Caption: Voters earning more than $200,000 per year are the most likely to trust the FBI over Trump, while those earning between $30,000 and $50,000 are the most likely to trust Trump more. I thought that the democrats were champions of the little guy.
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Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Senate Judiciary Committee member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are releasing legally protected whistleblower disclosures that prove the genesis of the federal election interference case brought against former President Donald Trump. These records reveal a prolific anti-Trump FBI agent who acted outside of established protocol for opening cases.
Internal FBI emails and predicting documents provided to Grassley and released jointly by the two senators show Timothy Thibault, an Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) who was fired from the Bureau after Grassley exposed his public anti-Trump bias, authored the initial language for the case against Trump regarding the 2020 presidential election. Thibault took this action despite being unauthorized in opening criminal cases. This led to the ensuing investigation codenamed “Arctic Frost.”
Records further reveal that Richard Pilger, an official in the Justice Department (DOJ)’s Public Integrity Section, reviewed and approved the case, authorizing DOJ to move forward with a full field criminal and Grand Jury investigation that ultimately transformed into the Trump probe. Grassley has previously raised concerns regarding Pilger’s troubling record at DOJ.
Grassley, in 2022, additionally questioned Thibault’s role at the FBI, writing, “I remain very concerned that political bias by a select few has infected the Justice Department’s and FBI’s usual process and procedure to open and pursue high-profile and politically charged investigations.” Johnson and Grassley called on Jack Smith to preserve all records related to Trump-targeted investigations.
The records released by Johnson and Grassley are linked below:
Bullet Points:
** Housekeeping – My travel schedule should continue to be chaotic, with a lot of time in the air. It doesn’t mean the blog (or me) is dead if you don’t see blog posts. Elections have consequences.
** Can the US Social Security Program be saved? Yes, it’s called the “Grab life by the balls” program and explained here – live life fast, die young.
** A recent Rasmussen Reports survey reveals that 45% of likely US voters view China as an enemy of the United States, a significant increase from 18% who said the same in January 2017.
** Tariffs – a few thoughts.
** New Secret Service Director Sean Curran cleaned house on Friday. Ten senior officials in the agency were told to resign, retire, or face being reassigned. Curran is one of the Secret Service agents who surrounded Trump following the Butler assassination attempt. He is a career Secret Service agent with extensive experience in the Presidential Protective Division.
Curran’s decision to make immediate changes to senior leadership in the Secret Service shows decisiveness. It also shows that he understands the fundamental challenge facing all of Trump’s appointees in positions leading law enforcement and intelligence agencies. A leadership change at the top will, in and of itself, do nothing. These agencies have to be taken down to the studs and rebuilt.
** What is the purpose of the Chinese military? Could the Taiwan question drive the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to prioritize combat readiness? The modernization of the PLA is fundamentally driven by the imperative to keep the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in power and not to fight a war. In analyzing China’s military’s political, organizational, and other features, the PLA’s focus on political loyalty to the CCP constrains the Chinese military’s combat readiness. China’s anticipated decline will likely intensify the PLA’s focus on upholding CCP rule and reduce any incentive to risk a large-scale, high-intensity war.
** Most of the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve oil is heavy sour crude bought from foreign sources.
** Hamza bin Laden – is he still alive? Shawn Ryan delves.
** Flying the friendly skies?
Cultural Appropriation?
I thought this might bother some of you. I don’t care, but there you are.
Kurdistan
Following the First World War, the lines of national demarcation were drawn in the Middle East without regard to the Kurdish people, who are culturally unique and are definitely NOT Arabs.
Iraq wants to keep the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) attached to the Republic of Iraq not out of love for the Kurds but out of love for the oil and gas reserves under the ground. At present, they offer the Kurds with every evidence that it’s the only thing they care about.
The Kurds have been loyal and reliable allies of the United States for many decades and did most of the heavy lifting in the war against ISIS/the Islamic State. There are roughly ten thousand US troops in Iraqi Kurdistan (KRG) on two bases. Israel and Kurdistan are the only two reliable US allies in the Middle East.
Erbil, Iraq, is one of the world’s oldest cities. Human settlement dates back to the 5th millennium BC, and the Citadel of Erbil, at its center, is thought to be nearly 7,000 years old. The earliest written record of Erbil is from the Third Dynasty of Ur of Sumer when King Shulgi mentioned the city as Urbilum.
Kurdistan is one of the few countries in the Middle East that offers complete religious freedom. Most of the people in power in the KRG are Christians.
The Kurdish population in Iran is estimated to be around 9–12 million people, making them a significant minority in an enemy country. They comprise roughly 10% of the country’s total population and occupy the portion of northern Iran with most of the oil/natural gas. Kurdistan alone has enough natural gas reserves (excluding that under Iranian soil) to supply all of Europe’s needs.
Handicapping?
Do you have thoughts on the upcoming Super Bowl game (next Sunday) between the KC Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles? I don’t plan to go to a party or New Orleans and attend the game, but I should be in the US—thus, snacks and hanging out.
Jules Talks About Weathered Wood
More art philosophy from Jules. The hull creaked as the tide washed against its side, though no wind stirred the air. The old boats stood silent in the shallows with their sails long since worn to memory. Once firm and golden, their wood had faded into the muted tones of age, blending with the sea’s weary grey hues. Time stripped them of sharp lines and clear purpose, leaving only softened impressions behind—echoes of voyages long past.
No one could recall when they had last sailed. Their presence remained more felt than seen as they lingered in the mist that clung to the water’s surface. Fishermen passing at dawn would nod towards them as one acknowledges an old friend, but none dared touch them. The boats were relics with mysterious stories. They were bound within the grain and whispered in creaks and sighs whenever the tide kissed them goodnight.
Perhaps they had once belonged to a lost fleet: ships that had set out searching for gold, adventure, or sanctuary, only to return with nothing but time pressed into their frames. Some swore they had never moved and grown from the water itself; their husks shaped by salt and storm, bound forever to the sea.
Whatever the truth, the boats endured—weathered but unbroken. Their presence was not a memory nor a ghost but an understanding—an unspoken bond between sea and wood and past and present.
Fund Students, Not Systems
President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order backing school choice and empowering parents in education. The order states that it is the Trump administration’s policy to “support parents in choosing and directing the upbringing and education of their children,” and it directs the Department of Education to prioritize school choice programs through discretionary grants.
“When our public education system fails such a large segment of society, it hinders our national competitiveness and devastates families and communities. For this reason, more than a dozen States have enacted universal K-12 scholarship programs, allowing families — rather than the government — to choose the best educational setting for their children,” the order continues.
Identify the Vehicle
1
I think this is a very difficult entry – you may not. Hint: Called a UGV
Identify the Aircraft
2
3
Parting Shot
We don’t know precisely what caused the Potomac crash. That’s what investigations are for. But President Trump is correct that for years, across both the Obama and Biden administrations, Democrats put lives at risk by choosing to prioritize diversity over merit and ability.
As just one example among many, The Buttigieg (Butt-guy) DOT made a hiring push targeted at increasing employment of people with “severe intellectual disability” and “psychiatric disorders.”
Imagine waking up and thinking, “Folks, I feel like we don’t have enough psychotic or mentally handicapped air traffic controllers.” That was the Biden Department of Transportation.
The miracle is that we don’t have more plane crashes.
End
I’ve been a Chiefs fan since they moved from Texas to Kansas City, the part that is in Missouri.
Their coach today, big Red, reminds me a lot of Hank Stram in his innovation and imagination..
Somehow they have avoided the culture appropriation crowd and managed to hold onto their mascot.
“Let’s keep matriculating the ball down the field boys!”
I’m not fond of your quarterback, but with that team, he wins. Andy Reid is a national treasure, a good man and an exceptional coach.
Same here. I do recall Super Bowl IV. I was deployed at the time and had to listen to it on the radio, with a 4AM kickoff. So nice to be on top again.
What is wrong with the QB?
Wife is pretty cute.
I’ve had a life-long dislike of that 100-yard freak show that borders on hate, but Coach Reid and the Hunt family changed my mind. They’re taking a lot of flak at the moment. That just means they’re over the target. How ’bout those Chiefs?
Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana is a national treasure
X2
X3
X4
X5
Identify the Vehicle:
1. TBD
Identify the Aircraft:
2. Kawasaki Ki-45 Nick
3. North American YF-93
IDA:
1. KNDS CENTURIO. UGVs (Unmanned Ground Vehicles)
2. Japanese Kawasaki Ki-45
3. North American YF-93
Good! Imagine fighting a war as a tunneler. I’m not claustrophobic, but the idea of being buried alive has no appeal.
PS – Neither does bailing out of an aircraft with a malfunctioning canopy that doesn’t deploy and dropping for a few miles before splattering.
Ahhh yes at 6’1″ my few short times on boat(s) was cramped to say the least. I’m not claustrophobic either but getting in that thing to drive around in some tunnels is not very appealing as a matter of fact it reminds me of being in AAVs with the smell of diesel fuel, blood and yak. At least with this thing you could cut out the diesel fuel. Thank you for the graphic imagery that comes with an undeployable shoot. It took a special person to be a tunnel rat in Vietnam. Crawling around barley being able to breathe knowing the next turn you make could be your last. I digress, if the Kurds have enough oil to supply all of Europe, who or what is stopping them from doing it? The Iraqi’s? The Turks?
-STA Lethal
Love Hurts. Dislike his coach, Sirianni and the owner Lurie. Wish Andy (the Walrus) Reid had stayed in Philly with Hurts. I tend to watch college football (Roll Tide) as is not as commercial and deceptive as the NFL (yet). At least after the last four years+ we still have “Bread and Circuses”.
Speaking of Kurdistan, for a couple of years now I have been following a YT channel called “Itchy Boots”. Noraly is a young woman riding around the world solo on various motorcycles. Recently she’s been traveling through Turkey, Kurdistan, Iraq, and Iran. Her adventures are very remarkable and the people she meets are uniformly kind to her, although she’s not usually allowed to video in official settings like border crossings and checkpoints, so who knows about those. My wife and I really enjoy her story.
The people are totally hospitable and kind.
I remember reading about some California bicyclers who did that, well, tried to do that and got whacked by the locals.
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Travelling alone, as a female, in that area is remarkably stupid and trusting people who, quite frankly, don’t have a huge track record of trustworthyness.
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I hope she makes it. But I don’t trust the locals.
I wouldn’t bicycle anywhere in the US either. In that part of the world, it’s even worse.
In Africa (for example) there are large roadside signs encouraging men not to rape women…
In large parts of the world, contrary to what all the blue-haired wymyn of powyr are saying, women are either considered less than the family cattle or subhuman. Especially in places where normal versions of Islam exist (I purport that radical Islam is the version that actually acknowledges women as equal to men, other people are equal to muslims and that violence is not a way of life. Really, that would be… radical.)
Rape a woman? Well, if she’s not Islamic or of your own family, she either isn’t ‘human’ so it’s not rape or she deserves it because if (insert name of demonic ‘god’ of Islam) wanted to stop it, he’d have and anyways, she’s just a female and only 3 male witnesses came forward to say it was rape so it isn’t. And, no, not kidding. That’s the actual way. Dirty rotten goat-copulators…
President Trump is employing ‘Stabilization-Restoration-Preservation’ to right the heeled-over mess that our Federal government has become under those who somehow managed to gain employment from (should be ‘for’) We The People. That 3-pronged approach is what is used to restore historic buildings if we want to save them. This Constitutional Republic is worth saving…and we dodged (DOGE’d?) a country-killing howitzer round on November 5th. The funny thing is the number of media people wailing over cleaning up the mess their pals created, then misrepresenting what is going on in this 1st Phase to regain our Country back from the brink. Anyone not behind this 3-pronged effort is part of the problem and needs to be wholly ignored and made irrelevant as the subversives they have shown themselves to be….withering to oblivion. The rest in fed-employ should be fired for not doing the jobs they were hired to do — Don’t show up to the office? …just made the President’s A-team work a lot easier.
-Ex: “Tariffs are a tax on the US consumer.” Kevin O’Leary shows the addled-brained script reader the truth of the matter, altho she refused to accept it.
***
Was out doing tractor therapy yesterday, flipped over to Fox for a minute…NTSB folks were on. Yes, they have a job to do, but I felt like I was in a forced class of government acronym and procedure ad infinitum. Really? Started to get the impression the minutia info overload was purposeful to push a narrative, plus it “appears” the Army is desperate to not take blame. It’s this: The helo ran into the plane.
My heart does go out to those families who lost a loved one…in both “accidents”…but can we please stop with the hour long NTSB classes, not helping.
***
Won’t be watching the Super Bowl…call me un-American but pro sports have become unwatchable for me, too many sponsor interruptions after 15 seconds of actual play and the rules have gotten ridiculous. Plus I’m cutting back on snacks.
Come to think of it, maybe everyone in congress should wear sponsor patches on their nice suits, at least we’d know who owns who.
“Trust”? Nope, not from these people…this thing smells royally…and they think We The People are rubes and wouldn’t notice: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/female-pilot-rebecca-lobach-had-her-entire-social/
– She’s DEI, and the entire family is…well…the report explains.
I suspected as much when it immediately came out that “out of respect the family wishes to not release “the pilots” name”, all the while the MSM is demanding the planes manifest. House cleaning of this garbage can’t happen fast enough…67 people lost their lives because of this ‘symbolism over substance” (h/t Rush) BS. The jury is still out on the Philly “crash”.
I was thinking the other day that the US could use a little restoration. The power lizards are always trying, so keeping things on keel is also an ongoing project. Eternal vigilance…
Exactly. For me, don’t really care who gets the credit (altho we’ll know) as long as it happens and the results shut the naysayers up (which would be a miracle as they tend to deny their own eyes). That scene in Moneyball, “All I heard was seven wins in a row.”
More Winning will speak volumes.
That was quick….
Trump and Mexican President Reach New Tariff Deal
U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced on Feb. 3 that they reached a deal to delay 25 percent U.S. tariffs on Mexican goods that were due…
Do some research on FBI SAIC Brian Auten. Another Quisling and possible alleged traitor!
It seems the NFL has Similar Hiring Quotas as The Feds ! (For Referees )
x2
Do they make bad calls? Yes. Do the Chiefs benefit? Seems likely. Do the Chiefs play a full 60 minutes? Yes, that is why they win.
In the business news today Iraq voted to resume oil royalty payments to Kurds. Next will be resume Kurdistan oil shipments that were on hold for two years. Magic.
*
Taylor Swift football day is the new name.
live life fast, die young.
Sadly, some of us do live fast but somehow survive long enough to be a burden on society.
😁
Thibault and Pilger were ‘well’ out of thier lanes, but got away with it with cooperation from management. ALL of them should be prosecuted, IMHO. Yes, the Kurds are sitting on a ‘gold mine’ of oil, and have to constantly battle the muslims to keep from being overrun from all sides. The Peshmurga and YPJ have a lot of the muslim units scared to death of getting into a battle with them.
It’s best not to mess with the Kurds.
And oil income pays for weapons.
I love Jule’s description of the boat.
The US Social Security System can be saved, with the stroke of a pen, in less than 10 minutes. Divert all funds allocated to Iran and Afghanistan and other terrorist and outright hostile nations and the money we toss at the WHO and the UN and all the other bullscat organizations into the SS fund. One year will top it off with no problem.
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Then pass a bill and make it law that SS money only goes to US citizens. Only. Foreign national living here for 30-40 years and hadn’t become a citizen? Copulate off. Go back to the Old Country. Go away. Go far away. Screw you guys, you’re going home or without US Citizenship benefits.
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Then, pass a bill and make it law that the only money that comes out of SS goes to SS recipients. The system would have been fine if not raided by the Dems and given to non-citizens.
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Seriously, how hard is it to figure it out? But, no. Democrats and RINOs, too many RINOs, have shafted us and keep shafting us.
The problem that you identify is that any fund controlled by Congress has the capacity to be warped into another use other than that intended. I don’t know how you handle anything like SS long term for that reason.
Simple. Just allow open season (as in shoot the bastards and bitches) on any congresscritter who lays a legislative finger on said SS fund.
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You could actually make a law saying it is an offense punishable by immediate execution to any congresscritter who tries to lay a legislative finger on said SS funds. That would be a hoot.
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And in this more enlightened and educated (because of X and other internet free(er) speech platforms) it’s easier to track the backstabbing butt-head congresscritters. Like how Musk and X shut down the 1,500 page continuing resolution at the beginning of the year and got it cut down to a hundred pages or so.