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Moral compass? What’s that?

One of the issues of having lived this long is that you remember that not so long ago our values and sensitivities were quite different. When people did things that were deemed immoral, they paid a price. Politicians lost careers. Quaint, eh?

2004
Howard Dean was running for the Democratic nomination for President and had been leading in some polls. Dean had a reputation for being a good governor and an energetic leader. But he had just come in for a disappointing third place showing in Iowa. His star had been on the rise but now his disorganized campaign was crumbling. He gave this speech and then was pilloried in the press. His candidacy collapsed. Some blamed this speech called “The Scream”.

1987
”…the Hart campaign had an air of likelihood if not inevitability that is difficult to imagine in retrospect. After Mondale’s landslide defeat by Ronald Reagan in 1984, Hart had become the heir apparent and best hope to lead the [Democratic Party] back to the White House.” Wiki

“During the Gary Hart scandal, the importance of evaluating the character of presidential candidates became clear. “We almost elected a compulsive sexual predator as president in 1988,” says Sheehy, “but we didn’t because he got himself caught.” Sheehy wrote for Vanity Fair

1974
Tricky Dicky says goodbye – elected in a landslide victory less than two years before. Brought down by the coverup of one burglary. Think about it.

I don’t need any more Epstein Files. I know enough about Donald J. Trump to suggest he could improve the world by getting on his Qatar grifted jet and charting a flight to Saudi Arabia – where he can get oil barons to build hotels with views of oil derricks. He and MBS can joke about the people they have tortured and murdered.

We knew enough to reject and eject the Orange Menace known as “47” as soon as we learned that Trump had a close 15+ year friendship with Jeffrey Epstein – a child rapist. They partied together.

“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Trump told New York magazine in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

”It was a friendship that spanned three different decades. To Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein was a “terrific guy”. Epstein believed himself to be Trump’s “closest friend”, and praised the future president as “charming”. Guardian

What more evidence does a person need? 15 years. He “liked” Epstein. Shouldn’t that be enough to put this disgusting piece of humanity (is he really human?) on a plane to oblivion?

If the files can assist the victims in finding justice and perhaps some restitution, please, more info for the trials. Get it done. Prosecute those who deserve it.

For anyone who has known this and still supported this self admitted pussy grabbing pervert, I have a message:
You are supporting someone who is an accessory to rape, child abuse and sexual trafficking. Donald Trump did not go to the authorities. To what degree he participated, we don’t know. But he knew – and he didn’t call the cops.

It would seem Trump’s long friendship with a sex trafficker/child rapist is a bit worse than a scream, an extramarital affair, or the coverup of a politically motivated burglary.

It is long past time to reset the moral order. We can have all manner of political and philosophical differences. That can make life interesting and even exciting.
But we MUST settle on some basic codes of conduct. When one of your best friends is a molester of children, you have left civilized society. Can we agree on that?

Screw the files. Put the Creep on a Plane.

And just in case you needed an expert to tell you…
Here is a short version of the Trump diagnosis by a highly qualified psychologist.

And below is a longer explanation. The full interview.

“Take a good look at Donald Trump right now. Because this is the best Donald Trump you will ever see. Because dementia doesn’t stay the same and it doesn’t get better.”

For more:
https://mindsitenews.org/2025/04/01/sanewashed-trump-dementia-and-mental-illness/

More.
Does a “Stable Genius” vilify his greatest defender in Congress (MTG) because of one or two issues they disagree on? Does a Radical Right president have a “love fest” with the soon to be mayor of NYC who he just recently labeled a communist…who he promised to destroy?

47’s brain is like pinball game. You never know where the ball is going next. I refer you back to the good Dr. Gartner.

Personal Therapy Section. “Grow, Cook. Eat.”

The final crop of a Massachusetts vegetable garden is often kale. This one is called “Black Magic”. It is a Lacinato or Toscano variety. We have had several frosts but it keeps on giving. Great for soups and stews:

Chunked rotisserie chicken
Vegetable stock
Yukon Gold potatoes
Baby carrots
White beans
Sweet onion
Barley
Celery
Kale
Spinach
Garlic
Herbs de provence

My brilliant wife came across this poem that stirs some memories. And it is quite appropriate for right now.

Pity the nation whose people are sheep, and whose shepherds mislead them.

Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, whose sages are silenced,

and whose bigots haunt the airwaves.

Pity the nation that raises not its voice,

except to praise conquerors and acclaim the bully as hero and aims to rule the world with force and by torture.

Pity the nation that knows no other language but its own and no other culture but its own.

Pity the nation whose breath is money and sleeps the sleep of the too well fed.

Pity the nation — oh, pity the people who allow their rights to erode

and their freedoms to be washed away.

My country, tears of thee, sweet land of liberty.

By Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “Pity the nation”

Can take several forms

“The American Revolution” as a show is loaded with facts and observations that were new to me. Did I forget I was taught that stuff in school or was that information deliberately left out of the curriculum? Probably some of both. But after all, why spoil the myths of the “Founding Story” with embarrassing facts?

The latest documentary by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt premiered Sunday night. Last night we watched episode two. There are six and all are available to stream on the PBS app. It’s the best streaming subscription for small money. We boosted our monthly donations when our government abandoned the network.

The first episode impressed me right out of the gate with its explanation of how populous and sophisticated the Indigenous Peoples had been – living in a version of democracy for centuries. We immigrants learned a little from them – but not nearly enough. They alternately helped us and fought us. We fired back and decimated them with smallpox.

The second episode is a story of great heroism and great abuse of human life. “All men are created equal” – if you were a white male Protestant land owner. Not if you were a woman, not an African American, not a Native American, not if you were a poor “worker”. We always knew that our nation was founded while slavery, bigotry, racism, misogyny and elitism were the norm. And what the show demonstrates so horrifyingly is that the colonists (not all but a majority) were fighting for the RIGHT to retain their slaves. The British were luring their “property” away with promises of freedom. And that “property” was the backbone of the southern state’s economies. While Blacks comprised about four percent of Massachusetts population, slaves and a few free Blacks made up about 40% of some southern states. The British were not anti-slavery. But they saw a way to wound the “rebels” by stealing their property – the engines of their success.

The Declaration of Independence. I added some paragraph breaks and bolded a few phrases for emphasis.

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

”Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security…

One of the first events that rallied support from multiple neighboring colonies was the use of British “Regulars” to suppress their fellow British citizens in Boston. A standing army as a police force horrified them.

The other “principle” that infuriated the Colonists was a Stamp Tax and then a tariff on tea imports. A group of elites were taxing their own citizens without their consent.

Does any of this resonate 250 years later?

Soon, Donald J. Trump will leave power. All despots end their reigns. They die or are removed. Nothing lasts forever – let alone an almost 80 year old man with a ridiculously bad lifestyle. And we should never forget how fast presidents age in office. All of them. Trump is crumbling, caving, desperately dodging the ghost of Epstein and the failure of his policies. It’s going to be an ugly ending. But end it will.

What we should worry about is the Triumvirate of Terror. The Oligarchs, Heritage/Federalists and the MAGA Nazi White Supremacists. This “Unholy Alliance” shares the DNA of the Confederacy. Can they be removed from power through the elections of 2026 and 2028? I think so.

But will we make the same mistake that we did after the Civil War? The traitors who made brutal war on the USA were pardoned and many were welcomed back into power – into the halls of Congress. Slavery was abolished in law but continued in a new form for over a hundred years – as a fact of life for millions. And the ugly heads of this hydra are still in view.

When sanity and democracy are restored, there must be an accounting.

As someone reminded us recently:
“Richard Nixon didn’t go to prison, but his Attorney General did.”

Cells should be prepared for Trump’s cabinet and the members of ICE who violated the most basic rules of law and decency. There must be a “Nuremberg Revisted”.

Manufacturing War to Distract Us

NOBODY wants this. But here are your Tax Dollars at work.

As the Epstein/Trump/Maxwell drama slowly drips into the media, please consider that the Orange Menace is creating multiple distractions from his (alleged?) pedophilia and his loooong list of sexual assaults.

The demands for the entire file, all the Epstein files – from all political corners are growing exponentially.

Trump will not go down easily. But he will go down. Members of Congress are deciding which side of history they want to be on. Decency or depravity? Stay aligned with an alleged child molester or save their political asses?

In the meantime, geopolitical horrors are unfolding. Our president is a mad man. Desperate to distract us. A cornered mangy old wounded tiger – as dangerous as he is damned.

From “Responsible Statecraft”:

“As fears mount that U.S. strikes against so-called “narco-terrorists” in the Caribbean could escalate into full-scale war with Venezuela, weapons makers are well positioned to benefit from the unprecedented U.S. military build-up in the region, not seen on such a scale in decades, and continues unabated.

Currently, key naval vessels such as guided-missile destroyers equipped with the Aegis combat weapons command and control system — including the USS Gravely, USS Jason Dunham, and the USS Stockdale — the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, and the littoral combat ship USS Wichita, are deployed around the Caribbean. The USS Newport News (SSN-750), a nuclear-powered attack submarine which can launch Tomahawk missiles, is also present.

Moreover, Tuesday’s arrival of the Gerald S. Ford carrier strike group, the Navy’s newest, most technologically advanced aircraft carrier with escorts (USS Bainbridge, USS Mahan, and USS Winston Churchill), brings another 4,000 military personnel into the theater, on top of the estimated 10,000 already there.

Washington is also examining sites where it can send additional military assets to, and is building out new construction at its former naval base in Puerto Rico — suggesting what experts fear might be a larger, longer operation in the region.

If anyone benefits from all this, it is the weapons industry.”

From a senator I often disagree with – much agreement on this subject.

”America First? For DC swamp, it’s always ‘War First’

These ideologues have been willing to sacrifice our citizens and sow chaos with their recycled experiments in regime change. Next stop: Venezuela.”

Read more here or just digest this from Senator Rand Paul:

”If anyone benefits from all this, it is the weapons industry.

Indeed, many of the weapons systems and vessels involved in the buildup come with steep price tags. Arleigh-Burke class destroyers cost about $2.5 billion each just to procure. The AC-130J Ghostrider aerial gunship costs a staggering $165 million per unit; the P-8 Poseidon about $83 million per unit, and the Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) hovercraft, which some of the warships are equipped with, cost about $90 million each.

While relevant procurement contracts for those deployed systems are already secured, contractors stand to gain from their maintenance costs and follow-up services while at sea, as sustainment costs account for about 70% of their lifetime cost.”

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From an old ad by the Bernie Sanders campaign to shift money from bombers and warships to feeding and housing – HELPING Americans:

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The People’s Poet Laureate:

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A Libertarian, a Socialist and a Poet agree. This is dead wrong. For the atrocities of Vietnam they lied about the Communists. For the destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, they lied about Weapons of Mass Destruction. They chased the phantom bad guys for a couple of decades. Veterans returned asking “What the Hell were we fighting and killing for?”

The people who make weapons love this. How about you?

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AI Overview:
The Responsible Statecraft website is the online magazine of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a think tank that promotes a positive, “transpartisan” vision of U.S. foreign policy based on diplomacy, military restraint, and a critique of endless wars. The website features original reporting, analysis, and opinion from staff and outside contributors to challenge the consensus thinking that has led to what they view as counterproductive and costly interventions.

• Mission: To promote a foreign policy vision centered on diplomatic engagement and military restraint, and to challenge the “ideas, ideologies, and interests” that have mired the United States in endless wars.

• Content: The site publishes news, opinion, and analysis from journalists, academics, and former government officials.

• Editorial focus: It provides sharp criticism of U.S. foreign policy, including topics like the military-industrial complex, presidential and congressional actions, and global crises.

• Goal: To help build a world where peace is the norm and war is the exception.

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  This bears repeating, doesn’t it?
  
  ”To help build a world where peace is the norm and war is the exception.”
  
  Nobody wants another manufactured war. Call or email your senators and house reps. Demand they reign in the mad man, the mad king.

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  There are many versions of Pete Seeger’s song. IMO, this is the most moving.

  ---

  

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  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_sexual_misconduct_allegations
  
  https://responsiblestatecraft.org/rand-paul-venezuela/
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military%E2%80%93industrial_complex
  
  

But a “doctor” helps

Sometimes by Tuesday I am just baffled. Befuddled. Banging my head with disgust. This is a direct result of Mondays. “Monday, Monday…can’t trust that day.”

Therefore, this Tuesday, I am sharing something different. I needed something to break my stress, my strung out stride to further despair. Something to break the rhythm of rancor running the nation. “I read the news today, oh boy….”

Cora Frazier can be found here. The following piece is ripped off the pages of the New Yorker. (Page 27 of the November 10, 2025 print issue.)

This made my Monday much more manageable. It didn’t “Fix me.” But I had a laugh.

Shouts & Murmurs

The Doctor’s Plan

By Cora Frazier

November 3, 2025

My plan worked. A liquid injected into the veins of children—yes, children, unwilling, screaming, crying children—to prevent them from contracting communicable diseases. Hate me if you want to. I never asked for your forgiveness. When I was just a boy, I watched my parents die before my eyes. Polio. I vowed to get my revenge. And I didn’t care who I helped or how many lives I saved along the way.

This surgical mask is my disguise and my means of shielding myself from covid spittle. I don’t need to show my face. I have no face to show. I am no longer a man. I have become what you call me, a give-no-shits Doctor, out here running cold water on the world’s burns.

Where is my conscience, you ask? Never had one. I’ve been too busy dressing wounds. Conscience is for cape-wearing amateurs who haven’t yet recognized that they are, at their core, just like me. Broken. Weary. Numb. Band-Aid toting. Come and get me, so-called heroes. Because I’m about to strap you to a gurney and apply an ice pack to your throbbing head. And the whole time I’m going to laugh while asking what your kid has been up to.

Don’t call it a costume. Call it scrubs. I wear them because of bloodstains. Yeah, Mr. Secretary, the blood from your nose when you forget to turn on the humidifier at night. Dry heat from a radiator will do that to you. Take a lollipop from my assistant. It’s poison-apple-shaped, and I’m not sorry.

I’m about to point this gun at your forehead and take your temperature. Ninety-eight point six. Just as I predicted. I document it. I document everything—yes, everything. I got files on you going back years. Even you, Mr. Secretary. The time you broke your ankle in ninth grade? I was there, fitting you into a moon boot and estimating your insurance company’s allowable fee.

I know why I’m here today, Mr. Secretary. An inquiry? Yeah, right. It’s a setup, but what you suits don’t realize is that I got this place surrounded with nurses, and every last one knows how to apply a tongue depressor. You bureaucrats have decided that I’m the problem. Seen me for what I am—an eccentric with a taste for rare sharks and the Journal of the American Medical Association. But you don’t scare me. I’ve got a crash cart and a drawer full of gauze pads and an inexplicable British accent. Let’s go, federal government.

You say that I will save millions of lives this year. Next year. Each year in perpetuity, until I am stopped, once and for all. “Really, that many lives?” I ask, coyly. After you’ve saved one, let me tell you, the rest get a lot easier. And now? I sleep like a baby. I didn’t have regrets when I was just a resident, giving stitches to children who fell off jungle gyms. Now that I’ve developed an mRNA vaccine? I don’t block anything out—no, I remember. I remember every mother’s scream, every photo of a newborn baby, every balloon, all while I stroke a white-haired cat. An evil cat.

What do I want? Nothing less than world domination. The eradication of the H.I.V., Ebola, and tuberculosis pathogens. Yeah, I said it. Do I shock your delicate constitutions? Deal with it. I want fewer preterm-birth complications. Clean drinking water. My smiling face on every poster for sleep-apnea studies. And my own fleet of special-capability vehicles with sirens and lights and the word “AMBULANCE” written backward, so that other drivers can read it in their rearview mirrors.

You want to fire me, Mr. Secretary? Go ahead and fire me. You hide behind your institutions and believe in social order. But I am the institution. No one in this whole public-hearing room can find a vein like I can. And when I do find it? I stick a needle right in there, and I draw enough blood to determine whether you need to take an iron supplement. And then I lean back and admire the human bones that I’ve collected as part of my anatomy model.

Take me to court. Imprison me. But you can’t imprison an idea. You can’t imprison the idea of me administering my fellow-inmate’s insulin. I will shoot him in the arm multiple times a day, and, trust me, Mr. Secretary—in the darkest moment of the night? He will thank me.

You ask if I will go quietly. Have you not been listening? Of course I will go quietly.

After I fill this entire chamber with laughing gas. Regretting turning down that KN95 now, aren’t you? I’ve got a helicopter waiting on the roof to take me back to my lair, the Cleveland Clinic. And don’t even think about getting to me there, unless you’re willing to set up an appointment with our office a month to six weeks in advance. And don’t think that you won’t be getting a text reminder. Because you will.

What you don’t realize is that you need me. You need me for balance. For annual checkups. For dinosaur stickers.

And believe me, fools, I’ve got plenty. ♦

Addendum: My mangled Monday came from the news that Senate Democrats were about to “cave” on the funding bill before them. They were agreeing to “open” the government based on a Republican “promise” to vote on ACA health insurance subsidies next month. Good luck with that.

But here is the glass half full. The Republicans were willing to starve Americans, ruin Americans travel plans, let the cost of health insurance skyrocket – ignore the suffering of a nation of unpaid workers. Indefinitely! That’s not a winning strategy for future elections. In fact, it would appear to be completely stupid in the face of last week’s Blue Wave of victories.

Essentially, MAGA is saying: “We don’t give a shit about you.” Message received.

This video explains it well:

And the other thing. Once the Senate votes to fund, the House of Representatives must finally reconvene (probably tomorrow) and vote on that version of the funding bill. Reconvening means that Adelita Grijalva who was elected in an Arizona special election in SEPTEMBER must finally be sworn in. She has pledged to be the final vote in a “discharge petition” that will come to House floor. The petition demands and requires the release of the Epstein Files. How will the Senate vote? And how will the president of the United States explain not signing it? Will he call it a hoax? Ha! Good luck with THAT!

Could this be THE moment when a rebellion within his own party cuts the leash? Donald J. Trump could become a very lame duck? Quack.

Perhaps we can abandon the latest circular firing squad that Democrats robotically form and resume the battle against the dark forces of evil.

Lucian K. Truscott IV is one the most experienced reporter/writers on Substack. Here is the shot of adrenaline we all need. Let’s remember who the enemy is and not give them something to chuckle about. This fight has just begun. And we have more powerful ammunition than any American political party in history. Read about it here:

I feel better and stronger now. How about you?

LONG OVERDUE Redistribution Required

An American Awakening?

”The Millionaire Tax in Massachusetts is paying off big” – Yahoo Finance
”The surtax, known as the “millionaires tax,” applies to income over a threshold that adjusts each year for infl0ation. For 2025, that threshold is $1,083,150. The Massachusetts Department of Revenue last month certified preliminary estimates that the state collected $2.987 billion from the surtax in fiscal 2025, far more than the $1.3 billion state officials estimated. The state also collected $2.439 billion from taxes on capital gains.
Under state law, the money must go toward education and transportation.”

The prediction was that the rich would flee the state. Another scare tactic by the Oligarchs – DEBUNKED!

More Millionaires in Massachusetts despite surtax passed in 2022. – Axios
”Massachusetts has seen a 38.6% jump in the number of millionaire residents since voters approved a 4% surtax on high earners in 2022.

Why it matters: The uptick in super-wealthy Bay Staters contradicts predictions that rich residents would flee the state for lower-tax areas, like over the state line in income-tax-free New Hampshire.”

How does the idea of one arrogant bigoted/racist monster of a man having this much money sit with you? Should there be a maximum level of wealth for any individual or family? Should America continue to build wealth for a few white men when children of all colors are deprived of food and shelter? When American mothers must decide whether to spend their meager paychecks on food OR rent OR medicine?

I applaud the success of those who have employed great ideas and worked hard to become affluent. That’s part of the American dream. But when millions of Americans suffer for lack of food, housing and medicine – while a few have more than they know what to do with – the system needs fixing.

In stark and refreshing contrast:

Letter from the Patriotic Millionaires:

“Yesterday, Patriotic Millionaire Abigail Disney and our Founder and President Erica Payne each spoke at two separate events in Washington, D.C. as part of the 2025 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF. Both events focused on the harm extreme wealth concentration poses to our global well-being and considered various national and international policy solutions that could redress it. We were honored to be part of these high-level discussions and are thrilled to see our work and message continue to attract attention from around the world.”

“A level of wealth beyond which only madness lies”

”Earlier in the day, Abigail spoke on the panel “Extreme Wealth—How much is too much? A new measure for better economies, democracies, and societies…”

Erica Payne – Founder and President of Patriotic Millionaires:

“We could build a heaven on Earth”

“I believe that this could be the greatest era in human history. We have all the technology we need. We have all the knowledge we need. We have all of the connections with one another, the communications. We have all the information we need to create the kind of world that will work for everybody. And then to keep that world going as humankind evolves, we could build a heaven on Earth. I know that sounds weird, but that’s what we could do. We could make this work, and the people in this room can do that.”

”Here’s the thing, democracy is so irritating, so messy. Nobody gets along. You have to fight. You have to compromise. But no matter how messy democracy is, it’s a heck of a lot better than those billionaires.”

Mark Zuckerberg Sailed 5,300 Miles With Two Superyachts Only to Helicopter Up a Mountain and Ski Down in Billionaire Style

Mark Zuckerberg’s recent adventure, involving the mobilization of his two superyachts for a transatlantic journey to Norway’s fjords, epitomizes the intersection of luxury, legal ingenuity, and high-stakes adventure. – Sustainability Times

Isn’t it time for some big changes?
Doesn’t it feel like we have finally tipped the scales to the morbidly obscene? Perhaps the pain of the current “shutdown” will stimulate and motivate Americans to act. It doesn’t have to be radical or revolutionary. But I suspect if efforts like those in Massachusetts are not employed, history suggests that something messier could occur.

The question for state legislators:
If the Federal government can’t be relied on to feed and house the poor, doesn’t it fall to you to find the money? The United States is the richest nation in the world, the richest country in the history of the world. The money is being held by a greedy few. They own it because of a badly constructed tax system. Much of it was inherited and much of it was accumulated by underpaying their workers. Isn’t it time to re-balance the scales to basic fairness?

Personal therapy post. Finding my mental health and joy from the Earth:

The last step in closing down the organic vegetable garden at the farm is the cutting of the asparagus. The gold will turn to brown. I’ll cut them to the ground. Apply a bit of lime (asparagus likes a slightly sweet soil) and a two inch blanket of compost. By late April (used to be May) we will be eating my all time favorite veggie for about six weeks.

I picked these tomatoes a few weeks ago when they were green and a frost was predicted. They ripened nicely in paper bags. Cherokee Purple, Woodstock (the greenish one) and two Harvest Moons. Seedlings were purchased from a local farm. Here’s her website if you enjoy lovely pictures of plants.

Very afraid

Artificial Intelligence is here. It is embedded in everything. Do a search for anything and usually there is an “AI Overview”. Sometimes that is quite helpful. Like you are not sure when is the best time to trim a dogwood tree. Or how to cook a pork roast.

In the Apple TV series “The Morning Show”, the CEO of “UBN” needs a big win – a big new way to grab eyeballs for her fragile network. She turns to AI to make some TV magic. You need to watch this episode. IMO, this series became much more interesting. Better writing. And plot twists that keep you guessing. AI is a “character”.

I have three very big gripes with AI.

Part 1
The first is that the major indexes of the stock market are heavily influence by AI companies. They are burning through $100s of billions of investment dollars with no meaningful ROI in the foreseeable future. This is FOMO (fear of missing out) on steroids.
The “Internet” promised huge returns making every investor rich. If a company added “.com” to their publicity, they became players – people ate it up. And then in 2000, the companies began to fall away, tumbling into obscurity carrying portfolios down the drain. AI is bigger. AI is like “tulips” and Ponzi schemes. Too many people chasing vague promise of riches. The people that got in early and left early became very rich.

From Futurism:
”Though the real economy might be circling the toilet, the stock market is doing gangbusters. US stocks grew to record-busting highs this week, fueled almost entirely by investments into AI. Amidst the boom, chipmaker Nvidia became the first company ever valued at $5 trillion in the history of financial markets — a mere 78 days after hitting $4 trillion.

With nothing but good vibes on Wall Street, you’d be hard pressed to find any stock analysts willing to go bet against the giant Nvidia — until now, that is.

Of the 80 analysts covering Nvidia for Bloomberg’s enterprise terminals, 73 of them currently rate Nvidia as a “buy.” Six of them say “hold,” but only one, Seaport Global Securities senior analyst Jay Goldberg, say “sell.”

Many economists have been watching in horror as they warn that AI spending is propping up the US economy with misallocated capital. Wall Street, however, is only seeing green. As Bloomberg notes in its reporting on the analyst, Goldberg is currently swimming against a stream of epic proportions.

“This is not my first bubble,” Goldberg told the publication, referring to the dot-com investment bubble of the late 1990s.

“That feels very strongly like the pattern we’re seeing now,” he continued. “We’re going to build up all this AI stuff for what are largely psychological reasons. At some point the spending will stop, and the whole thing will tumble down and we’ll reset.”

Is OpenAI too big to fail?

Thanks to a complex web of massive deals struck by OpenAI with other tech giants — that in turn is sustaining the global economy — the Sam Altman-led artificial intelligence company might be too big to fail, writes the Wall Street Journal’s Berber Lin:

To achieve his vision of securing seemingly endless computing power for OpenAI, Altman has gone on a dealmaking blitz, playing the egos of Silicon Valley’s giants off one another as they race to cash in on OpenAI’s future growth.

The resulting game of financial one-upmanship has tied the fates of the world’s biggest semiconductor and cloud companies—and vast swaths of the U.S. economy—to OpenAI, essentially making it too big to fail. All of them are now betting on the success of a startup that is nowhere near turning a profit and facing a mounting list of business challenges.

Investors aren’t bothered.

On four separate days over the past two months, the stock prices of Oracle, Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, and Broadcom soared after they disclosed OpenAI-related deals—adding a combined $630 billion to their market value in the first day of trading after the announcements. A broader rally in tech stocks followed each time, helping lift the U.S. stock market to record highs.

OpenAI is only expected to generate $13 billion in revenue this year. “Too big to fail” still echoes in my mind. There is no such thing. Please refer to 2008.

What could wrong?

Part 2

My second concern is safety.
Accuracy. If I prune that dogwood tree the wrong way, I will damage a tree. But if I self administer a medication improperly, I could die.

Because I was happy with the AI advice about dogwood trees, I didn’t scroll down and visit the numerous serious and helpful websites dedicated to the subject. Potentially damaging their viability. Less traffic means less revenue. Something that summarizes in a potentially inaccurate manner – is crowding out experts.

How long before medical advice from RFK, Jr ends up in an AI summary?

Part 3

The third concern may be the greatest. Millions of jobs may be at risk. Businesses seek profits by reducing costs. If an AI software program can replace multiple employees – saving the costs of their salaries and benefits, they won’t think twice about it. In fact, if they don’t replace those workers, they will be pilloried by their stock holders.

Millions of workers have been replaced by outsourcing to countries with cheaper labor. Even more employees are being replaced with automation. Amazon just announced that they will replace 600,000 workers with robots. How long before the software engineers and coders are replaced with AI?

AI Overview

Estimates for jobs replaced by AI vary, but several reports suggest it could be in the millions. Goldman Sachs estimates up to 300 million full-time jobs could be affected by automation, while some other reports suggest figures ranging from 400 million to 800 million jobs lost. Many of these are likely to be repetitive administrative, data entry, and customer service roles, though some professional jobs are also at risk. However, AI is also expected to create new jobs and increase productivity, and many roles will likely be transformed rather than fully replaced.

Job replacement estimates

• Up to 300 million jobs:

  Goldman Sachs predicts that the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs globally could be affected by automation, with approximately one-quarter of all jobs potentially performed entirely by AI.

• 400 to 800 million jobs:

  Other estimates suggest the impact could be even greater, with some reports projecting that 400 to 800 million people could lose their jobs to AI.

• 30% of U.S. jobs:

  A McKinsey Global Institute report projects that 30% of current U.S. jobs could be automated by 2030.

So what’s the plan for those “replaced” people? There is no plan.

Just like there was no plan for textile workers who were abandoned in the 1970s as manufacturing went to Southern States, then to China, then to India, then to wherever the clothing could be made cheapest. Screw the workers left behind.

Just like the cab drivers who were replaced by underpaid Uber drivers. Just like the small hoteliers and innkeepers who were replaced with AirBnB rentals that lacked licensing for fire safety codes. Screw the people who had worked for years to get a cab license or spent a small fortune adapting their properties to state and local regulations.

Just like the factories all over the middle of the country that were shut down as their production was shipped overseas – decimating thousands of small towns. And we wonder why so many voters are bitter?

We worship creative destruction. I think innovation is terrific. I don’t want to drive a horse and carriage to the grocery store. But when huge numbers of citizens are suddenly unemployed with NO PLAN to retrain them or relocate them or assist them in any way – we have failed as a society.

And we are about to fail American workers in a very big way. Again?
So what’s the plan? Starve them to death? After all, food deprivation is trending.

Of course I can’t escape the irony that I used AI to help write this piece. I am not a Luddite. I love technology. I just think we should be smart and think before we leap. Make a plan. Because people are more important than computer processors, no?

https://www.investopedia.com/wall-street-is-worried-about-an-ai-bubble-the-sector-where-stock-prices-really-stand-out-11835209

https://www.theverge.com/news/803257/amazon-robotics-automation-replace-600000-human-jobs

“Apparently, Cruelty is The THING!”

When I think about a major problem that has plagued us, my silly old mind searches for solutions. I think about specific and EFFECTIVE actions we could take to solve the problem and perhaps save some lives.

Part 1 – Let’s think about drug deaths in America. I asked Google AI for some answers:

AI Overview
”People also ask:
What is the leading cause of overdose deaths in the United States?

Fentanyl continues to be the primary cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States. Sep 4, 2025”

Fentanyl comes from laboratories, as it is a synthetic opioid.

There are two main types: pharmaceutical fentanyl, manufactured by licensed drug companies for medical use, and illicitly manufactured fentanyl, produced in clandestine labs for the illegal drug market.

Illicitly manufactured fentanyl

The production and trafficking of illegal fentanyl is a multi-step international process involving precursor chemicals and criminal organizations.

1. Sourcing of precursor chemicals

• China: Currently, China is the primary global source of precursor chemicals used to produce illicit fentanyl. While China banned the production of finished fentanyl in 2019, companies there still manufacture and export the necessary precursor ingredients to other countries, mainly Mexico.

• India: India has also emerged as a source for both precursor chemicals and finished fentanyl powder, though to a lesser extent than China.

2. Manufacturing and trafficking

• Mexico: Since China’s 2019 ban, Mexican cartels, such as the Sinaloa Cartel, have become the primary producers of illicit fentanyl for the U.S. market.

• Clandestine labs: Mexican cartels acquire precursor chemicals from countries like China and manufacture the finished fentanyl in clandestine laboratories in Mexico.

• Smuggling: The finished fentanyl, either as a powder or pressed into counterfeit pills, is then smuggled into the United States, predominantly across the U.S.-Mexico border.

3. Shift in production location

• Before 2019, the majority of finished fentanyl was manufactured in China and shipped directly to the U.S. via mail.

• After China restricted the manufacture of all fentanyl-related substances, production largely shifted to Mexico. Criminal organizations adapted by continuing to import precursors from China to produce the final product closer to the U.S.”

  ---

  Part 2 – So. The source of manufacture is Mexico. And the path it uses is across our border with Mexico. How does that happen?

  

  AI Overview

  “The majority of illicit fentanyl is smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border through legal ports of entry, most often in passenger vehicles driven by U.S. citizens. Mexican transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) use established trafficking networks to produce and transport the drug into the United States.

  Trafficking at ports of entry

  Mexican cartels use several tactics to exploit the high volume of daily cross-border traffic at official checkpoints:

  • Concealed in vehicles: The vast majority of fentanyl seizures occur at ports of entry, where it is hidden in secret compartments, gas tanks, engine cavities, tires, and other areas of passenger cars and commercial vehicles. The large number of vehicles crossing the border makes it impossible to thoroughly inspect every one.

  • U.S. citizen couriers: TCOs prefer to use U.S. citizens as couriers because they attract less scrutiny from border agents than undocumented migrants.

Co-mingled with legitimate goods: Fentanyl is often hidden within ordinary cargo on commercial trucks, trains, or buses to evade detection.”

To recap: The drug that is killing the most Americans is brought here by Americans crossing through legal ports of entry.

Part 3 – Our “stable genius” president has directed our military to assassinate unknown people in small boats. No one knows their names. No evidence has been provided that they were transporting drugs. They were in a boat in the wrong place at the wrong time.

There is a strong possibility that those little boats were carrying cocaine. I’m not a law enforcement expert. But wouldn’t it have been productive to stop the boats, board them to inspect their cargo? Brag about the seizure?

If drugs were found, wouldn’t it serve justice to secure the men and interview them? Who provided the drugs? Who are their bosses? Where do they live? Where were the drugs made? Who was to receive them in America? What cities were they destined for? Get facts to help break up the cartels?

No arrest. No trial. No time served. No information gained. No progress in the larger “war on drugs”. Just execution. This is more than immoral callous cruelty. It is jaw dropping stupidity. By American Law and the universally accepted standards of modern civilization – it is illegal.

I wonder what it feels like to be the pilot who is told to pull the trigger to kill several human beings based on suspicion. Does that person feel righteous or ashamed? Does that person sleep at night without visualizing the scene right after the rocket hits the boat? The incinerated and blown apart chunks of flesh and bone that were a breathing person just a few minutes ago. Body parts floating – fish food. One press of a button. People with families. Lives – poof?

Do they realize that they could be prosecuted for a war crime? Do they suffer from PTSD? Or do they just head to the bar for shots and beers – bragging about their kill?

Part 4

I asked AI what was in the bi-partisan “border bill” that was generated in the Senate in 2024. The bill that was killed in the House of Representatives by a phone call from Trump to House Leader Johnson. “We don’t want to give Biden a victory…”

Under proposals and legislation advanced by the Biden administration, “better drug screening” at the border would be achieved through the use of advanced technology and increased personnel. The aim is to combat the trafficking of illicit substances, particularly fentanyl, while expediting the screening of legitimate travelers and goods.

Key measures related to better drug screening include:

• Technology and infrastructure: Plans call for authorizing funding to deploy high-throughput scanning technologies at all ports of entry. This would allow officials to scan 100% of commercial and passenger vehicles and freight rail traffic, improving the ability to detect narcotics. As of June 2024, the administration had already added 40 drug detection machines, with a bipartisan border agreement proposing funding for 100 more.

• Targeting “de minimis” shipments: A legislative proposal from the Biden administration focuses on closing a loophole that allows drug traffickers to use small, low-value “de minimis” shipments to smuggle fentanyl across the border. It would grant Customs and Border Protection (CBP) the authority to demand more information on these packages and impose penalties on violators.

• Increased staffing: Both early legislative proposals and a bipartisan border agreement from 2024 included plans to hire more CBP personnel, such as Border Patrol Agents and CBP Officers.

• Disrupting criminal networks: Initiatives aim to strengthen the ability to prosecute individuals involved in narcotics smuggling and expand anti-gang task forces in Central America. The administration has also cooperated with Mexico to extradite high-profile fentanyl traffickers.

  ---

Part 5

Duterte led a campaign of executing suspected drug dealers. Just shot them in the street. Sometimes in front of their families.

AI Overview

“Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested in March 2025 and is currently in custody at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, facing charges of crimes against humanity related to the Philippines’ war on drugs. He was indicted for his alleged role in dozens of murders during his time as both mayor of Davao City and president. His request to be released from detention was recently denied, as ICC judges cited his potential flight risk and ability to obstruct justice.

• Arrest and custody:

  Duterte was arrested in Manila on March 11, 2025, and flown to the Netherlands the same night, where he has been held at an ICC detention center. He is the first Asian head of state to be charged by the ICC.

• Charges:

  The charges stem from alleged crimes against humanity, specifically the crime of murder, linked to the war on drugs. Prosecutors allege he was criminally responsible for numerous deaths, both as mayor and as president.

• Legal proceedings:

  Duterte is in a pre-trial phase, with the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor seeking to have the charges confirmed against him before a full trial can proceed.

• Release denied:

  Judges at the ICC denied his request for release in October 2025. They determined that he posed a flight risk and could intimidate witnesses if he were not detained.

• Health concerns:

  While his legal team has argued for his release based on poor health, the ICC has not commented on his specific condition.”

  ---

Democrat Circular Firing Squad be Damned

This old guy is losing patience. The Democratic Party has the edge. Republicans have embraced a mad king and are on a path to destroying the nation and the Earth.

And yet, we can’t get our act of opposition together. Our MAGA MONSTER president posts a video of HIM shitbombing Americans from an airplane. And we can’t find unity of message?

I do salute Jeffries and Schumer for FINALLY standing up for healthcare rights. But as a whole, they have been much too nice and chaotic. They should have shut down Congress long ago and led protest marches themselves.

In fact, they should be working with sane military leaders to arrest a president who has murdered and is about to be the cause of many American deaths. All the rules of democracy and the rule of law have been tossed by a despot and his merry band of traitors. Trump/Vance/Kegbreath/Noem/Kennedy – a team of insane gangsters. You can’t deny it. The Constitution is mocked. The Supreme Court has been bought. The coup is complete.

End of angry rant.

The Editorial Board of the New York Times recently wrote an interesting piece about how Democrats can find a path to victory over the MAGA Republicans. They counsel “moderation”. In this piece they provide excellent documentation of recent Democratic electoral victories by moderate candidates. It’s a very convincing editorial. They almost had me. Here it is (paywall by passed):
“The Partisans are Wrong – Moving to the Center is the Way to Win”

But here are a few reasons I think the NYTimes is wrong now:
1. Donald Trump didn’t become president because he was “moderate”.
2. MAGA didn’t eat the Republican Party and spit it out as a moderate party.
3. The Democratic “base” isn’t feeling calm and reasonable. Or moderate…
4. As Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report ALWAYS says: “It’s about turn out!”
5. There is a rage across the nation that can be tapped. Should be tapped. Must be…
6. These are not “normal times”. We are in a state of national chaos.
7. The NYTimes has been in a fantasy bubble of denial. For a long time.

The Republican Party has become the party of vicious retribution and heartless punishment. Is that moderate?

But isn’t this the same trap Democrats fall into? The label trap?
Is healthcare for every American a “lefty radical” idea?
Should affordable child care be out of reach for most American parents?
Should extremely rich people get richer while exploding the Federal debt?
Should the environment be put at risk so fossil fuel companies can make more money?
Should American farmers suffer because of whimsical, seat of the pants tariffs?
Should Americans be sick and die because a lunatic heads the Health Dept of the US?

“Moderate” actions and policies did not win in 2024. Bigotry and cruelty won. And I think a majority of Americans now realize it was a BIG mistake.

As people lose their food assistance benefits and the military families can’t pay their bills the blame will land squarely on the MAGA politicians who won’t negotiate. Who are slashing Federal programs. They are the radicals. The extremists.

There are more Americans who want to return to sanity than not. Is that moderate or radical? Who cares?

The BIG POINT. The BIG WINNING argument is made by this man. And it is an echo of what radical lefty extremists like Bernie Sanders and AOC have been saying for a long, long time. Senator Chris Murphy has said it for a long time. The Democrats must build a big tent with economic justice – fairness as the center pole.

I don’t care what we call it. Radical, moderate, sensible, reasonable, fair, kind?

Democrats: Learn from the MAGA monsters. Get on message and repeat it until you lose your voice. Scream and repeat it over and over and over and over.

Again:
“THEY” have stolen America from “US”. The Oligarchs have rigged the system, bought the system, bought the politicians, bought the policies with OUR money.

I think redistribution of wealth from the few ridiculously rich to 90% of families – so they can survive in the richest nation to have EVER existed is a very MODERATE position. Radical would be a violent revolution.

Gavin Newsom is not my favorite Democrat. But THIS is how you talk about the travesty called Trumpism. Or should we just be “moderate” and let this happen…?

Yup. I’m still angry. Every sane, compassionate and LOYAL American should be furious. Here are some labels we could use for us:
Integrity
Honesty
Fairness
Lawfulness
Kindness

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Everything is YOUR fault

Mr. President. We have a problem.

I Googled “latest measures of food inflation”. The first result to appear is an “AI Overview”.

”AI Overview

As of August 2025, U.S. food inflation was 3.2% over the past year, a faster rate than overall inflation. For August 2025, food-at-home (grocery) prices increased 2.7% year-over-year, while food-away-from-home (restaurant) prices rose 3.9%. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Food Price Index was 3.4% higher year-over-year in September 2025.

U.S. inflation (August 2025)

• Overall food inflation: 3.2%

• Food at home (groceries): 2.7%

Food away from home (restaurants): 3.9%”

The next Google result that appears is a statement for September 25 from the Economic Research Service of the FDA. If you have the time and bandwidth to scroll through it, you may get the same impression I did. It seems to “normalize” and downplay the real life costs of eating in America. It rationalizes the stats by suggesting that inflation has been worse. This is true. But does that alleviate the painful current problem?

One would hope to see the newest data in a few days. But. There is a banner at the top of the website – OUR GOVERNMENT’s website that should send shivers down your spine:

”Due to the Radical Left Democrat shutdown, this government website will not be updated during the funding lapse.

President Trump has made it clear he wants to keep the government open and support those who feed, fuel, and clothe the American people.”

I tried another search. “root causes of food inflation”. I looked for a source that is factual and truly independent of political influence. The PEW Research Center is one I trust. So here is a more revealing way to look at food prices. From the point of view of the consumer.

The following is not the fault of any president. Donald Trump didn’t create the pandemic and Joe Biden inherited the fallout. But what matters now? There is an extreme crisis in food prices for the Americans that are not experiencing the “new prosperity”.

Past politicians have used the phrase “There are two Americas”. That has always been the case. But intelligent, 21st Century leaders could have improved on that. We are, after all, a really VERY rich nation. As a whole. But right now, sharing is not trending.

So here we are Mr. President. As Harry Truman said “The buck stops here.” You may not be clear on this. But here is the harsh, unadulterated, forever the case, truth:

EVERYTHING that happens from here on in – is on YOU. The president. EVERYTHING.

But wait, wait, sir…you say you have a solution! Import more beef to increase supply and lower prices. Brilliant! Does that mean you are going to dispose of those silly price hiking tariffs – like the 50% on a major beef exporter like Brazil? I am having a bit of a math problem here. But I am sure you can bullshit your way through this issue.

Or you can just blow up another boat of unknown people to distract us. As modern TV has taught us, murder is always an attention getter. And apparently, your dumping shit on your fellow Americans is your answer to the question: “How do we survive when prices keep going up?”

However, it ain’t gonna work for long. Because we all need to shop soon…

For a broader view of how American prosperity is currently “shared”, please watch this segment of the PBS NewsHour. The video is set for Paul Solman’s explanation.

If you are comfortably in that top 10% of Americans that is driving 50% of current consumption, enjoy. But when the rest of us can’t consume what we could in the past, something happens. Consumer spending represents about 2/3 of the American economy (GDP). When half of us must reduce that spending – no choice, everything is too expensive – corporate earnings are impacted.

The standard measure of stock market “health” and trends is the price to earnings ratio. The markets are now at a historically high P/E ratio. Rising significantly each week. Stock markets are very driven by emotion and the psychology of the day. “Looks like the Fed will drop interest rates! Buy!”
But sooner or later, companies have to show a level of profits that are sustainable and justify their stock prices.

Simply put, consumers in pain will slow down their spending, profits will drop, and stock markets will head south. The big market collapses of 2000 and 2008 were preceded by very high unsustainable P/E ratios.

But I am no stock market guru. Let’s ask Google AI:

”Yes, the S&P 500 P/E ratio is considered high by historical standards, with current figures like the forward P/E around 23 and a 10-year P/E around 37, both significantly above the long-term average of about 16. This suggests stocks may be overvalued, indicating potentially lower future returns and a higher risk of a market correction. Some analysts argue that a new era of higher valuations might be the norm, driven by factors like strong technology companies, while others believe the high P/E signals a high-risk environment, especially with other economic pressures present.”

“What the S&P 500 P/E ratio indicates

• High P/E ratio:

  The current P/E ratio is higher than the historical average, which can suggest that the stock market is overvalued.

• Forward vs. Trailing:

  The forward P/E (based on future earnings) is around 23, while the 10-year P/E is around 37, both significantly above the long-term average P/E of 16.

• Historical context:

  P/E ratios this high have only been seen during periods like the late 1990s Dot-com bubble and the lead-up to the 2020 market correction, which were followed by significant market downturns.”

When will that inflection point be hit? What event will be the trigger? What will cause a loss of confidence and a significant correction? And what will cause even the top 10 or 20% to reduce spending? Further propelling the the spiral dive? This amateur predicts this:

There will be an earnings season where corporate profits show significant weakness – companies won’t meet (or exceed – that’s the normal expectation) the consensus earning estimates and forecasts. Basically, not delivering as promised.

And fueling the panic will be the realization that AI is not going to provide the outsized profits promised and heavily invested in. Again, ironically, a Google AI answer:

”While there is no universally agreed-upon “AI stock” category, JPMorgan reported in October 2025 that a basket of 30 names linked to artificial intelligence made up about 44% of the S&P 500’s total market value.”

If AI doesn’t start to deliver on its “profits promises” and consumers simultaneously reduce spending, we will have reached the edge of a cliff.

And Mr. President, it will ALL BE YOUR FAULT. Why? Because that’s just how it works, sir. Anything goes wrong, it’s on you. Ask Joe. Ask Barack, Ask Bill.

Jesse says it quite well. Guess we all need to “work harder” – ‘cause we’ve just been much too lazy…right?

https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-price-outlook/summary-findings