There Is A War On! So Lets Go Golfing!

Trump's War is going to hell in a handbasket! The Saudi pipeline bombed, the Houthis seize control of the Red Sea.

Saudi Arabia shuts down a pipeline as Houthis seize an island, opening a new front in the Iran war

AP News

By  FATMA KHALED, SAMY MAGDY and CARA ANNA

September 11, 2026

Saudi Arabia said Friday it shut down a major pipeline a day after it was attacked by drones, and Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels captured a strategic island at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, two officials said, opening a new front in the Iran war.

The Houthis made their biggest territorial gains in years along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, one of the world’s key shipping lanes. The advance could boost Iran’s strategy of driving up world oil and gas prices to pressure the United States.

Saudi Arabia said it had shut down the East-West pipeline after it was attacked the day before. The Saudi Ministry of Energy called the shutdown “a precautionary measure.”

The Saudi Foreign Ministry blamed the attack on several drones that came from Iraq. In a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, the kingdom said it would not respond to give the Iraqi government “an opportunity to take the necessary measures.”

So where is Trump in this Middle East crisis? Why, over in Ireland at his golf course for the Irish Open with a wink and a nod! He is visiting Prime Minister Micheál Martin, who invited Trump to watch the Irish Open. ABC News reported,

Trump is heading to Ireland for the Irish Open at his Doonbeg golf course

President Donald Trump is taking a break from the pressures of the Iran conflict and its economic fallout by heading to his golf resort in Doonbeg, Ireland

ByDARLENE SUPERVILLE and JILL LAWLESS

September 11, 2026

President Donald Trump is taking a break this weekend from the pressures of the Iran war and American voter anger over the conflict’s economic fallout by indulging in one of his favorite pastimes: golf.

[...]

Daniel Mulhall, a former Irish ambassador to the United States, said Irish and U.S. officials will see Trump’s trip “as a happy opportunity for him to have a little bit of R&R in a place that he really loves, which is his golf course in Doonbeg.”

Fiddling on the Fairway: While Global Energy Burns!

He is calling this a business trip because he's talking business with...

Trump plans to sit down on Saturday to talk about trade and international issues with Martin and will also have a brief meeting with President Catherine Connolly, a progressive campaigner who was elected Ireland's ceremonial head of state last year. He’ll give remarks to business leaders at the U.S. ambassador's residence, the White House said. Then he'll travel to Doonbeg to attend the tournament, and possibly present the winner’s trophy on Sunday.

According to Al Jazeera, in Ireland roughly 69 percent of the public—do not support or welcome the visit,

So what does this all mean? It means we, the taxpayers, foot the bill because it is a business trip! The Irish Star estimates it will cost $23 million for just the Irish portion of the bill. The cost to fly Air Force One is not in that amount, and his stay at his hotel is billed to us—even though it is his hotel, he bills the government not just for his stay, but also for the Secret Service's stay.

Meanwhile, the Houthis threaten to close down the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea, but Trump is swinging the clubs like nothing is happening! Just like Nero when Rome was burning.

During Trump's first term, the cost of his golf trips is estimated that it cost the taxpayers around $150 million!

Extortion!

That is what it is... extortions.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines extortion as:

1

: the act or practice of extorting especially money or other property

especially : the offense committed by an official engaging in such practice

That is exactly what the federal government did. It extorted an agreement to halt something that is perfectly legal by threatening to withhold federal funding already authorized by Congress.

Connecticut Children’s agrees to end trans youth care for 10 years under deal with Trump, DOJ

By Cris Villalonga-Vivoni,

Stamford Advocate

Sep 12, 2026

Over a year after winding down its care program for transgender youth, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center has agreed to end the program for the next decade as part of the formal agreement with the Trump administration announced in August.

​The settlement also states that Connecticut Children’s will pay the federal government $60,000 and allocate $500,000 for patients under 19 to get medical reversal or “detransition” care.

That is extortion!

Co-chair state Sen. Matt Lesser said he and state Rep. Jillian Gilchrest met with CCMC administrators earlier this week and received the requested documents. A spokesperson for CCMC said administrators have answered the lawmakers question and declined additional comment.

Yes, they threw us under the bus and agreed to a witch hunt... for the elusive phantom “detransitioner.”

When the government tells a hospital, "Do this or we will withhold your Medicaid and Medicare funding," that is illegal! They want to stop legal medical procedures that are approved by every major medical association. That is extortion, and the courts have backed that up with rulings stating the federal government has overstepped its legal authority by trying to block this funding.

Instead of fighting for us, CCMC threw us under the bus. They took the easy way out.

Trump’s War – A Generational War.

Trump’s War – A Generational War.

The Red Sea is now up for grabs. The war has expanded to the Red Sea, and Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have seized control of the area!

Houthis seize entire Red Sea coast of Yemen

11/09/2026

By: FRANCE 24

Summary

• Trump declines Saudi crown prince's call for US strikes on Houthis
• Hamas says a top armed commander killed by Israel
• Houthis say shipping 'safe' except for Saudi vessels, vow further escalation
• Houthis seize entire Red Sea coast of Yemen, governtment official says
• Saudi foreign ministry says pipeline was attacked by drones launched from Iraq
• Saudi shuts East-West oil pipeline after attacks

[…]

15 hours ago

Houthis seize key Red Sea island, complete takeover of Bab al-Mandab area

Yemen's Houthis took over a key island in the Red Sea, completing their push to seize control of the Bab al-Mandab strait area, a local government official and eyewitnesses told AFP.

"Boats carrying armed Houthi fighters reached Mayyun Island after government forces withdrew from it yesterday," the official said, referring to an island also known as Perim that divides the strait into two shipping lanes.

An eyewitness said gunmen were "deploying along the Bab al-Mandab shore and are driving around in military vehicles".

So now the war has spilled over to other countries. It is not just the bombing of other countries by Iran, but now Iran’s allies have stepped in!

Trump’s “short, glorious war” has come back to bite him in the butt!

Saturday 9: Devil in the Bottle

Saturday 9: Devil in the Bottle (1974)

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

 

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This song begins with T. G. Sheppard taking off his shoes to slip into the house with disturbing his sleeping wife. Are you wearing shoes as you answer these questions?

Nope, I’m writing this in bed.

2) His wife hears him anyway. Are you a light sleeper?

Not really, it vary from time to time.

3) This is the first of 22 consecutive #1 hits for T. G. Sheppard. Not bad for a high school dropout. What's the last year of education that you completed?

Graduate.

4) He was born William Browder and chose the stage name T. G. Sheppard just because he liked the sound of it. He says "T. G." doesn't stand for anything, and he gets a kick out of fans who insist there's some secret meaning behind the initials. Since most of us didn't choose our names: Is there a story behind your name? Did your parents tell you why they chose it? (If you did choose your name, share what influenced your decision.)

Well I was originally named after the family doctor.

I chose my name from Greek mythology… in old books had about a god who got the other gods mad at him and the changed him into the goddess Diana. (Notice they thought that being a woman was a punishment.)

5) It was after hours at a Memphis roller rink when he first met Elvis and his entourage. As T. G. was leaving, Elvis was entering and asked if he wanted to stay and skate longer. T. G. was confused because he knew the place was closing for the night. "Not for me," Elvis replied and T. G. skated with Elvis and his buddies until dawn. Are you good on roller skates?

Yeah, when I skate I keep ambulance drivers in business.

Actually I think the last time I strapped roller skates on I was about ten.

6) T. G. loves NASCAR and was an associate sponsor of the Folgers Chevrolet. He enjoyed the collaboration with the coffee company and has performed the familiar jingle – "the best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup" – in concert. Are you loyal to a particular coffee brand?

The only time I usually drink coffee is when at meetings they only have coffee. The other time I drink coffee is when I travel… one large Dunkin coffee is good for 200 miles.

7) T. G. understands the lifestyle of his fans. That's why he named his live country music venue Guitars and Cadillacs. If you were going to name a business after two of your favorite things, what would you call it?

Him... how can I merge two of my favorite things... photography and eating. Maybe "Eye Candy"

8) In 1974, when this week's song was on the country charts, Linda Ronstadt was getting a lot of radio airplay with "You're No Good." That song is about a real cad. Let's turn that around: Who is the nicest person you know?

Oh… I hate naming names.

They know who they are, they are the ones who care about others, they have a heart of gold.

 

9) Random question: Have you ever had your palm read?

Only when the doctor was pulling the inch splinter out of my palm. The doctor was impressed.

---

I’m back in Connecticut for a doctors and dentist appointment. Then head back up to the cottage until the end of October.

Me.

Today is solemn, and the speeches by the former presidents reflected the introspection of the day. However, the current president and his cabinet made it about the current political situation. Trump and Hegseth at the Pentagon both linked the war in Iran to their ongoing military actions.

In Trump's speech, he made references to "domestic terrorists," and that made my ears pick up, since in the past Trump has labeled trans activists as terrorists.

Formerly at remembrances at the Pentagon, the presidents didn't make it political.

When ask Gemini wrote...

Presidents who have spoken at the Pentagon memorial observances over the years include:

• Barack Obama: Spoke at the Pentagon ceremony on multiple anniversaries (such as the 11th anniversary in 2012), focusing on national resilience, community service, and honoring the victims and first responders.
• Donald Trump: Also delivered major addresses at the Pentagon during his first term (such as in 2017), as well as during subsequent anniversaries, using the platform to honor the fallen while emphasizing national strength and counterterrorism efforts. 
• George W. Bush: Regularly delivered addresses honoring the Pentagon victims in the years immediately following the 2001 attacks, given that the Department of Defense was one of the primary sites struck.
• Joe Biden: During his term, he also participated in Pentagon and Flight 93 observances, delivering remarks centered heavily on the endurance of American democracy and supporting military families.

Because the Pentagon is a federal military facility rather than a private memorial site like Ground Zero in New York, it has traditionally hosted a formal government-led ceremony featuring speeches from the sitting commander-in-chief and the secretary of defense.

 Trump always makes it about "Me."

Family Values... Whose?

[Essay]

Here we go again with "Family Values." How many times have you heard Republicans harp on "Family Values"? I don't know about you, but I don't like JD Vance's family values of hate.

Vance's speech at the Republican lovefest was an eye-opener!

USA Today reported...

Vance says Democrats are 'party of hatred'

Vance declared Democrats the "party of hatred" as he led the charge among Republican convention speakers to paint their midterm opposition as a dangerous threat to the country.

It was Vance’s debut at the convention, and it might have been one of the most pivotal speeches he will make ahead of a widely expected presidential bid in 2028. He arrived on stage to chants of "JD."

Whoa! The Republican party is a party of lies.

Fresh off a recent campaign visit to Michigan, Vance above all aimed at Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, who the vice president has attacked aggressively for invoking his wife, Usha Vance, on the campaign trail.

El-Sayed wrote in an Aug. 22 post on X: "So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no…" To El-Sayed’s critics, his remarks seemed to imply Vance’s white grandfather would not accept Usha Vance because of her Indian heritage.

Now he just got finished saying that the Democrats are a "party of hate" but what does he say next?

Fresh off a recent campaign visit to Michigan, Vance above all aimed at Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, who the vice president has attacked aggressively for invoking his wife, Usha Vance, on the campaign trail.

El-Sayed wrote in an Aug. 22 post on X: "So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no…" To El-Sayed’s critics, his remarks seemed to imply Vance’s white grandfather would not accept Usha Vance because of her Indian heritage.

To me, that seems xenophobic and racist!

Then we have JD's family values... which are not mine.

Vance positions himself as a fighter for family values and a ‘national birthright’

The vice president drew on the recent birth of his fourth child, a son, and the first anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s death in his speech at the Republican midterm convention.

NBC News

Sept. 10, 2026

By Henry J. Gomez

Vice President JD Vance on Thursday offered his young family — in particular, his newborn son — as a model and a window to the future that the potential 2028 presidential contender envisions for America.

In a speech here at the Republicans’ midterm convention, Vance broadly criticized Democrats who he said do not share his values.

I will second that!

My family values are love and acceptance, not authoritarianism.

He added a moment later, “To the radicals who wish to abolish my family and the thousands and millions of other families all across our country, we have a simple message for them: Stay the hell away from our kids!”

Ah... but it is okay to force our kids into models of your family image? It is okay to force a trans child into a body image that is not theirs? It is okay to mold them into little images of "Dick and Jane" with Spot and their cat Puff?

And then... good grief! He says he might run in '28!

Vance reserved his vitriol for Democrats and the progressive left. He went on an extended riff against El-Sayed, who last month mockingly wondered whether Vance would take his Indian American wife, Usha Vance, back in time to meet his late grandfather. Vance also alluded to El-Sayed’s alliance with Hasan Piker, a Twitch streamer who previously said on a livestream that “America deserved 9/11.” Piker has since apologized for the remark, which has become a staple of Republican campaigning this year.

That is playing to a xenophobic and Islamophobic audience! I don't know about you, but those are not my family values!

My family values are about love and acceptance; it is about the Golden Rule and helping others.

My family values are not about seeking vengeance on those he thinks "wronged" him.

My family values do not involve seeing women as sex objects.

My family values are not about cheating your contractors.

My family values are not to cheat on your taxes.

I see the whole Republican convention as a "hate fest." It was not about "Family Values," but rather who to hate. Hate the immigrant. Hate the trans children. Hate those who worship differently.

No, those are not my family values.

[/Essay]

Ask Them How?

Just a simple question: How?

"I'm going to cut your utility bills."... How?

"I'm going to cut the price of drugs."... How?

"I'm going to lower grocery prices."... How?

"I'm going to make housing more affordable."... How?

The devil is in the details!

That’s something no politician tells you. Why? Because they can’t! They don’t know either. But they’ll tell you what you want to hear.

Republicans Float $2B Cuts In Taxes, Costs

CT News Junkie

by Donald Eng

September 9, 2026

Legislative Republicans made their plea for voters to elect more members of their party in November, offering reductions or outright elimination of about a half-dozen taxes or fees in return.

“Affordability has become a buzzword for the Democrats we serve alongside, and they’ve spent the summer pointing fingers at Washington instead of looking in the mirror,” said House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford. “Connecticut didn’t become one of the most expensive states in the country the day President Trump took office. It got that way over years of decisions made in this building, by the people and party that have controlled it,”

[...]

Among the measures were an elimination on sales tax on meals sold in grocery stores, elimination of the public benefits charge on utility bills, a one-year gas tax holiday and an elimination of the highway use tax – a mileage-based tax on heavy commercial vehicles that helps fund road and bridge maintenance.

The centerpiece, though, is a scaled reduction in the state income tax for those earning $200,000 or less. That one proposal represents about half of what the group said was the $2 billion total.

So the question asks to be asked... HOW?

They are cutting taxes by 2 billion dollars... but where are they going to cut? All I hear is crickets.

What they did say is that they will take it from the budget surplus. However—and you know darn well that there is always a "however" or a "but" in politics—the budget surplus varies from year to year depending on the economy! The surplus is also used to pay down our long-term debt and the two major state pension obligations: the State Employees Retirement System (SERS) and the Teachers' Retirement System (STRS).

The Republicans haven't said anything about that! And if that isn't enough... what in the budget are they planning to cut? They Republicans want to treat the volatile surpluses as a bottomless piggy bank for sweeping tax cuts without explaining how they'll balance the math,

The Party's Over!

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

How many thousands of times have we said that?

Well, Trump has a new pledge of allegiance: “I pledge to the greatest president in the history of the United States..."

‘I’m on the ticket’: Trump implores Republicans to vote in November at unusual midterm convention

The president demonised Democrats in an attempt to wangle votes in midterms despite backlash over Iran war

The Guardian

David Smith in Dallas, Texas

Fri 11 Sep 2026

With his approval rating at a historic low, Donald Trump has brought down the curtain on the Republicans’ first ever midterm convention by pleading with supporters to do him “the biggest favour” and “pretend” they are voting for him in November’s US elections.

The president is facing a growing backlash over rising prices and the war in Iran. Sweeping losses for the Republican party could effectively turn Trump into a lame duck for his final two years in the White House.

[...]

The convention had been aimed at turning around Republicans’ fortunes. Opinion polls suggest they are on course to lose the US House of Representatives, and possibly the Senate.

In what was effectively an abridged version of his rambling keynote address on Wednesday, the president reiterated his promise of “Trump dividend” of $5,000 for every US adult if Republicans win both chambers of Congress. Democrats have dismissed the pledge as a bribe while economists have warned it would cost more than $1tn.

They are really nervous... their whole house of cards could come tumbling down on them. So they fall back on their game plan... blame the Democrats.

The president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, delivered a fiery address setting Republican “common sense” against a “dystopian hellscape” of leftwing ideology.

“As we speak, Democrat candidates across the country are openly embracing the radical ideology of democratic socialism,” suggested Trump Jr. “They claim that their socialism is for the people, but that’s the exact same story we’ve heard from every communist in human history.”

To unpack his claims... what programs is the Trump adminstration are ending or being defunded?

Why it is Social Security, they are just letting it go bankrupt... oh sorry about that cheif.

SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, and other "social programs," those are the programs that the conservatives object to.

The Republicans favor oligarchism. What, I never heard of that? Well, a oligarchy is...

Key Characteristics of Oligarchy:

• Concentrated Power: Decisions are dominated by a select minority rather than the broader population or a single absolute ruler.
• Self-Serving Governance: Power is frequently exercised for corrupt, selfish, or dynastic purposes to maintain or grow the elite class's wealth. 
• Wealth as Influence: While ancient oligarchies were sometimes built on nobility or military dominance, modern oligarchism is heavily tied to plutocracy, where vast financial resources are converted into political influence

Does that sound like any political party that we know?

---

Updated: 9/13 @ 3:00PM

You Know What They Say About The Democrats?

[Essay}

They say it is a political tug-of-war caused by too much ideological diversity and that they are trying to please too many factions. But nothing is ever said about the Republicans being split apart by all of their factions.

The GOP’s Weed Crackdown Is Blowing Up in Its Face

Republicans revived reefer madness just as legal cannabis became popular with their own voters.

Slate

By Nitish Pahwa

Sept 02, 2026

Once again, government officials are trying to restrict marijuana products around the United States. And once again, Americans of all political stripes are pissed off—plausibly enough to shake up this fall’s midterms.

At the federal level, Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration are attempting to rectify a huge mistake they made last November, when they passed an ill-advised bill that, if allowed to go into effect, would all but smother the United States’ flowering hemp industry. In red states like Iowa, Kansas, and Ohio—where polls have shown Democratic momentum in the gubernatorial races—promising candidates are insisting on the need to finally, belatedly legalize it. A bid in blue Massachusetts to have voters approve a rollback of the state’s recreational industry faces overwhelming popular opposition. And the anger is especially boiling down in Texas, where even Joe Rogan is warning that GOP intransigence on weed could well cause the Lone Star State to vote Democratic in the upcoming midterms.

Both parties are fractured... the Democrats are fractured or liberal causes while the Republicans are just as fractured but over conservative causes. 

I am going to tell you a parable. Since all parables must have a title, it is called: "A Tale of Two Towns: To Bud or Not To Bud."

One little town thinks that marijuana is the evil weed. They stand up and proudly hail, “We will not allow that Satan’s weed here in our town!” While the other town thinks, "Well, it is here, we might as well make a profit off it!"

The first town is left wondering… how do we pay for a community center? While the other town says… "Hey, we can use the tax money from them selling pot to dredge the harbor!"

One town has a lot of sad faces, and the other town has a lot of smiley faces.

[/Essay]

To Me This Sounds An Awful Lot...

Like vote buying!

Trump promises $5,000 dividend to every adult American citizen if Republicans win the midterm elections

New York Post

By Victor Nava

Sept. 9, 2026

President Trump pledged to give every US citizen a $5,000 dividend Wednesday if Republicans keep the House and Senate after the midterm elections. 

“Here is my promise: If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them, because of our economic, tremendous economic success …. I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000,” Trump said at the GOP midterm convention in Dallas. 

The president said the so-called “Trump dividend” money must be spent in the US.

While everyone else calls it vote buying!

The Daily Beast wrote in the Desperate Trump Offers Brazen Cash Bribe in Bonkers Speech article;

However Trump’s promise would not only require congressional approval, it would likely spike inflation. With just under 270 million adults living in the U.S., Trump’s $5,000 handout would lead to a budget blowout of up to $1.3 trillion, blowing out America’s existing $1.8 trillion annual budget deficit.

The current U.S. debt is around $40 trillion.

Speaking on Fox News, host Bret Baier raised the $1.3 trillion cost with Vice President JD Vance.

Baier suggested “critics” would say “the president is bribing voters to vote for Republicans... and he is bankrupting the country because the debt is huge and inflation would come back if this comes to play.”

Now get a load of JD's reply, it is a doozy...

Vance called the $5,000 “fundamentally a dividend for American workers” and said it could be funded by revenues raised by U.S. tariffs.

So... who pays for the tariffs? We do.

So, in Republican logic... we get taxed so they can give us our money back... minus shipping and handling charges.

Besides the fuzzy logic, there is also the issue of vote buying!

The British Independent write...

Commentators accused the president of attempting to bribe voters to back Republicans, who are forecast to suffer heavy losses in November.

In a post on X, reporter Sam Stein accused the president of describing "openly bribing people to vote for Republicans."

We have the best government money can buy!

---

I noticed something in writing this... not one American mainstream news outlet used the word “bribe.”

NPR pussy-footed around it by calling it: “To incentivize voters to cast ballots for Republicans.”

online polls

He's An Art Critic Now

Trump's an art critic now. He hated Blue, the work by world-renowned sculptor Joel Shapiro. But Trump hated it with a passion!

NPR wrote,

A big blue presence has vanished from the landscape of Washington DC.

On Wednesday a crew removed a 24-foot-tall metal sculpture called Blue, by Joel Shapiro, from the grounds of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Our family turned out to say goodbye.

Blue is a giant stick figure with what seems to be four limbs, standing on what might be one leg, while the other is lifted. To walk, to leap, to dance? The upper-most limbs, which look like arms, are extended. To welcome, twirl, swing or sway?

The work was installed on that part of the Kennedy Center's grounds called The REACH, which opened in 2019. I've always thought it seemed an artful fit in that place, which before the Center became a source of controversy during the Trump presidency, abounded just about every night with music, dance, and all kinds of shows — available to the public for free.

[...]

But Josef Palermo, who was let go this past March as curator of visual arts and special programming at the Kennedy Center, told the New York Times this week that Blue had been "targeted early on" for removal by the Trump administration, which might have seen something else in the sculpture. Well, isn't "seeing something else" art?

This reminds me of the communist countries of old... where only proletariat art was allowed. Maybe if it was red and not blue? The Atlantic magazine wrote,

Shapiro—one of the most important American sculptors of his generation—died last summer. He spent decades coaxing human gesture and emotion from the austere geometry of minimalism. His abstract shapes and forms have strong personalities. They lie in wait for their audience, then suddenly come alive.

But the Kommissar didn't like it.

Josef Palermo was the Kennedy Center's first-ever Curator of Visual Arts and was not replaced.

Mr. Palermo's background included:

A working artist and arts producer

Cofounder of VESTIBULE, an interdisciplinary artists' collective/collaborative

Service on the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities

The new Kennedy Center is being run by people whose professional backgrounds are not in the arts. Their qualifications are in politics, diplomacy, communications, facilities, construction, and operations. At the same time, Trump's allies have taken control of the board.

The contrast with the previous leadership is striking.

The old board was bipartisan, with substantial representation from the worlds of business, philanthropy, government, and the arts. The new board has a much stronger political connection to Trump.

Just look at some of the new board members:

Donald Trump — president of the United States and now board chair.

Susie Wiles — Trump's White House chief of staff.

Dan Scavino — Trump's deputy chief of staff.

Usha Vance — wife of Vice President JD Vance.

Allison Lutnick — wife of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

John Falconetti — businessman and Trump supporter.

Cheri Summerall — Trump appointee.

Trump filled the board with some real art aficionados!

A New Law To Protect The Voting Booth!

No, I am not talking about newer laws like the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 or the Insurrection Act of 1807. Those don't really address polling places. But even before those, there was:

The Act of February 25, 1865, commonly called the “Troops at the Polls” Act.

What the heck is that law? The website Uncensored Objection writes;

A polling place is the one room in America where the government has to wait outside.

Congress wrote this rule in the middle of the Civil War, and it has stayed on the books for 161 years because every generation since understood the danger. Federal law makes it a crime for any officer of the military, or any person in the civil service of the United States, to order, bring, keep, or control troops or armed men at any place where a general or special election is held. The only exception covers force needed to repel armed enemies of the United States. Break that law and you face up to five years in prison and a permanent ban from holding federal office.

Read those words again. Armed men in the civil service of the United States. That is ICE.

In 1909 Congress went back and removed a second exception that had allowed troops to “keep the peace at the polls.” Lawmakers deleted it because they understood that a president who wants soldiers at the ballot box will always find a disturbance to point at. They closed the loophole on purpose, and it has stayed closed for 117 years.

So, if the "Donald" sends troops, he will be breaking a 161-year-old law that was designed to prevent just that!

Trump Had No Idea

"NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES! Their products aren't good enough! If they want our Market, they must build here, and stop treating America like a 'piggybank.'

CBS New reported that is what Trump wrote on Truth Social!

But in reality...

In a statement on Monday following Mr. Trump's post, Bombardier sought to underline its contributions to the American economy, saying it accounts for "tens of thousands of jobs across the United States."

Bombardier said it has workers in 20 U.S. states and plants in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, New Jersey, Texas and Washington, D.C. The company's supply chain also comprises 2,800 U.S. companies in 47 states, according to Bombardier.

"Bombardier values its great partnership with American companies and its U.S. employees. Our plan is to continue to invest in our people, our customers and the communities in which we operate across the country," the company said. 

A labor union representing machinists and aerospace workers said on Tuesday that it opposes any move to bar Bombardier from selling aircraft in the U.S.

"Anything that undermines the stability and continued growth of these jobs is counterproductive to protecting workers and strengthening the aerospace industry in both the United States and Canada," the IAM union said in a statement. "The war on workers in the United States, Canada and elsewhere must come to an end."

I think this is really scary that Trump is making policy without knowing the facts! And it's not just Trump, but his entire staff! Not one of them even thought to google it to see if they had any plants here.

I think that's a serious problem in policymaking when the White House staff doesn't appear to have questioned the policy. It means a sweeping economic threat may have been formulated around an incomplete understanding of the company being targeted. That doesn't bode well for the administration!

Catch 22

That is what the Twenty-fifth Amendment is. A Catch 22.

Section 4: says that only the Vice President or the Cabinet can initiate Section 4 of the 25th Amendment and there in lies the rub.

Following Trump’s Iran social media post, could the 25th Amendment be invoked against him?

PolitiFact

By Amy Sherman & Louis Jacobson

April 6, 2026

President Donald Trump’s profanity-laced Easter Sunday social media post threatening to bomb civilian infrastructure in Iran led some Democratic lawmakers to call for his removal via the 25th Amendment.

Trump wrote on Truth Social, spelling out the f-word: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F—–’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

Reacting to Trump’s post, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., wrote on X, “If I were in Trump’s Cabinet, I would spend Easter calling constitutional lawyers about the 25th Amendment. This is completely, utterly unhinged. He’s already killed thousands. He’s going to kill thousands more.”

Other Democrats including U.S. Reps. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona and Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico also called for using the amendment to remove Trump.

But you know what? Congress can jaw about this all they want! It is JD Vance and the Cabinet who can only initiate a “25”! However, there might be another way around the roadblock, and that is Congress cannot initiate Section 4 itself, but the text does allow Congress to create another body by law that could participate in the Section 4 process. Something like a special impeachment commission, but it needs backbone to do it.

Section four authorizes the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet, or the vice president and a majority of an “other body” created by Congress, to declare a president “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” Doing so would elevate the vice president to acting president.

Notice it doesn’t say “Congress.”

So how likely is the Cabinet and the VP to start the ball rolling? 

Well the amendment says "unable to discharge the powers and duties" that is a high bar to meet! It doesn’t mean if the president making bad decisions, it doesn’t mean if the president if the president is unpopular, or breaking the law.

But on the other hand, impeachment can be for corruption! Abuse of power, obstruction, political retaliation, and election interference nad I think they could find something on Trump that fits those categories. However, it takes one more thing, Congress with a backbone.

Priorities.

[Editorial]

One of the things a new administrator has to do is set priorities, and the new head of Homeland Security set his to making the eagle look to the right.

DHS chief announces changes to its seal to reflect that department is 'at war every single day'

The shift comes as Markwayne Mullin warns of Islamic terrorists joining with Mexican cartels, rising drone attacks

By Max Bacall Fox News

September 7, 2026

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin revealed on "The Sunday Briefing" that DHS is changing its seal, which depicts an eagle holding a palm leaf in one talon and a bundle of arrows in the other. The new seal will show the eagle facing toward the arrows rather than the palm, a symbolic shift Mullin said reflects the department’s daily fight against threats to the country.

Ahead of the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Mullin declared that the department is "at war every single day" against bad actors targeting the United States, from Islamic terrorists to drug cartels.

Stop right there! How much is it going to cost? How much is it going to cost to change all their signs and letterheads? Just think of all the signs on the podiums!

When the Secretary of Defense ordered his vanity name change, it cost according to CBS News, a whopping 125 million dollars for the rebrand!

Secretary Markwayne Mullin is spending millions to do this so the freaking bird is looking toward the f... ing right!

[/Editorial]

Trump Is So Readable

One of the things about Trump is that he is so predictable! The state of New Mexico voted Democratic last election, so on Trump's radar, it became a fair target. One of the things that could be getting under Trump's collar is...

New Mexico Epstein commission releases report on investigation so far

Commission announces 4 new subpoenas to state agencies, Santa Fe-area spa

Source NM

By Julia Goldberg

August 5, 2026

The chair of a New Mexico House investigatory subcommittee created to probe the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s activities in the state acknowledged Wednesday its first report does not contain major revelations or final findings.

[...]

“In the seven years since Jeffrey Epstein died, in the two decades since his crimes first drew attention of law enforcement, no government, federal, state, or local, has ever compiled an account of what he did in New Mexico,” Romero said. “There are some court records that tell pieces of the story in other states’ cases for other states’ victims, but there has never been an official narrative for New Mexico. This report is the first.”

This is what got Trump worried. So what does Trump do?

New Mexico Democrats push back over Trump posts about renaming the state ‘New America’

The president posted repeatedly on social media over the weekend, and New Mexico Democrats leaped to respond to the ones about their state.

NBC News

By Scott Wong and Megan Shannon

Sept. 7, 2026

New Mexico Democratic leaders are aggressively pushing back on President Donald Trump’s social media posts about renaming the state of New Mexico as “New America.”

“New Mexico’s name isn’t up for debate — it’s been ours since before the United States existed,” New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, said in a post on X featuring an image of the state labeled with “New Mexico.” “While the President tries to distract Americans from his disastrous war in Iran, the price of gas —and everything else — keeps rising.

So why is he doing this? 

Well, from what I can figure out, it is for a few reasons:

• The most obvious reason is that it is a blue state. 
• It is also Trump's classic strategy: if you can't win, baffle them with BS by creating a manufactured crisis and a political smokescreen."
• Lastly, it is to rally his base. His MAGA base is cheering him on!

P.S. The state's  criminal investigation into child sex trafficking, the state accuses the federal government of stonewalling and blocking the state’s active criminal investigation! 

Trump is worried about what will come out in the investigations, so this is a distraction.

Back When I…

I was growing up, they didn’t test you for any learning disorders. I was labeled a “slow learner,” “dull,” “backward,” and “underachiever.”

Electronics was a godsend… it was so orderly and logical. I got all the way through college, just squeaking by… no one ever questioned why.

I went to grad school for my MSW and one of my professors’ day jobs was to evaluate convicted persons before they got incarcerated. When he handed back my midterm exam, he said, “See me after class!” Yikes… I must have bombed the midterm!

He asked if I had ever been evaluated for a learning disorder.

All it took was for him to see my writing on those 10 questions to see what I had been struggling with all my life.

You know that this blog is about the intersections of trans stuff and politics, so what’s political about this post?

Well, Trump, RFK Jr., and company all are saying learning disorders like ADHD, ADD, and ASD are a new phenomenon. They blame it on chemical food additives, preservatives, ultra-processed foods, and stuff like artificial food dyes.

Well, folks… it is the name that is new. It is the realization that it is a disorder of the brain… not laziness. Not “slow learners,” and not all the other things that they called it. It has always been here; we just called it different names.

Now we have the government and conspiracists pushing all these quack reasons for this epidemic of learning disorders, but they have been here all along, just without the names. Just like us.

Troops At Polling Places

With all the rhetoric coming out Trump about the elections... people are worried about what he will pull out of his hat!

CNN News writes in Will the Trump administration send federal officers or troops to the polls? Here’s what we know

Here is what top officials within the administration or the military have said about the potential of sending troops or federal officers to polling locations:

Mullin says ICE officers could be at polling places in specific circumstances. The law says they can’t be

Concerns about immigration authorities being dispatched to polling places partly stem from Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s decision earlier this year to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to airports during a government shutdown. While immigration authorities have long had a presence and enforced immigration laws at airports, the large-scale deployment of ICE officers to assist with security and lines was a new development.

It also spurred concern about whether polling places could be next, especially given the administration’s broader crusade against what it claims — without evidence — is widespread voter fraud by immigrants in the country illegally.

“These are all tools of how the president is trying to think about a much larger plan, which is, if you cannot hold onto power through democratic elections, then adjust democratic elections,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, told CNN in March.

Asked by reporters last week whether ICE officers could be sent to polling locations in November, Mullin left open the possibility that they could be under specific circumstances.

Doesn't this answer give you a warm fuzzy feeling?

In a letter responding to Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat who asked military leaders to commit to not sending troops to the polls, Caine wrote the military has “no plans” to send federal military personnel or federalized National Guard troops to voting locations.

“Likewise, the Joint Force has no plans to use such personnel to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election-related material,” wrote Caine, who is the nation’s highest-ranking military officer.

Notice the wording... “no plans” but that doesn't rule out sending 

The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law wrote;

Preventing Voter Intimidation by Federal Agents at the Polls
Any deployment that intimidates voters or interferes with elections would be illegal. Should one occur, officials and civil society are prepared to challenge illegal acts so that voting can proceed uninterrupted.

In May, when President Trump was asked whether he would send National Guard troops or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to polling locations during the midterm elections, he responded that he would “do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections; we have to have honest elections.” Several of his officials and allies have made similar comments in recent weeks and months. While no public information suggests that the federal government currently plans to deploy armed law enforcement agents to the polls in November, these statements appear designed to sow fear among voters.

Despite the implied threat, the law is clear: Sending armed federal agents, including those from ICE, to election sites is illegal. Federal law and many states’ laws prohibit not only armed federal agents at polling sites, but also interference in elections or voter intimidation by any officials or private citizens. More important, using these tactics would be a flagrant attempt to hold on to power through force and intimidation and an affront to free and fair elections. Yet, given the Trump administration’s pattern of flouting rules and engaging in plainly illegal and unethical conduct, including attempting to overturn a valid election, we must take this threat seriously.

The law reads...

Whoever, being an officer of the Army or Navy, or other person in the civil, military, or naval service of the United States, orders, brings, keeps, or has under his authority or control any troops or armed men at any place where a general or special election is held, unless such force be necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both; and be disqualified from holding any office of honor, profit, or trust under the United States.

As the old saying goes... "May you live in interesting times!"

Life On A Sandbar

The cottage condo next to mine just sold for $529,000! It was on the market all year, but it seems that  $1 million-plus “cottages” are really flying off the shelves.

There are two separate trends that have caught my eye. The first was a $2.9 million new “cottage” (more on the price later). I didn’t even have to look for it—it was a monster! Built entirely of glass, it sits between two traditional story-and-a-half cottages featuring cedar shingles and white trim (anywhere else, it would simply be considered a “home”). The third floor is entirely glass—I mean, floor-to-ceiling glass walls! It’s very striking; you can see people sitting around inside, probably entertaining guests over cocktails.

From what I heard, they tore down the old cedar-shingle house and built that monster in its place. The neighbors are none too pleased, as the three-story building blocks their view of Cape Cod Bay. The town never needed height limits before, but now people are coming in and building these massive structures.

Another monster was built on a sand cliff in the Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS). Now, both the town and the CCNS have strict building restrictions. The new owner tore down the old cottage and wanted to build a $5 million home overlooking the bay and Provincetown—a beautiful location! The town and the CCNS said no, as it violated the building restrictions tied to the property. I believe the CCNS argument was that it was built too close to the edge of a 100-foot cliff and would inevitably tumble into the sea.

The owner took them to court and won! A few years later, sure enough, the house was right on the edge of the cliff, poised to slide into the sea. They wanted to put in erosion controls, but the town and the CCNS said no, arguing that the controls would disrupt the natural movement of sand along the coast and cause problems in other areas. So, what did they do? They did what many wealthy people do: They sued and won!

Then, the owners sold it for over $5 million! In less than a year, the new owners found their $5,000,000 little cottage literally on the brink of the cliff. So now they are suing—no, get this—the bank for giving them the $5,000,000 loan, claiming the lender must have been crazy to approve it!

The second trend is the result of a “K-shaped” economy. Million-dollar-plus cottages are selling like hotcakes, but properties like my neighbor’s don’t sell easily. Millionaires are snapping up the monster cottages, while smaller cottages like mine—with only 600 square feet—are considered dogs. They are completely pricing out middle-income buyers.

One immediate result of my neighbor’s sale is that the tax assessors are going to look at it as the new baseline, meaning the assessed value of my cottage just went up. Higher taxes for me!

---

This isn’t new. My brother lived in Maine and was a real estate agent. What we saw there were family farms being sold off just to pay the taxes. People had no choice with their land; the farms simply weren’t making enough money to cover the skyrocketing taxes. You can’t blame them for selling either—when someone waves a couple of million dollars in your face, you take the money and run!

Maine was looking into ways to save family farms, one of which was freezing taxes at the last sale price. Late last month, I wrote about the changing character of Provincetown going the way of “Fire Island” in New York.

What we are finding is that the character of these towns is changing, too. A night out on the town is skyrocketing; instead of spending $30 or $40, it is now $50 or $60. As a result, upscale stores and restaurants are driving out local establishments.

When I first went to P’town in the ’50s and ’60s, it was what my father called a bohemian town. Walking down Commercial Street, you could find artists willing to paint your portrait. By the 2000s, they were nowhere to be found. There used to be street vendors and Ellie, who would “sing for a buck,” along with mimes. But it all ended with Ellie.

I know a photographer for the local newspapers who had to leave because he couldn’t find housing. In Truro, there was a long, drawn-out court fight over low-income and seasonal housing—yet these are often the very same people who complain about a lack of staffing!

The character of the coast is changing. When I was growing up in the fifties, my mother’s aunt had a cottage on a New Hampshire lake that we visited every August. Growing up in the ’50s and ’60s, I knew plenty of neighbors who had summer cottages. The middle class could afford cottages back then on the Cape or the Connecticut shore, but now the middle class has been priced out. Even renting a cottage is out of reach; an average Cape Cod cottage rental costs about $3,400 per week during the peak summer season! And you better believe that in four or five years, I might just look at renting out or selling my cottage and taking the money and running.

The good news is that the next-door cottage sold for half a million dollars. The bad news is that my taxes are going up! All up and down the coast, people are taking the money and running.

---

When I was proofreading with the AI and afterwards I ask it about improvements and thoughts, it replied:

I think the trend you’re describing is absolutely real, but I’d characterize it a little differently than simply “coastal property is skyrocketing.”

What’s happening on Cape Cod is more interesting: coastal property is becoming a luxury asset rather than ordinary housing.

The numbers support the basic observation. The median single-family sale price on Cape Cod was about $790,000 in 2025, compared with $765,000 in 2024. And in June 2026, the median reached $825,000. 

But the really important statistic for your essay is this: 36% of Cape Cod's housing units are classified as seasonal, recreational, or occasional use. The state also estimates that about 5,800 year-round homes were converted to seasonal use between 2009 and 2019. 

That's exactly the phenomenon you're describing anecdotally.

And there's an important twist

Your observation about the $1 million-plus houses is particularly interesting because the market isn't simply saying “everything is expensive.”

The latest Cape Cod market data show strong demand for homes under $1 million, while $1 million-plus properties actually take longer to sell on average. In Q1 2026, homes below $1 million had a median 34.4 days on market, versus 77 days for homes at $1 million and above. 

Mixed!

The question is can the two be separated? Can her later life make up for her earlier comments?

In her early years she was anti-trans, Gloria Steinem publish some heavy works against us, her comments about Renee Richards were very negative.. she was a fan of Janice Raymond, but that changed over time.

Looking Back on Gloria Steinem’s Turn Toward Transgender Rights
The late feminist icon spent her later years using her voice for transgender rights.
them

By Mathew Rodriguez , Quispe López

September 3, 2026

 

 

 Trailblazing feminist icon Gloria Steinem died at her New York City home on Wednesday, per a statement on her social media. As many of her obituaries will attest, Steinem publicly challenged gender stereotypes in the earliest days of her journalism and activism careers, dating back to the 1960s.

Though her legacy of feminist activism also included a hefty amount of advocacy on behalf of transgender people, that was not always the case. Steinem’s earliest known writing on trans people, from a February 1977 issue of Ms., the magazine which she co-founded a few years earlier, waded into the debate on transgender athletes — which, yes, was happening half a century ago. The article, “If the Shoe Doesn’t Fit, Change the Foot,” concerns Renée Richards, a tennis player who had transitioned in the 1970s. In the article, Steinem wrote that “we ought to be very, very suspicious of the social reasons for transsexuality as well as its big, star-spangled, commercial exploitation.”

Year, Steinem voiced support for some of the core tenets of Janice Raymond’s infamous 1979 book, The Transsexual Empire, which is considered a defining work of trans-exclusionary radical feminism. In a 2012 interview for Vassar College, Steinem referenced the book, saying, “Doctors were really profiting off this surgery and especially hormonal treatments. Hormonal treatments, in general, whether for fertility or for gender purposes, nobody knows whether they’re dangerous or not. And that’s a worry. I just think our choices need to be informed.”

One of the marks of a really great person is that they stop and reassess their core beliefs  

 Gloria Steinem, feminist trailblazer who championed LGBTQ+ equality, dies at 92
The legendary journalist fought Anita Bryant’s antigay crusade, defended lesbians in the pages of The Advocate and later confronted her own complicated history with transgender people. 

The Advocate

Christopher Wiggins 

Sep 03, 2026

Gloria Steinem, the journalist and organizer who became one of the most recognizable figures in American feminism and a longtime supporter of LGBTQ+ equality, has died. She was 92.

[...]

Steinem’s support for gay and lesbian people was visible early in the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. Time reported in 1977 that gay activists persuaded her to travel to Miami as they fought Anita Bryant’s campaign to repeal Dade County’s ordinance prohibiting discrimination against gay people. Speaking later that year at an American Association of University Women convention, Steinem said lesbians were “the most vulnerable group of women” and argued that the word lesbian had to become “as honorable as any other.”

Steinem was among the prominent supporters of the Human Rights Campaign Fund in its early years.

 But she was back then anti-trans. But in an Advocate article from 2013 she writes,

 Such stories led me to write a 1977 essay reminding us that, in addition to supporting informed choices like those of Jan Morris, Renee Richards, and others in the news at the time, we also needed to change society to fit individuals. It asked the question: If the shoe doesn't fit, must we change the foot?

Years passed the Internet arrived, and words circulated out of time and context. Last year one young transgender student on campus assumed that old essay's use of the word "mutilate" for surgeries performed because of societal pressure meant I was against sexual reassignment surgery altogether. He didn't consider that it had been written two generations before he was born, and also in the context of global protests against routine surgical assaults, called female genital mutilation by some survivors.

So now I want to be unequivocal in my words: I believe that transgender people, including those who have transitioned, are living out real, authentic lives. Those lives should be celebrated, not questioned. Their health care decisions should be theirs and theirs alone to make. And what I wrote decades ago does not reflect what we know today as we move away from only the binary boxes of "masculine" or "feminine" and begin to live along the full human continuum of identity and expression.

 Lambda Legal wrote...

 “Yesterday we lost a giant. For more than half a century, Gloria Steinem insisted that none of us is free until all of us are free, and she understood long before her peers that the fight for women’s rights and the fight for LGBTQ+ rights are one and the same. She stood with our community when it was neither safe nor popular to do so, naming plainly that feminists and LGBTQ+ people share the same struggle and the same opponents. She helped beat back Anita Bryant’s campaign to strip gay people of protection from discrimination, and insisted the word ‘lesbian’ be spoken with as much honor as any other. 

Yes, a leopard can change their spots.

 

We have lost two true allies... Dolly Parton and Gloria Steinem, they both made the world a better place.