Tuesday, September 22, 2026

AI 🤖 And Greenland: Connecting Nothing With Nothing

Nope.
Cognizant of the rights and obligations deriving from the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty, and

considering that Greenland through the Kingdom of Denmark has been a part of NATO since then;

Recalling the long history of cooperation between the Parties based on their deep respect for democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, as well as the more than eighty years of close defense cooperation between them, which has contributed to strengthening the security and stability of the United States, Greenland, and the rest of the North Atlantic Treaty area;

Reaffirming the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark, and recognizing that the People of Greenland constitute a people pursuant to international law with the right to self- determination;

Noting that the procedure for Greenlandic independence is set out in Article 21 of Act no. 473 of 12 June 2009 on Greenland Self-Government;

Recognizing the Parties’ respective obligations and commitments under international law as well as national legal frameworks, including all existing agreements between the Parties;

Recognizing the need to protect the pristine environment of Greenland and reaffirming Article VI concerning Protection of the Environment in the 1991 Memorandum of Understanding, as well as the 2004 Joint Declaration;

Recognizing the economic, social, and cultural rights of the People of Greenland, including with respect to their lands and their way of life, including hunting, fishing, and other traditional, cultural, historical, future activities, and developments;

Considering that the Defense Arrangements have promoted stability and well-being in the North Atlantic Treaty area by uniting the Parties’ efforts for collective defense and preserved peace and security as well as developed their collective capacity to resist armed attack;

Recognizing the United States’ indispensable historical and ongoing contributions to the security and defense of Greenland and the rest of the North Atlantic Treaty area, including significant sacrifices and billions of dollars spent over the better part of a century, dating back to before World War II and the establishment of NATO, and the irreplaceable role the United States military plays in the defense of the territory of Greenland now and in the future;

Acknowledging the reopening of the U.S. Consulate in Nuuk and the U.S. contributions to mutual scientific and educational cooperation and exchanges, minerals cooperation, cooperation on economic development and business promotion, and cultural and local partnerships together with Greenland;

Acknowledging as well Greenland’s contribution to the Parties’ mutual security interests and its consequent sharing of the associated risks and responsibilities, and the commitment of the Parties to continuing close cooperation within NATO in ensuring North Atlantic security, as set forth in the 2004 Igaliku Agreement;

increased military activity and growing strategic interest in the region; Recognizing the Parties’ common goal of international peace and peaceful co-existence, and respecting the important contribution of Greenland to this goal;

Reaffirming the common goal of maximizing real, tangible, and substantial benefits to the People of Greenland from the Defense Areas;

Noting that the security situation in the Arctic is changing and that more efforts are needed to ensure security there in the future; Recognizing the Parties’ shared interest in allowing the United States to have military access to the territory of Greenland to the extent necessary to defend the North Atlantic Treaty area, Greenland, and the American continent, including through establishment of a Golden Dome defense system; and

Wishing therefore to further amend and supplement the Defense Arrangements, so as to strengthen them and reinforce their permanent nature, Hereby agree as follows:

...

This Agreement amending and supplementing the Defense Arrangements shall facilitate the ability of the Parties to take any measures necessary or appropriate to carry out expeditiously their respective and joint responsibilities in Greenland, including to defend the North Atlantic Treaty area, Greenland, and the American continent, while respecting the interests of and providing benefits for the Greenlandic society.

II.

NATO engagement

The Parties support a stronger NATO engagement in the Arctic, including as regards planning, presence, exercises, and joint intelligence gathering.

III.

Definitions

For the purposes of this Agreement:

“1949 North Atlantic Treaty” means the North Atlantic Treaty signed at Washington on April 4, 1949.

“1951 Defense Agreement” means the Agreement Pursuant to the North Atlantic Treaty between the Kingdom of Denmark and the United States Concerning the Defense of Greenland, signed at Copenhagen on April 27, 1951.

“1991 Memorandum of Understanding” means the Memorandum of Understanding between the Kingdom of Denmark, including the Home Rule Government of Greenland, and the United States Concerning the Use of Sondrestrom Aviation Facility, Kulusuk Airfield and Other Matters Related to United States Military Activities in Greenland, done in Copenhagen, March 13, 1991.

“2004 Igaliku Agreement” means the Agreement between the Kingdom of Denmark, including the Home Rule Government of Greenland, and the United States to Amend and Supplement the 1951 Defense Agreement, Including Relevant Subsequent Agreements Related Thereto, signed at Igaliku on August 6, 2004.

“2004 Joint Declaration” means the Joint Declaration on Cooperation on the Environment in Greenland between the Parties issued on August 6, 2004 in Igaliku.

“2020 Diplomatic Notes” means the exchange of diplomatic notes between the Kingdom of Denmark and the United States concerning contracting, dated October 27, 2020.

“Defense Area” means an area in Greenland where the United States establishes and/or operates a military base consistent with the Defense Arrangements.

“Defense Arrangements” means the 1951 Defense Agreement, together with subsequent amending and supplementing agreements and related non-binding arrangements between the Parties, as set out in Annex 1.
Six agreements since 1949, including and beginning with the NATO treaty. This agreement also confirms the independence of Greenland, and the importance of NATO to the regional security upheld by this agreement, and in general.

Did Trump even read what he signed? Never mind; silly question.
Confirmed, then: Trump has artificial intelligence. Just underlining the point.
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Change The Definition, Change The Discussion

MacCallum: How concerned are you about the socialist part of the equation that we are seeing with El-Sayed and with AOC?

Dingell: I hate labels. What do you call me? I'm one of the leaders of medicare for all. My father-in-law was one of the authors of social security and got called a communist at the time. Do you think there is any senior right now that would call social security communism?
He's the hero of the action movie he thinks he’s living in.
El-Sayed: Yes, we need to make medicaid whole again. Yes, we need to replace the ACA subsidies. But we need guaranteed healthcare for everybody.

We do this thing in this country where we allow different people's bodies to command different reimbursement rates. It is a crazy thing. And everybody should be able to command the same reimbursement at the end of the day. I can tell you this with some experience, we all look the same on the inside.
Kamala Harris: As one of the most financially strong economies in the world, we have the distinction of also having one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world. So it raises the issue of disparities and also hypocrisy when the are leaders who otherwise walk around every day talking about their family values
Family values. Socialism . Communism. The rule of law. Three of those don’t loom so large as they used to; and the fourth is becoming more important than it has in years, if only because of determined efforts to extinguish it.
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“Me No Alamo!”

The story goes that, at the Battle of San Jacinto which decided Texas Independence, the Texans (not a typo) roared down on the Mexican soldiers screaming “REMEMBER THE ALAMO!” The memory of that massacre, and the lesser known now, but better known then, Goliad massacre, was fresh on their minds.

The Mexican soldiers reportedly responded: “Me no Alamo!” Which is at least the spirit of Vance’s reply.
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Kruschev Pounding His Desk At The U.N. , 1960

Trump threatening a war crime, 2026: Busy people can’t be sure who to trust, right, NYTimes Pitchbot?
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So Full Of 💩 His Eyes Are Brown

6 months in, and he’s done neither. "Covid will just go away.” He got mad at CNN and MS NOW and Politico for telling the truth, too. (Dwindling supplies is also why Trump stopped bombing Iran.) But Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon! (North Korea does. But somehow, that’s not a worry. 🤷‍♂️) Except the one he started. (Oh, and the 8 he didn’t settle.) Nope:
The Parties shall make best use of the procedures set out in the Defense Arrangements, including the 1951 Defense Agreement and the 2004 Igaliku Agreement, as amended and supplemented herein, to enable the following:

i. The United States shall be allowed to modernize and expand its activities in Pituffik Space Base;
ii. The United States shall be allowed to establish an additional Defense Area at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig in accordance with modalities and technical details to be mutually agreed by the Parties;
iii. The United States may establish additional defense areas in Greenland and strengthen its military operations or facilities. Either Party may identify the need for a new Defense Area for the defense of the North Atlantic Treaty area, Greenland, and the American continent. Such Party shall provide a proposal describing the location, scope, size, and types of activities of the proposed Defense Area as well as other modalities such as mitigating measures, including those necessary to take account of the 1991 Memorandum of Understanding and the 2004 Joint Declaration. The Parties shall immediately convene to engage in consultations through the Permanent Committee to decide implementation details based on mutual agreement. If no agreement is reached within 90 days at the Permanent Committee, consultations shall escalate to the deputy minister level, followed by the minister level;
iv. The United States shall award all contracts to commercial enterprises for goods and services related to the establishment, maintenance and servicing, including, but not limited to, construction and dismantling projects, of Defense Areas in Greenland to Greenlandic sources to the maximum extent possible, taking into account the capabilities and feasibility of such sources to implement contracts. To secure contracts to Greenlandic sources, the Parties agree to update the 2020 Diplomatic Notes accordingly.
It’s basically the 1951 agreement, redux. It specifically cites that agreement as still in force and effect. All Greenland and Denmark really did is give Trump a new rubber ball. And get him to sign an agreement reaffirming the sovereignty and independence of Greenland. 🇬🇱  No one else is. Please campaign personally on that slogan.
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The Same Senate That Won’t Repeal The Filibuster?

 Seymour Hersh has news!

In the near term, I have been told that the Republicans will not give up on keeping control of the Senate, even if the initial returns go against them,” Hersh wrote in a report published Tuesday on his Substack.

“Close elections will be challenged, and there are enough committed election deniers in place in enough states to pose election challenges that would force a delay in the seating of the new Senate on January 3, 2027, as mandated by the Twentieth Amendment of the Constitution.”

As such, Hersh warned that newly elected Democratic senators could have the certification of their victories delayed, and “would not be allowed to join the new Senate,” putting the new Congress in "unpleasant waters.”

“This mess would eventually fall into the hands of Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the respected Republican Senate majority leader who would be the one to decide when to bring an election dispute to the floor of the Senate for an up-or-down vote,” Hersh wrote.
It’s the same fantasy Mike Luttig is floating about the House. But this has a bit more credibility because 2/3rds of the Senate is already seated.

But the mechanics are a bit dicey. If “election deniers” do challenge Talarico or El Sayed, the matter will have to go to court to have any teeth. Will 2/3rds of the Senate vote to disallow a Senator being seated because the Texas GOP is squawking? Then what keeps Dems from doing the same thing in 2 years? Or in January, in the case of GOP victors? Aside from the fact that the Senate is almost evenly split now. I haven’t run the numbers, but does the GOP dominate the 2/3rds not up for election? Or do the Democrats? And if the newly elected Democrats are finally seated, what revenge do they take on the Republicans?  MAGA was that stupid. The Tea Party was that stupid. The Freedom Caucus was that stupid.

In the House. Never in the Senate. And where are they now?

I don’t see Thune having the votes to play this game. Especially not if he’s already worried about what Democrats would do in the majority in a Senate with no filibuster.

And what does any of this have to do with lowering the price of gas and groceries? The White House still doesn’t care about that, but it’s a sure bet the House and at least 1/3rd of the Senate, do.
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Getting Rid Of Thanksgiving And The 4th Of July

The GOP response. Not the best choice of metaphor today. Every accusation….
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Lawlessness

The incident occurred on Howard Street just east of Dodge Avenue before 10 a.m. Sunday. It’s the first violence involving federal agents in Evanston since last December.

Police say the man, a U.S. citizen and Evanston resident, ended up being transported back to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
The gentleman was walking to CVS from the hospital, where he’d just been treated,, given a prescription to fill out. But he was walking in a suburb just north of Chicago while non-white. So clearly he was who ICE was looking for; it could have been.
The person they detained on Howard Street “resembled a person they were seeking,” the agent told police. He “refused to provide identification, was detained for fingerprinting, and resisted detention,” the agents claimed, but police said the agents “later determined he was not the person they were seeking and learned that he was a U.S. citizen” and released him.

Garton disputed that account, saying in his opinion, “It looked like they randomly targeted the guy and said, ‘Let’s take this one.'”

As the man repeatedly yelled out that he was a citizen, Garton said he and others who were watching the incident began yelling at the agents to leave the man alone, and the agents eventually got into their two cars and drove off.
After determining this looked bad and they’d better run. Maybe that’s the reason the victim wasn’t shot.
Garces Perez, who called into the news conference, said an unmarked SUV sideswiped him twice before he realized that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were trying to pull him over. He said he did a U-turn under a freeway underpass when the SUV struck his blue Toyota Camry. That’s when the SUVs turned on their blue-and-red lights and sirens, he said.

He asked the agents if he could stop somewhere safer than in traffic under the freeway. He said an agent told him no, then he felt one shot to his back.

He was transported to Dell Seton Medical Center, where staff told him they weren’t going to remove the bullet because it was too close to his spine, Garces Perez said in the call from the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, about a two hour drive south of Austin.

...

Kristin Etter, another Austin immigration attorney representing Garces Perez, filed a request for his release and to block his deportation in a federal court in San Antonio on Monday.

Etter wrote in the court documents that her client is not disputing the final removal order but wants a chance to apply for a U-visa, a type of immigration status for victims and witnesses of a crime. Etter also wrote that because the shooting is now being investigated as a potential crime, he has the right to apply for a U visa.

“The current administration has demonstrated a pattern of accelerating immigration enforcement against individuals connected to incidents involving federal immigration officers, raising a substantial and immediate concern that (the federal government) will attempt to remove (Garces Perez) before he has an opportunity to pursue U nonimmigrant status,” Etter wrote.
Abolish ICE. Burn DHS to the ground. And scatter the ashes.
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GTT

He came to Texas for two nights. Gave Paxton $10 million and 6 minutes on stage. Called Paxton “ugly” and said his mother dresses him funny, both nights.

Talarico is leading Paxton by three points. (Beto lost to Cruz by only 2.6 points.)

Please send Trump back to Texas.


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Okay…🤷‍♂️

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Monday, September 21, 2026

Freedom’s Just Another Word….

Waltz: We have a first amendment, right to publish, right for free speech. But what you don't have an inherent right to is to have access to any government institution that you want.

Collins: What's the message to world leaders if he's banning coverage because he doesn't like what the reporters are reporting?

Waltz: I think the message to world leaders is we need an open, free and fair and objective press corps. That's not what we're seeing right now.

Collins: How do we have an open and free and fair press corps if he's saying, well, this outlet I don't like so they can't come into the oval office, but other outlets can still go.

Waltz: You just ignored what I just said. You don't have an inherent right to any government facility that you want, whether it's Langley or the White House.
Nope. A) Langley is a classified facility not regularly open to the press or the public. Denying the press access there is not at all like denying select outlets access to the White House Briefing Room.

B) Trump opens the Oval Office to the press. And controls access to the Oval Office. There is also a White House press room. He’s denied three news agencies access to the entire building. But can he?

C) So the question is: who can he bar from the Oval Office, or the White House Press Room and, or the entire building? And on what grounds?

D) The legal analysis revolves around that question. But we don’t have to examine all the grounds the courts allow under the First Amendment, because Trump has given us the grounds: he doesn’t like what CNN and MS NOW and Politico report about him. And that’s too bad, because government cannot discriminate based on content. What a news outlet says about a President is protected under the First Amendment. If it wasn’t, we’d have no freedom of the press at all.

Trump has said, clearly, he is discriminating against three news outlets because he doesn’t like what they say. Textbook violation of the First Amendment. Which it wouldn’t be if Trump weren’t the POTUS. As a private citizen he can deny anyone press access that he chooses. But as POTUS, he’s very much subject to the First Amendment. 

Which he will have to be told. Again.
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Now Do Stephen Miller

French doesn’t deserve to be on the TRRC. But Miller doesn’t deserve to be in the White House.

Miller is as bluntly and publicly racist as French. And he has the ear of the President of the United States.
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Did Donald Already Pay For This?

 Several problems here:

Belarus and Russia are major potash producers, but sanctions and the closing of a key port on Lithuania's Baltic coast have made those supplies expensive to ship to the US through Russia's Arctic. The US is still receiving potash exports from Russia, but the overwhelming majority of supply comes from nearby Canada.
Well, and:
Fertilizer analyst Josh Linville ​of StoneX said he ⁠doubts Belarusian potash will play a major role in either supplies for US farmers or in lowering prices that they presently pay.

"I'm afraid the impact would be ​limited. We have not struggled to find potash," he said. "We have more than ​enough to go ⁠around. It is phosphate and nitrogen that we need help with."

Even if Lithuania opened its port of Klaipeda to Belarusian potash exports, the relatively low current value of potash makes it hard to justify exports through the ⁠Baltic and ​across the Atlantic Ocean, Linville said.
Well, and:
Belarus’s authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko said Monday that there are no available volumes of fertilizer to send to the U.S. This came after President Trump announced that he was working on a “massive Deal” to buy potash from Minsk at a steep discount amid the trade war with Canada.

“Even if we wanted to supply [potash] to other, Western markets, we simply do not have those volumes — everything is contracted,” Lukashenko said in remarks published by his office on Monday.
Trump likely doesn’t know potash from potlach. You have to wonder who his advisors are:
The Iran war has restricted nitrogen and ​phosphate fertilizer supplies, blocking most Gulf shipments of nitrogen fertilizer, natural gas and sulfur — a key component in phosphate mining.
Trump really is not to be believed; about anything. Which doesn’t make him dangerous. It just makes us dangerous, if we don’t realize how ineffective he is.
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Quick Question

How many people watch streaming TV? Not Netflix/HBO MAX/Paramount/Disney+Prime/Apple TV+, but stuff only available through a browser.  I have a smart TV, I can watch on it or my Apple TV, but I never use the browser function on the TV. More trouble than it’s worth. No keyboard, basically.

Of course, I don’t have cable, either; so I can’t watch CNN or Fox or MS NOW. Which is where Trump gets most of his attention.

Trump TV is not going to fill that need.
😈
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“Content Discrimination”

Trump: Fake News people and publications that only write negatively, and who violate our National Security by writing false and defamatory stories with unknown "sources," shouldn't be allowed access to the most important Office anywhere in the World. It is called the Oval Office, and it should be treated with Decorum, Respect, and Dignity, not defiled by Third Rate Clowns
Every accusation yadda yadda yadda. But then again:
“That is the absolute worst thing that you can do as the government when it comes to regulating speech,” he emphatically asserted. “It's not the case that the government can never regulate speech, it's not the case that the government can never regulate access for the media. But when the government chooses to open the people's house to the media, it cannot then pick and choose based on the perspectives, the viewpoint of that particular media organization, or the perceived perspectives of that particular media organization.”

"So when he says, because they're fake news, when he says purposely negative stories, when he says, ‘I don't have to let them’ — Freudian slip —into my, into the people's house, which is a pretty remarkable slip, if you think about it. He thinks it's his — it's not. This is the government of the United States, it’s the people’s house.”
It’s called “content discrimination,” something government cannot engage in. So helpful of Trump to say it over and over again, and put it into writing. ✍️ 

Dumb (with a “b”) as a bag of hammers.
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🤖🫠

🤖 is good for you!
“The same people that said, ‘We’ll all be dead in twelve years because of Global Warming,’ a name since ‘reborn’ to Climate Change, because the Planet was cooling, not warming, and nobody was dead, are the people that are now saying that AI is going to kill us, that robots are going to attack us, and everything is a DISASTER,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

“This is more of a Hoax than even that of RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, and Climate Change! Whoever wins AI, WINS! We are leading now over China, and everyone else, and I’m going to keep it that way! I’m not going to stifle Growth, of something that will be bigger than the Industrial Revolution, or the Internet, itself.”
Please hold to that line. Maybe calling people “Luddites” would help.
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Why Am I Not Surprised?

Potash is not going to dig him out of this. Especially fictional potash.

One wonders if the media will cover this as assiduously as they did Trump tossing two cable networks and an online publication out of the White House.
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Speaking Of “We’re Not Aware Of…”

Deputy Representative to the UN Tammy Bruce on Trump's speech tomorrow: "We all know how he speaks, and we love him for his transparency and passion. That's in part why he's the president. There's no guess that this will be an inspiring speech. It'll be forward looking ... the American people voted in him in a landslide because they trust him. They know he knows things that we're not aware of."
Yeah, about that. Nobody’s going to see it, unless they can stream a European or other foreign news service. But that won’t assuage Trump. 

Or get his message out to America.

😈
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When It Comes To Voting….🗳️

... what matters first is that you vote.

America started as a country where the vote mattered. Every government official in the Constitution is elected, except Art. III judges, and they are appointed by the people we, the people, elected. Most Southern states, after Reconstruction, elect government officials down to dog catcher and street sweeper.

And yet every two years, and every local election, the vast majority of us can’t be bothered with our self-governance. And we leave it to the people who do care; and complain when we don’t get what we wanted.

I don’t care why people vote. We all act out of self interest at one time or another, if not all the time. Don’t judge why people vote, especially when their decision aligns with yours. Because if you judge, then you’ll be judged.

And I’m guessing you don’t want that. Especially if it puts your self interest under the microscope.🔬 
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Now Stay Out Of The Oval Office

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Abolish ICE

Start by voting in November (or earlier, if possible). Vote for Democrats. Vote against Trump. Vote against Republicans. Vote against incompetence and corruption and racism and illegality. What ever it takes. We have to stop this.
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Sunday, September 20, 2026

It’s Safe To Come Out Now

🫠
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Closing Out The Weekend

Assuming Trump ever bothers to consider the consequences of anything that won’t directly affect him. And even then he just thinks he’ll get away with it, and consequences will fall on somebody else.

This is what happens when you vote as ignorantly as a child, and vote for a child.
Will he take it to Mar A Lago with him when he leaves office? ICE refused him medical treatment until APD showed up and called an ambulance. I wonder if Homan and Mullin are going to deny that ever happens. I expect the polls, as usual, are going to see Democrats “over perform.”  If the arch doesn’t work, this certainly will: I mean, being anti-Sharia law worked so well in the GOP primaries, they nominated Ken Paxton and Bo French. And Tuberville is going back to Alabama. Or Florida. Or wherever he lives.

(You know, the “Arch” Trump undoubtedly uses as a reference point is the one Napoleon built as self-crowned Emperor, to memorialize his conquests. The sight lines of that arch, which makes it second only to the Eiffel Tower as an emblem of Paris, were created later, by Napoleon III. He created the “Paris” we all think of as Paris, by realigning the roads and lowering building heights. Trump III is not following along to make his Arch as memorable as that one.

Trump isn’t Napoleon. And nobody wants his stupid arch, anyway. It continues to be an irony that he threatens the JFK memorial with demolition, but thinks if he gets his vanity projects out of the ground, even Congress can’t reverse them. Too bad he doesn’t realize no one wants the memorials in D.C. torn down, because Congress approved them going up. Which means we, the people, put them up. Nobody wants to preserve something Trump put up. By January, people might actually pay for an opportunity to swing the sledgehammer.)
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Dear White House Press Corps

If you’re not covering this, you’re not doing any better from inside the room. And your absence doesn’t make a difference.

Do you want to make a difference? Or do you just miss the stenography access provides?
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Welcome To Life During Wartime

Says the guy who remembers daily “body counts” from the military (“body count” = number of enemies KIA) on the evening news. From embedded reporters who repeated what they were told about how we were “winning the war.” (The body count was all made up. Nobody was counting coup after encounters or bombing runs.)

The DOD lied. The “free and independent” press willingly reported those lies.  Widespread mistrust of government started with the Vietnam generation. If they learned that lesson too well, and paved the way for a narcissistic conspiracy nut, so be it. But never forget, in the end, the generals work for the White House.
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So Don’t Let It Matter

A) Do actual reporting instead of Oval Office stenography (while conveniently not reporting on the word salad that spews from Grandpa’s mouth. It’s all about access, right? Oops!)

B) Mount a boycott, and shame the news services that won’t leave. Trump values TeeVee uber alles. Get the networks out. Leave him with Fox and Newsmax. Unless you just run a live feed, with extensive excerpts of his rambling rants in prime time, there’s nothing newsworthy in his White House a-fire chats with the voices in his head.

Seriously. Quit playing the victim. That’s Trump’s schtick, and he’s wearing it out. If a free and independent press is so important, it’s time to be free and independent.
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Every Time You Think It Can’t Get Much Worse….

... for Republicans…..

Then again, if you put this on a billboard, everyone would say: “Who?” 

Not that the candidates are doing a whole lot better:
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Oh, Good

That was Fox.
WELKER: The president said in 2025 'I have stopped all government censorship and brought back free speech in America.' He's now limited reporters he doesn't like at the Pentagon and White House. Do these bans amount to government censorship?

BARRASSO: You've asked the question a couple times and I've answered

(Not a no!)
NBC
KARL: Do you support Trump banning news organizations because he doesn't like what they're reporting?

SCALISE: Look, Joe Biden removed the press credentials from over 400 different agencies

KARL: That's not true. 400 reporters who had credentials didn't reapply. They weren't banned from the White House. That did not happen.
ABC

The world is on fire; the press vigorously examines its navel.
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Boomers In The Sixties…

...said: "Why is this nation our parents said was so perfect and good, so unjust? Why are we at war? Why are we so racially segregated? Why are we so rich, with so many of us in poverty?’
El-Sayed: But it is on us to have the empathy to ask, what is it like to be young now? If you’re 26, you were one year old when 9/11 happened. Our country has been at war for most of your life.

In 2007, we had this catastrophic financial crisis for which the banks were not held liable. Chances are you or your family or a neighbor lost their home. Donald Trump came down the hideous golden escalator when you were 15 and has been a fixture of politics for your whole adult life. You are 26.

If you are young, think about it. We’re always like the young people do not seem to want to get engaged. If that is all I have ever lived, part of me is like, to what end?

We have to understand what it is like to be young these days and the incredible act of faith it takes to be invested in your politics, to believe that you can actually solve those problems.
Millennials, or Post-Millennials, or Amillenials, or Gen Z or Y, or whatever (fuck labels. I hate being called a Boomer.), look at the world they were born into and ask: “Why is everything so fucked up?”

There’s supposed to be a pitched battle between Boomers and everyone else. But it was the generations that turned the tide in Minneapolis against Trump’s authoritarian goons, and turned public sentiment against ICE and DHS and Miller. As Pound wrote to Whitman, it is time for us all to realize we come together as the sons and daughters of pig-headed fathers, and set that aside, and “Let there be a commerce between us.”

For the good and the healing of us all.
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Speaking Of Cagney

Fires are visible in multiple locations at the Kapotnya oil refinery in Moscow this morning (local time). Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces posted a fire emoji on X, a signal they have used before to seemingly imply responsibility without making an official claim.

No official confirmation has been issued by Ukrainian or Russian authorities.

The Kapotnya refinery, Moscow's largest, supplies roughly 35 to 40 percent of the capital's fuel market. It has been struck repeatedly since June 2026, including two major attacks within days of each other that damaged its primary crude processing units. Industry estimates put full repairs at up to a billion dollars, with some analysts projecting the facility may not be fully restored until 2027.

The extent to which the refinery is damaged is still being assessed.
The Big Story this morning is going to be Trump throwing some journalists out of the White House. I think the rest should walk out in solidarity and deny Trump his publicity supply. The man is like a drug addict.

On the upside, maybe the excluded will learn to do some real journalism.
If they ever quit whinging.
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Following The Money

The Iran war has cost $43.6 billion through September 3rd, according to a Pentagon breakdown given to Congress and shared with The New York Times. Munitions account for $28.1 billion of that.

The Air Force spent $6.6 billion, the Navy $2.2 billion deploying carriers and warships, and the Army $1.6 billion. More than 50,000 troops are assigned to the mission. The figure excludes $1.5 billion in additional costs being requested separately and repair costs for damaged facilities, like the Navy's base in Manama, Bahrain, which officials say could add tens of billions more.

The number tracks with some earlier estimates. The Congressional Budget Office put the cost at $38 billion through August 1st, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth testified in July it had reached $37.5 billion.
$43.6 billion. $28.1 billion of that, is munitions. Japan and Europe are being told it will be two years or more before promised weapons can be delivered. We need ‘em first.

This wasn’t even a major regional war. But now we might be getting one:
After a widespread State Department alert for the Middle East, U.S. President Donald J. Trump is set to return early from Camp David, citing the potential for significant escalation in the region due to the Houthi’s attacks against Saudi Arabia, the president will return early from Camp David.
Netenyahu was in America. He cut his trip short and flew back to Israel.
Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' joint military command, issued a warning aimed at the U.S. and regional countries. The statement claims the U.S. has been given a "green light" by unnamed regional countries at a joint meeting in Europe to resume action against Iran. It warns that any U.S. "mistake" against Iran will result in continuous, effective, and painful attacks on American bases and interests in the region, without restriction. The statement also warns regional countries aligning with what it calls the "Great Satan's aggression" against Iran that they will be treated as partners in that aggression and should not expect restraint from Iran's armed forces.
$43 billion, and this is what we got? Our leaders are fucking idiots.
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“Top O’ The World, Ma!”*

That doesn’t stop Congress from vetoing the monstrosity.

The way things are going, I think even the GOP that survives the coming slaughter is going to join in on killing Trump’s vanity projects. Dems can certainly bury the demands in bills Trump dare not veto.

(Ever notice how wary Trump is to use his veto? It’s like he’s afraid he will lose that fight. He really is going to be the lamest of lame ducks. And stop telling me he’s going to be “dangerous,” or a “cornered animal.” He’s only as scary as Congress lets him be. That’s going to be very obvious starting in ‘27.)
There is also that.


*James Cagney, right before the refinery blew up under him.
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Follow The Money

MUST-READ — A WARNING ⚠️ from @AOC : “Heads they win, tails we lose… should the A.I. bubble congress must not bail them out… the biggest threat to humanity isn’t A.I. — it’s the tech oligarchs themselves…

@RepAOC points out A.I. companies are demanding massive investments from 🇺🇸 while LOSING money, creating a giant stock market bubble that is masking a struggling economy that will crush regular Americans’ savings when it pops.

They’re trying to “rig the game” and “shift the risk” to us and make themselves “too big to fail” (Sound familiar?)
I wondered why Tech Bros suddenly wanted to be regulated. 🤔
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Saturday, September 19, 2026

“A 2000 pound bomb never fed anybody.”

Ossoff: Did you see this business about Don Jr.‘s wedding in the Bahamas? Where he received, apparently, a cash gift from a Russian oligarch connected to the Kremlin? This is the president’s son. This man, Kremlev, was apparently in China with Putin two days before he flew to the Bahamas for Don Jr.’s wedding to hand Don Jr. a six-figure check.

They are behaving as if they believe themselves untouchable, entitled to impunity beyond the law. And it reminds me of the story that Amos told us about his times 2,000 years ago in the West Bank…

Amos said that in his times, while they, the elite, trample on the poor, they build houses hewn of stone.

In our time, while they throw people off their health insurance, they build ballrooms with your money.

Amos said they lie on beds of ivory and anoint themselves in the finest oils. They were living in Mar-a-Lago-like conditions.
(Yes, That is how you use the prophets. By speaking the way they themselves were speaking.)

10 There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court
and detest the one who tells the truth.
11 You levy a straw tax on the poor
and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,
you will not live in them;
though you have planted lush vineyards,
you will not drink their wine.
12 For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins.
There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes
and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
13 Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times,
for the times are evil.
14 Seek good, not evil,
that you may live.
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
just as you say he is.
15 Hate evil, love good;
maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy
on the remnant of Joseph.

—Amos 5:11-15
El-Sayed: We need to fully fund school infrastructure. A lot of people are like, “how are you going to pay for that?” I don’t know, don’t send bombs to places where they drop on other people’s schools. We just did 2.8 billion in bombs? 2000 pound bombs. A 2000 pound bomb never fed anybody. It never built anything. It never taught anybody.
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Barking Up The Wrong Scripture

Isaiah 6:8 in context:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

9 He said, “Go and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never
perceiving.’
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”

And he answered:

“Until the cities lie ruined
and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted
and the fields ruined and ravaged,
12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away
and the land is utterly forsaken.
13 And though a tenth remains in the land,
it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak
leave stumps when they are cut down,
so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”

There’s a lot going on here: the theophany in the throne room of God. That God even has a throne room. The doxology that found its way into a hymn used in some traditions to open every worship service. The awe-ful otherness of God (Moses stood in God’s presence on Sinai, and came down with his face shining in a reflection of the doxa, or glory, of God. Just the doxa on the mountain, the theophany of it, scared the people of Israel so badly they hid in their tents.) And, of course, the commission of Isaiah, one of the major prophets of Israel.

And Hegseth just perverts it all into a cheap stunt with some college kids. This is what we voted for. This is who the Senate voted to approve.
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Never Call A Plumber When You Don’t Have A Plumbing Problem

Six years later? “We continue to see that” six years later? When you couldn’t present a scintilla of evidence in 60+ cases…six years ago? Is that bubble mirrored on the inside? For what? Crossing state lines? Committed on federal or tribal lands? Violating the civil rights of minors?

(Sexual abuse of minors is a state matter, except in two of the above three.)
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