If you've never read Xi Jinping's Wikipedia entry, take a look. Very difficult early years, then degrees in engineering and law. Negotiated a maze of political & government experiences before his current supreme leader role. This is a very smart, accomplished man our sleepy POTUS is visiting.

Radical misogyny is ignorance or stupidity, maybe both in a given individual. There's a saying, "Half of the world are women. The other half are their children."

Iran is working great as an Epstein distraction. But beyond that, it's likely another windfall for Trump. I'm guessing the $20 billion in currently frozen Iranian assets gets released with a big kickback to Kushner & Witkoff - indirectly to Trump - paid under the table. Maybe a piece for Bibi too.

For the first time in decades, I have low confidence our ship of state will right itself, sans trauma, and sail to calmer seas. Our POTUS is owned by many and serves their purposes. The VP, Cabinet, and advisors have their own agendas; Congress is AWOL; citizens are confused/concerned. Risky times.

So the word for Trump's address from the White House this evening is "squadoosh". Market watchers, even kitchen table investors like me, hoped to learn when this Iran "excursion" will end. We got squadoosh. BTW, I've been on excursions in countries around the world...no one ever got killed.

James Talarico is expected to win the Texas Senate primary over Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Decision Desk HQ projects. Many in the party viewed the race, the first major primary of the 2026 midterms, as a test of the party’s future direction. https://bit.ly/4rQ5OwR

Still have doubts about the 2024 election. Trump winning all seven "swing states" was highly improbable - and "results" were reported far too early to be trusted in several states. Nonetheless, very good article. One great point: "Robust local media play a particularly important role."

Re the post below, astounding that the Board of Peace was not mentioned once in Trump's SOTU address. I checked the transcript on AP - not one reference in any form. Trump gets $1Billion from each joining member. No mention of its objectives, status, or plans. Almost like it isn't a real thing...

Chyron of the day

Closing U.S. airspace like this at El Paso hasn't happened since the Twin Towers attack on 9/11/01. Also, #KTSM9News is reporting that no local advance notice was given, including military leadership at Fort Bliss. And the military does not have "carte blanche exemption,” so they're also grounded.

All flights to and from El Paso International Airport have been grounded, according to a travel advisory posted on the airport’s Facebook page. More: https://www.ktsm.com/local/el-paso-news/faa-grounds-all-flights-to-and-from-el-paso-international/ 

Please post this far and wide and on other social platforms.

So WaPo is now WiPo. And there's no real, "newspaper of record" in our nation's capital. Of course, no POTUS or Congress there either. That Project 2025 was a helluva plan.

Doesn't sound like a "win" for the "U.S. military." We have put a floating U.S. Navy city, under CofC Trump and sidekick Hegseth, in a position reachable by Iranian missiles and drones. This repelled single drone "attack" seemed like a feint, a trial, even a tease. Iran has a lot of cards here.

@isabelsantos.bsky.social @moberzan.bsky.social @normajeen.bsky.social @allie-froglegs.bsky.social @bab102.bsky.social @markymark757.bsky.social @gdad1x7.bsky.social @hourofignorance.bsky.social @voices4justice.bsky.social @sisterswendy.bsky.social @57kev.bsky.social @yeathrive.bsky.social

Cutting ties to the ICE debacle will be a growing trend. There's little or no political or commercial upside being associated with it. Every ICE screw up makes it worse. Recruits signing up to wear ICE masks will have a deep hole in their resumes going forward.

Thought I remembered reposting this in November '24 when Trump was re-elected. Sure enough, I did. The full Wired story expired for me as I never subscribed, but it's Joshua Holland's lead that is so perfect for Minneapolis today.

ICE is shooting people like their DHS boss Kristi Noem shoots dogs, horses, and goats.

~ Our POTUS is compromised. His owners have tasked him with destroying our democracy. ~ Congress has the power to remove Trump from office but must use it or lose it. ~ Trump can use Article II, Sec. 3 of our constitution to adjourn Congress. ~ New ballgame - one we've never seen or played.

Resistance Bells - an Anthem for our times. An original song by Seth Staton Watkins, who can be found on YouTube & Instagram.

Happy New Year! Best wishes for a great 2026 to all BlueSky friends.

🙃

The charitable take is that the DOJ bungled the Epstein file release. The honest one is that this is by design. Cause confusion as a cover-up. Keep the shiny object moving. If you can’t keep up, this is a solid recap of last night’s document dump — holiday edition.

Trump's Wednesday night address to the nation was a rambling regurgitation of old material unworthy of a hurriedly scheduled prime time POTUS event. So why did it even happen? I'm hoping it was his swan song, and that he will soon step down and take his illicit $$billions to Moscow or Dubai.

Every day we leave #Trump in office we forfeit some of our foundational moral fiber, our democracy's credibility, and our global leadership authority. Our own CIA concluded #MBS ordered #Khashoggi murdered. Just look at this Oval Office mess and marvel that it isn't AI.

If Melissa would just move a little northwest instead of curving northeast, she could visit Mar-a-Lago. Would want plenty of notice. They need to get all the staff and the stored files out of there. Don't want to get those boxes of government documents in the bathroom wet.

Slow news day? 🙄

The @dallasmavs.bsky.social never really engaged here. Just as well. Though a long-time #Mavs fan, I won't support or watch them again under the new ownership. The Adelsons are prominent Zionists and Trumpers, $100s of MILLIONS donated to BOTH. And they traded away #Luka: that's three strikes.

so the US government just forced a tech company to delete an app it doesn’t like, which is totally normal stuff www.404media.co/iceblock-own...

Tried re-watching Trump's Tylenol/aceetummemuffin takedown to understand what caused him to behave so bizarrely. No luck. But came away with two questions. - Who are the fat friends he called out when he detoured to mentioning "fat pills"? That would be fun social media. - And...the #EpsteinFiles?

If Redford had ONLY done "The Sting," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "Jeremiah Johnson," "All the President's Men," and "Three Days of the Condor," that would have been a hell of an acting career. Many other great roles, and the arguments about his best work will be endless.

Let’s be clear—this is bigger than Trump. The Epstein files show how banks, corporations, and even governments looked the other way while children were abused. Survivors deserve justice. We can’t let this cycle repeat.

This seemed like everyone was polishing and practicing their funeral tributes.

I sometimes watch live rail operations via several internet sites. Over 140,000 miles of rail in the U.S. are busy 24/7/365 hauling 1.5 billion tons of goods annually. Many things would be very different without all that infrastructure and industry. BTW, I've seen too many military trains lately.

So Texas Republicans have now set up a TIP LINE to rat out the Texas Democrats So PLEASE, for the sake of the public, DO NOT FLOOD THIS NUMBER with tips on Bigfoot sightings, UFO sightings, or asking why Trump is on “the list” 1-866-786-5972 Thank you!

"Hands Off DC" is now on streaming platforms, including Spotify (stream), Apple Music (buy), YouTube (listen), and more. Below is the full track. It's NSFW, but I think it captures the understandable outrage about what happened Monday. I hope you'll share it widely!

Israel claims Hamas steals and sells food supplies to fund their fighters, thus starving the Gazan people. Food scarcity is the key to that scheme - Israel could saturate Gaza with food to defeat it. Nearly any USA state alone could feed Gazans for months. Genocide in 2025? Are we not civilized?

August 8, 2025 will be the 51st anniversary of #RichardNixon's resignation speech from the Oval Office. If #POTUS or his people were history buffs, they could stage a "Resignation Redux" from Trump's gilded Oval Office on 8/8/25. Trump will have to resign soon anyway, so make it a spectacle.

Why MAGA hates science so much ino.to/xwrZoAx

Desperate men do desperate things when nearing and fearing their demise. #Trump #MaureneComey

POTUS communicating such potentially damaging economic "decisions" on a social media account is bizarre beyond belief. At this point I can only believe Trump is following orders from ?? to drive this country into chaotic free fall.

"Why look for conspiracy when stupidity can explain so much?" - J W von Goethe

All other bad elements of Trump's "Big Ugly Bill" fade in comparison to the 265% expansion of ICE's detention budget - arguably the worst funding decision Congress has ever made. Unimaginable scenes coming to your local news soon - so negative that it might finally bring Trump down. We'll see.

Best perspective on Israel-Iran conflict I've read. Important norms and conventions of international conflicts are being swept aside at great risk to all.

Indeed. I've seen more impressive parades at new shopping center openings.

Dallas turned out with at least 10,000 marching for #NoKingsDay

NEWSOM: "It's a vulgar display. It's the kind of thing you see with Kim Jong Un, Putin, dictators that are weak… How weak do you have to be to commandeer the military for your birthday?“

We have a President who is sending U.S. Military against U.S. Citizens on U.S. Soil; rolling tanks into our nation's capital to give himself a parade; enriching himself selling worthless meme coins and NFTs for 100s of millions because he can as POTUS. That's three strikes. Where is our Congress?

Hell, I thought I was months early with this post. Life comes at us fast. bsky.app/profile/gilr...