated by a judge, wrongfully so, according to the report....

 Page 18 of the report is especially troubling for the NFL relative to its decisions with The Sunday Ticket package. It outlines that:

    ESPN reportedly proposed a Sunday Ticket package priced around $70 per season.
    According to documents cited in the report, the NFL objected to the lower price point.
    The NFL also opposed a team-by-team purchase option that would have allowed fans to buy only their favorite team's games.
    The report argues these decisions limited consumer choice and kept fans locked into a more expensive bundle....

Fox has this story.  The fact that Fox has to pay up to run NFL games is mere co-incidence.  And if you want to know how "non-advertising" propaganda works, recall Rush Limbaugh's continual promotion of the Sunday Ticket?

Yah.  He didn't get rich on his good looks. 

They're Just THROWING Money Away

Not that you'll be surprised.

 ...officials warned that weak oversight systems leave federal programs vulnerable to both waste and fraud if longstanding deficiencies are not fixed. The report explained that improper payments “can include overpayments, underpayments, and payments where an agency is unable to determine whether a payment was proper because of insufficient or lack of documentation.”

The report identified seven federal agencies with programs that posted improper payment rates above 10% for multiple consecutive years between 2021 and 2024.

Five of those agencies, including the Departments of Labor, Education, Health and Human Services, Treasury and Agriculture, lacked sufficient internal procedures to secure timely reporting and monitoring of payment integrity problems. GAO said those agencies did not always provide “complete and timely information” as required under federal law....

You can hear the discussion.  "Gee, boss, we can't find documentation for this spend.  What should we do?"  Boss:  "Write a check, dammit.  It's not YOUR money."

Notice that the "We NEVER pass an audit and go suck our ass if you think we care!!!" Pentagon is missing from that list?  We did, too.

Think Hegseth gives a rip?  We don't, either. 

Sen. Warner Had ZERO Intel Experience....

 Amusing whine from a Deep State figure complaining about the Pulte nomination.  

Here he is on CNN:

 ...WARNER: "I didn‘t think Trump could still surprise me, but he literally shocked me. And I think all of my Republican colleagues on the intel committee by picking somebody with literally no security background....

Warner's "security background" began in 2011 when he was given a slot on the Senate Intel Committee.  Before that, Warner's "security" experience consisted of buying and selling small companies and governing Virginia.  IOW, he didn't know s**t about "security" until 2011, but got one of the most powerful "security" seats in the country.  If you're asking why, you're on the right track.

The Senate Intel Committee, along with its House counterpart, has been the locus of almost every plot against the American people.  They use every three-letter agency in D.C. to propagandize, lie, and cheat; and in many cases, they see to it that their political enemies are........ahhh.......neutralized, usually through smear campaigns.  (It helps to have the FEEBS placing honeypots and filming the action.)

'Hypocrite' is the middle name of most politicians; Warner is at the front of that parade. 

Pp Leo Voices the Old "Fix the Root Cause" Gambit

 Where have we heard this one before?

 American-born Pope Leo XIV urged Spanish politicians to welcome economic migrants — but he also wants the Spanish government to help them stay in their home countries.

Migration “gives rise to a twofold demand for social justice: to offer safe and legal pathways, a respectful welcome and real opportunities for integration; and, at the same time, to promote the right to remain in one’s own land, ” Leo told the Spanish parliament on June 8.

Governments should welcome migrants and “ensure that no one has to leave their home due to a lack of peace, security or decent living conditions, including economic inequalities,” Leo added...

That's the "root cause is poverty" argument made by US Lefties since the '60's, and a lot of immigrants have used that to get into the US legally.

For that matter, it was a commonplace during all the immigration waves--those of the Irish, Germans, Poles, and Italians--during the late 19th/early 20th centuries.

But all that immigration was legal.

The US already has "safe and legal pathways" to immigration along with "a respectful welcome and real opportunities."  The immigration laws we have are designed for all of that.

It would be nice if the Pope acknowledged that, too, ain'a? 

Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Green Bay.......

This was obvious from the git-go, of course.  Pratt will lose.

... There are still several days of ballot counting ahead.  After all, the creation of ballots takes time and resources, and as noted by several people in/around the LA area, locally sourced, artisanal ballots can take much longer to be grown and curated....

Milwaukee's election commission has already lawyered up; there are rumors that some have spilled the beans on the Election Fraud of '20.

It's water over the dam, and there will be no prosecutions, no jail-time--and probably continued fat and sassy salaries and benefits for the perps.

But you never know.  Stuff happens. 

"De-Islamify Iran"? And Then......?

 We read in today's agitated American Greatness blog one of those......ahhh.......embarrassing screed/"solutions" to the Israel-Iran War, written by T. McCotter, an allegedly educated man.

 Regime change requires the eradication of the ruling ideology, not merely the removal of some of the rulers who enforce it....

...When the U.S. and its allies occupied Nazi Germany following its unconditional surrender, de-Nazification was a comprehensive, whole-of-society effort to eradicate both the ruling ideology and the rulers themselves. This was necessary to eradicate over a decade of Nazi indoctrination and genocidal totalitarian rule over the German people, as well as the vile regime’s similar domination of occupied nations, which occurred with the support of elements within those local populations. Consequently, a root-and-branch elimination of the Nazi ideology followed. While Hitler and other top Nazis cheated the hangman, the Nuremberg war crimes trials resulted in the execution and/or imprisonment of remaining key regime leaders. Thus, in the instance of regime change in Nazi Germany, both the National Socialist ideology and its regime’s leadership were eradicated....

Umnnnhhhh............Dear Thad:

What followed that "de-Nazification" in half of Germany and all of Eastern Europe?

Did you forget already?

Do you have a better plan than the one from Roosevelt and Truman and their collaborators in England and France?

Hmmmmm?????? 

We're pretty sure that there are other Islamic countries, Thad.  What are THEY going to do while you "de-Islamify" Iran?