Monday, October 26, 2026

"Digital Dark Age."

All through out history... we dug through our trash, through our attics and through out basements. But that is changing!
 
We are entering the age of the digital dark ages! The photo left, are my parents on their anniversary at our New Hampshire cottage back in the eighties... I can find it upstairs in the file cabinet in my office. This copy was from Google Doc where I have a lot of my photos stored here.
 
My grandfather 1925
There are over a dozen albums with photos. They go all the way back to the turn of the century—no, not the 21st century, but the 20th century! The old black-and-white photos are browning, but the color photos are horrible! Especially the slides. Our history is slowly turning red as they age, but the good news is there are ways to correct the colors.

I have them stored on a 2TB network drive that is a RAID 1. What that means is that there are two 2-terabyte drives that have a mirrored copy of the data, so if one drive crashes, I have the backup!

But now, our history is stored on "The Cloud!"

Now, if a data center somewhere in the world crashes, there go our photos! Yes, data centers have backup data centers and backup power. But wars happen. Earthquakes happen. Businesses go bust. Then what?
 
Suppose Google goes belly-up and all your files—not just your photos, but everything you have stored on Google—go poof! No trash to dig through. No attics to look through on a rainy day. No damp basements to paw through. What will our future historians find about us in a couple of thousand years?


As You Go To The Polls... Remember One Thing

President Obama established a treaty with Iran called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was inspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It provided continuous, 24/7 access and monitoring capabilities!
 
Trump tore it up.
 
Trump said he could do better.
 
Trump said the war would be over in 4 weeks... no... 8 weeks... no... three months... now it is 34 weeks later.
 
Trump makes deals with Putin!
 
Trump said...
 
Now...
 
The European Union is becoming unstable because of oil prices!
 
As the economy collapses, they pass anti-trans laws!
 
As the economy collapses, they go after legal immigrants!
 
As the economy collapses, Republicans cut food stamps, housing assistance, and health insurance!
 
As we go into an election, Trump has threatened to send in the military to disrupt the voting!
 
Remember, all this came about because Trump hates Obama! Trump wanted the Nobel Peace Prize! Trump wanted to support his pal in Israel.
 
We had a treaty. We had a treaty that was working!
 
It is now "Trump's War"—he now owns it. He owns the start of World War III! He wanted to go down in history? Well, he will go down in history like Benito Mussolini, Hideki Tojo, and others who led the world down the path to war!

Are We Being Set Up As The Fall Guy?

Are we being set up as the fall guy in the elections if they go bad for the Democrats? Already, some are trying to distance themselves from us! A number of Democrats have backed away from us. Reuters reported that,
After being caught flat-footed on transgender issues in the last US election, Democrats in tight midterm races are pursuing different strategies, with some adopting more conservative stances and others trying to deflect, according to a Reuters review of campaign messaging and interviews with nine ​party strategists and insiders.

Ahead of the November 3 election, vulnerable Republican candidates have renewed their attacks over transgender rights, a message that political strategists say helped Donald Trump and his party win unified control of ‌Washington in 2024.
My answer... it is the economy!
PolitiFact
By Caleb McCullough
August 28, 2026


A recent Kansas ad targeting Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Adam Hamilton, a United Methodist pastor, shows him standing in front of footage of dancing drag queens and says he “preaches the gospel of woke.”

The ad, one of many using anti-transgender rhetoric to attack Democrats in competitive midterm elections, misleadingly stitches together clips to make the case that Hamilton is out of touch with voters on social issues. When the ad quotes Hamilton saying, “How we define gender… we have a whole array of sexualities,” it is combining separate sentences he said in an interview to create a quote he never said.
We can't take their bait! It is the price of food, it is the price of heating oil, it is the war, it is Russia... it is not us!
Democratic response is fractured
Although the Republican attacks are unified, Democrats’ responses are not.

Some candidates have publicly distanced themselves from Republicans’ most extreme accusations. Turek in Iowa and Talarico in Texas both said they oppose gender affirming surgeries for minors, without arguing for a broad ban on medical treatment. 
Now is not the time for education... now is the time to call out the Republicans on not wanting to talk to the farmers in Iowa about imported beef! Not wanting to talk to truckers about the price of diesel! Not wanting to talk about Trump getting palsy-walsy with Putin.
LGBTQ+ movement leaders warn that anti-trans ballot measures in five states could become a testing ground for a broader political strategy in the 2028 presidential election.
The Advocate
By Shelby Chestnut, Sarah Kate Ellis, Kevin Jennings, Andy Marra, Kelley Robinson
Oct 05, 2026


In 2004, a coordinated wave of ballot initiatives against marriage equality swept the country, leaving a trail of political wreckage for our community and the entire nation. That same playbook is back for the 2026 midterm elections, and just like more than two decades ago, it’s not about public safety or protecting children, it’s about political power.

As LGBTQ movement leaders with decades of advocacy experience, we need to loudly sound the alarm because transgender people face a coordinated assault on this year's ballots in five states.
We are going back to the 1950s! After the elections, we need to educate! We are born this way! But our #1 focus is November 3rd!

Sunday, October 25, 2026

Say The Magic Words...

No, the duck doesn't come down, but you get your “Get Out of Jail Free” card. All you have to do is say, “It is against my religious beliefs,” and just like that, you can discriminate against us!

Can you imagine a real estate agent refusing to sell you a house because you belong to a protected class? Saying, “We are not going to sell you this house because you're Black, and doing so would be against my religion”? Then why is it okay to refuse to sell to a same-sex couple? Because that is the direction the Supreme Court is heading!
Some Supreme Court justices may view nondiscrimination rules against LGBTQ+ people as more about forcing beliefs on others than protecting vulnerable groups.
By Maureen Groppe
USA TODAY
Oct. 24, 2026


A Supreme Court that in recent years has ruled again and again in favor of faith groups is expected to be sympathetic to the Roman Catholic Church in the next big religious liberty case the justices will consider.

The court on Nov. 3 will debate whether Catholic preschools in Colorado must accept children of gay parents if taxpayers are funding the school.

The case pits religious freedoms against nondiscrimination rules about sexual orientation, and Justice Samuel Alito's approach to similar cases could offer a guide as to why the 6-3 conservative court might be inclined to side with the religious preschools.

In his recent book, Alito − who is perhaps the court's biggest proponent of religious liberty − suggests such nondiscrimination rules are more about forcing beliefs on others than protecting vulnerable groups.

“The couple that came to his shop was given a free cake by another bakery, and celebrity chefs jumped to the couple’s defense,” Alito wrote. “What we see in these and other cases is a refusal to live in peace with those who violate the new moral code.”
When did the Constitution become a “moral code”? He went on to say, according to USA Today...
No same-sex couple had tried to use the foster care agency and, if they had, the agency would have referred them to another service that would have been happy to help, Alito said.

“But that did not satisfy the city,” he wrote. “The very existence of an organization that expressed disapproval of same-sex marriage was unacceptable.”
So, according to the Supreme Court justice, it is okay to put additional burdens on a protected class because of religious discrimination! Say a gay couple wants to adopt a child... in their county, the adoption program is run by a church, so they have to drive to the next county! But it would be wrong if they said that to an Asian couple.

I think the root cause of these rulings lies not in the Constitution but rather in the justices' religious beliefs. They believe that being LGBTQ+ is a choice! They reject all the scientific evidence and believe in one little sentence written over 2,000 years ago: “Man shall not lie with man.”

A Gallup poll found  that 35% of Republicans considered gay or lesbian relationships morally acceptable, compared with 81% of Democrats.

We seen this before, where the courts chose the Bible to discriminate, History News Network wrote about "How the Bible was used to justify slavery, abolitionism"
Henry G. Brinton, a pastor at Fairfax Presbyterian Church in Virginia, writes that the Bible was used a weapon by both the North and the South. Brinton says some contemporary Americans are making the same mistake their Civil War ancestors did by twisting the Bible to support their own battle cries.
And now they are doing the same thing to us! Mining the Old Testament for anything that could be used against us!
The Journal of Legal Studies
Stephen J. ChoiFollow
Mitu GulatiFollow
Eric A. Posner, University of Chicago


Abstract
It is widely believed that President Donald J. Trump’s first-term judicial appointments reflect a strategy of appeasing evangelical Christians and other religious groups that favor a more conservative, Christian judiciary and that in pursuing this strategy Trump sacrificed quality. We explore this theory by examining the biographies and credentials of Trump’s lower court nominees and the voting records of his circuit court appointments in free-exercise cases. We find that Trump’s appointments to the lower courts have stronger or more numerous religious affiliations and are affiliated with the Federalist Society and the National Rifle Association at high rates but are no less well credentialed than other judges. We also find that Trump’s circuit court appointments more frequently vote in favor of Christian plaintiffs and less frequently vote in favor of Muslim plaintiffs in free-exercise cases than judges appointed by other Republican presidents and by Democratic presidents.

Hugh Hewitt: “Will you commit to voters tonight that religious liberty will be an absolute litmus test for anyone you appoint, not just to the Supreme Court, but to all courts?” Donald Trump: “Yes, I would.” (New York Times 2016)
Now we are paying the price of religious discrimination, all they have to do is say the magic words... "It is against my religious beliefs!" When they rebrand it as a "religious issue," they flip the script entirely. Suddenly, the person discriminating is cast as the victim, and the person being denied service or rights is painted as the aggressor infringing on someone else's beliefs. Just like Trump's DEI that flipped the non-discrimination laws on its head!


I Newer Promised You A Rose Garden

I asked ChatGPT: In the last 3 months how many times has Trump said a factory was coming?

Looking at the last three months — July 25 through October 25, 2026 — Trump has repeatedly talked about factories and manufacturing plants that are coming to the United States.

The important distinction is whether you mean every time he said a factory was coming, including repeated claims at rallies, or the number of distinct factory projects he announced.

Here are some documented examples from that period.

Date Factory announcement or statement
July 31, 2026 Discussed automakers building plants in the United States.
August 5, 2026 Claimed more automobile factories were being built in the United States than ever before.
September 2, 2026 Discussed factories being built in Ohio, Texas, and other locations.
September 28, 2026 Discussed a proposed $15 billion steel plant in Iowa and a large aluminum plant.
October 1, 2026 Repeated claims about a new aluminum factory and factories being built nationwide.
October 2, 2026 Mentioned a planned Eli Lilly factory in Huntsville, Alabama, and other manufacturing investments.
October 24, 2026 Announced that Audi would build a new automobile factory in Georgia.

My preliminary count: at least 7 documented public occasions in which he discussed factories being built or coming to the country during this period. This is not a verified count of every time he made the claim; the same factory or general promise may have been repeated many times.

You can check the full Trump speech transcripts at Roll Call's Factba.se archive .

One important distinction: these are occasions when Trump made statements, not proof that every announced factory has been built or that every project is new.

The people are now seeing his lies.

It's Trump!

Riots around the world! Gas and the economy are driving them in France, Albania, Italy, Spain, and other countries in Europe.

U.S.-led war with Iran → Disrupted oil supplies and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz → Higher oil, diesel, and gas prices → Higher transport, food, and household costs → Public anger, strikes, and protests.

Trump's war has destabilized Europe and the rest of the world, and with the growing unrest in Europe, there is strong evidence that Putin is capitalizing on it by fanning the flames of unrest!
Reuters
By John Irish and Tom Balmforth
September 23, 2026


Russia is intensifying sabotage, cyberattacks and other hybrid attacks across Europe to undermine support for Ukraine, European ministers said, while dismissing concerns that Moscow is capable of launching a direct assault on NATO.

Speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this week, officials from countries on NATO’s eastern flank said Moscow was increasingly using drone incursions, cyberattacks, sabotage and other covert operations to sow fear, test Western resolve and weaken backing for Kyiv.

"Europe faces a fast proliferation of sabotage attacks and airspace violations," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters. "Moscow is trying to scare Europe into winding down its support for Ukraine."

European governments increasingly see Russia’s most immediate threat not as a conventional military attack, but as a campaign of covert and deniable actions aimed at unsettling Ukraine’s allies and eroding Western unity as the war drags on.
There are reports that Putin is behind the growing unrest in Europe:
Kyiv Post
Oct. 21, 2026


The Financial Times (FT) reported on Wednesday, Oct. 21, that EU regulators are investigating whether online actors in Russia, Iran, and Algeria sought to use disinformation to influence and exploit the current unrest in France. Citing unnamed European officials, intelligence sources, and researchers, the newspaper said suspicion has fallen on a possible Russian disinformation campaign.

The report echoes much of the findings of an Oct. 18 report issued by the “Disinformation Commission,” an independent watchdog “specializing in information operations, OSINT, and strategic communications.”

Foreign players exploiting “home-grown protest movement”

According to the Disinformation Commission’s report, findings that were also shared by French and European intelligence agencies according to the FT, the unrest in France originally stemmed from domestic dissatisfaction, particularly the Sept. 17 teachers’ strike.

[...]

According to the watchdog’s report, there is no evidence that it was instigated, controlled, or directed by foreign states. It does say, however, that there is strong evidence that Russia and Iran, along with foreign far-left and far-right influencers, are actively exploiting and attempting to inflame the protests.
And since that was written, protests have turned violent! Bloomberg reports:
By Alessandra Migliaccio and Chiara Albanese
October 21, 2026 


Italian officials are looking into whether outside actors such as Russia had a hand in violent protests that swept Milan and other European cities over the weekend, according to people familiar with the matter.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni government has asked to be briefed on what role, if any, foreign provocateurs may have played, the people said, asking not to be cited as the conversations are private. A spokesperson for Meloni declined to comment.
I don't think Trump is smart enough to cause the unrest in Europe; no, he is just a stooge of Putin, and Putin is milking the unrest for all he can get out of it.

Has Trump's bumbling started WWIII?

Saturday, October 24, 2026

Trump...

I was watching Washington Week with The Atlantic on PBS. One segment was on the ad by Vivek Ramaswamy in the Ohio gubernatorial race. Ramaswamy ran an ad that featured his Democratic opponent, Dr. Amy Acton's mother, saying that she lies!

Well, what the ad didn’t say was Dr. Acton was sexually abused as a 12-year-old, and the state took her and her brother away from the mother because of her husband, who fled the country.

Enter into this Trump, who added his 2¢, saying when asked about the father during a press conference... ”I know nothing about him!”

It figures… that Trump doesn’t think anything is wrong with pedophilia.

Saturday 9: Smoke Rings

On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…
 

Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here.
   
1) In this song, Donald Mills of the Mills Brothers encourages us to "puff, puff, puff" our cares away. When did you most recently smoke a cigarette? 
Um… not cigarettes.

2) In the 1930s, when this week's song was recorded, an estimated 40% of American adults smoked cigarettes. By the early 1960s, that number reached a high of 42%. According to the CDC, the percentage of adult smokers dropped to 11%. Do many of your friends and relatives smoke or vape? 
I only have one friend who smokes.

3) Donald was the youngest of the singing Mills Brothers, and he's the one who most often sang lead. That squares with popular birth order theory, which proposes that the youngest tends to enjoy being the center of attention, the middle child is the diplomat, and the oldest is the high-achiever. Think of your own family and the families of your friends. Do you think this theory holds true?
Nope.

4) The Mills Brothers were one of the first famous singing brother acts. The Williams Brothers – which featured future TV star Andy Williams – followed in their footsteps. Can you think of another group of singing brothers?
Oodles and oodles of them…
The Jackson 5
The Everly Brothers
The Isley Brothers
Beach Boys… plus a cousin.

5) In addition to recording hit records, The Mills Brothers were a staple on radio in the 1930s. They were among the first African American artists to host their own radio show and sang jingles for Standard Oil and Crisco. What commercial do you recall having seen, or heard, recently?
Um… I usually watch PBS,

6) In 1933, when this week's song was popular, actor Robert Montgomery and his wife had a daughter they named Elizabeth. That little girl would become famous in the 1960s for her own TV show. Without looking it up, do you know what show Elizabeth Montgomery starred in? 
Super easy question… Bewitched. It is actually on in an hour on Antenna TV

7) Johnny Cash was also born in 1933. Do you have a favorite Johnny Cash song?
Ring of Fire.

8) In 1933, five French airlines merged to form Air France. Think of the last time you were at an airport. Were you taking a flight or meeting a flight?
Way back in 2006 was my last plane ride… you can read about it here! Business Trip

9) Random question: Your best friend just received a certificate for completing a car maintenance course at your community college. Would you let them work on your vehicle?
No. But if you said their grandchildren I would say yes.
But my best friends? They are in their 70s!



I have been trying to make it up to the cottage this month but monkey wrenches keep getting thrown by Murphy! Little things like a the little lady spinning her wheel off the coast of Cape Cod… Josephine.

But mainly it has been little things like a crown coming off and other minor medical problems that are a minor annoyance.

Here is the latest backyard foliage photo.

Friday, October 23, 2026

Thump, Thump...

That's the sound of the Democratic bus running us over!
AP News
By STEVE PEOPLES and GEOFF MULVIHILL
Sep 14, 2026


California Gov. Gavin Newsom does not like being on Donald Trump’s side on any issue.

But when it comes to transgender girls and women in sports, particularly at the school level, the Democrat said he largely agrees with the Republican president. Newsom, one of his party’s leading White House prospects, believes it’s “deeply unfair” for people who are assigned male at birth to compete against girls.

“I don’t want to be on that side of it, but I’m being honest — I’d be lying to you if I said differently,” Newsom told The Associated Press as he was campaigning recently in South Carolina. “I haven’t been able to figure out how to make it fair from my perspective.”
It is the economy, stupid!
Let me repeat that... It is the economy, stupid!
While most Democratic officials remain steadfast supporters of the transgender community, an increasing number in red and blue states are distancing themselves from their party’s unflinching support for the transgender community’s policy priorities, such as allowing athletes to compete on teams that match their gender identity. The shift follows years of conservative attacks against Democrats on the divisive issue, which affects a relatively small number of transgender people and their families, but has emerged as one of Republicans’ most potent political weapons in the Trump era.
What is it? It is the economy, stupid!

Here is what the candidate has to do... ask the people, "Have you ever met a trans person? Have you tried to fill up your tank recently? What concerns you more?"

GLAAD reports that;
  • SUPERMAJORITY OF REGISTERED VOTERS REJECT POLITICAL ATTACKS ON TRANSGENDER PEOPLE 
  • 74% OF REGISTERED VOTERS SUPPORT CANDIDATES WHO REJECT DISCRIMINATION
  • 68% OF U.S. ADULTS AGREE BRANDS SHOULD BE FREE TO SHOW SUPPORT TO THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY DURING PRIDE  
  • 65% OF REGISTERED VOTERS BELIEVE POLITICIANS ATTACK TRANSGENDER PEOPLE AS A DISTRACTION FROM MORE IMPORTANT CONCERNS LIKE RISING COSTS
Repeat after me... It's the economy, stupid!

When people are polled only around 7% said we're the problem... everyone else said "It's the economy, stupid!"

This is where the problem is and education is the key!
More people approve of Trump’s handling of transgender issues than his job performance overall. People are more likely to oppose than support public health insurance programs like Medicare or Medicaid covering gender-affirming medical treatments.
AP/NORC Poll
May 10, 2025

Around two-thirds (68%) of the public say that whether someone is a man or a woman is determined by the sex they were assigned at birth. About half of Democrats feel someone’s identity can differ from their sex at birth – significantly higher than the share of independents (22%) or Republicans (11%) who feel that way.
I have to say that I agree, gender is determined at birth... but it is not always visible.


Hey Folks... It Is That Time Again: Medicare Enrollment!

Hey folks... It is that time again: Medicare enrollment!

It is time for all of us seniors to have to re-enroll for Medicare.

Boy, are we in for a shock! The Republicans have cut Medicare... more out-of-pocket expenses and higher premiums! Trump has to pay off the tax cuts for the billionaires!

Consumer advocates and Families USA forewarned that when congressional Republicans chose to take a sledgehammer to our nation’s health care by passing H.R. 1 and cutting Medicaid by more than $900 billion (the deepest in the program’s 60-year history), it would cause incredible harm to America’s families and communities. Republicans chose to enact this deeply destructive legislation anyway, and so, Families USA began documenting the damage — to hold leaders accountable, and to prevent further damage by keeping the spotlight on the deepest wounds. In the wake of the bill’s passage, we published a series of deep-dive assessments of its most damaging provisions under the banner “Dissecting the Deepest Cuts.” This post traces common threads across that series, highlighting what advocates can do as we approach a new year and a new Congress.

The big picture is this: H.R. 1’s provisions and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implementation choices add up to a coordinated dismantling of the Medicaid program, including its eligibility systems, payment structures and financing mechanisms, with disastrous consequences for families and the whole health care system.
FackCheck.org wrote back in the 2024 elections...
In an interview with Breitbart on March 13, Trump said, “I will never do anything that will jeopardize or hurt Social Security or Medicare. We’ll have to do it elsewhere. But we’re not going to do anything to hurt them.”

“There’s so many things we can do,” Trump said. “There’s so much cutting and so much waste in so many other areas, but I’ll never do anything to hurt Social Security.”

There are aspects of Trump’s comments that support the interpretations of both campaigns.

Trump said there is “a lot to do” with entitlements “in terms of cutting and in terms of also the theft and the bad management of entitlements.” The word “also” suggests he was talking about “theft and bad management” in addition to cutting entitlement programs.
First of all, Social Security and Medicare are not F**king entitlements! I paid into them all my F**king life! But the Republicans keep calling them entitlements... why? Because they want their billionaire friends to get their grubby little hands on the money!

Will Medicare increase in 2027? Some costs to rise, but not all are clear

Medicare open enrollment for 2027 has begun, with projected changes including a possible 3.25% rise in Part B premiums, lower average Medicare Advantage premiums nationally, modest increases in Part D costs, and specific updates for Michigan beneficiaries such as higher MA plan premiums and new eligibility requirements.

Key points:
  • The 2026‑27 Medicare open enrollment period runs from Oct. 15, 2026 to Dec. 7, 2026, with new coverage starting Jan. 1, 2027.
  • CMS projects a potential 3.25% increase in the Part B premium for 2027, from $202.90 in 2026 to about $209.50.
  • The weighted average monthly premium for Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans nationwide is projected to fall from $14.37 in 2026 to $12 in 2027, a 16.5% decline.
  • The average monthly premium for stand‑alone Part D plans is expected to rise slightly, from $35.09 in 2026 to $36 in 2027, while the average Part D premium for MA plans with drug coverage is projected to drop from $11.32 to $7.
  • In Michigan, the average monthly Medicare Advantage premium is projected to increase from $14.88 in 2026 to $16.21 in 2027, with 181 MA plans available in 2027 versus 192 in 2026.
Medicare open enrollment is in full swing for beneficiaries who are part of the federal program, but whether it will cost more overall is still unclear.

The 2026-27 open enrollment period began Thursday, Oct. 15, and will end Monday, Dec. 7 ― which marks the last day to make changes to your Medicare plan, as your new coverage will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2027, according to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The Republicans will say anything and do anything to get elected!



Thursday, October 22, 2026

Big Brother Knows Where You Are! (Part II)

Earlier in the month, I wrote about how they are building databases of interior photos of homes so that they can identify residences from photos of their interiors. Well, not only are they doing that, but ALPR cameras are also building a database of your bumper stickers!
Fox 59
by: Addy Bink, Alix Martichoux
Sep 22, 2026


Flock cameras, automated license plate readers (ALPRs), and other similar devices have attracted backlash from around the country in recent months. 

While Flock may be the name that immediately comes to mind for you when you hear of ALPRs, they aren’t the only technology available, nor the first of their kind.

They all, however, are generally looking for the same information. That includes a vehicle’s license plate and its make, model, and color. 

Flock claims its readers can “capture vehicles traveling up to 100 MPH, day and night, and up to 75 ft away.” Its technology can also categorize vehicles based on whether it is a resident or non-resident vehicle, if it has a temporary or standard plate, and if there is damage or alterations, like a broken taillight.

[...]

Motorola Solutions, which comprises about 5 percent of the ALPR locations tracked by DeFlock, says its technology can identify “accessories and even unique vehicle features like damage or bumper stickers.”
You know that bumper sticker you have criticizing Trump... it is in their database. This car, owned by this driver... "is an enemy of the state!" They could search a database of all cars in the area of an ICE protest for anti-Trump bumper stickers.

News Nation writes;
The cameras passively collect data on cars that pass by, putting all that information – which goes beyond license plates and can include details like a car’s bumper stickers – into a searchable database. The companies have different default policies on how long data is stored and how they use AI tools to search their databases.
See the key is "searchable databases!" In another Fox News article they write...
Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., introduced a bill Thursday that would ban ALPR searches targeting political or religious messages on vehicles, require warrants for most searches, mandate that records be deleted within 24 hours and prohibit vendors from selling or sharing location data.

"When you consider that these systems track everything that you do, where you work, where your kids go to school, where you even go to church, I think it's pretty easy to understand why people are concerned," Harrigan told Fox News Digital. 
Yeah, that puts it mildly. Especially when you have an authoritarian leader who has no problem using the government for his personal vendettas.

The ACLU of Iowa writes;
Myth: If you’re not doing anything wrong, you shouldn’t be worried about being tracked by ALPRs.
Reality: Our concern about ALPRs is not that they are being used to, say, catch a car thief (although we are concerned when they improperly label an innocent person as a car thief). Our concern is that in the process of tracking down a legitimate car thief, the government is vastly overreaching and creating a massive national database that tracks all of us all day long.

In one city, a resident discovered that on average, his city’s ALPR system (operated by Flock Safety) was tracking him four times a day. That means law enforcement nationwide can track him everywhere he went, including if he had gone to a medical clinic, drag performance, substance abuse recovery meeting, protest, gun show, etc. Even though you’re doing nothing wrong by visiting any of these, in the wrong hands, this information could be used to target you or people you associate with.
And those "wrong hands" are becoming more and more the Trump administration!
We can’t trust every government agency nationwide to use this data in a constitutional way. There are countless reports of ALPR databases – especially Flock databases – being misused. In a growing number of cases, police are using the database to track their romantic partners. They’ve also used it to track a woman who had an abortion. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has also used ALPR data to track people down in order to deport them.
Okay... when I was volunteering at a Pride Center, they were being harassed and vandalized. The city police department asked if they could monitor our security cameras. When I heard that, I thought, "What a great worm to dangle in front of them." You want to stop the vandals? Let us look through your cameras—at your medical patients, at all your LGBTQ+ clients, let us look at everyone coming to your support groups! They said no. But how many say yes? 
Myth: License plates are in public view, so it’s not a problem for ALPR cameras to take pictures of them.
Reality: It’s true that if you’re driving or parked in a public space, your license plate is in public view. Anyone can look at it and take a picture. ALPRs, however, take “public view” and put it on steroids. They take thousands of images a minute and pour them into a massive database for anyone with access for it to see. Suddenly your license plate is in “public view” in Texas and Florida and everywhere else, and not just in real time, but for as long as the data is retained.
Not only that, but they keep the data. On January 5th, 2024, you were in a neighborhood where a known ____ (fill in the blank) lived—what were you doing there?

The fact that it is in a searchable database is the scary part. In the old days of cop shows, the robbery victim had to check VCR tapes; now, it is just a few clicks away.

Data centers have more than your photos of Puff & Spot and all your wild parties; they are holding all the ALPR photos and all the other "crap" that a police state needs!

What Does This Say About Them?

What does it say about their morality?

The Republican candidate for governor in Ohio just used the Democratic candidate's mother to attack her, and Vance backed him up. However...
Acton called the ad "a horrible and hideous thing to do."
ABC News
By Fritz Farrow, Oren Oppenheim, and Diana Paulsen
October 21, 2026


Vice President JD Vance, during a rally in Cincinnati on Wednesday, praised Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy for having the "audacity" to cut a controversial ad featuring his Democratic opponent Amy Acton's estranged mother calling her daughter a "liar" -- a move that has sparked bipartisan backlash.

"Vivek Ramaswamy had the audacity to run a TV commercial which calls it out like it is and calls Amy Acton a liar," Vance said.
But it wasn't cut-and-dried...
The ad, which circulated on social media late Monday, shows Acton's long-estranged mother, Donna Arthur, saying that she loves her daughter but that "Amy has a serious problem" and has lied about her past and her struggles growing up. The ad came nearly two weeks out from the high-stakes midterm elections where Ohio is home to not only a gubernatorial race, but also key Senate and House races that could determine the balance of power in Congress.
You see, when she was twelve, the state took her away from her parents because the husband was a s**ual assaulter... just a minor detail.
Acton has been public about her experience with abuse and openly spoken about her tumultuous relationship with her mother, whom she says she has not spoken to since she was 12 years old. Acton alleged her mother's second husband molested her between the ages of 9 and 12. Charges were filed against her stepfather, and Acton testified against him.
But the ad has generated tons of responses about making light of rape!

The National Review wrote: the JD Vance said...
“Politics is a tough business. And my message to my fellow elected Republicans is if you actually believe in the things you say you believe in, stop whining about an advertisement and go win the race in 13 days.”

[...]

Instead, Ramaswamy stood by the ad and argued that the campaign should be about substantive issues. Well, Mr. Ramaswamy, you just made your willingness to attack a 12-year-old and use her being abused as a child and horrific family dynamics against her. You clearly don’t choose to lead by example. Where’s the character in that?
So what did JD find so horrible?
He also said today:
I have to admit that I’m a little bit disgusted when I see Republicans across the country who are whining more about that advertisement than they are about what the congressional Democrats and other Democrats want to do to the United States of America.
So JD is angrier at the the Republicans who condemned the ad then the fact that it is glossing over rape.




Updated: 10/23 @ 1:30AM

Trump has now put his 2¢ in!
Trump attacks Ohio governor over call for Ramaswamy to drop ‘deeply troubling’ ad
Republican Mike DeWine said ad featuring estranged mother of Democrat Amy Acton was ‘wrong’
The Guardian
Chris Stein
Thu 22 Oct 2026


Donald Trump issued a swift rebuke against Mike DeWine, Ohio’s Republican governor, who on Thursday said gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was “wrong” to release an ad critical of his Democratic rival Amy Acton that featured her estranged mother.

DeWine had implored Ramaswamy to take the ad down, but hours later, Trump urged Ramaswamy to keep airing it and accused the Republican governor of disloyalty.

[...]

On Truth Social Thursday afternoon, Trump excoriated DeWine for his comments, saying DeWine was “disloyal to the Republican party”.

“He probably wants a Dumocrat to win, and certainly doesn’t want someone who will do a much better job than he is capable of doing,” Trump wrote. “I suggested, on the other hand, that Vivek should keep it up, and let everyone listen to the mother of a defective, dishonest, and incapable Candidate, explain how the daughter is a DISASTER who, uncontrollably, lies, cheats, and steals!”
I find this statement horrifying...
Connie Luck, a spokesperson for the Republican’s campaign, said: “We refuse to accept the media’s double standards when Democrats have regularly used family members of President Trump, RFK Jr, and other Republicans in ads. Voters shouldn’t buy it.”
What I find horrifying is that Trump & Company do not find using a mother's statement who allowed sexual abused her children.

WBNS Ch10 CBS writes....
Robert Alexander, a political science professor at Bowling Green State University, said the public disagreement could create challenges for the Republican candidate.

“I don't think if you're Vivek Ramaswamy, you want to have Republican on Republican critiques around your ad,” Alexander said.

Alexander said Ohio’s political landscape includes both strong support for Trump’s populist movement and Republicans who align more closely with DeWine’s approach.
They are violating the Republicans First Commandment... Thou shall not speak bad of a fellow Republican.

 

Red Lining In The 21st Century

Do you remember the "Red Lining" that banks used to do around Black communities for mortgages and loans, when they jacked up interest rates for Black communities?

Well, in the 21st century, it has taken a new twist with a new name: dynamic pricing! And guess what? 

It is creating the same questions as did original redlining.

So, what is dynamic pricing? Imagine a giant mail-order company. In an affluent suburb, they might lower prices to get residents to buy more and keep costs competitive. But in a lower-income neighborhood, where families buy less, the business might jack up prices, reasoning that people "have to buy anyway." That isn’t free-market economics. That’s digital redlining.

Also, the pricing varies from person to person, and that is called surveillance pricing. This is where companies don't just draw a line around a zip code; they draw a digital boundary around you as an individual.

Cornell Law School puts it this way;
Redlining is a discriminatory practice that consists of the systematic denial of services such as mortgages, insurance loans, and other financial services to residents of certain areas, based on their race or ethnicity. Redlining disregards individual’s qualifications and creditworthiness to refuse such services, solely based on the residency of those individuals in minority neighborhoods; which have also quite often been deemed “hazardous” or “dangerous.” 

Beyond the discriminatory banking practice of excluding certain neighborhoods from financial services, redlining can also reach the withholding of more important and essential services such as the construction of grocery stores and supermarkets or even the withholding of healthcare services.
And now it is done by computers and AI!
AP News
By  DEE-ANN DURBIN and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO
October 18, 2026


U.S. consumers aren’t just frustrated with high prices. They’re angry and confused about the increasingly high-tech ways that restaurant chains and major retailers are setting those prices.

Digital price tags are rapidly replacing paper ones in grocery aisles. Artificial intelligence tools help businesses decide what to charge by predicting how customers might respond. Terms like “dynamic pricing” and “surveillance pricing” are stirring anxiety on social media, where users wonder if different people are getting different prices for the same product.

Americans have grown accustomed to changing prices when booking flights, hotel rooms and rides, but the prospect of everyday spending shaped by algorithms they don’t understand and personal data they may not realize they’re sharing has touched a nerve.

“There are major tensions happening right now between who’s really going to have the power with some of these algorithms and usage of bots and AI: the companies or the shopper,” said Katie Thomas, who leads an internal consumer behavior think tank at the management consulting firm Kearney.
It is one thing to go in and haggle over a price... it is totally an animal of a different color to adjust prices on a discriminatory basis.
Lawmakers and regulators are taking action. Legislators in at least 30 states have considered pricing bills this year, including measures addressing algorithmic and personalized pricing, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
While...
Personalized pricing, also called surveillance pricing, draws on customer data
What it is: Personalized pricing means offering customers different prices and discounts based on their locations, incomes, web-browsing habits and other information about individuals or groups of shoppers. Some advocacy groups and regulators use the term “surveillance pricing” for the same practice.

Why it matters: It’s unclear how widely businesses use personal information to customize prices. An FTC staff report released in January 2025 found that intermediaries offering tools that can tailor prices and promotions worked with at least 250 clients, including grocery and clothing retailers.
For Halloween display on Amazon...
Incognito browser:  $38.99
Chrome (My normal browser): $30.99
Data in Retail Pricing Decisions
JdSupra
Baker Hostetler
August 14, 2026


Retailers are increasingly relying on consumer data, predictive analytics, and artificial intelligence to personalize offers and pricing – a practice commonly referred to as “surveillance pricing.” In the absence of comprehensive federal legislation, individual states have begun regulating the practice.

[...]

Connecticut’s Broad Approach
Earlier this year, Connecticut passed SB4/HB5563, amending the Connecticut Data Privacy Act to prohibit the use of surveillance pricing by any retail seller operating in the state, including food establishments and third-party delivery services, across a wide range of industries. Effective October 1, 2026, the law also requires a mandatory disclosure in the event a consumer’s personal data was used to increase that price.

As with New Jersey, certain common pricing practices are exempt from the broad sweep of the statute, including (i) pricing for customer retention, (ii) justifiable costs incurred in providing a good or service, and (iii) group discounts and loyalty programs.
But you notice one glaring gap... online retailers! With the phrase "retail seller operating in the state," would Amazon be included because they have warehouses in Connecticut?


The Federal Trade Commission is warning companies that use customers' personal information to set different prices based on what they believe is a shopper's propensity to pay that they could be breaking the law.

In a proposed enforcement policy statement released Wednesday, the FTC said consumers expect prices for products and services to apply uniformly to all customers, rather than fluctuating based on their online browsing habits, purchase history, or other factors that could reflect their willingness to pay. 

"When consumers walk into a retail store, for example, they reasonably expect the price on the shelf to be the same price offered to any other consumer shopping at the same store at the same time," the FTC said. 

The agency added, "Likewise, when they browse to a product listing on a retailer's website, they reasonably expect the price to be the same price that anyone else browsing to that listing would see, not a price set based on the retailer's analysis of their personal data and conclusion as to how much they would be willing to pay for that product as compared to some other consumer."
This is a whole brave new world. I think we all know that prices vary with online retailers, but it becomes dangerous when algorithms base those variations on information that crosses the line into discrimination.
Institute for Data, Democracy and Politics -- George Washington University
Kyle Wiggers
June 12, 2020


A preprint study published by researchers at George Washington University presents evidence of social bias in the algorithms ride-sharing startups like Uber, Lyft, and Via use to price fares. In a large-scale fairness analysis of Chicago-area ride-hailing samples -- made in conjunction with the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) data -- metrics from tens of millions of rides indicate ethnicity, age, housing prices, and education influence the dynamic fare pricing models used by ride-hailing apps.

The idea that dynamic algorithmic pricing disproportionately -- if unintentionally -- affects certain demographics is not new. In 2015, a model used by the Princeton Review was found to be twice as likely to charge Asian Americans higher test-preparation prices than other customers, regardless of income. As the use of algorithmic dynamic pricing proliferates in other domains, the authors of this study argue it's crucial that unintended consequences -- like racially based disparities -- are identified and accounted for.

"When machine learning is applied to social data, the algorithms learn the statistical regularities of the historical injustices and social biases embedded in these data sets," paper coauthors assistant professor Aylin Caliskan and Ph.D. candidate Akshat Pandey told VentureBeat via email. "With the starting point that machine learning models trained on social data contain biases, we wanted to explore if ... [the] algorithmic ride-hailing data set exhibits any social biases."
At one time, discrimination was visible and out in the open; now, it is covert, hidden in computer programs.


Another grocery giant is following in Walmart’s footsteps, hitting shoppers where it hurts — their wallets.

Walmart may have found another way to nickel-and-dime shoppers before they even get to the checkout, as back in 2024, the retail giant revealed it would add digital shelf labels — or DSLs — to all US stores.

Some shoppers fear dynamic pricing would peak its sneaky head out.

Also known as surge pricing, the controversial practice is where businesses have the ability to adjust their prices in real-time with digital tags. The changes are based on market conditions like demand, competitor pricing and inventory — or so they claim.

[...]

Walmart told The Post that its DSL system does not allow prices to increase during store hours as items are locked in for the day — it’s built into their program. If shoppers spot a change during the day, it would only be a price decrease.
Isn't that might nice of them!
Kroger will expand its already large number of stores using sneaky digital tags. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that hundreds of more locations in the Cincinnati-Dayton division — which includes Northern Kentucky — will now use digital price tags.

The powerhouse has been rolling out electronic shelf labels — or ESLs — to hundreds of its stores across the country as early as 2018. Kroger previously shared that nearly one in four of its locations nationwide have them.
What we need is another law... this one, when something goes out on the shelves the price is fixed!

You remember at one time... the price got stuck on the item, now it is their new fancy ESLs that can change the price at any time!

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

False Flags

Down in Texas they fight dirty!

There is a group masquerading as a trans rights group!
The Transgender Education Network of Texas sent a cease and desist letter to messaging companies demanding an end to the text campaign.
The Texas Tribune
by Ayden Runnels
Oct. 14, 2026


The Transgender Education Network of Texas on Wednesday sent a cease and desist notice that demanded two digital messaging companies stop a client from impersonating the LGBTQ+ advocacy group in a series of texts sent this week to Texans.

The texts, sent from at least three numbers Monday and Tuesday evening, advertised guides on “bathrooms and beyond for trans kids at school” or offered to answer questions about gender-affirming care in Texas. The texts linked to TENT guides on how to respond to certain state laws and information about its advocacy work.

Although the messages linked to TENT’s website, the group said in a statement that it did not send them and didn’t know who did, adding the texts did not “represent the official position or communications of the organization.”
They go for the jugular!

These emails are doing harm to the non-profit,
The texts prompted Texas Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, to send a Tuesday letter asking the state attorney general’s office to investigate TENT for “circumventing and violating” Senate Bill 12.

When asked about TENT’s statement that it did not send the texts, Leach said he wanted “a diligent search for the truth, no matter where that search may lead.”

“I asked the attorney general’s office to investigate and I, like many Texans, am very interested to see what that investigation uncovers and reveals,” he said.
KXAN wrote,
“Awfully suspicious right before the midterms lol. Seems like Republican chicanery,” wrote one user. “Guess when you have nothing else to run on you have to lean into culture war bullsh-t.”
The Texan writes...
Days before the start of early voting in Texas’ general election, residents are receiving text messages related to “bathrooms and beyond for trans kids” in public schools and information on obtaining “gender-affirming care” in the state — directing recipients to an organization that denies connection with the messages, and drawing legal action from a GOP lawmaker. 

[...]

Michelle Smith, a senior advisor to Paxton, amplified an X post by Dallas Express News writer Carlos Turcios that questioned whether TENT was “encouraging teachers to violate Texas law.”
I want to point out... that everyone agrees that they didn't send it but the politicians still want the group investigated!

The Is The Stuff We Have To Put Up With

Can you imagine the out roar if it was any other minority but us? He thinks he's funny, but in reality he is an ass.
Former NBA player says he will 'explore every legal avenue' after Cathy Engelbert told Congress he is a man
By Jackson Thompson OutKick
October 20, 2026


Former NBA player Royce White says he plans to explore legal avenues against the WNBA after Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told Congress that he and Enes Kanter Freedom are ineligible to play because they are men.

White told OutKick that Engelbert’s response does not resolve his challenge to the league’s eligibility standards, calling on the WNBA to explain how it defines men and women.

"We plan to explore every legal avenue possible to hold the WNBA and NBA community to their stated standards and values," White said.
This right out of the Trump/MAGA playbook their Woke & DEI.

Breaking News: Court Allows Trans Prisoner To Receive Treatment For Them.

CBS News
By Melissa Quinn
October 21, 2026


The Supreme Court on Wednesday left intact a lower court decision that blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a new Bureau of Prisons policy that would end certain medical interventions for transgender inmates.

In an unsigned, one-line order, the high court rejected an emergency appeal from the Justice Department asking it to freeze the district court order and revive the new rules. The policy would cut off surgical and hormone therapy treatments, as well as social accommodations, for inmates who have been or will be diagnosed with gender dysphoria. 

Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas said they would have allowed the Trump administration to enforce the change.

Shell Game

The Trump adminstration cut funding to the Affordable Care Act (Also known as ACA or Obama Care) by removing deceased and duplicate accounts to justify the cuts. But dead people and duplicate accounts don't cost anything to justify the cuts! KFF Health News reported:
Modern Healthcare: IRS Proposed Rule Tightens ACA Subsidies Access
A new draft regulation would tighten access to health insurance exchange subsidies as federal agencies continue implementing President Donald Trump’s tax law. The IRS issued a proposed rule Wednesday that would set stricter definitions of who qualifies for tax credit subsidies, toughen eligibility verification requirements and narrow access to financial assistance for noncitizens. This regulation would complement pending rules from the Health and Human Services Department and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Early, 10/14)
Then we have the drop in Medicaid enrollment, in another KFF article...
Medicaid/CHIP Current Enrollment Trends
The figures below show Medicaid and CHIP enrollment from February 2020 through the most current month of available data. Figures include enrollment for adults and children in Medicaid/CHIP and for Medicaid only and CHIP only. Key enrollment data and trends as of June 2026 include:

There were 73.2 million people enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP nationally (Figure 1). Medicaid enrollment declined by 5.1 million or 6% from June 2025 through June 2026 (Table 1).
Total Medicaid/CHIP enrollment has decreased in 49 states and DC since June 2025. Enrollment changes since June 2025 vary from a less than 1% increase in Iowa to a 19% decrease in Indiana (Figure 2).
Okay, I have a question: where are those kicked off of health insurance going to get their healthcare?

Hun? Where? The Emergency Room. That's where. The most inefficient and expensive treatment there is! By law, hospitals must take patients who show up at their doors.

How does the hospital get paid for these charity cases? Why, they raise their rates for everyone else! However, Medicare and insurance reimbursement rates don't go up enough to cover the increased expenses, so that means it comes out of our pockets in co-pays. It used to be a $45 co-pay, then it went to $50, and now it is $75 for most office visits.

From healthcare partly supported by tax dollars to healthcare paid for by our higher premiums! But hey, Trump's billionaires pay less in taxes!

It’s a shell game: the costs don’t disappear, they just get shifted until someone else is stuck paying them. Us, instead of the billionaires.

I Want You To Compare These Two Facebook Posts

I want you to compare these two images of agitators...



How the crowds responded tells it all!

Abdul El-Sayed didn't use disrespectful language. The crowd didn't boo Tommy, attack him, or do anything violent!

Trump commented while the woman was being assaulted. He characterized her as a paid protester, called protesters “scum,” and mocked her weight while the crowd reacted. The woman was eventually escorted out by the police.

The Republican strategist's son* who appeared at the Abdul El-Sayed rally, amid reports of paid efforts to provoke confrontations at other El-Sayed events... and he got one. A peaceful one. He walked out on his own two feet.



* What is known:
Thomas Teepell, who worked for Republican senator, demanded El-Sayed disavow Muslim Brotherhood
The Guardian
Joseph Gedeon
Mon 19 Oct 2026


A man who heckled the Democratic candidate for Senate Abdul El-Sayed and demanded he disavow the Muslim Brotherhood at a Michigan town hall is a former aide to the Republican senator Josh Hawley, according to congressional staff records.

[...]

He then asked Tommy whether he would disavow any attempt to read religious doctrine into American law. Tommy said he would not. El-Sayed answered that it was Tommy who needed to understand the constitution, drawing cheers, and the man left the room.
While at the Trump rally, the crowd chanted “USA! USA! USA!” as the woman was being physically attacked.

Fox News wrote:
The man also grabbed the woman by the hair and attempted to slam her face toward the ground.

Police eventually intervened and broke up the fight before escorting the woman out of the venue. Video showed the man who struck her remaining in the arena and exchanging high-fives with other attendees.
So, tell me: Who are the people engaging in violence? Liberals or conservatives?

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

See The Difference?

How many times have you heard people say... I see no differences the Republicans and the Democrats? Well may be this will help you to see the differences.
Just hours after after the CEO of the Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library warned elected leaders against withholding support for institutions like his, Broward County did exactly that.
The Advocate
Dawn Ennis
Oct 13, 2026


Broward County, Florida, is a Democratic stronghold. But that political identity has not protected one of its LGBTQ+ institutions from losing county support.

The county has rejected an application for a fiscal year 2027 operating grant from the Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library in Fort Lauderdale, according to the museum, prompting its president and CEO to challenge local officials to defend organizations threatened by Florida’s restrictions on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The Republican attacks on anything LGBTQ+ is taking its toll... the is what happens when bigotry trumps humanity!

They lost federal and state grants, they lost Broward County grant, and corporate funding is drying up over fears of lawsuits because of DEI!



In Connecticut I am on the LGBTQ+ Justice & Opportunity Network
The LGBTQ+ Justice & Opportunity Network was established by the Connecticut Legislature in 2017. Administered through the Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity & Opportunity (CWCSEO), the Network provides funding to LGBTQ+ organizations statewide, collaborates with local affinity groups, and advises the state legislature regarding LGBTQ+ needs, issues, and concerns. The LGBTQ+ Justice and Opportunity Network aims for a safe and healthy environment for Connecticut’s LGBTQ+ residents through needs analyses and data collection on health and human services needs, which informs policy efforts, builds organizational member capacity, and promotes community leadership and advocacy.
Tell me how many Republican states do you think have something like tihs?

MAGA Through and Through

One thing you can say about MAGA and Trump supporters... they are loyal. No matter how he screws them over.
Caitlyn Jenner says she’s still a Trump supporter, even after the administration’s own policies saw her issued a passport with a male gender marker.
Pink News
Apr 20
by Tom Hutt-Dixon


Speaking on Fox News, the 76-year-old revealed she had spent years working with lawyers to ensure all her documentation, including her passport, global entry and birth certificate, reflected her correct gender.

After renewing her passport, the State Department sent it back marked “M.” She says she tried to correct it herself, producing her amended birth certificate. It was returned unchanged.
Oh... but he's my hero!
She said: “I don’t blame President Trump, I love him. But for a lot of people, this is an issue.”

Jenner says she wrote a letter to Trump at Mar-a-Lago two months ago. She hasn’t heard back.
Did she really expect Trump to reply?
“I’m not blaming him whatsoever. I love the guy, and I love what he’s doing,” she told host Tomi Lahren.
Oh... but he's my hero!

Jenner says she wrote a letter to Trump at Mar-a-Lago two months ago. She hasn’t heard back, did she really expect Trump to reply?
“I don’t blame President Trump. I love him.”
LGBTQ Nation
Greg Owen
April 17, 2026


Caitlyn Jenner appeared on Tomi Lahren’s Fox Nation podcast this week to “break her silence” with an hour of slurred rambling. During the interview, she mentioned that, due to Donald Trump’s anti-trans executive orders, her passport now says she’s male, curtailing her ability to travel, but she assured Fox listeners that she still loves the president.

The excruciating appearance was yet more evidence that Trump and his MAGA movement are in full meltdown mode.

[...]

Jenner famously supported Trump’s 2024 campaign, saying that he would be the president who supports “world peace.”

Jenner did admit maybe Republicans were going too far with the whole bathroom thing.
Just a reminder. For all of us who transitioned... Trump has our name and address! It is all in the State Department records... just a quick sort and all of our data pops up!

A Lot Of People Think…

That dyslexia is about scrambled letters, but it is much, much more.

When I was in grad school for my MSW, one of my classes was on brain disorders… you know, like dyslexia, ADHD, ADD, the whole alphabet soup. Well, at midterm I handed in my exam, and the next class he handed them back… but when he got to me, he said, "See me after class!" AGGG! What the fk, I thought I aced it!

Well, after class he said, "Read what I wrote on the exam." I read it back to him. He said, "No, read what you wrote." So I read it back to him and he said, "No, look at the paper and read what you wrote." All of a sudden I realized that I left the "not" out along with other words… I freaked out! If you read what I wrote, it sounded like I said what was true, but I went on to describe why it was not.

He said, "Have you ever been tested for dyslexia?" I said no, and asked if I wanted to take a screening test (Um… he was an adjunct professor, but his day job was evaluating juveniles for the court system). Well, the test had something like 24 questions, and if you got something like 12 of them “wrong,” you likely were dyslexic. I got something like 20 wrong! Things like...
  • Late talking compared to typical developmental milestones. ✓
  • Difficulty with rhyming (e.g., struggling to match words like cat, hat, and bat). ✓
  • Trouble learning nursery rhymes or remembering the sequence of sounds in words. ✓
  • Pronunciation issues, such as swapping sounds in words (e.g., saying "pasghetti" instead of "spaghetti" well past the typical age). ✓
  • Difficulty remembering names of letters, numbers, or days of the week. ✓
  • Slow, labor-intensive reading. ✓
  • What the professor caught was:
  • Skipping "Small" Words ✓
  • Missing Articles or Prepositions ✓
  • Incomplete Phrasing ✓
  • Self-Editing Blindness ✓
Those who follow my blog see a lot of the above. I started running my posts through AI to proofread them.

You know what drives me up a wall? Simon. You remember Simon… beep, beep, flashes colored lights and you had to repeat the sequence… that drives me bonkers!

I was at a fundraiser for GenderPAC and talking to another guest, I don’t remember how we got on the topic, but he was also dyslexic… he would go on to become the governor of Connecticut, Governor Dannel P. Malloy.

Dyslexia goes way beyond scrambling letters (Hint: we can read papers upside down!).
People with dyslexia often develop exceptional big-picture thinking, strong empathy, and great visual-spatial skills to compensate for processing written language.

Monday, October 19, 2026

Alberta Subversion

Today in Alberta, Canada, voters are heading to the polls to vote on whether they want to secede from Canada. As of now, the secessionists are losing.

But how many of you know that conservative funding is flowing north of the border?
News Global: Canada
Oct 3, 2026


The pitch began with a prayer.

On an afternoon in late January, Mitch Sylvestre, the leader of Alberta’s most prominent separatist organization, gathered with three of his lieutenants in a boardroom not far from the executive hangars at the Calgary International Airport, where private jets shuttle in and out of the city away from prying eyes.

It was a few hours before thousands of Albertans would gather near the city centre at a rally to launch the separatist campaign. But this meeting, convened behind closed doors a half-hour drive away, was invite only.

The Alberta Prosperity Project chose the location to accommodate its guests, Republican political strategists from Michigan who helped Donald Trump win the state in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

The American delegation travelled to Calgary to sell them on software developed for Republicans to get out the vote – and how it could be used to wrench Alberta from Confederation.

“They were young Christians. Capable, intelligent people,” Mr. Sylvestre said. “We prayed before we started the meeting.”
United States citizens helping to create a separatist movement in Canada.
For Mr. Parker, the software was the path to victory – one that ultimately resulted in a massive privacy breach involving the sensitive personal data of nearly three million Albertans. The breach raised alarms inside Canada’s security agencies, according to a classified document obtained by The Globe and Mail.

But Mr. Parker’s embrace of the Michigan delegation is evidence of something else – a pattern: separatist factions in Alberta eager to engage the U.S. in their plans for secession, and American actors willing to assist, either privately or openly.

A Globe and Mail investigation has found that Republican political operatives were on the ground in Alberta this year to assist the separatist campaign in its bid to leave Canada, while harbouring their own aspirations for the province to secede.

The Globe also found that when Alberta separatist leaders went to Washington to meet with the U.S. State Department, they offered up key assets from the province’s resource portfolio, including access to fresh water and royalties on crude oil, in exchange for help transitioning to independence.
STOP RIGHT THERE!

The Republicans are helping to destabilize a friendly nation! Why? Because of oil!
Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed
A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed
Then one day he was shootin' at some food
And up through the ground come a bubblin' crude
(Oil, that is. Black gold, Texas tea)
Alberta's frustrations over energy, federal authority, immigration, and public services have domestic roots. Hmm… seem familiar? And the Republicans smelled an opportunity.
The separatists arrived in Washington, D.C., last year armed with a determination to leave Canada and a raft of ideas for how an independent Alberta could instead interlace its future fortunes with the United States.

New oil pipelines could be built to the Pacific that would travel through Washington state, evading the politically hostile terrain of British Columbia. The loonie holdings of Albertans could be converted at par into American greenbacks, perhaps paid for by offering the U.S. a royalty on Alberta crude, or even a slice of Alberta’s land for a railroad to Alaska. Other repayment deals could be struck with the White House by offering Alberta resources in agriculture, forestry, mining and precious metals.
So the United States government met with Canadians who were just like the southern United States and wanting secession!

I want you to think for a second: if China held talks with secessionists here in the U.S. say, Texas wanted to secede from the Union… and gave them software and training to help, can you imagine the outcry? The interference in our elections! Then why is it okay for us to do it to a friendly country?

Reuters writes that...
Jeff Rath, the firebrand spokesman for the Alberta Prosperity Project group that supports independence, says the separatist movement is gaining pace. He confirmed he and other activists met with U.S. State Department officials in Washington in January to get a sense of how the U.S. administration would respond to an independent Alberta.

Rath said he floated the idea of a new oil pipeline from Alberta to the United States - which he said U.S. officials responded to positively, noting their concerns on Ottawa's plans to sell more energy to China.
Texas tea

Investing writes:
Canada is the world’s fourth largest oil producer, and oil and gas is the country’s most valuable export product. The vast majority of Canadian oil and gas is produced in Alberta, where the energy sector is a significant employer and oil and gas tax revenues contribute substantially to provincial government coffers.
This has Trump & Company salivating! Oil! $$$$$! The billionaires smell cash!
Quebecor report says Americans tried to negotiate directly with Quebec on tariffs
CBC
Erika Morris · The Canadian Press
Sep 25, 2026


Allegations of political interference from the United States dominated the 30th day of Quebec's election campaign on Friday as Coalition Avenir Québec Leader Christine Fréchette expressed concerns that Americans were trying to help sovereigntists take control of the province.

Her warnings were met with skepticism from her political rivals, but Fréchette said the threat was serious enough for her to request a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney and for her party to approach the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).

"I want help from the federal government to shed light on the issue," she said Friday morning, adding that it was up to Quebecers to choose the next government.

Five parties are expecting to win seats in the Oct. 5 election, Fréchette's CAQ, the Parti Québécois, the Quebec Liberals, the Quebec Conservatives and Québec Solidaire.

Fréchette spoke to journalists twice on the campaign trail on Friday about the allegations. Her office also issued a statement later in the afternoon to clarify that she was only publicly talking about the allegations due to a news report by Quebecor media.
Neighbors don’t do that to each other!

We don’t like it when Russia interferes in our elections; how do you think Canada feels when a supposed friendly nation does that?



Update: 10/20 @ 8:30AM

The election results:
Get the latest results from the 2026 Alberta referendum
CBC News · Posted: Oct 19, 2026


Should Alberta remain a province of Canada, or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?

VOTE:
Remain
75.9%

Referendum
24.1%