[insert trite encouraging message here- I know you can do it!]
Maybe today I'll greet people with, "Good, thanks. And you?" instead of, "How are you?"
Trump's pardons in this term (https://www.newsweek.com/full-list-donald-trump-pardons-second-term-2077874) include 4 on money laundering, 2 embezzlers, 23 protestors, 3 bad cops, 3 corrupt pols, 1 gun violator, 4 fraudsters and tax evaders, and the hundreds of January 6 folks. Variations on a theme?
One thing the X-Files got wrong was the idea of the shadowy government cabal. Cabals don't have to be shadowy!
Remembering those who gave their lives in service to our nation in war and peacetime.
We do not always need to be proud of what these people fought and died for, but their willingness to stand for their families, their neighbors, and their countrymen is honorable.
I often strive for Platonic ideals, but I didn't think it would make me such a square.
"Everybody delightfully profited, except the very poor, the common workmen, the skilled workmen, the small business men, the professional men, and old couples living on annuities or their savings." -Sinclair Lewis, "It Can't Happen Here," 1935
How do you build good character?
I expect the US economy to worsen in the short and medium terms (and long term if the "big beautiful bill" passes). Check in on this prediction in 6 months or a year or two years and see- I'd love to be surprised.
What measures should we consider? Inflation, economic growth, and DJIA?
In the interest of giving credit where credit is due, here are some good things the second Trump administration has done:
-pushed for the removal of petroleum-based food dyes
-advocated for the release of an American hostage in Gaza
"When you hear a prominent American called a 'Fascist,' you can usually make up your mind that the man is simply a LOYAL CITIZEN WHO STANDS FOR AMERICANISM." -William Randolph Hearst, 1935
I hope you showed your mom some appreciation this weekend.
everything is psyops
How would things change if Trump were and J. D. Vance were the other's age instead?
Words that rhyme but really shouldn't go together in real life:
zucchini bikini
They tried to make me not bomb Kiev, and Trump said, "No, no, no"
Yes, I've been bad, but when I get mad, you'll know, know, know
I ain't got the time and if Trumpy thinks I'm fine
He's tried to make me leave the Ukraine, but I won't go, go, go
I had an interesting discussion with a friend the other day which included this breakdown of "how do I derive moral conclusions?" The conversation topic was immigration and the Abrego Garcia case. It's not a formal logical proof, but I found the process of working this out and writing it down interesting.
Given:
-God is a real, personal agent who cares about right and wrong in the universe.
-Christian values and morality derive from God's (these are found in many places but best codified and collected in the Bible).
-The Bible clearly teaches the value, dignity, and worth of each human life.
-The United States has traditionally based its laws, regulations, and political structure on that principle ("all men are created equal," with the obvious caveat that actual practice has differed widely from principle in many times and in many ways).
-The United States has traditionally operated on extensions of that principle ("no man is above the law," "equal treatment under the law," "innocent until proven guilty," etc.; again, caveat about stated ideals vs. actual practice).
Conclusions:
-Therefore, everyone under the jurisdiction of US law deserves (and in many cases has a legal right to) due process.
-Therefore, even illegal immigrants deserve due process in their deportation proceedings.
Ah, allergy season: just when the weather turns nice enough to have the windows open, my nasal passages go bonkers and my eyes get as scratchy as a fistful of sand.
How many rooms in your home do you spend less than 15 minutes in per week?
Tariffs are not taxes on other countries. They're a punishment tax on Americans who buy from other countries- whether they have an American alternative or not.
Bonus: Consumption taxes- taxes on what people buy- are regressive, meaning they place the greatest burden on the poorest.
Joined Nov 2022
