Snopes

I think one of the standards on the internet is "Snopes," I trust them. So when I saw that they looked at the report from the White House, my ears perked up.

HHS report cites inaccurate data to claim more than 5,500 trans minors received 'sex change surgeries'

Research from Harvard found that gender-affirming surgeries for minors are rare — and usually involve chest reduction for cisgender boys.

Rae Deng

Sept. 4, 2026

As cited by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a database from anti-trans group Do No Harm proves that from 2019 to 2023, more than 5,500 minors in the United States had sex change surgeries.

An August 2026 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report claimed that "watchdog analyses tracking" had determined more than 5,500 minors had undergone "sex change surgeries" from 2019 to 2023. 

The "watchdog analyses tracking" references an anti-LGBTQ+ group that inflated the data by counting a vast number of procedures entirely unrelated to "sex change surgeries," including hair removal, surgical removal of excess eyelid skin and bladder drainage. These procedures were counted in the "sex change surgery" statistic as long as the patient had a gender dysphoria diagnosis or a psychiatric condition related to crossdressing (which is different from being trans). As with any other person's healthcare, there are many reasons why a trans person may need these procedures that have nothing to do with being trans. 

Credible data indicates that gender-affirming surgeries are rarely performed on minors, and most minors who receive them are not actually trans, but cisgender boys getting chest reductions. A peer-reviewed study from Harvard University researchers in 2024 determined that in 2019, only 85 trans minors received gender-affirming surgery and most of them were age 15 to 17. The Harvard study found no gender-affirming surgeries conducted on children under 12. 

Surprise, surprise... they lied!  

And this is what they say about the doctors...

A child who undergoes a sex rejecting procedure can become a patient for life.

A disturbing new Trump administration report details the financial incentives that HHS says pushed clinics to take advantage of some of the country’s most vulnerable children.

“There was a tremendous financial incentive for these clinics and these practitioners to produce what we call captive patients.”

And their conclusion:

The bottom line 

The data HHS cited in its report comes from an anti-LGBTQ+ group that used faulty analysis to inflate data on gender-affirming surgeries among trans minors. 

It's more accurate to say that from 2019 to 2023, more than 5,500 minors, many of whom had a gender dysphoria diagnosis at one point in time, received various procedures for any number of medical reasons, the vast majority of which were unrelated to being trans. 

Peer-reviewed research suggests that gender-affirming surgeries among minors are incredibly rare and usually involve cisgender boys undergoing chest reductions.

The report is a good example of the saying "If you can t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull."

KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) reports on the harm Trump vendetta on the trans community...

HHS Report: “Wolves in White Coats: How Doctors and Hospitals Pushed and Profited from the Fraud of “Gender Medicine,” August 12, 2026.

Purpose: Much of the report focuses on what HHS calls “fraudulent billing practices” relating to gender-affirming care.. Through various tables HHS identifies over 100 providers it believes have questionable billing claims related to gender-affirming care. Beyond the concerns it raises about billing the report content is wide ranging. It states gender-affirming care providers may offer this care as a way to generate revenue, that they do so to create a “captive patient” audience, describes Biden administration civil rights actions as efforts “to impose, unilaterally, gender ideology,” criticizes medical associations supportive of and/or providing guidance around gender affirming care, and promotes the stories of people who have detransitioned and parents who opposed access to gender-affirming care.

Implications: The billing and coding data provided in the report has already been used to support other administration actions. It is the basis of a letter HHS Sec. Kennedy sent to the OIG seeking investigations of providers (see separate entry).

The report fosters misinformation in several domains. It is unlikely that providers are offering gender affirming care for the purposes of generating revenue given the small share of transgender people in the U.S. and relatively low cost of interventions (as described in the report). The report also appears to conflate the cost of medications with revenue generated by prescribers. It suggests the Biden administration’s efforts to improve civil rights protections for LGBTQ people promoted gender affirming care. It uses select sketches of individuals who have detransitioned to promote the notion that “activists and providers have tried to force children to undergo potentially life-altering interventions” when in fact detransitioning is quite rare.

The report could be used to build a basis for further administration actions aimed at limiting gender affirming care and may also serve to intimidate named providers.

HHS Report: “Where the Clinic Meets the Movement: Does Gender Ideology Arm Left-Wing Authoritarian Psychology?”, August 2026.

Purpose: HHS issued this commissioned report with the stated aim of “examining the psychology behind strong support for radical gender ideology and left-wing authoritarianism.” It finds “gender ideology may function as an ideological accelerant” and leads to legitimizing violence.

Implications: This HHS commissioned report seeks to align support for transgender people generally, that is beyond support for access to medical care, with “left-wing authoritarianism” and potentially violence. Despite this aim, the report states that “violence connected to gender ideology remains largely undocumented in the academic literature.”

The survey includes use of a new tool to measure support for transgender people asking questions drawn from guidance from major medical associations. There is no mention in the report of this scale being validated. The questions sought to measure the endorsement of consensus positions not related to gender-affirming medical care. Questions generally focused on beliefs around support for transgender people’s gender identities and gender exploration. The study found that people who scored higher on this measure (i.e., those who are more likely to agree with the guidance) were also more likely to hold “racialized” “authoritarian” left-wing views, and more likely to say political violence could be justified in certain cases.

Efforts to challenge major medical association guidance may represent an aim to erode public support for these organizations and align with other actions (see above) seeking to harm the credibility of these organizations. Further, the report could be used as a basis for the administration’s continued efforts to target these organizations and/or erode support for transgender people and their access to care. The report may also align with other efforts by the administration to suggesting there is a relationship between supporting transgender people and violence.

The instrument developed does not appear to be a probability survey raising questions about representativeness of the report’s findings. The report suggests that correlated findings are casual, which is not supported by the analysis, and it does not appear to have been peer reviewed.

This is all part of an effort by the Trump administration to deny proper medical treatment to a minority for political gain.

The Trump Administration Launches a New Angle of Attack Against Trans Healthcare

Federal officials referred around 150 healthcare organizations for investigation into allegations of fraud.

Mother Jones

Madison Pauly

August 18, 2026

Just two days after finalizing a regulation to make sure trans kids from low-income families can’t afford puberty blockers or hormone therapy, the Trump administration has loosed another salvo in its bitter war against transgender people’s healthcare. On Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services published a report—authored largely by employees of right-wing advocacy groups—alleging that some hospitals are using incorrect codes to bill insurance for pediatric gender-affirming care. The report paints transgender healthcare as motivated by profit rather than medical necessity, calling the billing codes “potentially fraudulent.”

In a social media video, Vice President JD Vance announced he was referring roughly 150 healthcare organizations listed in the report to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation. The list includes over a dozen major children’s hospitals, pharmacies including Walgreens, and small doctors offices and clinics. Standing at Vance’s side, HHS Secretary RFK Jr. added that he, too, was referring the providers for investigation by his department’s inspector general.

They also call the report a hatch job!

Yet advocates of transgender healthcare describe the HHS report released Thursday as part of a larger effort to shut down care. “This report is part of a broader pattern from this administration: Using the power of government to attack science and target health care providers instead of helping families get the care they need,” says Kellan Baker, senior advisor for health policy at the Movement Advancement Project. “It’s an intimidation campaign,” adds Jennifer Levi, the director of transgender and queer rights at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, pointing to ways the report might show up in future legal cases.

This all is to justify Trump's pogrom on the trans community!

Allegiance

That is Trump's mind set... I appointed you so you owe your allegiance to me and not the Constitution!

Trump slams the Supreme Court for rejecting his push to restrict mail ballots

AP News

By  SEUNG MIN KIM

Sept. 15, 2026

President Donald Trump on Tuesday went after the Supreme Court after it rejected his push to restrict mail-in voting in this year’s midterms, saying justices who opposed him were “not the people I interviewed.”

[...]

“The Court’s inability and unwillingness to do the right thing for our Country will go down, in a very negative way, in the annals of History,” Trump wrote in a lengthy social media post Tuesday. “This Supreme Court is bullied and cajoled by the Radical Left into making decisions that have set America back at least a hundred years.”

[...]

“These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court, they are merely a shell of their original selves,” Trump said. He asserted that the court “is costing the United States Trillions of Dollars with shockingly bad rulings that are of such magnitude that it won’t be easily possible for our Country to recover or heal.”

Trump went on to say...

“It is not easy for me to write this criticism of the United States Supreme Court - it will likely cost me dearly for years to come - but I feel it my obligation and duty, as President, to do so for the America we love!” Trump said.

Trump doesn't even calculate the Constitution and the laws... it is all about loyalty to him.  

This Is Just The Type Of Person The Republicans Are Looking For!

Accused of domestic violence. ✓
Questions about whether he lied on his jury questionnaire. ✓
Ignores facts. ✓

 

CBS News reported that...

 CBS News legal analyst Caroline Polisi said the real issue here is whether the juror lied when filling out the juror questionnaire.

 

 "The test is whether he made purposeful misrepresentations during the jury selection process. If he did, that's a crime," she said, adding that "an arrest is not an automatic disqualification for serving on a jury." 

The juror court questionnaires are sealed as part of the official court record.

"It's unlikely we will find out whether the juror made misrepresentations unless there is an official court-sanctioned inquiry," Polisi said. 

If the juror did lie on the form, they could be charged with perjury or making false statements to the court.

But that is the backstory... what I want to write about is the offer Florida made to the juror.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Offers ‘Asylum’ to Holdout Juror in Lindsay Clancy Case
“If the juror is being harassed, Florida will provide asylum,” DeSantis wrote on social media
People

By Charlotte Phillipp
September 13, 2026

 

 

 NEED TO KNOW

•     Governor Ron DeSantis criticized media coverage of the holdout juror in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial and offered him “asylum” in Florida
•     The juror reportedly has a history of domestic violence allegations and an active restraining order against him, according to a Sept. 11 report from NBC10 Boston
•     Clancy’s trial ended in a mistrial after jurors tasked with determining criminal responsibility in the deaths of her three young children couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict

 Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is offering “asylum” to the holdout juror in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial after accusing media outlets of launching a smear campaign against him.

On Friday, Sept. 11, DeSantis, 47, shared a post on X in response to a recent report from NBC10 Boston that the juror has a history of alleged domestic violence and an active restraining order against him.

“A man objected to allowing a woman to kill her three young kids and get away with it, so NBC is trying to smear that juror, whose identity should be protected. Another low for legacy media,” the governor wrote. “If the juror is being harassed, Florida will provide asylum — I’m sure he’d be welcomed and appreciated.”

That is total BS! That is a total lie! The jury was hung. It was split 11 to 1 in favor of finding Clancy not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility (insanity) due to postpartum psychosis. She would have a hearing for involuntary commitment, and then, depending upon the outcome, she could have an initial hospital commitment that can last up to six months. After that, the facility can request successive one-year extensions.

To me, this isn't really about Lindsay Clancy. It's about the governor of Florida using a Massachusetts criminal case as a political weapon against a Democratic state. The New York Post reported that,

NBC10 Boston reported that the juror was accused of attacking his wife in September 2021 and that last year his nephew had taken out a restraining order against him. The man also faces a pending eviction case by his landlord for $12,000 of unpaid rent, the outlet reported.

Court records show that the juror divorced his wife after the alleged incident in 2021 and that the criminal charge against him was dismissed — although his ex-wife said she backed away from pursuing the case because she was worried that testifying could cause her to lose custody of her daughter, the outlet reported.

 

 Juror questionnaires in Massachusetts ask prospective jurors whether they have been arrested, charged with a crime, or been served with a court order — all which should have been answered affirmatively by the holdout juror, NBC10 reported.

That is the person he wants to give asylum to: a nice, fine, upstanding individual. But the real reason he wants to offer it is to take a political dig at a Democratic state. He doesn't care one iota about the case, just that he thinks he can get votes over this! He is playing to the MAGA crowd.

However, what is even more outrageous is what the Hindustan Times is reporting...

Lindsay Clancy holdout juror GiveSendGo raises whopping $110,700 as Ron DeSantis offers him ‘asylum’
A GiveSendGo launched for a male holdout juror who reportedly led to a mistrial in the Lindsay Clancy case has already raised $110,700.
Sep 14, 2026

By Sumanti Sen

 

 

 A GiveSendGo launched for a male holdout juror who reportedly led to a mistrial in the Lindsay Clancy case had raised $110,700 at the time of writing this article. The GiveSendGo, which aims to raise $150,000, describes how “one juror held his seat” when support poured in for Lindsay.

 

[...]

 

 “The country got the full TikTok-diagnostics package. Postpartum. Psychosis. Voices. Trauma. A stack of pill bottles and a sad playlist. The SSRI-medicated mob ran cover like this was a self-care story instead of a triple child killing. They wanted a diagnosis, not a verdict. They wanted her sick, not guilty. They wanted three dead kids memory-holed so nobody had to say the words mother and murderer in the same sentence,” the fundraiser says.

 The legal question was whether she was criminally responsible because of her mental state, and one juror disagreed with the other eleven. DeSantis chose to portray that juror as a heroic man standing up against people supposedly trying to excuse the killing of three children.

 

While the conservatives are making him out as some kind of male hero! They have turned the focus from perjury to sexism. OK Magazine wrote:

Joe Rogan Slams Supporters of Lindsay Clancy, Says They Wouldn't Rally If a Father 
Faced the Same Trial: 'This Lady Killed Her Kids'

Lesley Abravanel
Sept. 3 2026

 

 

 Podcaster Joe Rogan slammed public advocates and social media users supporting Lindsay Clancy, pointing to a double standard between men and women.

Rogan argued that the public sympathy surrounding the case highlights a societal bias. He claimed, "This lady killed her kids, and everyone's like, 'Oh my God, she needed help.' Imagine if a single father killed his kids.”

He asserted that a father facing identical charges would never receive a "Free Lindsay"-style campaign or solidarity rallies.

Totally illogical!

He slammed the wave of people creating dedicated support groups and spreading online conspiracy theories to defend her actions. He described the phenomenon as proof that "people are out of their f------ minds right now.”

"If those ladies could see the crime scene and see those dead kids with their f------ vacant eyes staring up because their mother took their life, the last f------ thing that they saw was their mother standing over them, choking them to death, I don't think they would feel so bad,” he said.

This is what MAGA thinks now... toxic masculinity! And it is so easy to get them riled up. So the guy who lied on a jury form is now a hero!

A Little Trans History

Us old-timers groan when we hear that because it was a gatekeeper.

You had to fit into their standards... it wasn’t so much for the medical requirements, but rather your sexual orientation and how well you could assimilate into society. Trans women had to be sexually attracted to men, and, well, trans men didn’t exist. The guys were written off as just lesbians. 

If you talk to someone from that time or read something from it, you will find out that we had a reputation for being liars according to the doctors. We would say we were attracted to men, but we dated women.

Eventually, they changed the rules to drop the sexual orientation and assimilation requirements (though many other roadblocks to transition still remain). Around that time, conservatives started using us as scapegoats... as a diversion from the real issues.

The golden years were from around the turn of the century until Trump got elected to his first term; then, the pendulum didn't just swing to the right, it was slammed over to the right.

I remember the Lavender Scare. 

I remember "Save our Children." 

But this is different. This is an organized, government-led attack on a minority. We haven't seen this since the 1930s. We have seen this throughout history: when one group begins gaining social acceptance, conservatives get energized and try to put them "in their place!" But they don't stop us... they only slow us down. And we shall prevail!

What A Can Of Worms!

So, in my news feed this morning was a story about a California trans court case... it is both good news and a great big unknown. In case you haven't heard, we had a victory... of sorts.

Lawyers and Settlements reports:

California Wins Transgender Athletes Lawsuit

A federal judge has ruled that California can continue allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ school sports, despite a recent Supreme Court decision allowing other states to ban them.

September 8, 2026,

By Jane Mundy

The legal battle over transgender athletes has produced an unusual result: states may ban transgender girls from girls’ sports, but they don’t have to.

Federal Judge Cynthia Valenzuela August 31st dismissed a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit challenging California policies that allow transgender students to compete on school sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

[...]

In its June 30 decision, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that West Virginia and Idaho could restrict participation on girls’ teams based on biological sex. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that states “may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females” and may determine eligibility based on biological sex.

But “may” turned out to be an important word. The Supreme Court did not rule that every state must adopt those restrictions. Nor did it decide the separate question of whether Title IX permits transgender girls to participate on girls’ and women’s teams.

Valenzuela concluded that nothing in Title IX clearly required California to exclude transgender girls. She found California had not received clear notice that billions of dollars in federal education funding were contingent on banning transgender girls from girls’ sports. The federal government’s guidance on the issue has also shifted repeatedly over the past decade.

What happens when a trans-friendly state plays a non-trans-friendly state?

Education Week reported that;

Therefore, Valenzuela wrote that California “lacked clear notice” of such categorical exclusion of transgender athletes as a condition of the federal funding California received, and other court decisions—including the Supreme Court’s in June—did not “supply the missing clarity.”

It seems like each state is on its own. If "states' rights" hold up in court, it will be very interesting to see what happens. What will happen, say, in the Rose Bowl if one team bans trans athletes, or if a team with trans athletes plays in a state that bans them? Will they have to forfeit?

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]