Saturday, June 13, 2026

Where Are The 100’s of 1000’s Of People?

Are they waiting for the cover of darkness? So they’re performing for an audience of Marines in dress blues?
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And Iran Will Open The Strait Tomorrow!

(It's “residual algae”. The kind that grows without sunlight in nanobubblers.)

Also, too, as well: Probably not yet.
Iran’s military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), denied that Iran would sign an agreement with the United States on Sunday and criticized President Donald Trump’s “unusual insistence” on signing the agreement that day.

The IRGC described the timeline as a “test for Iran’s negotiating team” and that Trump’s announcement comes “despite Iranian negotiators explicitly stating that the memorandum has not yet been finalized and that signing on Sunday is definitely not happening.”
I guess Trump’s gonna have to nuke ‘em for his birthday.
Or maybe for the Fourth of July! 🧨
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But You Can’t Tax Musk Because That Would Discourage Him

Or discourage the rest of us from aspiring to be trillionaires. 

Or something.
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The Consummate Deal Maker

And it only cost us $29 billion in Defense Department expenditures; billions more to repair damaged military bases in the region; as well as the cost of gasoline, diesel, fertilizer, and food and, the latter of which we’ll feel later, long after the Strait is finally opened. 

Or $111 billion plus, and climbing, per the Iran War Cost Tracker.

To think we could have still had the JCPOA, and saved billions of dollars. Maybe trillions.
Pretty much:
Trump's Strange Insistence on Signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Iran on Sunday, a Test for the Negotiation Team

An hour ago, Trump once again emphasized that the memorandum of understanding with Iran will be signed on Sunday. This comes even as Iranian officials have explicitly stated that the agreement has not been finalized and will definitely not take place on Sunday.

An intriguing point is the coincidence of Sunday with June 14th, Trump's birthday. Some observers speculate that he is pursuing this insistence in order to symbolically exploit the occasion and turn it into a promotional event for himself.

However, given the clear positions of Iranian officials stating that the agreement is not final, it seems that our country’s negotiators are aware of these hidden layers and will not allow such media and ceremonial maneuvering.

From this angle, the fate of Sunday's signing will be not only a technical test for the content of the understanding, but also a test of the sincerity and steadfastness of Iranian officials in the face of theatrical pressures.
Doesn’t mean it can’t happen tomorrow; just doesn’t mean it will.  Even if the Strait is “open to all” tomorrow, oil prices won’t come down for months. And nobody’s going to thank Trump for fixing what he fucked up. Or the people who enabled him.

Now, will Trump announce the deal anyway? And shred his credibility entirely?

Well, hasn’t he done that already?
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Temper Tantrum Presidentiale

The letters were removed at 3:10 AM Saturday morning.
FOOTAGE OF THE LETTERS BEING REMOVED

The irony of the Trump administration claiming to be the most transparent in history is never lost on me. Kennedy Center Workers used a tarp so cameras couldn’t see the removal.

It’s like playing hide-and-seek with a toddler: if they can’t see you, they think you can’t see them.

A huge thank you to @RepBeatty . This would not have been possible without her persistence and hard work.
ETTD. Including MAGA.
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Threatening Me With A Good Time

Trump’s lawyers invoked a federal court rule that allows plaintiffs in a case to drop it early in the litigation without explanation or substantive involvement by the judge. On the same day the suit was dismissed, the settlement — which included the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” and sweeping protection from IRS audits for Trump’s family and businesses — was announced by the Justice Department.

U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams closed out Trump’s lawsuit last month in response to Trump’s request to drop it.

However, 35 former federal judges subsequently urged Williams to reopen the case, arguing that the court had been defrauded by a lawsuit that was a sham from the outset.

Williams, an Obama appointee, called the former judges’ allegations “grievous” and ordered Trump’s attorneys to respond to them in writing. She did not order any response from government lawyers, who never formally appeared in the litigation.

The filing Friday from Trump’s legal team urged Williams to abandon her nascent inquiry, saying that once the case was dismissed, her role in the matter had ended. No matter the validity of the subsequent settlement with the Justice Department, Trump’s lawyers said, the court has no business superintending its terms. The former judges had no role in the case, and certainly no power to revive a lawsuit that had already been dismissed, they argued.

“Settlement is not evidence of collusion, which did not exist,” Trump’s attorneys contended, “it is evidence of a rational litigation decision.”

Just prior to the settlement, Williams had raised questions about whether the parties to the case were truly adverse since Trump had ultimate control over both the attorneys representing him and the U.S. government. However, the submission Friday stresses that two of Trump’s sons and the Trump Organization were plaintiffs in the case alongside the president.

The filing by Trump’s attorneys suggests that if Williams formally reopens the case, Trump will immediately ask the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to shut it down.
There are legitimate fact questions of collusion leading to a fraud on the court. That is a matter I believe the court is empowered to investigate under its contempt powers. 

I’d be interested to see the 11th Circuit weigh in on that.

The Judgement Act in its plain language (I haven’t studied the jurisprudence of it) says the fund is for settlement of litigation. But if this wasn’t legitimate legislation, whither then the settlement?

Trump’s lawyers say there was no collusion. Prove it.

As Jack Nicholson said in “Batman:” “Co-mahnce au fest-ivahl!”
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Force Majeur

Git ‘er done. Background: The tarp was to keep people from livestreaming the removal of Trump’s name. Apparently they weren’t working behind the tarp to remove it after all.

Trump throwing a temper tantrum to the last minute.
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I Honestly Think These Guys Have Their Own Version Of The Jefferson Bible

“It’s James Talarico who decided to bring the Bible into this election. And let me tell you, that’s not a Bible I’ve ever read. I’ve never seen so much blasphemy from anyone running for office,” Patrick said to an uproar of applause. “Let me tell you what, I’m going to pray for that guy, because when he loses the Senate race, if he campaigns against God as he’s been doing, he’s going to Hell, for sure. That’s what we’re up against. That’s the darkness. That’s the light. That’s why we must be one.”
A version that leaves out every reference to the poor and God’s justice in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. 

That’s the only explanation, even though that would leave a very slim Bible.
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I See The Ceasefire And Peace Agreement Is Coming Along

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Friday, June 12, 2026

What It Means To Be A Real…

@JamesTalarico :

There's been a lot of talk in this race about what it means to be a real man.

Recently on the campaign trail I told the story of my adoptive dad, Mark Talarico. Every Saturday morning, he would mow our lawn, and then without anyone asking him to, he would go next door and mow our neighbor's lawn because she was a widow. My dad never talked about it — he just did it, because that's what a man does.

A man takes responsibility, upholds his commitments to his family and his neighbors, and does what's right, even when no one is watching.

Here's what real men don't do. They don't lie and cheat their way through life, sell their soul to the highest bidder, or steal from other people in order to enrich themselves. Real men serve others. Weak men serve themselves.

I welcome this debate about what it means to be a man, and I don't think Ken Paxton or Ted Cruz are in a position to tell anybody what a real man is
I didn’t realize Lite Guv Dan Patrick sat at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, and was given charge to separate the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:31-46). I guess I missed the memo. One of the actual lessons of the Crucifixion.
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In The Next Few Days; Or The Next Few After That

I'm seeing a lot of fake information about a potential deal to reopen the Strait and end Iran's nuclear weapons program. First, the Iranians are not receiving any cash, and no funds are being released for simply signing a deal or attending a meeting. The deal is structured to ensure that the US and its allies concerns are prioritized, and that if the Islamic Republic of Iran meets its obligations, then economic benefits will flow to them and to the entire region. This deal has the potential to remake the region and lead to lasting peace.

I've noticed a couple of bizarre things in the reporting over the last few hours. First, people who (rightly) said Donald Trump was a historic president a month ago now criticizing a deal based on unconfirmed media reports. Second, people who say you can't trust a word said by the IRGC who apparently believe anonymously sourced social media posts.

The president is going to get us a good outcome, one way or the other.
Which one is the "other"?
3/1: "four to five weeks"
3/9: "very soon"
3/16: "won't be long"
3/23: "very good and productive conversations"
3/26: talks to end the war are “going very well"
3/29: "I think we'll make a deal with them, pretty sure"
4/1: “very shortly”
4/6: "They’ve made a proposal, and it’s a significant proposal."
4/8: ""A big day for World Peace!"
5/18: "we’ve had very big discussions with Iran"
5/23: "will be announced shortly."
6/1: "rapid pace"
6/11: "next few days"
Vietnam? Is that what he means?
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How It’s Going

🤔
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If Trump Hadn’t Bragged About It

Nobody would have noticed.
The president has characterized the century-old pool as “filthy” and “dirty,” claiming that the pool would look “far more beautiful, more beautiful than it did in 1922” iupon renovation.
It’s not a new problem:
The pool was last renovated in 2012, when an ozone water filtration system was installed for the first time as part of President Barack Obama’s two-year, $34 million restoration project.

Ozone works by neutralizing nutrients required by algae to grow. Two months following the 2012 renovation, NPS officials decided to drain the pool again and double its ozone level to eradicate the large clumps of algae forming in the pool.
Stagnant water makes for a fine reflecting pool. It also breeds algae.
As part of the project, NPS also invested in a new nanobubbler filtration system, while a dedicated crew will also maintain the grounds from wildlife.
But it’s alright. Remain calm. All is well.
An Interior Department spokesperson said that the current algae is “residual” from supply lines that sat dormant for eight weeks during construction. The residue is part of the normal startup process, the spokesperson said.
In the meantime:
Thin layers of algae floated on the World War II Memorial side of the pool Friday morning, even after workers were seen cleaning out algae from the bottom of the pool Wednesday.
I dunno man. Algae that can survive without sunlight for photosynthesis (in the pipes, underground) is some kind of mutant ninja algae, man. 🥷 
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Setting The Tables On Fire 🔥

Hunter Biden on Graham Platner: I always say to people: show me your phone. Give me access to your iCloud. Let’s go through it and pull everything we can find that’s inappropriate.

And if that’s the standard by which we’re going to judge people, particularly people in elected office, then I don’t think we’re going to have many people in elected office.

And so, as it relates to Graham Platner, I focus on this: I have not heard anything, in any way, that would lead me to believe he is an abusive, misogynistic, anti-Semitic, or racist person.

I have heard this from Graham Platner: that he thinks we should all have free health care.

I have also heard this from Graham Platner: that he thinks we have to radically change our politics.

I have heard this from Graham Platner: that working people are getting fucking screwed.
The only people who want universal healthcare are the people on Medicare; or Medicaid. Or Obamacare. Or crappy but expensive health insurance through their employer with deductibles so high they never get coverage anyway.

I’m on Medicare, and I regularly get refunds (small, to be sure; but then I don’t pay much, either) either from Medicare, or directly from the provider. It’s n all the years on private, employee provided health insurance (for which the premiums were much higher), neither the Lovely Wife nor I, ever met our annual deductibles. If we hadn’t spent the money on insurance, we’d probably have been better off. 

Unless we needed a hospital. 
 
Screw private health insurance. Medicare for all, baybee!
Drat! They’re on to us!
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Yesterday

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To-MAY-to, To-MAH-to

Does he think he’s been eating live scallops?

Does this sound familiar? A prosecutor misleads a grand jury, and then redacts the transcripts to cover her actions. No, not the Broadview Six case; same prosecutor, different case. A case involving the Loretto Hospital.
The case involving Khan and Chaudhry “arises out of a single, widespread scheme to submit more than $800 million in false claims to the United States Health Resources and Services Administration … for reimbursement of COVID-19 testing of uninsured individuals,” Mecklenburg wrote earlier this year.

The scheme lasted from June 2021 through March 2022, “when the government program ran out of money,” she added.
A serious fraud case, IOW. Which has now been dismissed by the government, with prejudice, because the former prosecutor on the case was also the Broadview Six prosecutor.  Her cases are being examined, and a pattern is emerging.
The allegations included Mecklenburg improperly putting her credibility on the line to support criminal charges, wrongly dismissing grand jurors from the proceedings, and having conversations with grand jurors outside the grand jury room.
The grand jury transcripts were redacted in both cases to cover the prosecutor’s tracks. The actions with the grand juries were the same.  And now the outcome of the cases is the same.

This is the DOJ Todd Blanche is overseeing. He will say it’s Bondi’s fault, but he was working under Bondi and should have known this was happening, or revealed it when he learned. If he didn’t learn, why didn’t he? And how many other cases have to be dismissed because of gross prosecutorial misconduct? How much suspicion of this DOJ should the courts and the public have, until the DOJ can prove itself trustworthy again?

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? My guess is, in the DOJ, a lot of people between the AG and the prosecutors, do. What about them? Why are they letting this happen?

This is third-world shit that is being thwarted only because of the courts. Blanche no more deserves to be AG than Trump deserves to be POTUS. But Blanche can be more easily blocked from office.
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Thursday, June 11, 2026

Turning

Talarico: We've heard from a lot of Cornyn supporters who are joining this movement that we're building. This is a movement that's a lot bigger than any one political party. It's a lot bigger than any one politician. This is really about all of us coming together to defeat the most corrupt politician in America, so that then we can defeat this corrupt system.
Tables
Talarico: Ken Paxton's own party impeached him. His own staff reported him to the FBI, and now his own defense attorney is endorsing our campaign. Those closest to Ken Paxton know that he's unfit for office.

Since taking office, Ken Paxton has become a multimillionaire while our pay has remained stagnant. He now owns 11 homes while most Texans can't afford one.
Over
Talarico: There's been a lot of talk in this race about what it means to be a real man. Here's what real men don't do. They don't lie and cheat their way through life. They don't sell their soul to the highest bidder. They don't steal from other people in order to enrich themselves. Real men serve others, weak men serve themselves. And so I welcome this debate about what it means to be a man.

And I don't think Ken Paxton or Ted Cruz are in a position to tell anybody what a real man is.
Talarico: The fact that politicians, including Ted Cruz, are throwing embarrassing, cheap nicknames at their political opponents instead of focusing on improving Texans’ lives—that is that's everything that's wrong with our politics.

It looks a lot more like professional wrestling, right? You've got these old guys lathered up in their fake tan, throwing cheesy nicknames at each other. And those nicknames, they don't lower the cost of groceries.
Although I’m not sure he should be picking on professional wrestling. We put a man on the moon, ya know. 🌝
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Suddenly I Understand…

According to U.S. President Donald J. Trump, an agreement between Iran and the U.S. will be signed in Europe, in an unspecified nation, this weekend. He added that he will not be able to attend and White House Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and/or U.S. Vice President JD Vance will likely go to the meeting.
This ☝️ and this👇 It’s because of this: By the way: Trump is full of shit. There is no agreement, and Iran is not desperate to make a deal. Trump is.
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Wait!

Is Platner in the Epstein files, too?
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Trump Is A VERY Unreliable Narrator

According to U.S. President Donald J. Trump, an agreement between Iran and the U.S. will be signed in Europe, in an unspecified nation, this weekend. He added that he will not be able to attend and White House Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and/or U.S. Vice President JD Vance will likely go to the meeting.

 Yeah, about that:

(Trump announced Israel had signed off on it.) We know that story of the boy who cried “WOLF!” We know the boy was lying. What do we call the history of the President who cried “DEAL!”? It’s not that I believe the Iranians, but I do know that Trump is SUCH a liar and a fabulist. And the more he fails, the worse he lies and imagines reality is not what it is. There is no spoon. And there is no deal.
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