Saturday, May 30, 2026

For The Time Being

She’s a lobbyist, which could explain her reluctance to be publicly associated with Talarico.  Or more likely, it’s none of our business.  TBH, I stopped caring about a politician’s spouse with Hillary. Not because she was Hillary, but because she was right. She wasn’t going to the White House to bake cookies, and had no problem with her advising her husband. I might disagree with that advice, but I didn’t expect her to look “wifely” and do “women” things. To be fair, I really don’t care about Melania’s relationship with Donald, either. She should stay away from decorating the White House for Xmas, but otherwise….

So let’s get this all out of the way and move on to what the candidates want to do in office. You know, the shit that actually matters….
In the meantime, there’s that.

Friday, May 29, 2026

This Is Just Pathetic

This, however, is just fucking delusional. Just pausing in our headlong rush to note this for the history books. He’s from Texas. I understand Tuberville is from Florida? Yeah, awareness is clearly not his strong suit.

Lucy And The 🏈

Let me explain this.

Imagine a kid who takes the football from another kid and keeps it for his own. That is, until the kid’s mother finds out and tells her child to return the football. Which he does, through a friend, while ostentatiously declaring he has magnanimously decided to turn his football over to someone else.

The court’s ruling is that Trump doesn’t have authority over the Kennedy Center, never had it, and has to stop acting like he has it. So Trump is directing the Commerce Department to return the authority over the Kennedy Center to Congress; who never gave it up in the first place. 

Because, for the smart alecks who want to say Congress gave it up by default, it doesn’t work that way. This is not a situation where Congress has let the Executive get away with something for decades. This is something Trump did in the past few months, not something Presidents have been doing since Washington. Had Congress waited to assert its authority until 2027, it still would have been a valid assertion. The court is just refusing to let Trump claim executive privilege, or “unitary executive privilege,” or whatever. Might as be “King’s ‘X’,” in other words.

But Trump has to claim it’s his idea and his magnanimous decision. Because our President is a three year old. However, all that fear mongering about Trump ignoring the courts? Yeah; looks like that’s not gonna happen.

Trump just gave up the football and went home. He’s going to have to get used to this feeling. This is going to be the rest of his presidency.

Yeah, Kinda What I Was Hoping For

 But: holy fucking shit, I did NOT see this coming.

In what the Times called a "striking turnabout," U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams revived the case just days after she had closed it. The Obama appointee said she wants to scrutinize the circumstances surrounding Trump's effort to settle the suit in a way that benefited him, his family, and his political allies — including the controversial $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization fund" that critics have blasted as a slush fund.

Williams ordered Trump's lawyers to respond by June 12 to two damning questions: whether "the court was the victim of a fraud," and whether the president colluded with his own government to settle the case "to avoid judicial scrutiny."

The ruling came in response to a bipartisan filing from 35 former federal judges earlier this week. The retired judges argued Trump improperly used the IRS suit to dole out taxpayer money "without constitutional or congressional authority" and to obtain "unlawful private benefits" for his family, including permanent immunity from tax audits.

If Williams proceeds, top Justice Department officials could face hard questions — including acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who signed the audit shield, and Stanley Woodward Jr., the No. 3 DOJ official who signed the fund agreement.
Now, the interesting part of this is, there isn’t anyone on the other side to argue against this “settlement.” This is the court’s own motion. Essentially, this is a “show cause” order, where the court tells the party about to be held in contempt (usually criminal), to “show cause” why the court shouldn’t act. This time the court is telling anybody involved in this who isn’t the POTUS to show cause why they shouldn’t be deep in the shit. ðŸ’Đ 

Because right now, they are. And they aren’t likely to get out. 

ðŸŋ

And A Splendid Friday Was Had By All

KUDLOW: Are we really gonna have a $250 bill with Donald Trump's picture on it?

BESSENT: So, for the 150th there was a Calvin Coolidge coin with his image on it. We are going to have the image of President Trump on a coin, and there is proposed legislation in the House to put President Trump on the $250 bill. President Trump should be on there.

KUDLOW: I'm sure the demand for them will be huge
There’s still a huge market for those Gerald Ford coins they minted in ‘76. Oh, wait….
Following the money:
"Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer during the George W. Bush administration, said aides to the president should not be intervening in contracting and lending decisions by agencies, particularly in matters that financially benefit the president’s family."

"'This is our money they’re spending,' Painter said. 'This is corruption we pay for.'"
Crying “Wolf!” once too often.
Economy then vs now:

GDP growth:
2024 2.8%
2026 1.6%

Inflation:
2024 2.9%
2026 3.8%

Wages:
2024 rising faster than inflation
2026 rising slower than inflation

Unemployment rate:
2024 4%
2026 4.3%

Jobs added per month:
2024 >120,000
2026 76,000

Jobs vs Unemployed:
2024 7.6 million job openings vs 6.9 million unemployed
2026 6.8 million job openings vs 7.2 million unemployed

National Debt
2024 $35.5 trillion 2026 $39 trillion

Deficit
2024 $1.8 trillion
2026 CBO projection $2 trillion

Uninsured Americans:
2024 27 million
2026 CBO projection 30 million

Gas prices per gallon:
December 2024 ~$3.00
Today $4.43
Rich man pours oil on troubled waters. ðŸĪĢðŸĪĢðŸĪĢðŸĪŠðŸŦ  (Trump was convicted on 34 counts if financial fraud.) It's been more than twice that: But for rich guys, twice nothing is still nothing. Now, the Lord’s gonna trouble the waters. And that’s a good thing: And the beat goes on:
A federal judge in Virginia has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from moving ahead with plans to create a nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who it says were wrongly targeted by the government in the past.

The brief order from US District Judge Leonie Brinkema says the administration cannot take any action “pursuant to the creation or operation of the Anti-Weaponization Fund, which includes the transferring of money to the Fund; the consideration of any claims submitted to the Fund; and the disbursing of any funds from the Fund.”

She set a hearing for June 12 to hear arguments over whether she should issue a more lasting pause on the government’s efforts to set up the fund, which is being challenged by a diverse coalition of critics and entities who say they’ve been targeted by the Trump administration and are ineligible to receive money from it.

Brinkema, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, said she was pausing work on the fund for now to maintain the status quo while she considers the legal challenge. She pointed to the fact that the Justice Department had not committed to holding off on transferring money into it or processing payments while initial court proceedings played out.
No word on whether a federal court in Texas will enjoin this injunction and insist it alone has jurisdiction of this case, any rulings of the appellate court to contrary notwithstanding.

ðŸŒŪ 
And worth paying attention to: After all: Low-T Trump?

Coming Soon To Talarico Campaign Ads ðŸŋ

After speaking with multiple Republican voters in Burlington, Texas, Einiger told host Chris Jansing, “They feel taken for granted and left behind by the very people they elected to represent them, whether it's at the local level, the state level, or in the White House. Of course, you know, this is an area where people are very conservative, Christian conservatives, and they blame the president, their governor, for creating a world where a lot of these AI data centers are able to come in there.”

“There's not a lot of regulation,” he elaborated. “These are unincorporated parts of central Texas. And, you know, these large tech companies come in there, they're able to negotiate tax incentives, tax abatements. They spend less in tax than they would perhaps otherwise. And in exchange, people are getting higher, you know, electricity rates because the point of these facilities is they just they just swallow up so much power because what they're doing is they have just millions of computers. They have to keep them cool. Cooling them takes power — it takes water. And so just the natural resources. And it's really, really upsetting a lot of the people who live nearby.”

Conservative voter Rena Schroeder told him, “Conservative Republicans feel like they're not being heard anymore. That was a big voice that I heard through the whole campaign. They're not being heard by Republican candidates and officials, elected officials. I'm very disappointed and I'm hurt, and I do not like to be lied to.”

Self-identified GOP voter Linda Polley agreed and added, “I'm just heartbroken. I mean, I am absolutely heartbroken. The public is now seeing through the illusion. They are now realizing that left and right has been nothing more than to keep us divided.”

GOP voter Cheryl Shadden was even more vehement when asked if she is going to vote for Democrat Talarico.

“Oh, absolutely. I will turncoat and vote for any Democrat that is championing the cause of the community,” she snapped.

Einiger told host Jansing, “Fascinating, right? And I asked that woman, I asked her in a different way. I said, so, you know, this is obviously the Senate race. It's a race [for a seat] been held by Republicans in 1993. You know, Ken Paxton just won the nomination. And and James Talarico is the Democrat in the race. And I said to her, I said, if you vote for Talarico and you want this Texas seat to flip to blue — that means you're willing to flip the Senate to the Democrats. And you have all these issues that you're conservative on that you believe in, you've been voting on for your whole life. You're willing to let them all, leave them all behind. She said ‘yes.’”

“And she knows a lot of people who feel the same way,” he added. “So look, Chris, this is anecdotal. This is a small number of people, it's not scientific, but there's something happening on the ground in this very ruby red area of a red state that is definitely worth watching.”
I wanna just repeat this: But tell me more about “Low-T Talarico.”

A Concept Of A Plan

Wasn’t “The Snake “ 🐍 One of Trump’s Favorite Songs?

An old, but apt fable:

A scorpion wants to cross a river but cannot swim, so it asks a frog to carry it across. The frog hesitates, afraid that the scorpion might sting it, but the scorpion promises not to, pointing out that it would drown if it killed the frog in the middle of the river. The frog considers this argument sensible and agrees to transport the scorpion. Midway across the river, the scorpion stings the frog anyway, dooming them both. The dying frog asks the scorpion why it stung despite knowing the consequence, to which the scorpion replies: "I am sorry, but I couldn't help myself. It's my character." @Wikipedia
For like, a long time….

👎ðŸĪ–

How It Is

 FoxNews wants to make fun of Talarico, and I was prepared to recall the Anne Richard’s campaign where her opponent spent his campaign mostly make juvenile comments about her. It’s the reason we called her “the Governor Miz Ann.” Schoolyard taunts really don’t work that well in Texas politics. 

But I decided to go a different route:

Houston is bluer than Austin (no InfoWars here. Historic home of the second full Pacifica Radio station). East Texas, just to the north, OTOH, is blood red. Talarico talks about Jesus, and that’s talking their language. (Paxton, OTOH, will be denying he has any mistresses.) Gotta get one of these for the gym. "Talafreako” is not going to save Paxton from this:
The family of a child who was repeatedly raped by a man who Ken Paxton let off with no new jail time is speaking out:

“The fact that Attorney General Ken Paxton allowed this man to get away with molesting and sexually abusing [our] son for three years is completely disqualifying.

Adam Hoffman could have faced life in prison. Instead, Ken Paxton and his office offered him a deal that kept him off the sex-offender registry and included no new jail time.”
Oh, and why is Talarico “dangerous”? Because Ken Paxton bought his impeachment acquittal in the Texas Senate: That impeachment trial was largely about that sugar daddy and the house Paxton had him outfit for Paxton’s mistress, the one (among many) he still insists he never had. Really looking forward to the “Biblical grounds” for that divorce case. Everyone assumes Mrs. Paxton meant adultery. I’ve gotta tell you, as a former Texas family lawyer, Mrs. Paxton must really want her pound of flesh to be taking her divorce to court. The toughest divorce fight I ever worked on involved mom getting pregnant during the pending divorce. Everybody agreed who the daddy was (her boyfriend), but she was going to give birth before the divorce was final, making the child presumptively the child of the marriage, and so the husband’s. Obviously that complicated child support issues. It was a procedural tangle only your humble host could love. That case dragged on for over 9 months because there were arguments over property settlements, but nothing anybody wanted to go to trial over.

I had another case where the teenage son had been beaten by Dad with a golf club. We had the photos of the scars on his back. We should have taken him to court and gotten the DA interested in criminal charges. But our client, the wife, adamantly refused to do so, and insisted on a quick settlement and divorce. I had to endure his lawyer berating my client on the phone as we worked out the settlement, all the while looking at those photos I couldn’t even tell him about. “Endure” because I wanted to tell him what a worthless son of a bitch his client was. I still pray that young boy found some peace in his adult life, and didn’t turn out like his daddy.

The point being, no fault divorce usually means going to court once. Most of my cases involved one court appearance, to enter the agreed judgment/divorce decree. Paxton’s wife doesn’t want that. And she doesn’t want at least some of his lies to go unchallenged. There is still time to settle, so she might.

Or she might want her pound of flesh. We’ll see.

 Adding: The contempt for Texas voters is palpable. “Obscure wide receivers from the 2000’s?” Ask Paxton to name one. And who the fuck cares? Texas politics may be conservative, but we never sent “Coach” Tuberville to the Senate. Low as they are, we have our standards.

Being Anti-DEI …

FCC Chair Brendan Carr: "Disney has been embroiled for controversies for years now related to their DEI policies. There is reporting that suggests Disney's leadership went all in on what could end up being invidious forms of DEI discrimination. There is no 1st Amendment right to hold a broadcast license."
…has nothing to do with a broadcast license, either.

I harbor no love for Disney, but I’ve seen their lawyers at work; and I’ve seen the DOJ’s lawyers that the FCC will have to rely on in court.

I like Disney’s chances.

Tell Me You Don’t Know Anything About Texas, Yadda Yadda Yadda

San Antonio and Dallas? Blue. Most of the fan base for those teams is in their home cities. Does Ken Paxton own a gun? Or a truck? Never seen him near either. Heard a lot about Sharia win GOP primary ads. Nothing about guns and pickups ðŸ›ŧ 

You ain’t from around here, are you, Jesse?

Thursday, May 28, 2026

You Know, NASA….

...used missiles (Redstone, Titan) for just this reason. That gave them time to develop the Saturn 1B and Saturn V.

I’m just saying, we’ve known how to do this for 60+ years. Why did we decide to farm it out to private enterprise?

Time Marches On

Noem: “Miss Me Yet?”

He knows those flights include returning Americans, right? And if CBP isn’t there, is he going send ICE to block the terminals?

Not, it turns out, an idle question:

“I’m A Talafreako”

Reporter: Ken Paxton has taken to calling you ‘Talafreako’

@JamesTalarico : If Ken Paxton is worried about freaks, he should stop giving Epstein-style sweetheart deals to pedophiles. This is the guy who just released Adam Hoffman from jail, an admitted child rapist, after one of Ken Paxton’s wealthy lawyer friends got involved in the case.

Ken Paxton even kept him off the sex offender registry. Adam Hoffman was supposed to serve 25 years to life, but instead he served less than a month. As of this week, he’s now back on our streets because of Ken Paxton’s corruption.

Ken Paxton is the most corrupt politician in America, and it is costing Texans, it’s endangering our children, and it must end. The Epstein class has no place in Texas.
The best selling t-shirt at Talarico’s campaign website is: “I’m a Talafreako.”

Wednesday, May 27, 2026

This Is Literally All They’ve Got

😎 I mea, literally.

It’s Not The System …

It's the voters. Well, you could argue a primary vote in March, with a runoff 2 months later, is a system problem. But Talarico won the Democratic nomination with 1.2 million votes. Neither Paxton nor Cornyn cracked 1 million in the primaries or the runoff. GOP voters just didn’t turn out; and primaries are always about the most motivated voters. In Texas, though nobody outside Texas has noticed, that included lots of ads (even Cornyn did it) about how the candidate would never allow elephants 🐘  Sharia law to plague Texas. A lot of those candidates won nominations for state offices last night.

Honestly, I’m starting to be nostalgic for the smoke filled rooms. A lot of the “reformer” energy that led to 50 primaries/caucuses, came from the left starting in the ‘60’s. Mostly because the “old men” were running everything, keeping the war alive and blocking the Civil Rights movement. (LBJ died aged 65. He was an “old man” in 1973. What a difference 53 years makes.)  The simple fact is, we’d have never had Trump under the party system that gave us LBJ or Nixon. (It was the GOP that pushed Nixon out two years after the greatest landslide victory in American history.) But the pressure for reform from the GOP side, angry with the trouncing of Goldwater, worked hard to get us precisely here.

Plenty of blame about the “system” to go around.

The Feral Genius Of The Trump Administration

Of all the bad ideas floated by this Administration, this one ranks. It has got to be real; Mullin wouldn't waste time like this unless it is a serious distraction plan. Planes don't divert to other airports. The flights will be cancelled, disrupting blue and red voters, impacting the airlines, and having no impact on immigration policy. They are going to do it.
The stickers with Noem’s picture, captioned: “Miss me yet?” are coming soon.

Let’s Bring This Back Up

She’s now divorcing him in “Biblical grounds.” He words. But the proceedings have been sealed. They both have political careers, after all.

I don’t think Paxton’s is going to last much longer.
The Paxtons owned, if memory serves, 3 houses at the time. She has a job (Texas legislators are only part-time state employees), while Paxton has been the full-time AG for quite a while now. Which means he lives in Austin, while she stays in the Dallas area, except for 6 months every 2 years. Funny thing about that, which we’ll come to momentarily. Funny thing about Paxton owning so many houses. Real estate in the Austin area is notoriously expensive. Paxton has been a government employee most of his life. The State of Texas is not known for its generosity towards government employees. Yet Paxton is a wealthy man. How does that happen? The impeachment trial explained it. And yet the Texas Senate refused to convict (despite the Republican House overwhelmingly impeaching), because birds of a feather. ðŸŠķ 

I’m not so sure the Texas electorate is going to see it that way. And the impeachment started because Paxton settled a suit brought by former AG employees, against Paxton personally.  He asked the Lege to pay the settlement, and it responded with impeachment. And never has agreed to fund the settlement.

Paxton was re-elected Texas AG in 2022. He was impeached in 2023. Why did he decide to run for the Senate this year? ðŸĪ”. I’m not sure it’s a strategy that’s going to work for him.
And according to a new Texas poll, in which most of the respondents had voted for Trump in 2024, 45% said they were likely to vote for Talarico, v. 38% likely to vote for Paxton.

I like our chances.

Are They Just Doing All They Can To Fuck With The World Cup?

And is FIFA beginning to realize that “trophy” they gave Trump was only good for the day they gave it? Because that’s the way Trump rolls….

The GOP Paying Off Their Debt

Huh. No mention of lowering electricity rates. I wonder why not? Methinks the GOP is still fighting the last war.

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

🛝

Is he running for class president of the playground?🛝  Yeah, he’s not gonna get far from that. Every accusation is a confession. Isn’t that what Trump promised?
Talarico: Ken Paxton embodies everything that’s wrong with our political system. He was impeached by his own party for using his public office to enrich himself and his donors at our expense. And that kind of corruption is the rot at the core of this broken system.

It’s why we can’t afford anything. It’s why we can’t get ahead no matter how hard we work—because billionaires buy these politicians like Ken Paxton, and then these puppet politicians turn around and rig the rules of the game in favor of the billionaires at our expense.

And so this has been happening for 50 years in this country. Mega donors and their puppet politicians have been stealing from the American people, from the people  of Texas, stealing the wealth that we created through their bribes, their bailouts, and their billionaire tax breaks.

And so I look forward to not only running against Ken Paxton, but running against the broken system that he embodies.
I don’t know how this turns out, but I’m going to enjoy the ride. Here’s where I remind you the GOP primary candidates ran on keeping the elephants away Sharia law away from Texas. That was a hot topic in almost every campaign ad on TV for GOP candidates for the past six months.

If Paxton doesn’t run on it now, it tells you just how isolated GOP primary voters are from the rest of Texas. 

It also sounds like he’s not going to get too close to Trump.

Waiting To Buy The T-Shirt

This is going to be fun.

No Cognitive Exam At Walter Reed This Time?

I can’t find the example, but I could swear he’s recycling this one from a week or do back. Well, at least I recognized it. And I’m not above driving it into the ground. It was his third visit in 13 months, so, more like a 4 month cycle.

Reality Has Caught Up With The NYTimes Pitchbot

See?

Facing The Challenges Of Our Time With Clarity Of Thought And Responsibility

It now falls to us to face the challenges of our time with clarity of thought and responsibility. It is necessary to establish adequate regulatory tools capable of upholding justice and curbing the distorting effects of technological power. Nevertheless, the issue is not limited to regulation. As Pope Francis warned, we must realistically ask ourselves who holds this power today and how they use it: “It must also be recognized that nuclear energy, biotechnology, information technology, knowledge of our own DNA, and many other abilities which we have acquired… have given those with the knowledge, and especially the economic resources to use them, an impressive dominance over the whole of humanity and the entire world.” [7] In the past, it was largely up to the State to guide and direct innovation. Today, however, the main drivers of development are private, often transnational, parties that are endowed with resources and the capacity to intervene that surpass those of many Governments. Technological power thus takes on an unprecedented, predominantly “private” aspect, which makes it even more challenging to discern, govern and direct such power toward the common good.

6. For this reason it is necessary to begin a shared discernment process for identifying the spiritual and cultural roots of ongoing transformations. If we focus only on contingencies, we risk letting the succession of emergencies dictate the direction of our path. We are living through a rapid phase of transition, a “change of era,” in which — while some are vying for the future of new technologies and others dedicate themselves to reflecting on the matter — most people are watching and waiting, observing from afar and merely hoping for the best. For this very reason, crucial questions impose themselves on our conscience and can no longer be avoided: Where are we going? Toward what goal do we wish to orient ourselves? What direction should we choose as a people and as a human community?
I can understand the objections. He’s no letting them out money first, ahead of humanity.
7. In order to answer these questions and discern how to navigate responsibly the era of AI, I would like to bring to mind two scenes from the Bible: the construction of the Tower of Babel (cf. Gen 11:1-9) and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem (cf. Neh 2–6). The story of Babel appears in the Book of Genesis, at the origins of humanity, immediately after the genealogies of Noah’s sons. After settling in a plain in the land of Shinar, the people decided to build a city and a tower “with its top in the heavens” (Gen 11:4). Fearing being scattered across the earth, they sought to guarantee stability and power for themselves, and above all to “make a name” for themselves. It was an impressive feat: a single language, a single technology, a single direction. However, the project concealed a profound danger. It was a project conceived without reference to God, supported by a uniformity that eliminated diversity and that chose homogenization over communion. When a city is built on pride and the claim to self-sufficiency, communication breaks down, languages are confused and people no longer understand each other. The result is not unity, but dispersion. Babel thus reveals the limits of any effort that, however grandiose, arises from self-affirmation, sacrifices human dignity for efficiency and aspires to reach heaven without God’s blessing.

8. The Book of Nehemiah, in turn, opens at a time of great vulnerability in the history of ancient Israel. After the Babylonian exile, a portion of the people returned to Jerusalem, but the city was still in ruins, the walls collapsed and the gates burned (cf. Neh 1–2). Nehemiah, a Jew in the service of the Persian King Artaxerxes, received news of the disastrous state of his ancestral city. Before taking action, he fasted, prayed and interceded for the people. He then asked the king for permission to return to Jerusalem and, upon arriving, examined the destroyed areas in silence. He did not impose solutions from above. He convened the families, assigned each of them a section of the wall to rebuild, listened to their concerns, coordinated their efforts and addressed any opposition. The narrative shows how the city is reborn, not through the initiative of one man, but through the shared responsibility of all: men, women, priests, artisans, heads of households and young people all play a part. It is an undertaking with God at the center, which rebuilds relationships before rebuilding with stones. Thus, ancient Jerusalem rediscovers a common language — not one of uniformity, but one of communion, namely the harmony that arises when all persons assume their own role and recognize that their strength comes from the Lord.

9. In light of these two images, the Holy Spirit challenges us today regarding our relationship with technology and the ongoing digital revolution. Scientific discoveries are talents entrusted to humanity so that they may bear fruit (cf. Mt 25:14-30). Technology has the power to heal, connect, educate and protect our common home; but it can also divide, exclude and generate new forms of injustice. In the abstract, technology in and of itself is not a solution to humanity’s problems, just as it is not inherently evil. In practice, however, technology is never neutral, because it takes on the characteristics of those who devise, finance, regulate and use it. Therefore, the primary choice is not between a “yes” or “no” to technology, but rather between constructing Babel or rebuilding Jerusalem; between a power that claims to dominate the heavens and a people who work together in the presence of God to rebuild the walls of fraternal coexistence.

10. We must, then, avoid the “Babel syndrome,” namely the idolatry of profit that sacrifices the weak, a uniformity that neutralizes differences, and the pretense that a single language — even a digital one — can translate everything, including the mystery of the person, into data and performance. The risk of dehumanization — of building a future that excludes God and reduces the other to a means — is an ancient and ever-new temptation that today takes on a technical guise. Instead, let us choose the “way of Nehemiah,” which highlights the importance of working together to make the City of God a safe place for returning exiles. Rebuilding today means recognizing that, precisely from the plurality of voices and visions which, even though they sometimes remind us of the confusion caused by the diversity of spoken languages, a bright possibility emerges. Indeed, this is the possibility of building together, of transforming diversity into a resource and of making listening and dialogue the common ground upon which to cultivate justice and fraternity. Within this shared task, Christians discover their unique role of guiding actions toward God so that, in his light, pluralism does not dissipate into disorder, but instead, through the practice of synodality, it becomes the space in which humanity rediscovers its solid foundations and its final end. In the Book of Revelation, John sees the New Jerusalem “coming down out of heaven from God” (Rev 21:2) as a gift for all humanity. And this vision of grace is an invitation for us Christians to work together in order to foster a peaceful, just and dignified life in community within today’s “cities.”
I would not have thought of the Tower of Babel as a metaphor for AI data centers; but, it works. This encyclical is also an excellent example of the prophetic witness throughout the scriptures: that God works through humans, and humans work through God, and the central effort is people helping each other, helps them.

This is a lengthy analysis (the encyclical, I mean), which I can’t possibly summarize here. But, again, there are critics who faithfully consider these arguments and respond with insights worth attending to (the example of Nehemiah rebuilding the wall); and there are critics interested only in preserving the status quo that benefits them; they don’t want to worry about others, except to keep them quiet. Shared responsibility v. assumed authority.

The secular ideal of this country is supposed to be shared responsibility, isn’t it?

ðŸĪ–✝️

In the era of #ArtificialIntelligence, when human dignity is threatened by new forms of dehumanization, ours is the pressing duty to remain profoundly human. We must lovingly safeguard the grandeur of humanity bestowed upon us and revealed in its fullness in Christ, the splendor of which no machine can ever replace. #MagnificaHumanitas
This is what Sec. Burgum was objecting to.

I’m pretty sure he’s never seen this tweet, much less read the encyclical. He was just proving that opinions are like assholes: everybody has one.

But you don’t need to speak through it.

Baghdad Bob Is Alive And Well

Uh huh:
"You know, we're talking about houses," Enten said, "and what are we talking about? We're talking about a complete collapse of the floor. Look at this: Republicans' net approval of Trump on inflation. You know, you go back when he was running for re-election back in 2024 for term number one. Look at that net approval rating: It was plus-68 points in terms of how they viewed, Republicans viewed inflation and Trump in term number one. Look at this, look at this collapse, minus-five points. Now this is just the Ipsos polling, I will note, but look at this. Even in Fox he was at minus-two points, so it's not alone."

"He is on the wrong side of the ledger, and this is not voters overall, let me remind you, this is Republican voters," Enten added. "That call absolutely coming from inside the house on the key issue inflation. There are now multiple polls showing that Donald Trump is underwater within his own Republican Party."

Concerns about gas prices are fueling this drop in support, Enten said.

"It's Republicans who are calling again, and they are saying that they are underwater again when it comes to this particular issue," Enten said. "Look at gas prices, okay, GOP Trump net approval on fuel and gas prices. You go back to last summer, look at this, it was plus-51. Look at it now, minus-four. Again, what are we talking about here? We're talking about a 55-point shift away from the president of the United States on the key issue of gas prices. So on, again, something that is impacting Americans day to day, inflation, a part of that is gas prices. Of course, the inflation on gas prices has been out of control."

"The president of United States is underwater on the key issue of gas prices," he added. "This isn't just something about the center of the electorate, this is with Donald Trump's base as well. This is a huge shift. He's underwater again, the floor completely collapsing underneath."

Tail Wags Dog

Speaking of “outside agitators.” Has he consulted Israel?

None(s) Again

 Axios:

"But without church-based networks, they're significantly more expensive for campaigns to reach and mobilize," Axios reported, adding that campaigns have turned to digital ads, canvassing and speaking with these voters to try and contact them."
Now, I grew up in a church (Presbyterian). I pastored churches (UCC). The latter was a bit more overtly political at the national, if not local, level. But there was never a “church based network” used and accessed by political parties. Even in the early 21st century, when I was a pastor, the idea would have been anathema among my congregations. We could barely talk about religion, except in the most vague generalities. We certainly couldn’t talk politics. 

Axios, here, is talking about evangelical churches. And implicitly (if not explicitly) taking them as normative of American Christianity. Which is pretty much what political reporting has been doing since the ‘80’s.  Despite the public attention TeeVee preachers have garnered since their Golden Age 40 years ago, they still aren’t the sum total of American religious life.

And the “nones,” now reported by Axios to be 29% of Americans, still aren’t at a record level of the population (even though Axios says they are). That would be 59%, in 1906. I’m not sure it wouldn’t have been higher in some periods of the 18th or 19th centuries, had we had the information gathering facilities at the time.

By the way: nones were reportedly at 23% in 2019. It was supposedly a big deal then, too. 

Same as it ever was.

Charity Begins At Home

The double irony here is that Trump couldn’t get a court to agree to let him have $10 billion from the Treasury, so he did an end run and declared himself eligible for $1.8 billion for charitable purposes.  Which, unlike his fake charity that was shut down by the state of New York, won’t be subject to oversight and review.

At least, that’s the plan.

“Manufacturing Intelligence”

Burgum: "We shouldn't even call these 'data centers.' We should call it manufacturing intelligence. There's a concentrated information propaganda war that's geo-targeted. Any place that's trying to build data centers is getting bombarded with foreign-directed propaganda to try to block these from being built."
Wait: is he blaming “outside agitators”?
After graduating from North Dakota State University in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in university studies and earning an MBA from Stanford University two years later, he mortgaged inherited farmland in 1983 to invest in Great Plains Software in Fargo. Becoming its president in 1984, he took the company public in 1997. Burgum sold the company to Microsoft for $1.1 billion in 2001. While working at Microsoft, he managed Microsoft Business Solutions. He has served as board chairman for Australian software company Atlassian and SuccessFactors. Burgum is the founder of Kilbourne Group, a Fargo-based real-estate development firm, and also is the co-founder of Arthur Ventures, a software venture capital group.
Well, that explains why the Secretary of the Interior is weighing in on AI. But “manufacturing intelligence”? Does he think it’s a widget?

Silly question: of course he does. Ironically, in intelligence gathering circles, where the word does refer to information, not just reasoning, “manufacturing intelligence” means “making up lies.”  Which I’m not sure AI is capable of doing, at least not at the level of AI accessible to most of us; because AI can’t distinguish between truth and falsehood. Told to generate legal cases for briefs, it will, whether the cases exist, or not.

But people promoting AI, especially AI data centers, can certainly lie. 

Oh, and Burgum thinks Pope Leo should stay in his lane.
Burgum’s really not very good at manufacturing intelligence.

Monday, May 25, 2026

Nope.

Our freedom is ours. Soldiers did not secure it. We, the people, did. And do.

For me, Memorial Day is a day to show respect to the dead and the living NG. To grill hamburgers, and watch my wife walk around the house in shorts; and realize she looks as good at 70 as she did at 20. (Yes, it’s a sexist thing to say. Definitely prioritizing the male gaze. Guilty as charged. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.)

Which makes me the luckiest man alive.

I’ll eat a 🍔 to honor the departed.

“Call the names. Call the names. Call the names.”

At Arlington National Cemetery today, Trump failed to name 14 of the 15 soldiers who died during his unauthorized war in Iran. Here is the full list:

Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, Winter Haven, Florida

Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, Bellevue, Nebraska

Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, White Bear Lake, Minnesota

Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20, West Des Moines, Iowa

Maj. Jeffrey R. O'Brien, 45, Waukee, Iowa

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan, 54, Sacramento, California

Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, Glendale, Kentucky

Maj. John A. Klinner, 33, Auburn, Alabama

Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31, Covington, Washington

Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, Bardstown, Kentucky

Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, Mooresville, Indiana

Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, Wilmington, Ohio

Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, Columbus, Ohio

Lance Cpl. Kevin Melendez, 19, Grapevine, Texas

Maj. Sorffly Davius, 46, New York, New York
Just a reminder: He doesn’t know what “hallowed ground” means, because he doesn’t know the word. Clearly.

🊄🧞

Trump thinks “national security” is the magic wand that makes the courts go away. But the trial court has already distinguished security issues from authority to build a ballroom. Which is why Trump is trying (desperately) to make the ballroom a fortress to rival the White House. But that’s still for Congress to determine.

Which they might have done, if he hadn’t convinced Grassley to give him a billion dollars, and then claimed access to $1.8 billion to give to his most rabid and violent supporters. The ballroom “security” is dead (and probably won’t be revived before November. Would you want to run on voting to approve it?), and the Congress is likely to amend the Judgment Act, or just repeal it outright, to keep Trump out of it. (Blanche is arguing “Obama did it, too!,” but Obama didn’t give Treasury funds to people convicted of seditious conspiracy and charged with crimes on J6 in the Capitol. Nor did he announce funds would be so widely available even Roger Stone wants some:
Pretty sure that door gets slammed shut before August; with clawback provisions if Trump has formed a council by then. Again, would you want to run on having approved that?)

Just sayin’….

ðŸŽķGlory, glory, hallelujah!/Teacher hit me with a ruler!ðŸŽķ

Meanwhile, at Arlington National Cemetery today: He blinks slowly when he’s really deep in thought. Or just when it isn’t about him. He doesn’t know what either word means, so….
Trump: "In two wars recently we've lost a total of 13 service members, in Venezuela -- which was a complete and total victory, where we're working very closely with the Venezuelan government right now. We took that over in one day. Lost no one. In Operation Epic Fury we lost 13 wonderful souls."
And the reason to mention Venezuela is…?

Oh, I’m sorry, silly question. He’s talking about himself, the only subject he’s interested in.