Open Microphone
Amuse yourself on the blog by discussing any topic that interests you. A great deal is happening in the world of varying interests. I’ll be on the road for a while, blogging as I’m able. I wish you a happy Independence Day on July 4th. After all these years, we haven’t completely run it off the rails.
Bullet Points:
** Is there a secret to a long marriage?
** Five years ago this summer, George Floyd, a convicted felon, OD’d on fentanyl outside a convenience store in Minneapolis. And the country changed forever. Five years later, Tim (Tampon Tim) Walz is still the governor. Keith Ellison is still the attorney general. The police officers who were falsely convicted of murdering George Floyd are mostly still in prison. But what happened in Minneapolis itself? It’s been wrecked, and no one has said much about it.
** More flying – with MRSBRM. ice ice baby
** Colonization – explored.
** They’re permitted under SALT 2. Should we have used them on Iran? The B-2 strikes were more dramatic, but I know some among you would have preferred a more updated approach to the problem.
** Only on Gutfeld.
** CNN said, “America’s effective tariff rate is now 14.1%, according to Fitch Ratings, up from 2.3% last year. That means Trump raised taxes on imported goods by nearly 12 percentage points in 2025. Economists expected substantial inflation increases as a result.” So he raised tariffs nearly sixfold without an instant collapse of the economy. Predictions from economists are worse than TV weathermen.
** Some Iranian outlets have identified the shooter who killed two prominent Iranian Revolutionary Supreme Court judges yesterday as Farshad Asadi, 38, a resident of Tehran. Asadi had two children, and his family lived in a neighborhood on the southern outskirts of Tehran.
He is a Supreme Court janitor and the son of a soldier who killed in the Iran-Iraq war. In addition to his service work at the Supreme Court, he also used to transport passengers on a motorcycle, which was confiscated a few days ago because the occupants were wearing an inappropriate hijab. According to his colleague, Asadi had developed a deep hatred for the regime after witnessing the massacre in his neighborhood during the 2019 protests.
At an official meeting, he first brought tea, then, without saying a word, took out a revolver and shot Razini, and then shot Moghiseh, who was running away from the room. A bodyguard was also injured in the attack.
I guess the holy men pissed him off.
** Chinese SSBNs – CDRSAL outlines platforms and tactics. It’s another excellent blog post. I know that many of you read CDRSAL regularly. I wanted to amplify the signal.
In the Old West
In late May 1882, Virgil Earp was interviewed in San Francisco, two months after he left Tombstone and last saw Doc Holliday. Virgil had this to say about him:
“There was something very peculiar about Doc. He was gentlemanly, a good dentist, a friendly man, and yet outside of us boys, I don’t think he had a friend in the Territory. Tales were told that he had murdered men in different parts of the country; that he had robbed and committed all manner of crimes, and yet when persons were asked how they knew it they could only admit that it was hearsay, and that nothing of the kind could be traced up to Doc’s account. He was a slender, sickly fellow, but whenever a stage was robbed or row started, and help was needed, Doc was one of the first to saddle his horse and report for duty.”
The King Who Lost America
King George III’s health deteriorated. He developed dementia and became completely blind and increasingly deaf. He was incapable of knowing or understanding that he had been declared King of Hanover in 1814, or that his wife had died in 1818. At Christmas 1819, he spoke nonsense for 58 hours, and for the last few weeks of his life, he was unable to walk.
He died of pneumonia at Windsor Castle at 8:38 pm on 29 January 1820, aged 81, six days after the death of his fourth son, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn. His favourite son, Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, was with him. George III lay in state for two days, and his funeral and interment took place on 16 February in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
US to Construct Giant Conveyor Belt System from New York to Florida
On Friday morning, US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced that the US would immediately begin construction of a conveyor belt system capable of moving “significant amounts of people, personal belongings, and personal net worth and earnings” from New York City to Boca Raton, Florida.
The announcement came just days after Democrat Zohran Mamdani, a Marxist-Leninist, won the Democratic primary for Mayor of New York City, leading to the distinct possibility that the 33-year-old communist sympathizer could become New York’s next mayor.
“Simply put, the nation’s current highways, rail systems, waterways and skies will not be sufficient to handle all of the rich people and their net worth fleeing from New York City to South Florida in such a short period of time,” offered Transportation Secretary Duffy when asked about the need for such a conveyor belt system.
Minutes after Mamdani accepted his party’s nominee for Mayor, U-Haul CEO Joe Schoen announced that all U-Haul trailers had been pre-emptively rerouted to NYC but would not be sufficient to move ‘all that wealth’ from New York City to South Florida.
Fleeing New Yorkers will be able to reserve 20-foot segments of the conveyor belt upon which they can place family members, personal belongings, and bags of cash for fast and safe transportation to a new Boca Raton conveyor station.
Boca Mayor Scott Singer announced that his city would be building “ultra-wealthy migrant” encampments on the city’s ocean front property to handle the imminent migration of so many mega-millionaires and billionaires from New York who would soon be arriving at the city’s borders.
“In some ways, it’s just like any other immigration crisis except these ‘immigrants’ are ultra wealthy and will be hauling bags and bags of cash with them and will be showering the local economy with billions and billions of dollars,” offered Mayor Singer.
The Boca Raton Club, a popular ‘hangout’ for the ultra-wealthy, has announced it is stockpiling cases of Veuve Clicquot, lobster tails, and other culinary delights to mitigate the suffering of so many rich people arriving en masse.
In related news, California, Illinois, and New York have announced plans to build a “people moving conveyor” system from the Mexico border through Los Angeles, Chicago, and ultimately to New York City to fill the void of persons leaving those cities with “lots and lots of poor immigrants.” Plans for that system are expected to be available sometime in 2026.
DOGE
Managing Expectations: The DOGE Disappointment- High Hopes, Modest Cuts, and the Limits of Reform
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), launched with high expectations under the Trump administration and championed by Elon Musk as a bold experiment in public-sector reform, has thus far fallen short of its transformative promise. Conceived as a streamlined, tech-savvy initiative to eliminate waste, reduce bureaucracy, and deliver tangible spending cuts, DOGE was heralded as a symbol of a new kind of governance—one that would combine entrepreneurial energy with institutional discipline.
But despite the initial fanfare, the results have been underwhelming: the cuts implemented have been minor, and the much-anticipated rescission bills have yet to materialize. The premise behind DOGE was a good one. The federal bureaucracy is vast, outdated in places, and long overdue for reform. Musk’s involvement—while unconventional—was in line with his broader worldview: that inefficient legacy systems can and should be reimagined using first-principles thinking.
His role was never to run the agency, but to advise and inspire a culture of urgency, disruption, and accountability. He pushed for performance-based reviews, the digitization of outdated processes, and the reallocation of funds away from non-productive projects. On paper, it was a compelling vision. But transforming a government agency is not like building a rocket or an electric car.
DOGE quickly encountered the realities that constrain even the most well-intentioned reformers: entrenched interests, civil service protections, partisan gridlock, and the sheer inertia of the federal bureaucracy. Small, symbolic cuts were implemented—some travel restrictions here, some consolidation of back-office functions there—but the deeper structural savings don’t seem to be on their horizon.
The White House promised sweeping rescission packages to claw back unspent or wasteful funds, but those bills stalled in Congress and were eventually deprioritized amid larger political battles. The failure, then, was not one of vision but of execution—and not entirely of DOGE’s making. Musk brought attention, energy, and a sense of mission to the effort, but charisma and logic alone are insufficient when facing the procedural and political thicket of Washington. Reforming government turns out to require not just bold ideas, but painstaking coalition-building, legislative finesse, and staying power in the trenches.
Ultimately, DOGE became more of a branding exercise than a budgetary revolution. Still, it reflected a genuine hunger for efficiency, competence, and seriousness about how taxpayer dollars are spent. It didn’t succeed, but it wasn’t unserious. It revealed just how far there is to go—and how hard it is to get there.
Identify the Aircraft:
1
It was not produced in large numbers.
2
3
4 & 5 & 6
Parting Shot
End
IDA:
1. North American YAT-28E Trainer
2. Hawker Henley
3. Douglas XB-19
4. An American Mariner
5. New Zealand Sunderland
6. Australian Neptune
Identify the Aircraft::
1. TBD
2. Hawker Henley
3. Douglas XB-19
4. Martin P5M Marlin
5. Lockheed P-2 Neptune
6. Short Sunderland
Hogsbreath nailed #1 –
In the words of that well-known congressman ( I forget his name at the moment) “If you move too many people down there, Florida’s liable to tip over.
That was Hank Johnson (D-GA).
Hank needs to make a visit to the new A-A, then go for a hike, tell him all the surrounding jungle property is actually a petting zoo and a safe space, especaiily if he wears a pork chop around his neck.
😂
Showcasing my attitude towards that segment of society who think they are smarter and better than the rest of us because of where they sit, while many (most?) are seriously stupid people with no ability for original thought.
@ Paul M
unfortunately, that is a serious understatement
but: do we necessarily want very bright people in Congress (as opposed to buffoons for entertainment)?
Hank is a negro – which means you’re racist and ilithiophobic
From my point of observation, all those fleeing from blue states only leads to higher prices, more ignorant attempts to change the government, and people that don’t understand we do fine without their presence. Bring all those vacation dollars and return home.
Soil their own nests then “flee” to a nicer state…so they can do it all over again.
Some segment of society (I contend over the past 5-6 years has increased exponentially in percentage) can not only NOT read the room, they are tone deaf and clueless of their own behaviors and inclinations. I call this “the unaware”…who drive us “Aware” folks bonkers with their complete lack of self-awareness. Annoying at best.
The ugly American foisted upon his fellow citizens here at home.
Can’t pick your family, now can’t pick your neighbors.
Paul M
Our state is an example of what happens when the population doubles, and not from the birth rate. Three million to nearly six million in just a few years.
“If you build it they will come” is a double-edged sword.
Democrats are not promising free stuff. They are getting votes and street muscle for your stuff. Nothing free about it.
Dog4 complaints never mention the actual billions saved, fake people removed from the various programs, or the tens of thousands of dead wood employees who are moved into retirement or otherwise out of government employment. I wonder why….
Conveyor belt; Only to be seen here by reader’s of the Mirage. Nominations for best Satire award of 2025 are accepted here in the comments. The Babylon Bee has no candles to hold up in comparison to our proprietor of this stellar post.
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News Break; Gavi Nuisance former member of the 20/20 visionary trio, Inslee, Newsom and Brown has dropped 12 points in the Demo parties 2028 run for POTUS. No Balls Walz, Queen Ester Whitmer, and Muslim Marxist Mamdami continue to rise in the polls.
❤️
What are the odds NYC Jews elect Mamdani, further hamstringing themselves. (Not entirely my thought, Charlie Kirk was discussing this yesterday.)
The non-religious left-leaning Jews-In-Name-Only will vote for him. Just like they’ve openly supported Hamas and Hezbollah, protest against Israel, call anyone to the right of Karl Marx a conservative and so forth and so on.
–
You can literally round up their families, ship them to processing centers and kill them by job-lots yet they will continue to vote for socialism even if it kills them.
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Case in point. New York f’ing City and New York State both came down hard on practicing Jews during the Covidiocracy. But not muslim houses of ‘worship.’ Yet even knowing this, NYfC JINOS still voted for leftist politics that oppressed their practicing brothers and sisters.
Conveyor belt from NY to FL?
“The Roads Must Roll” – Robert Heinlein
Safe and prosperous travels!
I’ll try and blog a little in my spare time on the road.
Only if it’s with a decent adult beverage in a quiet moment and appropriate easy chair…and if you feel like. Enjoy…well deserved I am sure.
Once again, I end up with time on my hands and you slack off on block.
At least PaulM is filling in the blanks.
Missing me some Mike_C, but he says he’s busy.
Hot out, doing a pile of things around the homestead…came in for beverage, decided to see who’s being insightful and funny. Yeah, Mike_C’s Pro-level is hard to obtain.
Good fodder this morning, to which I’ll add: Seems the Lefty Lunatics are merely weak-minded when they aren’t “carrying their gun”, two items of note from the last 24 hours:
– “Paramount/CBS settle with Trump $16M upfront with a change to their editorial rules being branded as the “Trump Rule”…and another $15M for “like/kind” conservative/balanced adverts and public media spending…”
– University of Pennsylvania removes all records of William “Lia” Thomas from their books, and have decided males (do not need “biological”…every rational person knows male/female) are to be disallowed from competing in woman’s sports.” Gee, what a concept, only a University of Higher Learning (hahaha) would determine that was a debatable thing. One way to eliminate Student Loan indebtedness is to eliminate over-charging college and university playgrounds. Next up, Harvard…especially if the China is blocked from sending their “students” over to spy.
–
So the laws of Nature apply…when coffers are being affected, to the point of straining (goring the ox as it were), those supposedly in charge (with heads having been firmly shoved up their…) they come to their addled bubble-living senses, then fold like the cheap umbrellas they are…because – wah, wah – “we need the money to keep the doors open.” Backlash matters.
Now, let’s do it for the Not-A-Saint George Floyd debacle that imprisoned lawful operating officers, and make it semi-right with serious restitution. I know some executive folks (MAGA people) who have had their Minneapolis home up for sale…zero buyers. Not their fault. But when will the good people getting screwed by that DA and governor sue the pants off them for dereliction of duty and harm? (Same with Cuomo, who demonstrably killed the old and infirm during the Covid Crap, likely to save on SSA and state “service” monies.)
-…and the markets have rebounded with 127B of tariff collections, all up yesterday. Bessent may just gain Powell’s job to eliminate that feckless operative from the ranks, energizing our economy even further. PDJT is moving so fast on 1000 fronts, in his groove of fixing and developing, they Dem’s can’t keep up, they are five steps behind. Good.
In the meantime, WTP are winning…something the Left/Dem’s cannot understand because they are all about ‘participation trophies’ so no one feels bad about losing, therefore learning nothing about failure and rising above. But hey, Fetterman just wants to go home to the beach on vacation, way to go pal, really sending a proper signal. (Founders rolling over in their graves)
***
Otherwise, it’s a beautiful day our here in the hinterland. Praying all have a wonderful Independence Day…lining up to be one that echo’s the past when WE The People – as orchestrated by our brilliant Founders and Patriots- felt similarly hopeful.
It irks me no end that our state officials are relatively untouchable due to no known federal imprecations regarding killing old people with Covid, stealing an election, etc. because they control the AG and gubernatorial offices.
The State Police here in Michigan have voted 98% no confidence in their leadership.
That wouldn’t stop them from arresting a barber again if Whitmer told them to.
The exact point, whereas these people running things (often into the ground) should be held to a much higher standard with penalty if they harm others…not a lesser ‘no punishment’ for deeds done. Irksome is right.
I’m pretty sure that watching [moves in closer, crinkles brow, looks around furtively for liberals] bootleg Gutfeld the past few years Tuesday through Saturday has saved my sanity/life.
I get that.
It would seem to me that the Rods from God concept (I kinda sorta object to that description, BTW) makes a lot more sense than flying several billion-dollar stealth bombers and their attendant support package halfway around the planet to bomb Shitland Switch in Shitholia a.k.a. Iran. And, a less-technical delivery method than little space station launching platforms. Those little stations look like targets to me. I’m sure there are plenty disadvantages and unintended consequences to this method and I guess now I gotta go take a look.
Why not ICBRfG?
Orbital Anvil Delivery System (OADS). http://www.impsec.org/~jhardin/OADS/anvil_chorus.html
SpaceX could probably fulfill a quick-launch capability to put a handful of these in LEO on short notice. Lemme see: Terminal velocity of several tons low-drag mass from 120NM altitude? SWAG: 3300+ mph. Energy at impact? LOTS!
Convert Lots to megatons 😄
It’s the modern world. Targeting systems have become much more sophisticated, smaller and hardened better. Heck, the X-37B could carry up a couple and may have in all the years it has been active.
Yes. This, and the SpaceX quick reaction force mentioned by W-N too. I was thinking something on the order of a souped-up Redstone-ish bird ought to do it.
Nothing like KE for a kill… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho_VHOjzMX0
** Chinese SSBNs
“and skies full of Maritime Patrol Aircraft from a whole host of nation who want nothing more than to track a noisy SSBN in deep waters like there dear, old, Grandad did.”
OUCH.
Nice set of ‘choices’ today. What we ‘didn’t get that was promised, was SBR/Bs and suppressors were NOT removed from the NFA. Granted, the ‘tax’ has been reduced from $200 to 0, but we still have to jump through the ‘mother may I’ hoops… And the promise of no tax on Social Security got chopped too… Supposedly, we’ll get a ‘tax break’ of up to $6000 for 3 years… Whoop de do…
Those items, all of which are plain theft, will be on the next round. Please make it all happen before October if the DC criminals and thieves can be overcome.
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Heard a first hand report earlier about how the PA state lottery was sold to residents to eliminate property taxes with the revenue offset. They promised mind you, so residents said “Okay”. Never happened. Now they have both revenue sources, double taxed. Lottery vending machines, all owned by the state, were installed in every store possible. Then there was a raid on an “illegal” gambling operation. People got jail. The only motive to shut them down was the state was not getting what they deemed was their cut.
How is this any different than the mafia? Easy answer: It’s not, except TPTB gave themselves special powers while selling the entire legalized gambling gambit like a timeshare…so people think it’s acceptable.
Thank you for replying, Ed. …I often put my foot in mouth.
Something (in which you and your sweet wife are now included) that I added to my nightly prayers nearly 3 years ago:
Please help your children who are going through the worst, most difficult of times. Please hold them in Your loving hands and bring them peace, comfort and
the strength to go on according to Your will.
Your prayer (for battle) has also helped me many times, btw.
And please forgive, Mr. LL, for being “such a girl” here.
Pardon me, and carry on with your admittedly often WAY over-my-head banter, Gentlemen.
Back to lurking, and learning.
Now, I’m gonna watch my paragraphs disappear….
Couldn’t identify the toe of the glacier her was flying over, but it made me homesick. Hope your travels go well and you stay safe.
.
And yes, I laughed out loud at the double amputee joke. That was excellent!