The New Face of the FBI
Bullet Points:
** (right) The Kurds from the KRG – best not to mess with them. They’ve been there for 5,000 years and aren’t going anywhere.
** (zero hedge) Not long after sparking outrage inside and outside the country by barring right-wing frontrunner Calin Georgescu from running in May’s presidential election, Romania has barred another populist from the contest. The decision was attributed to the candidate’s supposedly unacceptable policy stances and “making declarations “contrary to democratic values.
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday announced that Diana Sosoaca would be banned from competing for the country’s presidency. That news is troubling enough on its face. Still, the Central Election Bureau’s rationale makes the development chilling: Sosoaca is supposedly unfit for office because she publicly opposes Romania’s memberships in the European Union and NATO.
** (ABC News) Satan’s Vatican makes way for the great unwashed. Harvard University and MIT announced that tuition will be free for students from families with annual incomes of $200,000 or less starting in the 2025-26 academic year.
** Tariffs don’t cost you anything if you buy domestic goods. Places like China have a history of dumping goods at a financial loss to destroy competition, but that should never be allowed.
It must have pained Murdoch’s WSJ to report, “America’s biggest retailers are deploying every weapon they have to navigate President Trump’s fast-escalating trade war, from leaning on suppliers for discounts to finding alternate product sources. In some cases, that includes price increases for consumers. “Much of the action so far has focused on goods from China, which the Trump administration hit with a 10% tariff in February and another 10% in March. Some suppliers say Walmart, Home Depot, and other retailers are pushing a variation of the same demand: Make a price concession or shift production out of China. Otherwise, the suppliers risk losing some business.” Be American, buy American is clawing back thanks to having a businessman in charge.
** Fake Fish? Studies have shown that cheaper fish alternatives are mislabeled and masqueraded as salmon, tuna, snapper, and other top-shelf raw seafood. Cost-cutting counterfeits are almost impossible to spot after the sushi has been sliced and served.
** The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) said on March 7 that it would scrap 91 social science studies, including climate change, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said are not among the Pentagon’s priorities. The studies cover topics ranging from climate change impacts and global migration patterns to social trends. The DOD noted discontinuing them would save the government more than $30 million in the first year. The DOD said in a statement that it will, instead, redirect resources toward “technologies essential for maintaining a strong national defense” and fund research focused on developing and fielding advanced military capabilities.
** Rep. Richard Hudson: “States are abusing a loophole to funnel federal funds toward Medicaid benefits for those in our country illegally at the expense of hardworking taxpayers. They’re jeopardizing care for our most vulnerable Americans – pregnant women, individuals with disabilities, and the elderly – while incentivizing more illegal immigration. It’s far past time Congress passes my Protect Medicaid Act to stop it. No more rewarding those who break our laws on American taxpayers’ dime.”
** White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt firmly dismissed a French Member of the European Parliament (MEP) call to return the Statue of Liberty to France, Breitbart reports, while calling out the politician for severely irresponsible and arrogant remarks. The demand came from French politician Raphael Glucksmann, a member of the Socialists and Democrats group, who made the severely out-of-touch claim that the U.S. no longer embodies the values the statue represents, noting freedom in particular.
Red China Blues
China’s plan will fail for the same reason its previous efforts failed.
China may be serious, but the approach is seriously wrong.
China needs to write off bad debts in housing, write off bad debts in State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), and stop ridiculous export subsidies that benefit US consumers at the expense of Chinese consumers. The political class does not want to take a hit in SOEs, and consumers are already angry enough over housing. China is doing the only thing it knows how to do: boost exports and make announcements that do little.”
Like Japan, China refuses to write down unproductive assets and take losses on bad debt. Due to SOEs, China’s setup differs slightly from Japan’s, but the path looks similar. How many bridges to nowhere did Japan build? How many SOEs and housing developments in China are bankrupt?
Instead, China is doubling down on EVs and solar panels that the EU doesn’t want, and Trump vows never to let happen.” Buy stock in popcorn.
Swamp Notes
Over the last few decades, the Federal administrative state and bureaucracy have expanded significantly, becoming too large, unaccountable, and often corrupt. This transformation stems from an evolving federal role, a degradation of presidential executive control over unionized and inefficient bureaucracies, and a misalignment of interests between federal employees and citizens.
While the current DOGE initiative is only a small start—and may make some mistakes along the way—it is a critical catalyst for needed reforms, encouraging Congress to tighten its budgeting and oversight. Let’s explore these issues, emphasizing that the current system, in which unionized federal agencies wield significant discretion over vast sums of money without tight executive oversight, deviates from the spirit of the Constitution.
The federal bureaucracy’s growth is rooted in the government’s increasing involvement in regulating American life. Agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have seen their mandates balloon, often fueled by broad congressional delegations of power. This has led to a sprawling network of agencies issuing thousands of regulations annually, consolidating legislative, executive, and judicial functions within unelected bodies. Such concentration of power has made the bureaucracy unwieldy and difficult to oversee, laying the groundwork for accountability and corruption issues.
Bureaucratic agencies often operate with minimal oversight from elected officials. Civil service protections, while intended to shield employees from political interference, now hinder the removal of underperforming or unethical staff. This opacity is compounded by limited congressional and judicial scrutiny, allowing agencies to function with near autonomy. Corruption festers in this environment, exemplified by regulatory capture—where agencies like those overseeing pharmaceuticals or finance favor industry interests over the public good.
Scandals, such as the IRS targeting political groups, highlight how unaccountability breeds misuse of power.
The President’s ability to exercise executive control has eroded, partly due to the rise of unionized federal workforces. The Constitution vests executive power in the President, who is accountable to voters, yet union contracts and civil service rules shield employees from dismissal or redirection. This insulation creates inefficiencies and resistance to executive priorities, turning bureaucracies into semi-independent entities. The President, tasked with ensuring agencies serve the public, has limited tools to enforce discipline or reform.
The DOGE effort emerges as a small but vital step toward addressing these problems. By decentralizing oversight and involving the public, it aims to curb bureaucratic overreach. Its significance lies in sparking reform and pressing Congress to reclaim its budgeting and oversight roles. DOGE is not a complete solution, but it catalyzes a shift toward a more accountable administrative state, aligning governance more closely with constitutional principles
The Constitution envisions a system where the President oversees the executive branch, ensuring federal funds are spent efficiently. However, unionized agencies wielding significant discretion over large budgets undermine this framework. This autonomy, unchecked by tight executive oversight, allows bureaucracies to prioritize internal goals over public needs, contradicting the Founders’ intent for a responsive and accountable government. Unionization of federal employees exacerbates these issues by misaligning their interests with those of citizens. While unions protect workers, they often emphasize job security and benefits over efficient, merit-based spending of taxpayer funds. This focus fosters bureaucratic inertia, where maintaining the status quo trumps innovation or service improvement. Citizens who expect their tax dollars to fund effective governance are saddled with bloated systems that resist change, further entrenching inefficiency and unaccountability.
The Federal administrative state has grown too large, unaccountable, and corrupt due to its unchecked expansion, the erosion of presidential control over unionized bureaucracies, and the misalignment of employee and citizen interests. The DOGE effort, despite its imperfections, is a critical starting point for reform, urging Congress to strengthen oversight and budgeting. The current system—where unionized agencies operate with significant autonomy—defies the Constitution’s spirit and undermines efficient governance. Realigning federal priorities with the public’s interest in merit-based spending is essential to restoring trust and effectiveness in the administrative state.
***
Avalon
The photo is of Avalon Harbor, Catalina Island, Los Angeles County, California, 26 miles from the mainland. Back when I had the Defiant (32′ Sea Ray), slipped at Spinnaker Bay, Seal Beach/Long Beach, I used to take the boat to Catalina diving. I dove Eagle Reef, Farnsworth Bank (Sea Mount), and other well-known spots, and often anchored at Lover’s Cove, north of the casino – pictured.
I had a small Zodiac with a motor that I used as a tender and would take my girls into town for pizza and ice cream. Referencing the photo, White Point is the farthest piece of land. I’d anchor there as well and would fish with the girls. (I took a squid-baited hook on a line down and looked for the right fish to feed it to.) The boat slept the six of us comfortably, and we’d spend the night at anchor, have breakfast, and motor back before the wind kicked up in the channel after about eleven am.
Good times, long past, but still memories.
The Use of Foreign Aid
(commentary) The world should shudder to discover that America’s foreign aid—long intended to uplift those in need overseas—has instead nourished extremists who despise the United States.
On February 26, I appeared before the House Oversight Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) to expose evidence of these betrayals. Far from a mere policy dispute, the misuse of U.S. assistance I documented underscores the magnitude of the negligence and, in certain instances, possible criminal collusion within our humanitarian apparatus.
During the hearing, which featured pointed exchanges between subcommittee Chairwoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Ranking Member Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), it became clear that specific federal programs, especially those under the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), have strayed far from their original mission. The session erupted more than once in arguments over whether the Biden administration’s policies had inadvertently or deliberately financed radical agendas worldwide.
Witnesses included policy analysts, a journalist, and former federal officials. Stansbury lamented what she called “carnage,” “gutting,” and “global realignment” allegedly forced by the new administration’s approach to foreign assistance. Nevertheless, as the hearing progressed, a common thread emerged from multiple testimonies: Federal foreign aid has funded an array of extremist-aligned groups overseas—often at odds with American interests.
Greene underscored that the subcommittee would consider criminal referrals if it emerged that U.S. aid had directly abetted terrorist attacks on Americans, declaring that “if USAID funded terrorism that resulted in the death of Americans, then this committee will be making criminal referrals.”
***
More from the Swamp
(Thinker) Of course, the Democratic Party Deep State (DPDS) propaganda bureaus, formerly known as “news media,” are carefully ignoring this development. MSNBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, PBS, NPR, New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic … the silence is deafening. The sole exception is Newsweek, which observed that “the MAGA community is furious”:
->“Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has called for the Justice Department to investigate whether Biden’s “cognitive decline allowed unelected staff to push through radical policy without his knowing approval.”<- If that was the case, “these executive orders, pardons, and all other actions are unconstitutional and legally void,” Bailey wrote on X.
An interview with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) reveals just one of many examples where Joe the Vegetable didn’t even read the documents that bear his purported signature:
–>MIKE JOHNSON: “Sir, why did you pause LNG exports? … Liquified natural gas is in great demand by our [European] allies. Why would you do that? Because you understand, we just talked about Ukraine. You understand you’re fueling Vladimir Putin’s war machine because they got to get their gas from him, you know.”
And he looked at me, stunned, and said, “I didn’t do that.”
And I said, “Mr. President, yes, you did. It was an executive order, like three weeks ago.”
“I didn’t do that.” And he’s arguing with me.
I said, ”Mr. President, respectfully, could I go out here and ask your secretary to print it out? We’ll read it together. You did that.”
… He said, “No, no. You misunderstand.” He said, “What I did is I signed this thing to —we’re going to conduct a study on the effects of LNG.”
I said, “No, you’re not, sir. You paused it. … This is doing massive damage to our economy and national security …” It occurred to me, Barry, he was not lying to me. He genuinely did not know what he had signed.”<–
And I walked out of that meeting with fear and loathing. Because I thought we were in serious trouble.
Who is running the country
I don’t know who put the paper in front of him, but he didn’t know.”
Poster Child
The latest example of the MSM ineptly trying to elicit sympathy for an illegal comes from Philly, where Virginia-Basora Gonzalez, 36, sobbed as ICE agents re-arrested her.
Some say that she looks like a bowling ball with eyes. She got picked up wearing sweats and a large shirt that… how can I put this?
You’re going to need a bigger bowling bag.
Okay, I apologize. I just did a thing that lefty “journalists” always do, and that drives me crazy when I said that “some say” she looks like a bowling ball with eyes.
It’s me. I’m the one who says that. Because you look at her and tell me that she’s not a Brunswick 16-pounder with an insanely long stretch between the thumb and finger holes when you’re looking for a smooth-rolling 12-pounder on league night, and you forgot your ball at home.
Before you can say anything, I know: I shouldn’t criticize anyone’s ample appearance.
She’s been criminally playing our system in very familiar ways: first arrested in PA for 40 grams or more of fentanyl and aiding and abetting in June of 2019.
After serving out part of a short sentence, she was deported back to the DR, only to re-enter and get caught again last week illegally. And yes, I know that my lefty pals will say that lots of Americans deal drugs, too.
Yeah. We know. We’ve got plenty of our own drug dealers, which is just one reason why we don’t need to import more of them.
Identify the Aircraft
1
2
ID the float plane
Identify the Armor
3
4
End
Dog in nunber 4 appears to be Pomeranian or part of. We had one come for three day’s minding as a rescue dog. He stayed just over 10 years.
I’ve never owned a Pom, but I had a friend who had one (named Tinker), and he was remarkably smart and fun. I’m usually not a lap dog person but I liked Tink.
Many cowboys have little dogs, ride easy in the saddle and often operate like they are bigger cattle dogs. Neighbor…total last of the breed in the area…had a Pom who worked with the heelers. Great dog. Then got a micro wiry rescue named Walter who looked like he stuck his paw in a socket but was…shall we say…unafraid of the cattle and worked ‘em hard. Hilarious to watch…gets punted put, heads straight back in.
We did rescue spays and neuters over the years, a dozen or more at a pop…kept three to refill the need; an Aussie mix off the Chinle Res (AZ)…wicked smart and sweet (now 16 and despite aging still in good rig)…and a chee-who-a-who-a who was micro-sized but hilarious and super brave in the corral. (Unfortunately after 10 years lost him at o’dark to a lion lurking around the place.) We now have another chihuahua multi-mix from some south Texas town, he’s finallyis coming into his own after not in constant survival mode. When I’m out and about with the little guy…don’t care if people think I gave up my man card.
There is nothing scrappier than a Border Collie unless perhaps it’s a Jack Russell Terrier.
JRT’s are fearless…and I was mistaken, neighbor rancher had a Schipperke not a Pom…”Rocky” (heh) was seriously fearless.
My wife raised Pomeranians. Mean little dogs.
3 looks like a Parnall Peto a British design.
It is.
Fake fish: it’s exceedingly unlikely to get actual maguro (tuna) unless you’re paying serious money. The stuff passed off as maguro is often some far cheaper white fish that’s been dyed pink. But no one passes off escolar as “tuna”. They call it “white tuna” but it’s not a transfish. In other words, escolar is more like Rachel Levine than Michelle Obama or Brigitte Macron. No one, not even the goofiest leftist, believes Admiral Dick is a woman despite calling that person a “woman”. Same with “white tuna” — no one confuses it with maguro. Michelle and Brigitte however, are like that dyed-pink cheap trash fish, we’re supposed to believe they’re maguro, if you take my meaning.
—
Statue of Liberty. How about we send that plaque with Emma Lazarus’ dreadful poem (one more thing hijacked, FFS) to Raphaël Glucksmann? “Wretched refuse” my skinny yellow butt. I had no idea who Glucksmann was, so I looked him up. Sure enough, the child of two philosophers. Father André Glucksmann had a Brigitte Macron haircut. Interesting.
—
Yes, this is “mock Brigitte day”. Im enjoying all the “She’s a man, baby!” talk. Candace Owens is pushing that hard. (Basically the theory is that Brigitte the actual woman died some time ago, and the First Lady of France is actually her brother Jean-Michel Trogneux, post sex-change. There’s a variant wherein “Brigitte” is actually Emmanuel Macron’s biological father (and not just strap-on “daddy”)). I don’t care if there’s any truth to the theories. In fact, the more absurd the better. I WANT the execrable Macron defending himself against rumors that he’s homo-bottom to his own father. This sort of ridicule is Alinsky-level stuff that erodes his ability to govern. I don’t care if BM is really JMT. I’m 100% all in for the mockery because it leads to delegitimization. This is an actual civilizational-level street fight, and well-meaning but misguided people on “our side” are whinging about Marquis of Queensbury rules.
—
And there’s no doubt that Emmanuel Macron is some sort of sex deviant. Look at his body language when he greets Fidelito Trudeau, or even Cocaine Dwarf for that matter. Zelenskyy trying to get free of Macron’s literal clutches was the first time I’ve ever felt sorry for that grifting little shit. Less sarcastically, the fact that Macron’s official state portrait shows a book by pedophile child-rapist André Gide is very telling. We truly ARE ruled by Satanic perverts.
The fact that Macron is so drawn to Zelenskyy might indicate (against all logic) that he (Macron) is a top, not a bottom, as many have believed for a long time. Even though it’s on display with Barack and Big Mike, whose podcast crashed recently, it seems to have more Euro affectation. Admiral Dick, who nobody confuses with a woman or Sam Brinton, the luggage thief who tried to walk a finer line between male and female, would never be considered to be Blue Fin Tuna (on the Mike_C scale). They’re more of Talapia, which is still purchased (usually frozen) and prepared for consumption…why? I guess the nasty little trash fish is woke?
.
The EuroTrash are not scandalized by sexual deviancy, no matter how bizarre it presents. Usually, the satanic behavior is celebrated (See the French Summer Olympics). Barack and Pedo Joe drew them like flies to the pile.
Apparently we here in The Colonies are seriously uptight about sex and sexual deviancy…unless you’re from Hollywood, or were a friend to Epstein, or went with your boy toy into the hallowed Capital Chambers, or did a Diddy Deal…or [pick anything The Bee thought was tabloid-grade weird only to be found as true]. The majority are self controlled…which is sort of the point to avoid the slippery slope.
been a sushi/sashimi aficionado since way long before it became popular, even dined (been taken to dinner) at a few of the more exclusive joints in Tokyo and NY
agree and disagree with the Post article; never had truckstop sushi, don’t know as I’d want to
my comment: if you want sushi (or ‘d like to try it for the first time), spend the bucks and go to a top-notch sushi place owned and run by Japanese. sit at the counter and ask for one order (two pieces) of maguro (the “u” is elided) sushi; watch the chef/preparer who should be Japanese trained in Japan. he is not a fish slicer/riceball roller, he is an artist like a fine French pastry chef
if you’re not comfortable using hashi (chopsticks), you can pick it up with your fingers (it’s OK, you’re a Westener, they’ll forgive you – without smirking) but please don’t soak it in that little dish of shouyu (low sodium, of course /s) you’ve already poured from the green-topped bottle, the chef himself has prepared the shari (sushi rice) with what he feels should be the proper amounts of condiments that will enhance the experience; the experience of the flavor; each fish as different as goat from lamb from beef (and should not be “fishy”); and the experience of the texture of the meat against the rice.
not to say that truckstop sushi does not have its place in American cuisine; I’ve been told that it does reduce constipation thought to be brought on by periods of extensively long sitting a good sushi dinner, IMHO, should be as expensive as a meal in a fine French restaurant – and for much the same reasons – just being completely objective
What about convenience store sushi, wrapped in plastic, next to the week old pre-packaged tuna on rye? The sticker on the shrink wrap is, “genuine fish.”
” don’t soak it in that little dish of shouyu […] the chef himself has prepared the shari (sushi rice) with what he feels should be the proper amounts of condiments”
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zQ-9IE6cIF0
—
I’m going to order my steak well done, then slather it with ketchup. And there’s nothing you can do about it, boron!!!
Of course, I get an existential pain whenever I overhear someone ordering their steak well done. And I’m using every ounce of willpower to not burst out with “A cow DIED for your steak, you know. The least you could do is to honor its sacrifice.” So I guess I get where you’re coming from.
PS: Stacking ginger on your sushi, like the guy in the clip does, IS barbaric. I can empathize with Ralph Fiennes’ character in The Menu. Especially with regard to the Finance Bros.
—
Never had a problem with truck-stop sushi. Mainly because I don’t eat truck-stop sushi. But I’ve had a few bad experiences with convenience-store potato salad. In Vermont back when NORBA (mountain biking) was a thing. Of course, I was in my 20’s and could recover from that sort of thing pretty quickly. Had a few unplanned pit stops in the Vermont woods though (sorry, Mount Snow; also, a bear is not the only thing that shits in the woods). But the worst food poisoning was at NORBA Hunter Mountain (NY). I was hanging out with the pro Kahlua Women’s team. The girls somehow produced an extra ticket and sneaked me into the Pro Dinner the night before the big XC race. The dinner was at some local Mexican restaurant. So there I am sitting with a half dozen super-fit girls with VO2 maxes bigger than their height in inches, eating my still-frozen-in-the-middle burrito. Ned Overend ,Greg Herbold,, Juliana Furtado and Lisa Muhich among other legends are walking around. Cool! Then around 1AM I start to feel abdominal pain and distension. Bad pain. The bathroom is occupied (I’m in some rooming house in town; several rental beds, one bathroom) and someone is inside groaning in agony and emitting horrid noises. Desperate, I look out the window. The yard is bare of shrubbery or other concealment, and worse, the motion-sensor light covers the yard (a fat raccoon is bowleggedly ambling across the yard, unconcerned by the light). I end up crapping in the (plastic, praise Ullr) trashcan in my room. The smell is horrific. I throw a sacrificial T-shirt over it to reduce the stench in between bouts. Around 3AM I’m finally done. Next morning at dawn I steal a roll of toilet paper from the hall closet and walk across the street to the girls’ motel. Their door is ajar and it’s pitch black inside. I knock and enter. The smell is horrific times four. “I brought toilet paper,” I announce. My friend Toni moans, “Oh thank god. We ran out around 2AM. Hey! Don’t go into the bathroom. Really.” But everyone raced that afternoon anyway. Dehydrated, probably 5 lbs lighter, and with sore abs, but everyone raced.
Geez! Another epic story there…cautionary tale for sure.
I interviewed Daniel Greenfield a couple weeks ago and we talked about the Statue of Liberty:
Ed Bonderenka (29:55): Yeah, you mentioned the Black Tom bombing that damaged the Statue of Liberty. Also, I had the impression you said something in that the Statue of Liberty was actually crafted by a socialist.
Daniel Greenfield (30:10): It’s a little bit complicated in a way. So the actual sculptor of the Statue of Liberty, it was just a guy who really, really wanted to make a big statue that looked like his mother, which people tend to think it looks like his mother. He would just go around the world peddling this and I mean around the world. He tried to sell it to Egypt originally to the (unintelligible) in Egypt, and it was going to represent the strength of the peasantry forever. But the question is why the statue, why did people actually go ahead and France and pay for the statue and why did they ship it to America? And that yes, does have to do with the left. So the funny thing is we have these debates about the Statue of Liberty in America, and we’ve kind of accepted that it is really about immigration. (30:49): It was not really, that was absolutely an accident of history that it became to be about immigration. Basically. Americans were very confused When this giant statue shows up, it’s kind of like a Trojan horse, but there’s nobody hiding inside. Okay, this is a nice statue. We’re glad you thought of us. This thing is really huge. It’s like we had, my brother-in-law really wanted, when my little girl was younger, we wanted to get her a giant bear. My wife said, well, we deal with this giant bear. This bear is really huge. Basically the statue we do is this giant bear. It was shipped to America and everybody said, yes, yes, we will hold a parade. We’ll hold a ceremony, we’ll put on our big hat, and this is really great, but really, why do we have this giant statue here and what are we supposed to do with it?
There’s more in the interview but it’s mostly about how they finally funded the pedestal for it after about a dozen years.
Thanks, Ed. Very interesting.
—
“well, we deal with this giant bear”
https://youtu.be/EZUSXwCl0xI?si=QzlUdNMKDLqzFS-Y&t=140
😁
My first wife’s Dad ran the warehouse operations for Star-Kist in San Pedro, CA. He knew how to read the printed code on the can, and knew which grocers were getting the “Good” tuna. Once a year they’d send several boats out to catch cold-water tuna, as they’re much tastier. They provided filets to all the employees, and big slabs of tuna, too. I couldn’t believe how rich it was. A 4oz piece will make you feel completely stuffed.
Identify the Aircraft:
1. Airbus C295W
2. Parnall Peto
Identify the Armor:
3. AMX-30B2 Brenus
4. T-72
Yes, good. They certainly bolt a lot of crap on the T-72s in the hope of making them more survivable.
It’s cute the Indian-giving Fwench want “their” statue back. Come and take it, beeches.
Romania not allowing candidates who don’t think “right” to even be on the ballot? Sounds like the cabal that was running things here doesn’t it?
~~
I have been unable to find what the tariffs that Canada had against the US BEFORE the March tariffs the US applied and I’ve tried more than one search engine.
~~
“the Federal administrative state and bureaucracy”, a great label for what we have!
White Point; awesome photo and great share of ” dive fishing “. ¡Gracias!
Reminds me of our oldest daughter catching her first fish. Toddler with no shirt or shoes on.
H/T Surly, for the i.d. on the sea plane. Sent me down the rabbit hole looking up the HMS M2 sub.
Pneumatic catapult was my specific interest.
Amazing engineering to create the plane and watertight hanger. Japanese version 20 yrs later deployed 3.
Mike, I read on here I believe Big Mike and Uncle Barry visited Dubai or somewhere just after the election. Perhaps immigration to France would be a better fit?
PS Was Puppet Pedo’s propped up present of 4yrs geriatric care a ” lead from behind” ploy of the 3rd term of the Obamanation?
PS – Yes, I think so.
Re: “Harvard University and MIT announced that tuition will be free for students from families with annual incomes of $200,000 or less starting in the 2025-26 academic year.” The other story making the rounds is that Harvard is instituting remedial math classes for incoming students that can’t do high school-level math. https://www.realcleareducation.com/2025/03/20/harvard_launches_new_remedial_math_course_1098873.html Naturally, this is only a few years after they dropped SAT requirements.
You wonder if the new Harvard students can do Junior High math, or maybe 6th Grade math. Do you need to be able to cipher mathematics to be a successful lawyer (with a Harvard sheepskin)?
The new students aren’t going anywhere, they won’t exist.
*
All the new rule means is that the couple dozen “diverse” scholarship admissions
get a free ride on tuition, now. Which is decent, but statistically meaningless.
I bet the have to pay full rate on room and board too, which is like a second
tuition.
– Kle.
>have to pay full rate on room and board
Seriously doubt it. The whole point is to have designated “victim class” members around. So it’s going to be a free ride. There might even be a stipend, for all I know. Harvard and Yale have endowments of over $50 and $40 billion respectively. The “poorest” Ivy, Dartmouth, has an endowment of around $7 billion. These institutions are basically hedge funds that happen to have a school attached, at this point.
—
Long rant (mostly) redacted about how Harvard (and Ivies in general) used to be a symbolic and a literal bastion of WASP power. The TL;DR is that in under 100 years, Harvard became a literal bastion of Jewish (no longer WASP) power. But symbolically, no. The Narrative is still about how Jews were barred (truly at one point) from Harvard. (But that’s like complaining about how negroes were barred from pro sports and ignoring the current state of the NBA and the NFL.) And in a few decades Harvard will devolve from a bastion of Jewish power to a bastion of idiocy. Yay progress. Let’s see how long the fall will take. (Actually, what will probably happen is that Harvard will evolve into an uneasy co-dominium of Jewish and Indian power. Heritage whites and East Asians will have to take a back seat for various reasons.)
Of course, founded as Christian Divinity Schools.
EdB, when did God depart?
Fake Fish- More lab slop to not have the actual fare (many videos exist showing the Soylent Green-level process). Most of what is under cellophane seems AI generated (aka “imitation”) as you and other have said, “can’t tell the fake from the real”. No telling what it does to ones system once ingested (maybe Pfizer has a pill or some nefarious injection to fix those created problems).
***
AutoPen- That Johnson/Biden (Is he real or Memorex?) exchange was telling when it first came out…this treasonous/seditious criminality may get blown wide open the more the protective layers of The Cesspool get peeled back. One can hope people are held accountable and ALL the ‘doing’ gets undone, including a few others (the IRS would be another) and WTP gain some relief.
***
Scandals: If WTP actually knew one tenth of what these DC cretins (let alone Statehouses)…beyond what DOGE is finding (Florida is following Texas in floating their own version), there would be (I believe so) a serious uprising against the polit bureau operating underneath what is supposed to be a Constitutional Republic.
***
Livin’ Large at Catalina Island: Only some damn developer (as my mom would joke to my dad, a commercial RE developer) would say, “Hey, let’s build a casino on Catalina Island.” Sorry, but it’s hideous (as viewed from my cheap seat)…maybe it’s different when viewed in person.
That downer aside, yours is a seriously cool recounting of adventures. Living large – in whatever manner one decides – is “the best revenge” to those who wake up each day and decide anarchy and cheatery on our person is what’s on the docket.
***
BabBee- Funny…but could happen as The Bee has been oddly prescient, especially considering The Dems & Left have taken their satire as a direct challenge to their brand of lunacy.
Ps. On his last radio/podcast Bongino was talking about how he his past cancer life hacks, and he’d try just about anything, including having to figure out in his new temp (operative word, unlike just about everyone else who sets up shop there, including K Street “influencers”)…his morning routines of “grounding” (works), his sauna, and where to put the cold plunge tub. Yeah, have a sauna here…but no stock tank (yet) for the cold plunge…too chicken despite years of jumping into mountain streams to cool off.
Bongino-Patel are just getting started, or as he says, “cutesy time is over” and “we always bring the receipts”. Can’t wait to see what transpires with these two.
Romania: Yeah, they are being douchebags.
However, when has Romania been anything other than a semi-barbaric
border area? Never? Certainly not for the last 6-700 years, and I don’t
think the Greeks and Romans had a different opinion. IDK why anyone
would expect anything else from them?
*
OTOH, Germany is doing the exact same thing, and so is France. They
could at least have been mistaken for modern, representative, civilized
nations occasionally in the last couple centuries, and have positive numbers
for GNP. Seems like that’d be a better story than Romania. The UcK is getting
pretty close too, plus they have the Thought Police…
*
On the bright side, Europe will always have their unshakeable self-righteousness
and sense of superiority to fall back on.
– Kle.
Nobody is more sure of their righteousness than EuroTrash.
#2 is also a picture of the ill-fated HMS M2 that sank do to a failure in the hanger door causing catastrophic flooding.All 60 sailors were lost.
A truly idiotic idea.
It’s essentially the same idea, and execution, as a Boomer.
– Kle.
You’re right. Good thing those bubbleheads never gave up on the idea right?
Fish.
Lucky I’m not a fan. I will eat shrimp, trout and salmon. On rare occasions, calamari. If I’m a guest I will eat what is offered, even lutefisk.
Federal employees. No balance. The EPA had 1,000 lawyers on staff but only one mining engineer when they caused the Gold King mine debacle. I’m sure the Federal employees have valid concerns but can we, the taxpaying citizens, expect a minimum level of competence?
Lutefisk…major h/t for partaking…depression era fare…boiled snot.
Married a 1st generation Norwegian. Her relatives like to serve lutefisk, just to see reactions. I disappointed them by asking for seconds. My bride wouldn’t eat the stuff.
When we lived across from the Seattle Ballard neighborhood, fiskaballs were a frequent supper meal. OK by me; she loved them. There was a fish store in Ballard that made them on the premises, probably from pillock.
Boiled snot? You were lucky! We had to eat our snot cold. 😢
One can get tired of fresh fish.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XZZZ2iwWqJg