Wednesday, May 27, 2026

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….
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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.
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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.
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Waiting To Buy The T-Shirt

This is going to be fun.
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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.
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Reality Has Caught Up With The NYTimes Pitchbot

See?
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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?
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🤖✝️

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.
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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."
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Tail Wags Dog

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

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’….
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🎶Glory, glory, hallelujah!/Teacher hit me with a ruler!🎶

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.
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🤖

 Just listen to what Pope Leo has to say. I am, as the saying goes, unworthy to loosen his sandals.

(NTodd’s thoughts are also deserving of a live link.)

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🐺

Trump has been making these noises since March: When does everyone decide he’s cried “WOLF!” one too many times?

I’m pretty sure the Iranians have figured it out by now.
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“Sign Or Die!” 🎣🎏

The bill for American action has arrived at the Saudi door. Last night, Donald Trump reportedly demanded that in exchange for finalizing the current ceasefire deal with Iran—the one desperately needed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz—the Gulf states would have to pay a massive premium: immediate normalization with Israel. According to my sources, the ultimatum was met with literal silence. The Arab leaders were so thoroughly stunned by the audacity of the request that Trump actually had to break the silence with a follow-up: “Are you still there?”

For months, we have watched a narrative form: Israel deceived the United States into a disastrous war that only empowered Iran. This narrative ignores multiple factors, including but not limited to the fact that it was Trump’s choice, Trump did not follow the Israeli plan, and—perhaps most of all—the presence of another major player calling for war: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

In late February, The Washington Post reported that the decision to go to war had been reached after encouragement from two key allies: Israel and Saudi Arabia. Throughout the war, they reinforced this support. A few weeks later, when Trump was claiming that the war would be over in a few days, The New York Times reported that both nations heavily encouraged a continuation of the conflict. Prince Mohammed reportedly argued that the United States should consider putting troops in Iran to seize energy infrastructure and force the government out of power.

But things have changed.

The Saudis never expected to put their core energy infrastructure on the line for this conflict, assuming a covert nod to Washington would yield a painless destruction of the Iranian threat. Instead, the smoking ruins of the Ras Tanura refinery, a staggering $33.5 billion first-quarter deficit, and a hull-to-hull backup in the Strait of Hormuz served as a brutal awakening. With the United Arab Emirates stepping aggressively into the vacuum—gladly absorbing the role of America’s primary, hardline Gulf ally—Riyadh is executing a frantic tactical retreat. For the past month and a half, MBS has been beating a different drum: diplomacy. “Okay,” said Trump last night, but constantly shifting positions comes with a cost: normalization.

This is about far more than Trump extracting a quick return on investment. By demanding normalization as the price for a ceasefire, he is forcing the Saudis to grab Israel’s other arm to physically restrain Jerusalem from striking Iran alone.

It underscores a truth that Trump understood and Obama never did: the most effective way to control Israel isn’t to push them away, but to wrap them in a bear hug. By locking Jerusalem into a close alliance, Washington doesn’t just protect them—it places its hand directly over the Israeli trigger finger. Washington needs its hand over that trigger because Israel has little incentive to hold back when the current deal appears to leave Iran in a stronger position than before.

That is the Iranian impression as well. In The Art of the Deal, Trump writes: “The worst thing you can possibly do in a deal is seem desperate to make it. That makes the other guy smell blood, and then you’re dead.” Sensing American eagerness for a diplomatic off-ramp, Tehran has smelled exactly that, aggressively upping its demands before any Memorandum of Understanding can be printed.

Despite draft stipulations requiring a return to free transit, the IRGC is leveraging its tactical position to normalize a permanent, permission-based transit regime in the Strait of Hormuz—boasting that 33 commercial vessels were forced to register and coordinate with the IRGC Navy in a single 24-hour window. Meanwhile, Iran has flatly rejected a Pakistani compromise to defer unresolved issues, flipping the entire sequencing of the talks by refusing any nuclear-related commitments or stockpiling concessions at this stage. Instead, an emboldened Tehran is demanding immediate economic rewards, including the unfreezing of blocked assets, while conditioning the entire agreement on an “all fronts” ceasefire that would effectively force Washington to strip Israel of its freedom of action against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

At the end of the devastating Iran-Iraq War, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini famously declared that accepting peace was like “drinking a poison chalice.” Today, his successor’s successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, is facing no such bitter brew. Instead, Benjamin Netanyahu is being asked to swallow the fatal mixture this time around. Much to his relief, Donald Trump is trying to mix in a Saudi sweetener to help the medicine go down.
Trump is hardly this clever. He’s not doing anything to Israel, and he never will. He’s shootings for the history books by, he thinks, creating peace in the Middle East. But the only leverage he has, he’s giving away. If he makes a deal with Iran (as he must), the other countries in the region are effectively on their own. If he restarts hostilities, they’re on the battlefield again. His only leverage with them is that threat; and that’s hardly enough to get them to recognize Israel. Indeed, it’s leverage that’s lost the minute it’s used.

If anything, Trump’s threatening to withdraw support, not increase it. Iran attacked those countries because they had American military bases, or supported the war. And now Trump is telling them: “Back me, or fuck you!” He’s already said it to NATO. Why should the Middle East hear him differently? To be blunt: if Trump really wanted this to happen, he wouldn’t announce it in a phone call and in social media.

I posted this because of the report on the response: stunned silence. Again, Trump has no cards, and he has no clue. The game is draw poker, and he’s playing “Go Fish.”
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