Category: News

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She Swings, and misses, but opens a whole other train of thought in my mind.

Karen Bass mask Getty 640x480.LA Mayor Karen Bass drew a parallel between the economic damage caused by ICE raids in Los Angeles and the economic damage COVID lockdowns caused.

The article is here

Wow! 

This lady just doesn’t seem to get it. 

She’s right that the COVID lockdowns, especially in California damaged the local economy. She’s also right that ICE raids are affecting the Los Angeles economy.

Where she misses the point entirely is in understanding the root cause of the issue.

Perhaps Los Angeles’s economy shouldn’t rely that much on illegal immigrants in the first place.

Further, Democrat policies have led to Los Angeles having one of the highest percentages of Illegal immigrants in the country.

Regardless of where you stood, or stand, on the COVID-19 response, the most draconian state and city lockdowns of the populace were primarily enforced in Democrat jurisdictions.

They closed parks, and skate parks. They literally created a situation where people couldn’t go anywhere, except for liquor stores, pot dispensaries, Walmart, Target, grocery, and fast food stores.

Recall that in Los Angeles County, their response was to send the police to arrest a lone surfer out in the sun, surfing, by himself, 1000 yards off-shore.

In the process, they exposed 5 or 6 officers to the boogie man of COVID to make an example of a surfer who was literally no threat either to himself or others.

The surfer’s arrest wasn’t about public safety, it was about nothing more than control. The people in power couldn’t have anyone openly defying them and it didn’t matter if they were wrong, what mattered was that everyone under their control never questioned them.

(The same is always true of people in positions of power, it doesn’t matter if they’re Democrat, Republican, Dictators, or Emperors. In this particular case, it was Democrat policies, rules, and regulations.)

As it turns out, sun, fresh air, and physical activity, were some of the best things one could do to combat not only COVID, but also the depression associated with doom and gloom news, and essentially waiting to die in your home.

At the time I wrote a piece about the big fusion reactor in the sky and how it had been known for centuries sunlight could improve health. Even before our technology reached a point of understanding “the why”, our ancestors knew of a relationship between fresh air, sunlight, and our health.

How many people purchased UV sterilizers for their homes? How many people suddenly started taking vitamin D? How many people purchased high end air filtration machines? They could have saved themselves a lot of money just by being allowed to go outside.

At the same time, Democrat policies allowed people to congregate in the streets protesting.

Mayor Bass completely misses the root cause of the problems. I’ll name it for her, Democrat policies.

Not all Democrats or all their policies certainly, but Democrats that walk lockstep with each other, who lack the courage to be introspective, or ability to ask questions.

Los Angeles would not be experiencing an economic downturn due to ICE raids if the policies hadn’t been instituted that made Los Angeles and indeed California a sanctuary.

As someone who’s been trying to get a job for over five years, why is it that I have to answer questions about my national origin, and right to work, and prove my identity.

Yet apparently none of that is necessary if I happen to be someone who crossed the Rio Grande in the dead of night?

I’m certainly not alone. Teenagers, and young adults, have been saying for years that they’re having trouble finding work. Perhaps it’s because they’re trying to find work with the odds stacked against them if they were born in this country.

One need only look at the meat packing plant in Nebraska that was raided by ICE. Within days, their lobby was full of able bodied Americans filling out job applications for the vacant positions. It will be interesting to see how this event changes the local unemployment rate.

Ask yourself why do the taxes and fees in California keep going up, but the quality of life remains the same or goes down? California is definitely not as nice as it once was. $45 to renew a driver’s license? Really? To someone living in poverty working a part time job, that $45 is a weeks worth of lunches if they make them at home.

It’s not because of immigrants, it’s because of the sheer number of illegal immigrants that, if you really think about it have become a slave class.

Yes, it’s slavery. 

The only difference is that instead of the slaves living in slave quarters on a plantation, these slaves accept jobs with no health care, poor wages, and instead of being paid with room and board, they’re being paid with money that is devalued for them, like all the rest of us.

The policy that countenances illegal immigration places these people at a distinct disadvantage and keeps them there.

It’s slavery with extra steps (To borrow a line from Rick & Morty). Except that it’s worse.

These folks can’t afford housing without assistance, they can’t afford doctors because the cost of health care is obscene and they don’t have health insurance. Without health insurance their only choice is to clog urgent cares, and emergency rooms, where they’ll be seen and then the taxpayers pick up the bill.

In desperation, some turn to crime because it pays better than slave wages. All of these factors together increases the burden on law enforcement and subsequently on the tax payer.

How is this system much different from slaves living on a plantation? I’d suggest that sanctuary states and cities are even more cruel. Because they give illegal immigrants the illusion of freedom while entrapping them in an endless cycle of poverty and desperation.

If you expand your view beyond the small details, it becomes obvious that all of the taxpayers are, without their consent, being forced indirectly into being slave holders.

The wealthier taxpayers are akin to the house slaves, they’re treated better and they too derive benefit from the lower rungs of the slave classes. They have housekeepers, gardeners, field workers putting food on their tables, and a cheap labor force available at home improvement centers to paint and maintain their homes.

In the old plantations, the owner held the land, provided housing, reaped the benefits of cheap labor, provided a portion of the crops to the slaves for food, provided health care such as it was, and enforced the peace by punishing those who got out of line.

The difference is that now the owners are the politicians. It’s better for them today because unlike the plantation owner of old, today’s politicians bear no risk whatsoever. If they need more money, they raise taxes. In the plantation days the only way to increase income was to plant larger crops and hope the crops paid off.

The sad irony is that Democrats like Karen Bass don’t see what they’re doing. They are literally incapable of seeing the larger picture. If you view Los Angeles as a plantation, then ICE can be viewed as the Union Army freeing the slaves.

In that view, Los Angeles having an economic downturn is nothing more than being unable to plant or harvest the back forty.

Oh, and don’t misconstrue this to mean Trump is comparable to Lincoln. I don’t think he sees anything more than a balance sheet. At this point in our history, that may not be a bad thing.

What is, and always has been a concern, is that illegal immigration places strain on the society at large, think health, education, and welfare. 

We’ve been told for decades that to say such a thing was racist and that the illegals are only looking for a better life. Tell me, how is being a slave on the lowest rungs of society, with little hope to improve your station, a better life?

Legal Immigrants are seeking a better future and they have opportunities to achieve it. Illegal immigrants not so much. It must also be said, illegal immigrants, actually damage opportunities for legal immigrants, because no-one can be sure of the difference between the two. This uncertainty reduces the number of available positions for legal immigrants.

Aside from the violence and chaos it would cause, perhaps a counter protest should be organized targeting the ICE protests.

Signs saying “Don’t be an unwitting slave owner… Support ICE!“

Then supply plenty of brochures explaining how the system works.

Trouble with that, is the barely restrained violence of the anti ICE people. Los Angeles would be burned to the ground in seconds.

Once again, this is how my very weird brain processes things.

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This probably doesn’t bode well for The View

There’s a report in The Daily Beast saying the hosts of The View have been asked to tone it down. Specifically, their political rhetoric and bashing of Donald Trump.

Disney CEO Bob Iger and ABC News President Almin Karamehmedovic had a meeting with the harridans of The View and suggested that viewers might want a little less politics and perhaps more diverse discussions and guests.

Apparently, the hosts of The View weren’t happy about it.

Anna Navarro seemed to believe that the viewers tuned in to hear political discourse instead of a Women’s chat show.

It’s reported, the hosts of The View called the request “Silly”.

The View has been at the top of the ratings (surprisingly,) through the first part of 2025.

My Mother was a regular viewer until the hosts veered into politics full time. Prior to tuning them out completely, she’d switch channels the moment the hosts started shrieking and talking over each other, (her words, not mine).

My mother was a big fan of Barbara Walters. She stayed with The View for years after Walters left the show.

I think the ladies at The View are missing the handwriting on the wall. Their constant ranting may be becoming a liability. Prior to the 2024 election, the hosts of The View had to issue multiple retractions on-air over some of their comments. The trouble with retractions like that, is they’re meaningless. No matter what’s being retracted, it’s been said and there are a ton of folks who only hear the statement, not the retraction. (Hmm. That’s kind of like distributing misinformation. Isn’t the Left adamantly opposed to even allowing misinformation?)

It’s likely the show is keeping a cadre of lawyers busy, which no doubt increases production costs.

Other reports alluded to some FCC involvement as well. How true that is, I’m not sure.

Media, has paid a dear price for misrepresenting Trump’s comments. CBS is being sued for election interference due to their editing of the Kamala Harris interview.

ABC has also felt the heat.

Now with the wheels coming off the cover-up of Biden’s mental and physical state during his presidency, and Jake Tapper’s book. I wonder if Disney and ABC are looking at ways to limit their liability.

Cancellation of The View might be in the offing if the hosts choose not to tone it down.

Honestly, that might be a good thing. 

“The view spew”, seems to be reflected directly in the anti-Trump protests. The question is whether The View is accurately reporting the protestors opinions, or creating them.

Yes, when Trump screws up it should be reported. That is true of any President. However incredibly biased reporting shouldn’t be tolerated.

We know for a fact, based on recent revelations, that media was running cover for President Biden, for at least a part of his presidency.

It’s reasonable to assume that as polarized as things are, that same media will take any opportunity to bash and attempt to destroy anyone that they disagree with. A.K.A. Donald Trump, Conservatives, Republicans, etc.

A fundamental question that should be asked, and answered; what is The View? Is the show a news show with journalistic integrity, or is it a chat show for entertainment? The two have very different expectations and rules.

Honestly, I wouldn’t mind seeing The View cancelled. I’m no more interested in what those screeching harridans have to say, than the man in the moon. Yet, even though I don’t watch the show, I’m assaulted by their inane opinions anytime I read the news.

Men typically, and executives specifically, don’t look kindly upon people who don’t get the hint. If their “silly” request isn’t taken seriously, and it appears it was not, then I suspect cancellation or not renewing contracts is in the works. Does Joy Reid ring any bells?

Perhaps I could be interested in tuning in to their last show. The wailing and gnashing of teeth should be epic.

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Rep. Shri Thanedar just learned a lesson… As did PBS and NPR.

The hard way!

I almost feel sorry for him.

His impeachment paperwork met with a significant backlash and guess what?

His fellow signatories bailed on him.

Democrats being Democrats!

More fairly, it’s Politicians, being Politicians.

He may actually think that he’s justified, (who knows, he might be,) but he just found out that he’s nothing but a pawn. They had him float impeachment to see how it would play in the court of public opinion, and when the wind changed, they tossed him aside like he was nothing.

I’d say it’s 50/50 that he survives his next election.

He was obscure before the impeachment paperwork. After this, he’ll return to obscurity. Without allies or usefulness he’s toast.

Politics is tough.

What concerns me, is that now that he’s popped his head up with this impeachment stuff, suddenly there’s dirt on him in some corners of the media.

The Republican and Democrat parties are both full of politicians. You can count on politicians to be scum 98% of the time. So suddenly “Finding” that Thanedar left lab animals to starve in a lab he owned suggests to me that either this is a bogus story, or that there’s more to it. (He may have owned the lab, but did he run it?)

More worrisome is why now? Surely, someone had dirt on him for a while. How is this just coming to light, and why is the timing so convenient?

No matter what you think about Trump, or his administration. We should all be watching this stuff like a hawk. Otherwise we run the risk of replacing one shitty way of governing with another.

I have mixed feelings about Trump’s EO to cut funding for NPR and PBS. I don’t listen to either of them precisely because I find them to be so biased & liberal all they do is piss me off.

Even Jerry, who was very liberal, gave up on them. He subscribed to PBS for a year or two so that he could catch concerts, symphonies, and a couple of musical history shows. He’d turn them off the minute there was something “News” related.

For me, I used to listen to NPR sometimes while I was driving to work. Sometime in the Obama administration, NPR began to sound like propaganda, especially when there was anything controversial about the Obama Presidency.

I was looking toward them for balance, what I heard, was minimization of the issue and chronic blaming of Republicans for raising the issue. Hence my feeling they were nothing more than a propaganda outlet. In many regards, they sounded as radically left, as Patriot XM is to the right, (I also, as a rule, don’t listen to them).

I suppose I was looking for reasoned, balanced analysis of both sides of current issues. I wonder why we can’t seem to have that these days. 

When you get to it, all radio is public. As is all network television. So that begs the question for me, “Why does NPR get public funding?”

If NPR presented both sides of every issue in a thoughtful and well researched way… In other words if they didn’t view issues through the lens of political party at all, and reported just the facts, then discussed the pros and cons of a policy dispassionately, I’d be very in favor of funding them.

I’ve recently noticed that I really tune out if hosts and guests on any show start talking over each other, or raising their voices. This is particularly true if the hosts are women. There’s some indefinable point where two or more women talking over each other and raising voices to be heard, just sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard. (Not that young people really know what that actually means these days.)

I’d like to see a show with a format that took an issue like Tariffs, then explained what they are, why they exist, how they work, why some countries have them, and others don’t.

Then I’d like to see/hear a dispassionate pro/con debate. Neither side of the debate should have to “Win”, but they should be able to defend their position with logic and fact.

I’d listen to two hours of that because I’d learn something.

That’s what I think of about tax dollars funding something like NPR or PBS. They should be educational and informative, without attempting to sway the listener in any particular direction. It should be the listener’s responsibility to make up their own mind about the information presented.

That’s the up side, the optimal outcome.

Further, I think when that balance and education is lost, we shouldn’t be paying for it.

That brings to mind another thought. 

Perhaps it would be better for NPR and PBS to be completely decoupled from government funding so that they never fear government control. Obviously, if these organizations receive tax dollars, then can we really say they’re unbiased in their reporting? Might the apparent extreme left lean, be the inevitable outcome of funding sources?

How can you have unbiased reporting when you know if you offend someone on “The Hill”, it could affect your budget next year?

I sincerely hope that Trump cutting NPR / PBS funding & The sudden “Dirt” on Thanedar aren’t about retribution or revenge from the White House.

I’m a pretty vengeful person, I’m petty, and easily annoyed. I don’t want that in government from either party. 

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I suppose he rallied for one last Easter

Pope Francis died.

I’m sorry to hear that. I disagreed with a whole lot of his opinions. I thought that he was too liberal and extended the olive branch too freely to people who would seen the church and western civilization in flames.

But he was a holy man.

Holy Men see the best in everyone and believe that goodness and decency will win out in the hearts of even their enemies.

Sometimes they’re right.

Since I’m not Catholic I have no place to express my opinion about Papal Edicts or the direction Pope Francis was taking the church.

A few weeks ago, I thought Pope Francis was on his way out. He spent a lot of time in the hospital. Then the Vatican said he was recovering. He was seeing people, and offered blessings at the Easter Mass. I truly thought he was going to hang around for another few years.

Even if I disagreed with him, even though I’m not Catholic, the Pope is a constant in my life and to some extent I look to the Pope, and others, for generalized moral standards.

I’m sorry Pope Francis is dead.

I think it speaks to his strength of will, or his faith, perhaps both, that he apparently pushed to make one more Easter Mass.

Sleep well Francis…

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He’s been right about a lot, wouldn’t be surprised if he’s right about this.

President Trump.Trump said he’s going to be weeding out illegal immigrants from the Social Security system.

Since then, X has been alive with people telling us very seriously that Illegals can’t get Social Security benefits. Then acting like Trump is dumb or crazy or whatever.

Hmmm. Really? So if one of these folks is using a stolen SSN to work, you think that somehow they’re not going to use that SSN to do other things? Apply for credit cards perhaps? Mortgage loans? Bank Accounts?

Really? Nobody is that naive.

The other half had his identity stolen on a couple of occasions. Once, it was just a couple of debit card numbers, but the other time it was his whole credit history. He wasn’t aware there was a problem until he tried to get a loan for an instrument, then he found out that there was someone else running around using his social security number.

How ever did this bad person get the other half’s SSN? Oh that was due either to a medical insurance company breach, or a doctor’s office closing. We later found out that all the medical records had simply been dumped in the dumpster out behind the office.

It didn’t matter. It cost us a lot of time and money to get everything sorted out. 

If someone has your SSN, name, and date of birth, they could possibly start collecting on Social Security too.

That’s called stealing you know. Not that any of the liberals care about little things like stealing, or crime in general.

Unless it disturbs them.

When drugs come to the rentals in their neighborhoods, or an HOA socialite is mugged for her earrings in a common area.

Then liberals who previously wanted to defund the fascist police, while being kind to the poor immigrants seeking a better life, will hire a mercenary goon squad to patrol and harass everyone walking through a neighborhood.

We know that a lot of those liberals manage to look the other way, & pay under the table dirt cheap wages to illegals too. Liberals don’t seem to understand that paying someone 10 cents an hour is essentially slavery. Say that out loud to a liberal and they’ll lose their shit.

I’ve long been annoyed that everything is tied to a SSN. Credit applications, Tax filing, Mortgages, Car Loans, Medical records, Insurance, and God knows what else. 

It wasn’t supposed to be that way.

Back at the dawn of time when I got my SS card, the accompanying paperwork said specifically that this number wasn’t to be used as ID.

Yet that’s exactly what it’s been used for. Lots of people forget that SSN is an account number, to your forced contributions to a retirement savings account, that doesn’t pay a particularly good interest rate.

At this point we might as well use the number as our phone number, drivers license, and car plate number. Everyone knows our account numbers.

I’d bet we’ve all received at least 10 notices of security breaches where our name, address, SSN, and phone number has been dumped out on the internet for sale.

I’ve been informed that my personal data was leaked by the Office of Personnel Management of the United States government. You know what they said? Too bad, so sad, perhaps you should invest in a credit counseling service.

At least corporations provided credit monitoring services for a few years!

Given all of this.

Is it that far a stretch to entertain that some number of illegal immigrants might be getting social security payments they’re not entitled to?

Illegal Immigrants, as Tom Homan said, are all criminals. He’s right, and I fell out of my chair when he said it directly to someone questioning him about deportations.

Until I heard him say it, I thought I was some kind of idiot that just didn’t understand the issue.

The moment a person crosses our border without permission, or overstays their Visa, they are, by definition, a criminal because they committed a criminal act. If they’re willing to start out committing a crime, what’s to stop them from stealing someone’s identity?

Liberals would justify even that, as okay (as long as it wasn’t their identity,) because the poor illegal is just trying to work and feed their family and they needed a SSN to work. Or retire.

Here’s something few people ever find out.

If you claim unemployment benefits, or assistance for medical costs, or disability payments, all of which are tired to your SSN. The state sends you a 1099 form. 

YES! Boys and Girls, you have to pay Federal taxes on that “Income” If you’re in a state with income tax, you get to pay them too.

So some illegal running around with your SSN can do a whole lot of damage, before they even begin to fuck you out of your tiny assed social security check.

All of this is to say, it’s very possible that some 87 year old grannie, or someone who’s contacting the Social Security office on Monday morning ready to retire, may find out they’ve got nothing because someone else got there before they did.

Trump saying that he’s ordering it to be looked into is a good thing. Even if they find nothing, at least the American People can have faith in the Social Security Administration. 

If an audit does find fraud, then booting the fraudsters out of the system means people who deserve the funds will likely get them, and perhaps Social Security will last a bit longer.

I question the Democrats screaming about Doge looking into Social Security.

We know over the years, both the Democrats and Republicans have raided SS funds. We the People assume that the money has been paid back. What if it hasn’t? Worse yet, would be finding that money is still being siphoned off for stupid projects like those at USAID.

I’ll tell you what. If all the retirees eating tuna, cutting their medications in half, and paying taxes on their SS income were to find out they’d been spending a billion a year for something like “Condoms for Convents”, or half a billion on “Feed a Jihadi for Jesus”…

The old folks (myself included) would tear down the Capitol and smash every stone to dust with their walkers & canes.

I envision exchanges like this between the Capitol police and the old folks;

“Yeah sonny, that’s a pretty badge, so what? I’m on my last legs here, I’ll be dead in 6 months from cancer. I can’t feel anything on my left side… This here is a kamikaze run for me! Tear gas? That’s all ya got? I’ve been smoking Lucky’s for 65 years! I could huff that canister & chase it with straight bourbon! So bring it, ya pussy!”

(Thanks to Grok for generating the image.)