DJT may be the perfect frontman for the American Oligarchy. They are all rotten to the core and devoid of ANY of the values that made this a great nation despite its flaws. They let him turn the White House into a trailer park with a Hooters in front while they proceed with the real business--implementing Project 2025 while further enriching themselves on the backs of regular citizens.
We really need fo stop using "trailer park" to mean something morally negative when THIS is the economy people are forced to live in. And yes, I live in a trailer.
Sharon, I replied to you but deleted my comment because it was weirdly formatted. I will try again. I agree with you. People are not defined by their housing (or lack therof) and it is long past time to stop with the tired trailer park trope. Mobile homes have been an affordable housing option for many for years. However, that is changing. Mobile home parks are being purchased by the same predatory private equity companies who are purchasing single family homes and renting them at exorbitant prices. Lot rents are increasing while access to basic needs such as safe, running water are not being met. Tenants are unable to resolve issues with new park owners who simply ignore them or make promises that never happen. This is happening in my area and across the country and it's unconscionable.
Donald Trump has never lived in a mobile home. What he is doing to Washington, DC and the White House has nothing to do with where he has lived and everything to do with how he has lived. Let's judge people based on the content of their character not their domicile.
This is happening here in S. Florida. Many people work two jobs just to pay the ground rent on their major asset--a manufactured home. They are being evicted with only short notice and without an alternative park to relocate to, even if that were affordable, which it is not.
How can you afford to even insure your home in FL? When I took over my brother's bill paying I was stunned to learn his home insurance is 6k plus a year! I was told that's cheap for FL. Gulp.
Its the same in fire prone areas in western states. People have had their insurance cancelled just because areas that were not even close have burned. People can’t even get insurance and lose their mortgage. Even if you can get insurance it’s over $6,000 for home only. And if you make a claim, say, for burst pipes and water damage, the insurance company will use it as an excuse to cancel the policy. After you’ve paid tens of thousands of dollars over decades…
Yes, it is tragic. People work a lifetime to pay their home off, then insurances and taxes prohibit us from retiring in our homes. System is so broken and this asshat has only made it worse through his corruption.
I am lucky, my state has a Fair Share Ins Co where people who won't be covered by regular insurance companies go to insure their home. BTW - I thought they were in the risk business, guess not. My yearly premium is under 2k/ probably not insured for enough - I must check.
I hear you, Marj. My family has lived in SE Florida since 1952. Insurance was once affordable, despite the hurricane prone location. In recent years costs have escalated and the Republican legislature did not address affordability. We have no mortgage, so our storm insurance is now one of our highest annual recurring costs. We could just skip the storm rider, but "self insurance" would not work for us. We shopped around and our premium is slightly less than your brother's. Red states will suffer if FEMA does not show up.
11billion dollars cut from FEMA. 1000s of employees lost their jobs. N. Carolina, TX, FL are still recovering from the last weather disasters. trump says FEMA should be eliminated. Governors have had to call repeatedly to ask where the FEMA funds are.
Even if FEMA does exist, states are at the mercy of a president who hates blue states-they didn't vote for him, their Governors criticized him. Washington state governor said he didn't like the way trump handled the covid situation. He received no Federal aid. When Biden came into office, help was given.
What is tragic about these rising insurance premiums is it locks so many out of home ownership - especially younger people just starting out. So as this continues home that can't sell will lose their value.
That’s nothing—because all the homeowners insurance companies have pulled out of CA, my annual homeowners insurance premium through the CA Fair Plan is $11,000 and I still have to buy an additional policy for the contents at $2,000.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse talks about this. When people cannot insure their homes, they cannot sell them, some lose their mortgages, and potential buyers cannot get mortgages. And as someone said it is happening in other parts of the country as well.
Donald Trump lives in a world where people are defined by their housing. That's just the way it is. From Trump Tower, Mar a Lago, to the White House.. because he was "a businessman". Trump is where he is also because of where he lived and lives now. Telling people otherwise is a peak into the larger problem.
Potter, I disagree that Donald Trump is where he is because of where he lived. He lived where he lived because he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and access to unearned wealth that made it possible. Many if not most of his friends and neighbors ended up in the same neighborhoods for the same reason.
Not *because of" but like the car you drive and the clothes you wear, even more so where you live, is a pronouncement that you can afford it and are successful. financially. This itself is big business- catering to the super wealthy. In this country, and many places all over the world, wealth matters. Trump got to POTUS in part because people figured a "successful" businessman can run the country better.
Trump was born into money, but he conned his way into much much more. He got a leg up but it could have been squandered. He parlayed it.
Also re your last sentence- that is a fallacy of reasoning imo- people with money live in fancy neighborhoods true.. But they got there not for the same reason. A relative recently lived for several years in a spectacular home in a gated community in the Hollywood Hills because her husband wheeled and dealed in real estate there.
People built there because of success the film industry originally during one period. That was earned wealth.
Here people can get enormously wealthy earning it legitimately, illegitimately or inheriting it.
Many "ordinary" folks got their lift from their parents to buy a house.
tRump earned his money criminally. That's the difference. He learned how to sue anyone that was harmed by his actions from Roy Cohen. IMO, that's a world of difference from even wheeling and dealing.
I think your first sentence should have an asterisk. Sometimes it is a pronouncement that you can afford it and are successful. A lot of other times, it is a pronouncement that you had the ability to get a lot of credit and are living well above your means. I live in an affluent suburb of Chicago, and I know plenty of people that look on the surface like they are successful, but kick over their financial rock, and they are drowning. One of my husband's work partners lives this way. Always put together, designer clothes, big beautiful house, kids in private school, yet she's constantly borrowing from her 401k and puts everything on credit to keep up appearances. It is pretty sad.
Remember "Beverly Hills 90210?" Perhaps I'm just getting old to remember, but I know people identify social worth by zip code and housing development everywhere I've lived as we've moved around the nation. Currently I live in a zip code that was once associated with white flight after a desegregation order. That zip code still is a strike against residents and our housing values are far lower than in neighboring counties. Decades later. So, property values are associated with race and class. And that harms our local K-12 education funding. Neighboring counties have world class schools. Ours can't afford repairs in some locales. Chris Rock once stated he was treated as out of place in his expensive home among doctors and dentists. Because of his race. When we live in class (and race) segregated housing rather than the smaller towns and cities that have fewer rich and less difference in wealth, this is what happens. So, the uber rich are playing a card we all know and use --- just more extreme.
Linda, years ago, my friends moved to Beverly Hills and invited me to fly out for a week and help them decorate their new home. When I arrived, we took "the scenic route" to their house. I was surprised, almost to the point of shock. The houses in Beverly Hills were not mansions on sprawling acres; they were average-looking, two-story houses jammed together on postage-stamp lots that could've used the attention of a yard man.
Since then, the nouveau riche have pulled down many of the ordinary houses and replaced them with glassed-up boxes that make their postage-stamp lots look even smaller. I'm sorry ... when one's property is measured in square feet rather than acres, and one can reach out one's side window and turn on the neighbor's kitchen faucet, one is not living in luxury. One is living in ostentation.
My dad lives in NW Santa Monica, where the houses were all originally modest bungalows. Most of them have been or are sold as “tear downs”, for millions, to make way for box houses that fill the entire lot. It’s a beautiful neighborhood, but it’s also pretty sad to know what it was, and now is.
Yes. A small 1950s tract house in the neighboring county is worth 50% to 100% more than where we live. These old developments are being torn down house by house for "McMansions," which are for the extremely wealthy. One study claims that even housing is out of reach for the lower middle class in my region outside WDC; folks have to earn $100,000 a year for entry into that sociologically defined group . Our little starter homes here are being bought by care facilities and businesses that can house up more than 10 people in a 3 or 4 bedroom house due to zoning. Even my small 1950s home is unaffordable for first time buyers. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. And if you are a minority or a woman, the challenge is more difficult because of the additional ways your income and pathways have roadblocks. Class has been ignored by far too many scholars in recent decades as they have attended to the compelling challenges of race and gender. Those three are interwoven. No wonder those presidential cage fights appeal, and no wonder they are alarming for their ability to channel that rage and identity. The poor get poorer as the ever richer can manipulate their desperation to profit and to power.
Trump is so tacky and so "outre" (oou-tray) and he is clueless about his tackiness along with everything else. It's amazing how many people prostrate themselves before him. This is about us.
Not equating anything here, but at 78, I'm becoming more aware of those who casually use 'dusty Boomers' or other dismissive pejorative terms to stereotype older people, and express resentment and hostility. We are not all the same, politically, economically, religiously, educationally, or any other quality. I could go around referring to 'callow youth' all the time and denigrating young people but that is just as unfair. Returning to the original comment, this is a horrible time for so many people. Our hearts break for those experiencing housing insecurity, food insecurity, lack of access to healthcare. The evil this administration is loosing on Americans is inexplicable. What is their ultimate success going to look like?
No one, no matter how poor, should have to live in a trailer. They're the most unsafe housing there is. Tornadoes, derechos, hurricanes, flash floods and fires turn trailers into death traps. We can do better.
What comes into my mind is the old statement: “As the rich get richer, the poor get poorer”. In essence, fewer and fewer people enter the rich category as time progresses — but larger numbers of individuals find themselves in the category or class themselves as being poor!
Or, it’s hard to get rich…it is easy to become poor! Now of course all of this applies to monetary or financial wealth. There are some to significant numbers of poor individuals who are rich in knowledge and intelligence as well as moral values; however, the same cannot necessarily be said about or applicable to those that might or are classified as wealthy financially or monetarily!
Sooooo tired of the old money democrats at this point. Talk about freaking tone deaf. Like that witch a couple days ago comparing this White House to the Beverly Hillbillies.
The Clampetts were warm and caring people who were out of their normal social structure. They weren't evil, greedy sociopaths like the 'rich' people who live in the White House.
Every time I hear negative 'trailer park' and 'hillbilly' talk... it really makes me realize why the working class was so easily led by MAGA.
Trailers are lower cost homes. They are still homes. But you know these same people would lose their minds if someone tried to put a park... or a homeless shelter.. within a mile of their perfectly manicured lawns.
Good points, bbb. The Trumps and their ilk are people whose self-worth is seemingly based on their net worth. Their crass and vulgar displays of wealth are meaningless in the long run and will not be remembered kindly by history.
Thanks, Sharon. Your point is really important. It highlights the internalized "othering" and distancing that some folks have against what they perceive as economic differences. These so-called differences are interpreted as moral weakness or inadequacy.
It's always appropriate to call out these types of discriminations and to educate all of us about these divisive actions.
My family lived in trailers several times at different stages of working toward the American dream. It was a transitional necessity until we could "more up". In those days, a lot of Americans were able to improve their lives. None of us were, or are "trailer trash". That's a pejorative I would like to see disappear from our civil discourse.
You are correct. I live in Florida where there are many beautiful mobile home parks and many seniors and families live in them. I’m thinking white trash is a perfect moniker-it reflects their racism as well as their values.
Jen, you are correct, but perhaps people haven't seen them. I wrote a long reply to Sharon above, and the person I knew whose family owned parks owned one in FL. I'd never seen it in real life, only in photos, but it was beautiful. She said it was really nice.
I can only speak for swfl-they are mostly for seniors (some exclusively-intentionally so) but have pickleball courts, pools, community buildings for events, and more. Well-maintained and a more affordable option for those with limited means. Some are largely for snowbirds but all have year-round residents as well. The biggest concern here is hurricanes-I was a pastor (retired now) of a largely senior congregation where many lived in mobile homes when hurricane Ian hit. For those who thought this was their forever home, it was a tragedy of catastrophic proportions where roofs were pulled off like peeled back tuna cans, exposing everything to the winds and water, flooding, and flying debris. Most moved north to live with family when they lost everything and our governor failed to ensure insurance companies’ compliance with reimbursements. After that, it’s a matter of faith if one chooses to live there. I prefer brick and mortar-but I’m privileged to have that choice.
Jen, last week 17 tornados ripped though Chicago area, including NW Indiana. There was a horrific tornado that tore up my suburb long before I moved here. I think I was about 10 at the time, and our dad drove us through the area to view it. It left quite an impact on my young mind. I consider having a basement (with an ace-in-the-hole battery powered backup sump pump!) to be an absolute necessity.
Here, we go to the nearest brick and mortar dwelling, ride out the hurricanes (tornadoes that accompany them) in windowless rooms. We stock up on supplies in prep for the season (June to November), and pray-a lot. Desantis used fema money to build Alligator Alcatraz, so if a big storm comes, it will be even more chaotic. With Ian, I had no power for close to three weeks, broken windows and a smashed back wall of my house where all the neighborhood sheds and fences hit, but I was safe, as were my family and our furry family members. Our community became friendlier for a time-most everyone sharing what we had with those who needed. I fear what will happen when the next big one hits-we no longer have the roofing crews that tarped, repaired, and replaced. There’s also do much maga hatred around here-ppl are truly different now. You mentioned the tornadoes-a great place to donate is Lutheran Disaster Response-whenever there is a catastrophic issue (flood, storm, tornado, etc) they are immediately boots on the ground and serving those in need. (As a former northeast gal, I remember basements and sump pumps!)
The same reasoning can be used for using the term "Karen." My wife's ex sister-in-law goes by that name; she will be a Trump supporter, it appears, until the day she dies. There have been many times I wanted to use the "Karen" insult against her due to her political beliefs until I checked myself to understand two poignant realities: 1) she can't help having been named Karen, and 2) there must be literally millions of Karens who are on the same side of the argument that I hold. Like implying those folks who live in trailers as being somewhat or somehow less than, we should think twice about using the name "Karen" with derision.
My beloved late sister was named Karen. A very dear friend I have now,--thankfully living as I'm at that age--is also named Karen. I purposely chose the name for a main character in one of my manuscripts, both as an honor to them and also hoping to put the name in a better light.
I've heard that "Jessica" is replacing "Karen" as a derogative now.
I absolutely get it, Sharon. I have two dear friends (both former homeowners) who now reside in "55 and over manufactured home communities". My sister and her husband lived in one when they were first married. I believe that MHP (Mobile Home Parks) provide great and affordable housing. That said... I still remember the street addresses of a half dozen MHP's that were often the source for law enforcement calls for service 13 years after retirement.
My sidebar story to that is going to a death investigation at one of those MHP's. Neighbors who were going to help an elderly woman put up her storm windows discovered she had passed during the night. They forced entry, found her, and called us. One of the neighbors (a vet tech at one of our two animal clinics) took her dog. She had no known living relatives. The only prior call at that residence still on our call log was my victim as the complainant in her husband's death in some 30 years prior.
I agree Sharon, trailer parks are portrayed negatively. I for one, live in a trailer park which I chose to do. It’s really quite nice!! Now, if they say “trailer trash” thats a whole different ball game. What comes to mind when I say “old white men”?
But I have also, in my years, visited many living in trailers -- and received wonderful decency and generous hospitality from them.
I hope Dems, especially newer, younger Dems, get over the money-&-celebrity-oriented illness long of establishment, status quo Dems. Hope they seek out red state America, and red-area, rural America even in blue states.
But you know what most-guaranteed blinds, neuters, dehumanizes most Dems? Testing.
I live in a double wide on a few acres of my own. Folks who live in a trailer park dont deserve to be put in the same bracket as this bunch of grifters, crooks and conmen!
Frankly, a lot of "mobile home parks"(better term) are much nicer and classier than the current boobs in the WH! These days all of us are doing the best we can.
Please let me piggyback something a bit off from what you've got right on.
How again a commenter here calls citing humanities as nothing more than self-exhibition.
I’ve often cited here novels, songs, films, and other arts. I’ve often urged schools in the U.S. and elsewhere to embrace essay writing so students nurture seeing and quoting others as individuals in their cultures. This would open, too, citing memoirs, histories, essay collections, and other arts.
One other commenter here has often resisted any role for humanities in our forum – Heather’s forum. But now a second commenter has labeled me with the same words as the first, as if any use of humanities aimed only to show off how smart I might be.
Please enlarge this scenario by going back 50 years. It was then that I first noticed this charge being thrown at prominent lefties and progressives in our universities then. This discomfited me 50 years ago, especially since the mid-1960s books, films, and songs vitally energized those passionate for anti-war, feminism, civil rights, farm workers, gays, and the environment.
I didn’t know it at the time, but it was the Heritage Foundation and the Hoover Institution (one new, the older with venerable legacy) then paying conservative intellectuals to shame those in our universities using humanities to help focus their energies. The far right then wanted universities instead only to rely on neutral specialists only – to shear all literacy of what the far right scorned as, at best, marginal ornamentation only, amateur excrescences, decorative irrelevances. They spent a lot of money on this campaign – and by the end of the 1970s had won.
Another post Powell-memo new foundation, ALEC, was successfully lobbying all state legislatures seriously to cut public subsidies to higher ed. It also began the tide of lobbyists in Washington, D.C.
This isn’t just lamentable history from 50 years ago. It’s also now two fellow commenters yet crusading to shame humanities now as then.
The long arm of plans, deliberate and with malice, to strip the government of any human endeavor. Media laser focused on the goals you mentioned. Hard to see as the storm gathered strength. Now we are seeing the damage.
And I say to the slime pit of the ages, “Please Drop dead now so I can poop on your gold-plated mausoleum and be the first to do it so I can get into the Guinness Book of World Records .” I’ll also bring poop from my house cats to sprinkle all over the unhallowed grounds.
Yes that should be clear- but it is composted professionally- raised to appropriate temps and used. We do buy (they sell) bags of manure which must be appropriately treated.
You are right. I have made a lot of compost from plant gardening over the years. But compost is made out of animal poop, I read, and usable only when heated to high temps... which some facilities do. People compost their poops in special toilets. We send our animal poop out with the trash and who knows where it ends up-- all goes back to the earth one way or another. Plastics really are a problem.
I once developed a 50’ garden and before I planted, I bought cow manure and my g garden stank for quite some time. Besides, I would want a photo of me taking a… at the said location for the archives.
Now you are reminding me. Cow manure has been quite okay traditionally. We lived in a house that had a barn with aged horse manure under the floor. I used that in my large vegetable garden. I did not get sick. I am still here. It maybe the horse had a vegetarian diet and it was aged... so too the cow.
I apologize. I read your comment as stating that the study of Humanities was like learning to drive with no place to go-apparently the exact opposite of your meaning. My bad. We are in complete agreement. 😜
Einstein said that “It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure.” Pythagoras said "There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres". I think that beauty can be identified in all of it. Likely Keats' best known line is "Beauty is truth, truth beauty," which leaves out a lot, but which I think is fundamentally defensible. There are truths to be identified in everything, and experience in nothing if not experiential, by which I mean the taste of honey, not just it's atomic architecture. We think and feel, therefore we are.
In every moment we process decisions about what is real and what, for us, has value. Where the focus of one's eye will next linger, whether what I write is worth the time spent to write it, or read it. Human value gets tricky because it can both be quite uniquely personal, and yet also shared. This blog is filled with such sharing. What, as social beings, do we most care about? What do we most wisely pursue in the pursuit of happiness? In an instant. In a lifetime?
Can we agree to disagree and yet respect each other's need for well-being? We could start with a proposition that all people are created equal, and deserving the respect of some kit of fundamental human rights; and hence, weave that theme into our decision process. That proposition has been argued for centuries.
Sixty or so years ago I questioned a much older friend’s assertion that right wing forces were quietly but effectively undermining public education. The effort was intended to stultify creative thinking, to produce a population that could be easily manipulated. I don’t question that today. The election of Trump, a person for whom creative pursuits just deters one from cheating others of their money, is clear proof the strategy worked. Our government today is a farce, the world’s joke. But a joke with power. For those who laugh at this a reading of the essays of the journalist Edward R. Murrow will be eye opening, even shocking. Americans of every stripe listened to his broadcasts. They were complex. They were challenging. If broadcast today they would be ignored. As a society, we are wealthier. We are awash in things. But we are not awash in knowledge or integrity. We still possess great wealth and power, though the wealth is now concentrated among the favored ones. But we are no longer respected or admired anywhere, and the countries we admire are no longer those that favor democracy but those that are dominated by dictatorial regimes. While Trump has struck with the sword that has toppled our democracy, his right wing forebears had done the work that made the ascension of a Trump possible. The damage will not be undone when he leaves the stage. As a society, we have not acknowledged how far we have fallen. We can rise to wherever we once were, and hopefully higher, but not unless we can honestly acknowledge where we are today.
Further to your point, in the June 2026 issue of "Church & State" magazine, there is an article entitled "The Trump Admin is hitting Americans with Incessant Christian Nationalism." It's shocking to learn the lengths that Dept of Defense Secretary Hegseth and Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, are going to to proselytize their departments' employees.
It seems to me that "Christian Nationalism" is a contradiction of terms, at least insofar as jingoistically applied. I was told repeatedly by "youth leaders" in my childhood that God favored the US in every conceivable way, above all other nations, and that we were assigned to lead the rest of the world; but I never saw that part in the Bible. I see some overlap in the US proposition of social equality at birth (though the "original sin" thing never made one bit of sense to me. Nor do the "Christian Nationalists" seem to me to illustrate the teachings of Jesus except as bad examples. )
Gary, your comments really nailed it. It comes down to two words: character and values. We are a nation divided by questions of values. The ChristoNazis believe they have the greater grasp of values; some of us think their value system is damaged and they wish to force that distortion on us. IMO these folks are simple-minded; as Marx said, religion is the opiate of the masses. The "basket of deplorables" lives on, ignorant and lacking in character (within which exists integrity). People like DJT have no values, no character, and they (the greedy oligarchs) have taken over. What are we to do?
Signe, I'm not sure it's in the end a question of values. We probably all claim, for example, to value "honesty," but how we define that seems to vary immensely. Ditto for a value like "loyalty." And it's a question of how we prioritize values. What's more important, for me to be honest to a police offer about my friend's crime, or to be loyal to that friend and stay silent?
What divides us as a nation is what in the sixties began to be referred to as cultural values: whether we could accept divorce, or homosexuality, or equal participation of the sexes in the workplace, or interracial marriage, e.g.
Donna, yes -- and it drills down to absolutist versus relativist interpretations and practices. Is murder always wrong? Would it be ok if I killed a person to stop them from blowing up the planet?
I think that in some ways every age is the best of times and the worst of times, depending where you look. That said, some societies seem more happy and more just overall, when compared to others, both in location and era. As a society we can point to apparent progress in reducing inequalities that were more common in Edward R. Murrow's day, let alone Jefferson's, yet also, a lot of presumed progress has eroded. The contest between those who assert the right to bully and those who would rather just get along appears ceaseless. We have evidence of just how nightmarish existence can become when the bullies fully dominate; and yet we must find means to defend ourselves and constrain certain types of aggressive or dangerously irresponsible behaviors. Whatever else can be said of them, the cohort that produced the famed July 4th document, and our Constitution made an earnest effort in the direction of justice which has been highly consequential since.
Lincoln saw the glaring malpractice in the existence of slavery and focused on it as grossly unacceptable to the supposed sacred status of universal liberty; as stirrings for women's rights accompanied the call of abolition. Jim Crow politics was still "normal" in the US in my youth, until protests were noticed. When my father was born, the full right of women to vote was not yet official. It does seem to me that we liberals speak less about long-term values than we did in what I remember of my youth, leaving it to Republicans to speak of values that are in fact a sham. What do we stand for in the grand scheme of things? Our founding documents were prescriptive but we while alive give them their meaning and agency.
I can see why you might feel impatience with how Phil raises the point repeatedly, but I think there is plenty of evidence that the humanities, which I understand to be expressions of our experiential humanness, are under attack by authoritarians, as they historically have are and have been in despotic regimes, left, right, and theocratic. I see it as only part of the picture, yet a very important part, and I think there is a lot a evidence available to back the claim that suppression of free expression of the arts is a core strategy of tyrants. That is subtler in our current, specific circumstances, but it is, I think, demonstrably there, and I think only the general momentum of a tradition of a comparatively free society has so far held back more draconian suppression by those seeking absolute power.
In 1985 the percentage of teens who read in their leisure time every day has dropped from 35% to around 15%. The number of teens who hardly ever read has risen from 15% to around 47%. Dr. Krugman suggest the smart phone usage is a major cause of this change. At any rate, it is not the sole responsibility of the education system to monitor cell phone usage nor is it the sole responsibility of the education system to make sure American students read the literature they are assigned to read.
He wasn't talking about a point -- he was talking about ME -- somebody he knows diddly about. Who else do you think he had in mind, Rick Sender? You betcha I'm gonna call him out for chickenshit behavior like that....
Dear, dear ICTT, just take a deep breath; you're certainly not alone.
Mr. Balla's head remains tucked so far up he can neither see his faults nor hear the critiques others of us have advanced. That so many of HCR's followers even now still click 'likes' to his pathetically invalid hypothesis is certainly not much of a compliment to either us or her. His grand, but specious, theory -- about "Powell," and the Chamber, and conservative foundations, and "standardized testing," and American schools, and their culpability for the "death of the humanities" in America, offering Diane Ravitch as affirmation -- is all just poppycock. Perhaps the east Asian sun has bleached white his gray matter, but it certainly has not diminished his resolution to advance a tiresome theory tirelessly. That's wholly on him.
Anyway, I've got more important quests to pursue. Two months ago I sent an (imperfect) essay documenting close to forty indicators that America's republic, at 250, needs serious attention ere it collapse. I linked it to the midterm elections, the needed exercise of the oversight functions respecting those forty indicators, and requirements for the coming 2028 presidential election. The organizing and starting work of constitutional reconstruction can't begin until 2029!
I closed the essay with the observation that the span of time from the Declaration of Independence to the ratification of the Constitution had been a dozen years . . . that would bring America to 2041; none of us -- Balla, ICTT, or Gideonse-- will be here. Consider also that the 120th Congress will not have the free hand available to the founders; it must work within the established frame of the Constitution presently in place. Think on THAT! Good luck, America; you'll need it . . .
P.S. Not a single one of the 60 leading Democrats sent that 20-page essay to their Washington offices has so far commented on or even acknowledged receipt of the afore-mentioned essay. That just speaks volumes to me . . .
Thanks Hendrik. The failure of a member of Congress (I'm assuming?) to respond to you speaks about something, indeed. When I was a Congressional intern way back during the Late Pleistocene, we answered *everything.* it made no difference if it was a request to intervene after a Social Security disability denial, a note expressing thanks, a complaint, a form chain letter, a handwritten scrawl, a long screed -- whatever. Every letter always began with "Dear....thank you for your letter/note of [date]..." There were no exceptions. I hope you will eventually receive something.
Hendrick: You're in good company (at least I consider him "good company;" others wouldn't.) Ralph Nader writes to members of Congress all the time and rarely gets the courtesy of a reply.
re Phil Balla: he's set up this strawman (an attack on the humanities) and sees in this substack a conspiracy of humanities haters. He alone can save readers from us. (ICTT is the most frequent of Phil's targets, I've also been named as one who doesn't like the humanities. Pure poppycock.) His other strawman is standardized testing. Yes, testing can be overused. But personally, I'd hate to live in a world where our surgeons, our pilots, our nurses and teachers our drivers, didn't have to demonstrate their mastery over their practiced subject. I.e,. pass a standardized test.
The enemies are intolerance and failure to recognize one's own shortcomings. Which our humanities expert Phil often enough displays.
In all fairness to Phil's persistence, I separate, in my mind, the delivery system for humanities, by which I mean where and how it is flourishing that is not in the structures we call schools (not in the disciplines we call courses). So where is it? Look around because that varies: In culture as inventive language, hip-hop in streets and playgrounds, the way people dress to align themselves with sub-cultural groups, graffiti, posters on bulletin boards in post offices and bodegas, tattoos, protest signs everywhere.
J L, this is true. However, education is only part of the problem. I taught in a small rural town (which now is a haven for MAGAs) and we had the humanities, civics, etc. Students generally reflect their parents' views and it was difficult to change those views in the classroom.
Gloria, It's not necessarily a need to argue. In a post last week he accused, by name, both ICTT and me of "excluding humanities," whatever that means. He made similarly disparaging comments today. Phil seems to think he's the only one on this substack who values and has been exposed to the humanities. I take exception to that, not only with respect to myself (and ICTT, but he's capable of defending himself) but because it demeans sincere and intelligent people whose comments show they're Phil's equals when it comes to appreciating and reflecting the values of a humanities-centered education. Phil often makes valuable comments. But his need to present a list of book titles when he writes, as if he's the only one who reads, is insulting and tiresome.
PS: Today Phila wrote "It’s also now two fellow commenters yet crusading to shame humanities now as then." Those two commenters may be ICTT and myself, since we've both disagreed with him at times. I'd love to see on what Phil bases his statement that two commenters are "crusading to shame humanities... ."
Down deep in their shitty little hearts, Republicans have long understood that reality has a liberal bias. One important subject in the study of the humanities is history- the never-ending debate in history is to determine which historian gets closest to the truth of what happened. My history professor at the University of Minnesota in the 1970s was David Noble. I think it was Professor Noble who inspired me to read Howard Zinn’s people’s history of the United States. Zinn, as it turned out, wrote one of the truest histories of the United States ever written. And how do I know that to be true? Trump and his fellow autocrats, plutocrats and nazis are doing it to us again.
Thank you for this. I will order Zinn's book(s.) This reminds me of John Dean's famous quote about a "cancer growing on the presidency." In fact, we have a cancer growing on the body politic here and IMO, it is white Christian Nationalism. The oligarchs are using it to extra trillions out of the U.S. economy - $39 trillion and growing. Pres. G.W. Bush was right about one thing when at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on 3-31-2001 he said: "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on."
What concerns me most is that the biggest lesson imparted by this motley collection of conmen, thugs, thieves and rapists is that crime pays. And it has, handsomely, for them.
So what do the humanities have to do with that? Well, something, but it’s not a silver bullet, either. Perhaps if we wrote essays that were rigorously critiqued and not simply given an inflated grade for the effort, people would be better able to discern through articulation and the application of reason in writing. Perhaps if we were familiar with the philosophical writings of Descartes, Hume, Hobbes, and Sartre and others we would be better able to identify strengths and the flaws in our own modern thinking that might help conceptualize solutions. Not all modern thinking is bad either. The expression is just different, as another poster put it.
But at the end of the day it’s all just words on a sheet of paper without action. Words can inspire but only if we are open to them, to the idea of putting ourselves at risk for the greater good. There are plenty of well educated Americans who got their liberal arts education and are now silent bystanders to the daily shitshow.
Phil, Annabel wrote that the American oligarchy were "devoid of ANY of the values that made this a great nation despite its flaws." In replying to her you said "How again a commenter here calls citing humanities as nothing more than self-exhibition." And, "But now a second commenter has labeled me with the same words as the first, as if any use of humanities aimed only to show off how smart I might be."
Last week, you and I had a thread of comments replying to each other. In one reply I suggested you "seemed to believe that those who list more authors in their comments have a better grounding in the humanities and better reasoning abilities. That therefore their opinion is somehow more valid. ... But does a litany of book titles embedded in a comment establish the superiority or even the bona fides of an opinion? Not necessarily. It may; or it may only demonstrate a person’s tendency to be pedantic.”
Are you the only subscriber to this newsletter who values the humanities and has a humanities background, Phil? Your reply to Annabel sounds like a screed against "... two fellow commenters yet crusading to shame humanities now as then." I don't think I've read a single comment in this newsletter which shames the humanities, Phil, not from anyone. Your inclination to turn so many of your comments into a suggestion that you alone are holding the fort against some conspiracy against the humanities gets tiresome, Phil.
I can’t help thinking about my college-level initial required readings: “Animal Farms” and “1984”. I would add that if could offer my recommendation to add to that list of essential readings would be “The Diary of Anne Frank” and “To Kill A Mockingbird”. Homer’s “The Odyssey” and “The Iliad”…probably should have been swapped between high school and a few of those from college level required reading…just my opinion?
"... turn the White House into a trailer park" disparages trailer parks and those who live in them. Most Americans who live in trailers do so because they are lower income and cannot afford otherwise. Housing policy in the U.S., under both Democrats and Republicans doesn't serve them.
Many on the Left, frequently self-righteously, champion certain underdog identity groups such as immigrants, migrants, racial minorities, Muslims, and LGBTQTIA+ but they lack awareness to the poor. Poor Americans like trailer dwellers can be classed "trailer trash" and their trailer homes used to represent something degraded. Likewise rural Americans can be disparaged as "hicks" and "red necks" which are put-down terms for largely white people who are also lower income and have less education.
I think the Left's commitment to an identity group focus over economic justice is a mistake. To its credit the Left desires human thriving and it has its best chance of succeeding when it addresses the material circumstances of people and understands that poverty cuts across all identity group boundaries.
PS - I don't think A. Ascher means to disparage trailer dwellers, but her language reflects a prejudicial thinking about the low income and poor that is built into our language, maybe built into the American psyche where it is your fault if you are poor in the land of freedom and opportunity. On the Left prejudicial expressions about the poor are not called hate speech, but prejudicial expressions based on identity are.
I agree with your calling out the trailer park language, don’t fall for the line that it’s the left that are all about “identity”. MAGA is all about white Christian identity. That’s the thing they’ve been selling. And, leftist movements that have focused only on economic situations and systems, such as unions, have a long history of excluding people of color. To raise issues of racism and its effects on people’s lives to increase awareness is not only a natural outcome but a needed one. We can do both-evaluate our own biases and not throw groups under the bus while we strive for a better economic situation for all.
I did not suggest we "throw groups under the bus." If we want people to thrive and have dignity they need respect and full civil rights. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, however, identified physiological, hence material needs as needing to be met first. I do not see an aware, well-informed, and committed effort in addressing policies and structures that will enable people to meet their material needs. For example, we seem fine with having exploited labor pick our tomatoes if it means cheaper prices for us.
I’m not sure what you mean. People of color are saying-have always been saying-we are also Americans, deserving of a government and society that supports economic opportunity and security as everyone else. Historically, the purveyors of race or identity politics have been elite white groups using race to separate middle and lower class folks from each other. And it has worked because racism is a thing. See the language of Andy Beshear and Reverend Barber as guides -or if you want a historical reference, the Fusion politics of early 20th century North Carolina-for how to message about liberty, justice and economic security for all.
In my long life I hsve never felt that the left, whatever that is (not repub) had hatred for any group. McCarthy and Nixon were haters snd crooks. Just my Takeuchi
I saw someone else call the Trump weirdos (no offense to weirdos) "white trash." Most of these weirdos are white and I don't think trash will be offended or that is has a negative connotation. Their value system doesn't coincide with what is considered normal in our culture or actually any culture I am aware of.
Most of HCR's readers are not starving, homeless and broke, but there is no reason to be condescending to anyone who is. In 2020, 1.6 million people filed for bankruptcy due to medical debt. This does not make them "trailer trash."
Elizabeth Warren has been trying since before the ACA passed to eliminate medical bankruptcy. And the OBBBA just increased the risk of medical bankruptcy for hundreds of thousands of people.
Anyone watch "The Pitt"? They address the trauma of potential medical bankruptcy caused by an unexpected illness or trauma.
I can't help but think of the phrase "divide and conquer"while reading some of these comments. Someone is pleased with this exchange. Unity should be our strength.
Because she should be able to say whatever nasty thing she wants about those disgusting 'poors' and we should just shut our mouths and agree with our betters?
Yes, the Pitt did an excellent job of portraying the sometimes, very bad decisions people make concerning their health due to no medical insurance, and needing to go to work, despite being seriously ill. I am a nurse practitioner, mostly retired at 75, but I dealt with the same sad decision
S from patients who had to chose between rent and medication or food and basic care.
GJ, I just read yesterday that someone(s) in, or adjacent to, the current Admin (who, I cannot recall) recommended dealing with medical debt by having patients borrow from their insurance and/or health provider….that is, the debt becomes a loan instead (applicable % applies, etc). The whole thing sucks as it is, this would just make it suckier, IMHO.
Another really stupid idea from wealthy people who can qualify for any loan they need. Plus, when they default they are right back where they started from.
I live in a trailer park. Some are vacation spots and low-cost alternatives in sunny climes where they’re second dwellings. But in my neck of the woods it’s where retirees go because they can’t afford to live in a better house. At the same time, it’s where we endure meth labs, couples fighting in the street over child support, and cars up on blocks perpetually. Kids stealing out of your car if you leave it unlocked, landlords who promise you neighborhood improvements for your ever-increasing rent, but then disappear when you need them to fix a street light. There is good in trailer parks and there is trash in trailer parks. I’ve used the term myself and don’t consider it a slur on my neighbors. We all know what it means - we have some of our neighbors prove it for us routinely. They’re not just the poor low income workers and retirees. Some are far worse and they congregate here because often neighborhood rules are lax, no other communal living would tolerate them, and the police ignore us.
Thanks, Sandy. As a retired cop, I have had a lot of contacts at MHP's; I still recall street addresses for many of them. I met good folks as well as some not so good folks.
Thank you Sandy. Yes, 'we all know what it means'. And your comment points out the absurdity of spending the last 45 minutes here 'listening' to the great brainiac's expound upon their own profundity.
There is no question but that the metaphor evokes a graphic negative image in one's mind. That having been said, however, it is probably time to use another way to describe the situation. I recently sold a manufactured home here in Florida that I purchased as an investment. It was 1400 sq.ft. and located in a park adjacent to a lake and across the street from very, very expensive homes in gated communities. So, there are "trailer parks" and then there are "trailer parks." They aren't all the same.
"Many on the Left, frequently self-righteously, champion certain underdog identity groups such as immigrants, migrants, racial minorities, Muslims, and LGBTQTIA+ but they lack awareness to the poor. Poor Americans like trailer dwellers can be classed "trailer trash" and their trailer homes used to represent something degraded. Likewise rural Americans can be disparaged as "hicks" and "red necks" which are put-down terms for largely white people who are also lower income and have less education."
Bingo, Judy. This, I think, is what lost Dems the election in 2016, the perception that they championed certain oppressed groups but overlooked the poor including the working poor who had been their natural constituency for generations. The current president managed to sell himself as an outsider who would fight the "elite" and promote the interests of the working class. And America believed him.
Judy, nicely put. I agree with your third paragraph and that means here locally, that people need to pay attention to the demographics of a district. For example, we had Chavez DeRemer as our rep for one term because her opponent, a member of one of the group you mention, could not win in Marion Country.
The Trump administration has finally solved Washington’s biggest problem: not war, corruption, constitutional rights, or government by spectacle, but the insufficient branding of standing water.
After reportedly turning a $1.5 million Reflecting Pool renovation into nearly $16 million of patriotic moisture management, the administration announced triumph while the pool bloomed green again. That is not failure, citizen. That is freedom algae. Possibly the most luxurious algae ever produced by federal contracting.
And really, what better symbol for this era than a reflecting pool that no longer reflects? It was once meant to mirror the Lincoln Memorial, democracy, sacrifice, and national memory. Now it reflects the operating principle of the regime: say it is beautiful, blame Obama, invoice the public, and hope nobody looks too closely.
The same logic apparently applies everywhere. Cover the Kennedy Center with a tarp and call it compliance. Stage cage fighting on the White House lawn and call it patriotism. Announce peace before the terms are visible and call it history. If reality refuses to cooperate, just rename the puddle.
The genius of the green Reflecting Pool is that it tells the truth by accident. Beneath the gold lettering, the press releases, and the “thank you, sir” propaganda, the water is still doing what water does when neglected: turning stagnant.
How to describe the desecration of our monuments and memorials, indeed our very seat of our peoples’ government? May I suggest that we remember we are all in this together including the folks who live in trailer parks and work at Hooters. Indeed including those who are homeless or who work incarcerated. As I step down from my soapbox may we find a way to bring us all into the fold and hold accountable those of us who would harm and divide us. Peace.
I was raised in a neighborhood with 2, 3 & 4 bedroom homes between 800-1200 sq ft. It was a Catholic neighborhood lower middle class. The homes were spaciously spread 10-12 feet apart with 60'x120' lots. /s We played kickball in the street which was about a 30 degree slope. Some of the families had 12 kids in a 3 bedroom house. 5000 people to a square mile with the Interstate as one of the boundaries.
But, there was ALWAYS someone to play with or ride bikes with or play baseball or football in the school yard. When we got to junior high, it was the first time many of us had ever met or hung out with rich kids.
Given a choice, I would choose to be raised in the same place.
Senate Dems are expecting that Trump will doing much more that 'cheat the system', before, during & after the November 2026 national election that is state controlled election process NOT controlled the Feds.
So Senate Dems have gamed out at least three (3) expected Trump attacks on the November election in detail. So How are Senate Dems are planning to defend 11/25/26 election interference?
Senate Dems convened a slate of experts that include former AG Eric Holder, the highly successful Dem election Attorney MARC ELIAS, election law expert NORMAN EISEN & the top litigators at DEMOCRACY FORWARD along with the non-partisan, non-profit Protect Democracy to organize a potent & effective response starting now.
Spoiler Alert:
*************
A civil lawsuit was filed by 22 AG’s across the Nation in April 2026 in Massachusetts. You can follow the Massachusetts's court action directly via the 'Court Insider' platform. But, DEMOCRACY DOCKET is doing a very good job tracking & reporting case status including the MA Judge's planned case deadlines.
The Judge has announced to the parties that the court will set a date for AG's "Motion for Summary Judgment" which is a procedural process spells out in detail to the Judge the admissible evidence to the Court that entitles Plaintiff AG's [you & me] to Judgment against the election disrupters as a matter law. I am expecting collateral civil lawsuits as well.
But, but the named states include AZ, CA, CO, Delaware, the District of Colombia IL & their Governor, Josh Shapiro, HCR's state Maine, MN, NJ, New Mexico, NC, NY, yes Ally Oregon, yes Deba RI, yes Margery, VT, WA, yes Washington state folks I have conceded your AG is tops "West of the Mississippi", Virginia, & Wisconsin.
Alas MLM, no Tennessee but, the legal remedy Early Voting & Vote-by mail is OK & is protected for all voters!
On the "trailer park" issue: The term is used as an exemplar of a certain lifestyle, and it shouldn't be, anymore than the name "Karen" should be used as a pejorative for a certain kind of white woman.
But humans think in exemplars.
There are a lot of bright people on this thread. Could we brainstorm other words that would capture the concept that "trailer park" does?
For context--I don't live in a trailer, but I do live in an old house with a dining room ceiling about to come down the next time it rains and no way to repair it. There are far too many ways to be poor. Before living here in Rochester's Bull's Head, I lived 9 years on the mesa 25 miles out on the high desert west of Taos NM. There is a whole single wide section on my road. I knew people that were burning rags to get through the brutal winter.
This is not what the term "trailer park" as used in the context it is usually used, is referring to.
I will also say that most people who live in a falling down duplex or a single wide on the high desert are not looking for a McMansion. Just a reasonably comfortable roof. And the "McMansion" itself is also a pejorative term. The difference is that the people who build, buy, and live in McMansions are CLEARLY choosing it. They have enough money to do better. The ones burning rags do not.
Please put any ideas for better word choices here. And stop calling officious white women "Karens" while we are at it.
What bothers me the most about the spectacle on Sunday is that so many tech people, like Zuckerberg, took part in the crass event. These tech giants are taking part in bringing down our country. Shame, shame, shame!
Annabel, I think you’re right about Da Donald as perfect frontman for the openly treasonous American oligarchy. They & Christian Nationalist freaks know they must complete their democracy destroying revolution fast before enough people realize how sick and dangerous they are. The so-called Republican Congress contemptuously allows the biggest loser to have his way and keep just enough Americans dumbfounded by their bizarre mess. <> Rebecca Solnit, Gil Duran, and Christopher Armitage are independent writers in addition to Heather, who consistently explain & exposed the oligopolists who openly aggitate to replace democracy with their fascist - corporare dictatorship. + Robert Reich shared a warning last week from two Democratic former senators on the emergency that is Trump’s rolling coup: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/warning-trumps-rolling-coup-is-underway?r=41pd0&utm_medium=ios + Republican Congress & corrupt 6/9 SCOTUS are the mercenaries for the real fascist - corporate revolution leaders for dictatorship. We can boycott them into oblivion and stop them but we must reform & strengthen democracy to disrupt the long repeating cycle of oligarch’s earth & people destroying aggression.
So all the taxpayers spent $16 million on The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to be painted. The regime just bypassed the traditional open bidding process, and hired some of his cronies companies to do the work. Atlantic Industrial Coatings is the company that got the job because they had previously done work on the swimming pools at his Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia.
We are now hearing the absurd lie that there is “residual algae" being pushed out from the pool's underground water supply lines.
Well the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool will always have algae because it is a large, shallow, outdoor body of water. Because the water bakes in direct sunlight, and the temperature in DC reaches above 90 in the summer. It’s also humid. The water lacks a natural moving current, and frequently collects nutrient-rich bird droppings, it creates a perfect, natural breeding ground for algae growth. Think of a large pond with standing water.. Algae is always floating on top..
So we dropped a ton of money in this national monument for absolutely no reason, and the moron thought algae would not continue to remain.. and lies as to why it’s there..
For the Iranian deal, all the particulars haven’t been released in full. Why is it such a secret? Is it the same as the JCPOA, better or worse? Thinking it’s waaaaay worse. It’s difficult to say, because at this point when we’ve been lied to as often about these deals with Iran from this regime, it appears that the Iranian news is much more accurate. Going to wait to see the paperwork.
For me the question arises — why are they waiting for this ceremonial signing until Friday? Well there’s a few thoughts it’s Juneteenth and The Obama Presidential Center officially opens to the general public on Friday, June 19, 2026.
It took about a week and a half, maybe less, for the Reflecting Pool to turn from Ti-D-Bowl blue to algal pea-green. Painting the bottom of the Pool bright neon blue allowed it to absorb even more heat from sunlight, which in turn accelerated algal blooms which form naturally in the Pool because of its shallowness and water siphoned directly from the Potomac River.
Had the Very Stable Genius (with his Tiny Little Penius) had an elementary knowledge of chemistry or worked with a reputable contractor who did, this would have been obvious from the get-go.
And the bottom of the pool still leaks, by the way. Just saying....
Yep as he posted on that Lie Social media platform of his that he had achieved a perfect 30 out of 30 score on a high-difficulty cognitive test, asserting that his perfect score was considered proof of “extreme intelligence” nothing like being able to pick out an elephant in a group of three animals… simple chemistry as well as most subjects totally alludes that “stable genius”….
The “genius who never was” obviously does know the difference between a swimming pool which has filtration filters and chemical treatment , and a reflecting pool, which needs still water to accomplish it’s purpose of reflecting the monument.
This whole hysterically funny farce is just so typical of Donnie’s ineptitude and smug insistence that he knows better than anyone else.
Meanwhile the great businessman has squandered seven times his estimated cost for doing a job so stupidly wrong that it has caused laughter and derision around the world.
Lord, why can’t we be freed from this stupid man and his equally evil, morally vacant associates.
Thanks for the reminder about what else is happening on June 19th!
Polymarket has $72 million betting that "US x Iran permanent peace deal by June 15, 2026?" is a 97% sure thing. The resolution on whether it is true or not is due in 2 days unless there is a dispute...
Anybody wondering why Trump was so anxious to say the deal was signed yesterday? Anybody wondering what Eric and Don Jr. are telling their buddies about their speculations? Oh, and remember, Don Jr. is on the Polymarket advisory board, and Polymarket makes the call on whether the bet is resolved as yes or no.
Here is what has to happen for this to be resolved as yes:
"This market will resolve to “Yes” if Iran and the United states agree to a permanent peace deal by the specified date, 11:59 PM ET. Otherwise, this market will resolve to “No”.
A permanent peace deal refers to any agreement which explicitly indicates that military hostilities between the United States and Iran have ended or will permanently cease, or uses equivalent language clearly signaling a lasting end to military hostilities between the United States and Iran. Agreements that are explicitly temporary or which do not include a definitive agreement to end military hostilities between the US and Iran on a lasting basis (e.g. a temporary extension of the two-week ceasefire agreement announced on April 7, 2026), will not qualify.
A qualifying agreement will be considered to have been established if either of the following conditions are met:
The United States and Iran each sign or formally adopt a written agreement (e.g. a treaty or multi-point agreement) which meets the above criteria.
Both the governments of the United States and Iran provide clear public confirmation that a qualifying agreement has been definitively established. Negotiations, statements of progress, or other statements which do not constitute a definitive announcement that a qualifying agreement has been reached will not count.
The primary resolution source for this market will be official information from the governments of the United States and Iran; however, a consensus of credible reporting may also be used. "
$72 million is a big payoff if you bet NO and the resolution is deemed to be no, so 3% of the bets would get 100% of the pool
If it resolves to YES then that also resolves the additional $48 million bets based on later dates as well, all now at 98%-99% to resolve to YES. So not much of a payoff. Not clear from the resolution statement what will happen if hostilities resume before those dates. Big pots but not much payoff if you are betting with the crowd.
The fix is in on all of the political outcomes. The insider information is transparent, with the statements being meant to drive the stock markets and now the prediction markets. The people who are deciding the resolution have direct access to Trump through Don Jr., and the politicized regulatory agencies are no longer seeking to enforce the rules. You are asking to be fleeced.
Either that or this is a ruse to obscure the source of payoffs by going through a fixed prediction market with all of the transactions in crypto, so all you see is a wallet ID, and the owner of the wallet can maintain anonymity. If you know the preordained resolution, you, as the payer, take the losing side against a winning bet taken by the person being paid off. You get to deduct up to 90% of your gambling losses against your gambling winnings.
You soon may be able to bet on prediction market outcomes through binary event outcome ETFs in retirement accounts. The 1% are unwilling to let any small accumulation of wealth by the 99% be unavailable for potential plundering in the corrupt prediction markets.
Issuers like Roundhill, GraniteShares, and Bitwise filed for ETFs that track binary event outcomes (elections, recessions, layoffs, economic prints, etc.), packaging prediction‑market bets into an ETF wrapper. These were supposed to have received approval this spring, but the SEC requested more information.
Right now, the SEC is seeking public comment and working through suitability, manipulation, and structural issues before making a final decision on whether any of these funds can become available.
I guess you could go to Kalshi or Polymarket and set up a market on the binary event outcome of the SEC approving the binary event outcome ETFs…
You might as well put your money in the toilet and flush it as bet on those rigged games. In Las Vegas the odds are always in favor of the house but people do win pots large and small, Polymarkets are just another way to separate the gullible from their money.
This is the link to the graph of how sentiment started to flip from 4.7% Yes starting at 8am June 11 to 88% Yes at 8 pm June 14. You may need to sign in with a google account to see it. Final review is at 8 pm on 6/17.
So would I. Pick your date, but be careful of how the resolution will be determined. Would defensive actions count as a resumption of hostilities? Which side would have to start it? How big a reaction would be sufficient to trigger the resolution? We had a “ceasefire” that certainly had a lot of firing going on…
We are in Orwellian times—are we at peace or war? Trump says we have not been at war at all…
TJ, I do think there was a ‘reason’ for the Reflecting Pool debacle. As in the past with other Drumpf interventions,such as the long ago debacle at the Rockefeller building skating rink. It’s yet another opportunity for this career criminal to pocket cash under guise of a public project.
Trump does not have a “ deal”. He has surrendered to the Iranians for a nonbinding agreement to negotiate.
To hear his ongoing lies about this, one would think that he has achieved a “bigger,better” agreement than the Obama POAC that he tore up in debacle #1.
That, in his very warped mind is what he wants to believe, and what he wants his followers to believe in spite of facts on the ground. It is a sorry thing to say that we can believe the Iranian wacko religious fanatics more than our own pathetic “ government”.
I desagree with your statement about dropping a ton of money for absolutely no reason....the reason TJ, is that somebody it's making a ton of money out of our taxes. Other than that I agree with you 💯 %...😁
Megan, you're absolutely right that we need to act! I'm actually two weeks away from launching a grassroots movement to retake control of our government, legally and without violence. Want to help?
And again, I hope to see some serious remembrance of the import of the Declaration of Independence, alternative to whatever flashy flimflam the regime is planning.
Yes. You will not be disappointed, I promise. I could never hope to be as wonderful and accomplished a historian as Heather, so I won't be writing about the original July 4, but I am doing everything I can to bring the spirit of their independence and refusal to bow to a stronger power into the 21st century. No flash, no flimflam: just me, Danielle Church, gently telling you how we will win, so long as enough of us join forces.
One speculative comment is that the UFC paid out a bunch of that money in US$ to the Crypto bank owned by the Trumps and they paid out crypto dollars to the cage match participants and kept the real dollars itself. That certainly wouldn't surprise me LOL. Its like buying into a Monopoly game with actual US currency, and the Bank giving you back Monopoly money and keeping the real $. As they sometimes say, "it's nice work if you can get it!"
so to Iran goes 300 billion to re-construct the destruction trumpstein caused by bombing, 24 billion in frozen assets...and the billions spent on doing trumpstein's war...to say nothing of the deaths, families ruined and new decades-long ill will... and oh yeah, obama got it wrong...??! wow, what a world...
Apparently so Foosbeal. Our out of his depth LOSER president, aided and encouraged by his unbelievably sycophantic cast of caricatures, starts a war with no support from the public. Then he cries out for help from the same international allies he’s been trying unsuccessfully to bully and fleece. Then he claims that the war he LOSES is over, leaving behind an even more fragmented Middle East, a re-established and strengthened Iranian regime and a world situation much more chaotic than it was before he started his vanity project war.
Then he creates a spectacle on the White House lawn that he thinks will divide and divert us from seeing the reality of what he has done and who he is? Really? We don’t have eyes? Did no one see what the LOSER looked like in his photos with Macron?
Then, after costing the US and the world untold billions of dollars and lives, he has to end up crawling back to the Iranians and sues for peace to the tune of over $300 billion just to end up in a much weakened position than we began with?
Did I mention that the failing Trump administration is led by and staffed with LOSERS?
Protect the country! Protect the Constitution! Protect the vote!
Thank you so much for asking. I don’t pretend to have all the answers but I know I need to start somewhere.
I make sure to vote, and where I live I can verify that my vote is received.
I write my two senators and my congressperson at least monthly, and when I do, I make it obvious that an individual is writing instead of simply forwarding someone else’s words.
I attend the occasional No King’s rally.
Small actions are better than no actions, and they all add up.
Yes, foosbeal, and we remain cycling around and around repetition after repetition.
The one change we really need: how having a Palestinian state would oblige Israel to stop West Bank persecutions and land thefts.
I’ve seen many recent news shows, podcasts, and Substacks – but seen no one on the need for a healthy, viable Palestinian state to mitigate the Iranians behind Hezbollah, Hamas, and Houthis.
A free Palestine, its open, public existence precluding Iranian funding for terrorists, could, too, begin the opening of Iran to being much less of the repressive mullah dictatorship it’s been since 1979.
But the one fact we refuse to remember is our role whatever it was, in the destruction of Mossadegh’s election—Iran’s republican moment. As know-it-allls we don’t do very well.
I don't have much support for much of America's policies in the middle east, but at the same time, to be fair, the Mossadegh election was 73 freaking years ago, when most of us here were either not born yet or just kids. Since then we have engaged in multiple major wars all over the globe. I think the Mossadegh disaster is one of those things we probably need to put into the rear window and get on with trying to actually fix things. Flailing on that old saw is not going to do much of anything in the way of helping diplomacy.
Jon Rosen, it is good to remember history to have a guide to the future by seeing mistakes made. The sentence of Santayana on the small desk at the exit from Dachau has been repeated many times (this may not be exact, but the meaning is there): “Those who forget the mistakes of history are condemned to repeat them.”
Not really your problem what and when the Palestinians voted, is it? Would you consider it the Palestinians problem, whom the US elects as their leader or the process they use?
Why don't you just shove off out of the Middle East, where you have no business to be?
You don't think it was the Palestinians' problem when we elected Donald Trump? I think there are a lot of dead Palestinians who would absolutely disagree with you. We live in a global village today, where air travel and radio communications have shrunk the distances between countries and borders. EVERYONE is invested in the outcome of EVERY election, especially if there is a likely direct impact on their country.
Even after the break-up of Standard Oil, Oil has been the ultimate monopoly. One of the few things Nixon got right was that we needed to be working harder on alternatives decades ago. THAT, however, would not have pleased the monopolists. The difference between the board game Monopoly and the real thing is that the oligarchs already own most of everything before you make your first move.
I sold my Exxon stock which had started out as Mobil because I couldn’t bear the moral stain of Exxon Valdese. Years later realized I should have kept it and raised hell as a stockholder.
Yes, J L Graham. To continue to “grab” oil in a world of climate change and scientific knowledge about the effects of burning oil, we have Donald Trump and Elon Musk, two wealthy racists who have no respect or feeling for fellow humans and who will continue killing them as long as they can. That is indeed arrogance.
Exactly there will never ever be peace in the middle East until this happens. Even then the UN (hopefully still around) would be needed to make sure Israel abides.
I'm thinking, Colly, the Gulf states might cohere around a new state of Palestine.
Israel will see the need to treat its neighbors as human beings, as it can begin to model by finally fair treatment for Palestinians on the West Bank.
And, hell -- why not? -- schools throughout the region teaching older youth English can have essay writing program so all learn to see others (starting in home classrooms, then in exchange with farther off neighbors) as individuals, all in respect for variously fraught contexts, all the cultures with their varied complications.
Are you out of your mind? You expect a people to be displaced after being made to cross hell several times - to be forced to live next to its torturers?
That would be like forcing a Holocaust surviver next to a Nazi who never changed attitude or gave up his weapons.
Your - as in the majority of US citizens - complete ignorance about the rest of the world is absolutely mind-boggling.
Do you not think Palestinians need their own independant state then? I am confused, I do not imagine they will want to leave what is their own land ( or whats left of it), and certainly do not believe they should have to. I realise how the Israelis have treated Palestinians since Israel was incorrectly ( in my view) created, what has Gaza been called ‘the worlds biggest open air prison’. Where do you suggest it be created?
In my opinion Israel should be relocated to eg Florida. My reasons are - most Zionists are secular anyway, 1.5 million of the 7.5 million American Jews already live there, it's 6 times the size of Israel, so no need for "Greater Israel" even the "settlers" should have enough room. I can't see why the Palestinians should lose their land. Not likely to happen in a hurry, but the only fair option for peace in the Middle East imo
You are obviously forgetting that the company line in Palestine has been that Israel has no right to exist and should be destroyed. That has been true for decades and as far as I know, at least at the governmental level, it hasn't changed. Ditto for Iran. And while I am NOT AT ALL in favor of Netanyahu's aggressions, I would like to see some moderation by both the Palestinian and Iranian governments towards Israel before I was willing to trust either of them all that much.
Might key players on all sides find it time to give up on the violence, Jon?
Who from the civilized world might call off those from the fossil fuel juggernaut and call on others as key players?
Aren't there any "good billionaires" who could enlist quality people aiming to go beyond the rut of hatreds, revenge, stereotyping, blanket religious abstractions, more murders, more bulldozers? Do the leaders of the Gulf states all feel satisfied with this status quo?
Might many grow out of the criminal Donald era, and all these parallel horrors?
You do seem to be forgetting that this is NOT a war of money or oil or even territory, ultimately it is a war about faith and religion. And in that realm, the mix of players looks like a Mad Magazine article. Until the "key players on all sides" as you note stop dealing in the idiocy of religious conflict, there isn't going to be any long-term solution because such a solution flies in the face of the righteous belief that only one side here is "right". All the criminals (including Donald and Putin, but also the sheiks from places like Saudi Arabia) are doing is acting like hyenas, staking out the various corpses that drop onto the desert from time to time and picking them clean. Until "lining their own pockets" becomes hated by all of their own societies and the people turn on them, they will continue these games including the one facing us now, i.e., a phony war that just prolongs the pain and heartache of death and destruction.
"Oh, what tangled webs we weave, when first we practice to deceive!"
Jon, wars are always about land. Very often masked as religious--and for the 'grunts' in the wars they sometimes are. But they are fought over the right to possess, to control land. Deep dives into history bear this out.
You know, speaking of "tangled webs," Mark Twain didn't care for Sir W. Scott.
Most of his webs, Jon, wove in the labyrinths of knightly and other aristocratic, pretentious, tendatious, privileged romance, of the sorts that float Alito, Long Dong Clarence, and Elon Musk today. Plus the other outright criminals you cite just above.
Well, that is a pretty ignorant opinion. Zionists aren't exactly Mother Theresa (then again, Mother Theresa isn't exactly Mother Theresa either) but I think radical Islamists have proven to be a far WORSE threat to peace in the world than Zionists. Zionists are MOSTLY about protecting Israel from destruction by a bunch of Arab countries who have fought many wars over the past 75 years to destroy Israel which they have managed to fight off. Radical Islamists have attacked not only Israel but the United States, and other countries as well, including their own neighbors and sometimes even their allies.
I would not offer apologies for Zionist policies, but I would NEVER consider what they have done as worse than what radical Islamists have done. Anyone who suggests otherwise is both stupid AND ignorant, and willing to ignore the truth.
Opinions differ - indeed for me the actions of Zionists have by far passed those of the Nazis, they were at least not proud of their crimes committed on the Jews.
You are really nuts as well as ignorant. The Nazis (at least the senior ones) were absolutely proud of their crimes. Hitler, Himmler and Goebbels all boasted about it in letters and official correspondence.
And Israel has NEVER engaged in any systematic attempt to exterminate the entire Palestinian population. You may not like their demands to move the Palestinians, but to equate that in any way, shape, or form to what the Nazis did is just insane and stupid.
Ditto with respect to the intent of the Islamic radicals to remove Israel completely, using the expression "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free". Show me ANY rhetoric from Israel or Jews in general that threaten such genocide against Palestinians. For MANY years, Israel made attempts to live in peace with the Palestinians. For almost all of those years, Islamic radicals have always threatened Israel with extinction.
I do not agree with Israel's aggression against the Palestinians, but as I said before, lets at least see Islamist radicals and Palestinians admitting that Israel is in the middle east to stay and has that right under international law and willingly backing off from aggression against the state of Israel.
All his ranting about draining the swamp while it is Donold that is one of the most vile hideous swamp things to emerge from the toxic sludge, polluting, plundering, desecrating, demolishing, destroying our Nation...
Three Things That The American Electorate Needs To Do To Protect The Midterms
It’s increasingly obvious that the Nazi Republicans are hell bent on election subversion and interference in the upcoming 2026 midterms. Cheeto has never been more transparent about what his Nazi suppositories/syncophants are willing to do in order to get the election outcome that they want in order to stay in power.
Rachel Maddow interviewed Marc Elias who heads the independently run Democracy Docket which reports on election interference and after brainstorming with a task force of Democratic senators about what the Nazis may plan to do in November Elias came away with 3 important things that the electorate should be prepared to do.
1 Make a plan to vote. Vote early so that if your vote is challenged by Nazi Republican suppositories you can do the appropriate things to cure the reported issue that prevents your vote from being counted.
2 Information sharing and education about the threats is important for those voters who are not paying attention so that the electorate has understanding of what the Nazi suppositories are up to.
3 The public should be prepared to mobilize, organize and protest peacefully against Nazi suppositories interfering at drop boxes and polling locations.
The Nazi Republicans will do anything to retain power and WE the People need to show up and overwhelm the suppositories. Talk to friends, relatives, neighbors, family about the importance of the next two elections. Join an Indivisible chapter near you to be ready to peacefully protest and put down this federal insurrection.
There is a powerful movement that has been largely ignored by corporate media. The Democratic Party is in the midst of a radical revolution from within. The conflict boils down to the entrenched corporate elite and the progressives. The main issue is PAC money. The Democratic Party and the Republican Party candidates and incumbents take money from the same PACs. This has resulted in a watering down of the 2-party system in this Country, the disintegration of any meaningful progress for the working class and the rise of a fascist regime. The largest controller of America is Israel. Through massive millions poured into campaigns Israeli has bought power over Congress. Go to AIPAC Tracker and integrityindex.us. See which candidates/incumbents are controlled by foreign interests.
For me personally I will not vote for any Democratic candidate who takes AIPAC/PAC funds, has not condemned the genocide in GAZA and who has campaigned against progressive candidates.
We will not defeat the fascist regime in DC until we reform the Democratic Party. Vote blue no matter who helped get us here.
Exactly my same sentiment about the Jewish Zionist movement that I have encountered on Substack channels. Hopium Chronicles run by a self proclaimed "proud Zionist" Simon Rosenberg hides his beliefs behind the facade of a DNC political advisor and operative. But he is part of the rot in the American political scene and is responsible in part for the antiMuslim sentiment in the Democratic party that lost the 2024 election.
Lincoln Square has thrown support behind Rosenberg's bigoted hateful racist apartheid fascist position. Mehdi Hasan faced backlash for his antiZionist position and MSNOW got rid of him. Too radioactive.
People in the political sphere know how to avoid the uncomfortable issues. So they become dodgey when being exposed. The veil of both parties need to be exposed to the light so that real healing of our toxic political system can get done.
I subscribe to Zeteo-Medhi Hassan's work, read The Intercept and watch Wajahat Ali and others. There has been an insidious undertow in the Democratic Party for years. The "vote blue no matter who" is nuts.
It is all too easy to put 100% of the blame on the Republicans. Know this. The Democratic Party has rolled over and been compliant for 10 years. The Democratic Party is as soaked in AIPAC money as the Republican Party. We must demand real reform in our political system. If we don't we will be on rinse and repeat forever. See the following link for what the Democratics need to do. Remember the Democrats lost the working class vote and the GAZA issue in the last election.
Totally agree. The electorate by polling dislikes both parties, it just dislikes the Democrats less. Intuitively the voting public knows there is something terribly wrong with the DNC but can't put their finger on the immoral rot. I believe it's this lack of truth and honesty about the party's Zionist position, all to appease for donor $$$. How can people respect those who are willing to support apartheid in all its venomous hate and bigotry for $$$. For most Americans it makes one want to vomit.
The Goldman Lander is essentially uncontested with the incumbent behind by 30+ points and shows the other side of the Jewish diaspora that Mamdani exposed. Revolution is in the air. Thanks for the link. Subscribed.
…..while we, the public, bear the burden of “we have no money for health care, school lunches, medical insurance, veteran’s aid, funds for education, thousands of federal workers, whole governmental agencies, global development, dues for the UN, etc etc etc”. It makes ones’ blood boil to see all of the waste, fraud and abuse perpetrated in broad daylight by this regime all while stuffing their pockets with dirty lucre at the same time....
There is so much petty detritus in the news that we risk overlooking the most important development of all --- or non-development -- in the Middle East.
To put it bluntly, there is NO written, published, mutually agreed upon Memorandum of Understanding confirming anything Trump has claimed. There is no such thing as a "deal" absent such a Memorandum, agreed upon by both sides and published openly. There isn't even the concept of a Memorandum of Understanding. If there were, everyone would be discussing the details. But there are no details here to discuss.
When President Obama negotiated the JCPOA, signed by 5 countries in 2015, the final report was hundreds of pages long. At the very beginning of that report was Iran's commitment not to seek, acquire or develop a nuclear weapon. The agreement was negotiated by scores of nuclear physicists (not 2 real estate developers), with details that took three years to hammer out. The Strait of Hormuz stayed open during this time, and Iran was left not only with barely any enrichable uranium, and agreed-upon on-site inspections by international nuclear teams to make sure it stayed that way.
In the past few days, the Gulf States have quietly been negotiating their own side deals with Iran, which translates to hundreds of millions already passed in secret bribes — their standard modus operandi. Reuters reports that tens of billions in frozen funds are being readied to give to Iran -- something Obama never did.
A couple of days ago, General Mark Hertling put it bluntly -- this is all straight out of “I Dream of Jeannie,” with a scantily-clad Barbara Eden blinking her eyes and nodding “yes, Master” to whatever Larry Hagman desired. Pure, made-for-TV fiction, arranged for the 17th time to suit the markets — and his birthday — rather than the peace of the Middle East.
We have until Friday to find out if the agreement to have an agreement to have a 60-day cease-fire amounts to a hill of beans. Whatever this is, it isn't a "deal."
I’m sickened by trump and his minions. I’m old and don’t have children to suffer the consequences of a maniacal and unstable administration. I still have hope , deep somewhere in my heart, for a brighter future…
From the wonderful, devious mind of Substacker Leslie -- In honor of the festivities, that tarp has now been decorated with blue pinstripes and emblazoned with enormous writing -- the "Donald J. Trump Memorial Butthurt Curtain."
The briefing that Vance gave on CBS is really telling. DJT told the Iranian people to rise up and take back their government. They were mowed down by the Basij. He said that the Iranian nuclear program was obliterated with 'midnight hammer'. Then, if the Iranians didn't open the strait he would wipe out a 'civilization'. Now, Vance is talking about how we will open our arms to Iran with cooperation and even trade, as long as they behave. So we have gone from wanting to 'help' the people of Iran to propping up the Regime. It is like living in the twilight zone.
Meanwhile, gasoline is expensive as are groceries and goods, farmers and small businesses are going bankrupt and the fool on the hill is spending money like a drunken sailor on his vanity projects.
All the while, the DOJ, OMB, FCC, DNI, and all the agencies that are supposed to be working for the citizens of this country are working in concert to undermine our democracy.
Our own government is working to destroy the U.S. in ever more diabolical ways. And, yes, this is P2025 hard at work in the background. Reversing this is going to take a herculean effort.
ICYMI: (1) Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Professor of History and Italian Studies at NYU, scholar on fascism and authoritarian leaders, author of “Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present”, political commentator (Lucid/Ruth Ben-Ghiat/substack), explains how Trump came to power and what it means to have him as President: “Trump’s Dictator Playbook, with Ruth Ben-Ghiat - YouTube”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k8BWHLI9gI
(2) Timothy Snyder, Professor and Temerty Chair in Modern European History at the University of Toronto, famous author of “On Tyranny” and thirteen other books is interviewed by Brian Tyler Cohen (author of “The Day After: How to Wield Power in a Post-Trump World”). They discuss the current state of our democracy and what the crucial things are that need to be done to save our country. N.B. It’s not going back and restoring the old status quo. “Tim Snyder, tyranny author, talks Trump, midterms, and 2028 - YouTube”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsiyqzM5HVU
(3) And the pièce de résistance - Timothy Snyder and Ruth Ben-Ghiat together discuss and explain how the nihilistic Trump Administratin is wrecking the government and destroying the institutions that support democracy. They are working to kill U.S. science and technology in ways than could be an extinction event for U.S. science. Creating an atmosphere where there is no real truth but only the charismatic leader and violence. An historic discussion by two highly informed scholars. They pledged to continue their discussion in a few weeks to include where to go from here. Listen and understand the reality of what is happening.
If you think this is idle speculation and fear mongering intellectual fantasy, the Trump Administration has proclaimed it is setting up a board of its toadies to review all government grant applications to ensure that they correspond to their political objectives. The premier scientific journal “Science” has recently published an article describing how scientists feel about the danger of this when combined with the rapid developments in AI (controlled by the tech oligarchs). Here is an excerpt:
“Already, by making it faster and easier to produce professional-seeming papers, AIs threaten both to overwhelm journals and peer reviewers and to take opportunities away from junior scientists. But far upstream of that, many scientists interviewed by Science sense a phase change underway. Many fear that if unleashed in all parts of the scientific process, AI tools could lead to nothing less than the death of astrophysics as a human endeavor. “A lot of people think that it’s too late to intervene—we’re done,” says David Hogg, a computational astrophysicist at New York University (NYU).”
“ALTHOUGH FEARS OF A ROBOT takeover are inspiring soul-searching across society in general, astrophysics is a strange, special case. It relies on reservoirs of prestige, deep public appeal, and invocations of wonder: Human beings and funding agencies alike just seem to like studying the stars, and astronomical progress has long been thought of as a synecdoche for human progress in general. Yet because astrophysics is already mostly data science and math, many of its juiciest problems may be low-hanging fruit for LLMs.” Science.org, 4 June 2026 by Joshua Sokol, Science vol. 392 Issue 6802 It has a paywall so you will have to use University or Public Library access.
The life-long con man who is currently the POTUS continues his life-long con, free to do so by a Republican Party that serves him rather the We the People or the Constitution (which they took an oath to defend and protect) They should all be thrown out of office as soon as possible.
DJT may be the perfect frontman for the American Oligarchy. They are all rotten to the core and devoid of ANY of the values that made this a great nation despite its flaws. They let him turn the White House into a trailer park with a Hooters in front while they proceed with the real business--implementing Project 2025 while further enriching themselves on the backs of regular citizens.
We really need fo stop using "trailer park" to mean something morally negative when THIS is the economy people are forced to live in. And yes, I live in a trailer.
Sharon, I replied to you but deleted my comment because it was weirdly formatted. I will try again. I agree with you. People are not defined by their housing (or lack therof) and it is long past time to stop with the tired trailer park trope. Mobile homes have been an affordable housing option for many for years. However, that is changing. Mobile home parks are being purchased by the same predatory private equity companies who are purchasing single family homes and renting them at exorbitant prices. Lot rents are increasing while access to basic needs such as safe, running water are not being met. Tenants are unable to resolve issues with new park owners who simply ignore them or make promises that never happen. This is happening in my area and across the country and it's unconscionable.
Donald Trump has never lived in a mobile home. What he is doing to Washington, DC and the White House has nothing to do with where he has lived and everything to do with how he has lived. Let's judge people based on the content of their character not their domicile.
This is happening here in S. Florida. Many people work two jobs just to pay the ground rent on their major asset--a manufactured home. They are being evicted with only short notice and without an alternative park to relocate to, even if that were affordable, which it is not.
How can you afford to even insure your home in FL? When I took over my brother's bill paying I was stunned to learn his home insurance is 6k plus a year! I was told that's cheap for FL. Gulp.
Its the same in fire prone areas in western states. People have had their insurance cancelled just because areas that were not even close have burned. People can’t even get insurance and lose their mortgage. Even if you can get insurance it’s over $6,000 for home only. And if you make a claim, say, for burst pipes and water damage, the insurance company will use it as an excuse to cancel the policy. After you’ve paid tens of thousands of dollars over decades…
I guess property insurers are as morally corrupt as health insurers.
Yes, it is tragic. People work a lifetime to pay their home off, then insurances and taxes prohibit us from retiring in our homes. System is so broken and this asshat has only made it worse through his corruption.
I am lucky, my state has a Fair Share Ins Co where people who won't be covered by regular insurance companies go to insure their home. BTW - I thought they were in the risk business, guess not. My yearly premium is under 2k/ probably not insured for enough - I must check.
I hear you, Marj. My family has lived in SE Florida since 1952. Insurance was once affordable, despite the hurricane prone location. In recent years costs have escalated and the Republican legislature did not address affordability. We have no mortgage, so our storm insurance is now one of our highest annual recurring costs. We could just skip the storm rider, but "self insurance" would not work for us. We shopped around and our premium is slightly less than your brother's. Red states will suffer if FEMA does not show up.
11billion dollars cut from FEMA. 1000s of employees lost their jobs. N. Carolina, TX, FL are still recovering from the last weather disasters. trump says FEMA should be eliminated. Governors have had to call repeatedly to ask where the FEMA funds are.
Even if FEMA does exist, states are at the mercy of a president who hates blue states-they didn't vote for him, their Governors criticized him. Washington state governor said he didn't like the way trump handled the covid situation. He received no Federal aid. When Biden came into office, help was given.
What is tragic about these rising insurance premiums is it locks so many out of home ownership - especially younger people just starting out. So as this continues home that can't sell will lose their value.
Sheldon Whitehouse did a fantastic presentation of this nightmare. I think this is the link: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D0L8KvXjQ_rA&ved=2ahUKEwjg2c272oyVAxVJw_ACHeSoLyAQtwJ6BAgeEAI&usg=AOvVaw1UWSqFaajKKdulJ7erWwCo
WOW!
That’s nothing—because all the homeowners insurance companies have pulled out of CA, my annual homeowners insurance premium through the CA Fair Plan is $11,000 and I still have to buy an additional policy for the contents at $2,000.
Despicable. Don't know how anyone can afford this. I sure can't.
David, I would direct you to my long reply to Sharon above. You nailed in it much fewer worlds than I did!
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse talks about this. When people cannot insure their homes, they cannot sell them, some lose their mortgages, and potential buyers cannot get mortgages. And as someone said it is happening in other parts of the country as well.
Donald Trump lives in a world where people are defined by their housing. That's just the way it is. From Trump Tower, Mar a Lago, to the White House.. because he was "a businessman". Trump is where he is also because of where he lived and lives now. Telling people otherwise is a peak into the larger problem.
Potter, I disagree that Donald Trump is where he is because of where he lived. He lived where he lived because he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and access to unearned wealth that made it possible. Many if not most of his friends and neighbors ended up in the same neighborhoods for the same reason.
Not *because of" but like the car you drive and the clothes you wear, even more so where you live, is a pronouncement that you can afford it and are successful. financially. This itself is big business- catering to the super wealthy. In this country, and many places all over the world, wealth matters. Trump got to POTUS in part because people figured a "successful" businessman can run the country better.
Trump was born into money, but he conned his way into much much more. He got a leg up but it could have been squandered. He parlayed it.
Also re your last sentence- that is a fallacy of reasoning imo- people with money live in fancy neighborhoods true.. But they got there not for the same reason. A relative recently lived for several years in a spectacular home in a gated community in the Hollywood Hills because her husband wheeled and dealed in real estate there.
People built there because of success the film industry originally during one period. That was earned wealth.
Here people can get enormously wealthy earning it legitimately, illegitimately or inheriting it.
Many "ordinary" folks got their lift from their parents to buy a house.
tRump earned his money criminally. That's the difference. He learned how to sue anyone that was harmed by his actions from Roy Cohen. IMO, that's a world of difference from even wheeling and dealing.
I think your first sentence should have an asterisk. Sometimes it is a pronouncement that you can afford it and are successful. A lot of other times, it is a pronouncement that you had the ability to get a lot of credit and are living well above your means. I live in an affluent suburb of Chicago, and I know plenty of people that look on the surface like they are successful, but kick over their financial rock, and they are drowning. One of my husband's work partners lives this way. Always put together, designer clothes, big beautiful house, kids in private school, yet she's constantly borrowing from her 401k and puts everything on credit to keep up appearances. It is pretty sad.
Actually it was Other People's Money he parlayed, Potter.
Remember "Beverly Hills 90210?" Perhaps I'm just getting old to remember, but I know people identify social worth by zip code and housing development everywhere I've lived as we've moved around the nation. Currently I live in a zip code that was once associated with white flight after a desegregation order. That zip code still is a strike against residents and our housing values are far lower than in neighboring counties. Decades later. So, property values are associated with race and class. And that harms our local K-12 education funding. Neighboring counties have world class schools. Ours can't afford repairs in some locales. Chris Rock once stated he was treated as out of place in his expensive home among doctors and dentists. Because of his race. When we live in class (and race) segregated housing rather than the smaller towns and cities that have fewer rich and less difference in wealth, this is what happens. So, the uber rich are playing a card we all know and use --- just more extreme.
Linda, years ago, my friends moved to Beverly Hills and invited me to fly out for a week and help them decorate their new home. When I arrived, we took "the scenic route" to their house. I was surprised, almost to the point of shock. The houses in Beverly Hills were not mansions on sprawling acres; they were average-looking, two-story houses jammed together on postage-stamp lots that could've used the attention of a yard man.
Since then, the nouveau riche have pulled down many of the ordinary houses and replaced them with glassed-up boxes that make their postage-stamp lots look even smaller. I'm sorry ... when one's property is measured in square feet rather than acres, and one can reach out one's side window and turn on the neighbor's kitchen faucet, one is not living in luxury. One is living in ostentation.
My dad lives in NW Santa Monica, where the houses were all originally modest bungalows. Most of them have been or are sold as “tear downs”, for millions, to make way for box houses that fill the entire lot. It’s a beautiful neighborhood, but it’s also pretty sad to know what it was, and now is.
I guess that’s “progress”
Yes. A small 1950s tract house in the neighboring county is worth 50% to 100% more than where we live. These old developments are being torn down house by house for "McMansions," which are for the extremely wealthy. One study claims that even housing is out of reach for the lower middle class in my region outside WDC; folks have to earn $100,000 a year for entry into that sociologically defined group . Our little starter homes here are being bought by care facilities and businesses that can house up more than 10 people in a 3 or 4 bedroom house due to zoning. Even my small 1950s home is unaffordable for first time buyers. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. And if you are a minority or a woman, the challenge is more difficult because of the additional ways your income and pathways have roadblocks. Class has been ignored by far too many scholars in recent decades as they have attended to the compelling challenges of race and gender. Those three are interwoven. No wonder those presidential cage fights appeal, and no wonder they are alarming for their ability to channel that rage and identity. The poor get poorer as the ever richer can manipulate their desperation to profit and to power.
And the tackier and gaudier the better.
Trump is so tacky and so "outre" (oou-tray) and he is clueless about his tackiness along with everything else. It's amazing how many people prostrate themselves before him. This is about us.
Not equating anything here, but at 78, I'm becoming more aware of those who casually use 'dusty Boomers' or other dismissive pejorative terms to stereotype older people, and express resentment and hostility. We are not all the same, politically, economically, religiously, educationally, or any other quality. I could go around referring to 'callow youth' all the time and denigrating young people but that is just as unfair. Returning to the original comment, this is a horrible time for so many people. Our hearts break for those experiencing housing insecurity, food insecurity, lack of access to healthcare. The evil this administration is loosing on Americans is inexplicable. What is their ultimate success going to look like?
No one, no matter how poor, should have to live in a trailer. They're the most unsafe housing there is. Tornadoes, derechos, hurricanes, flash floods and fires turn trailers into death traps. We can do better.
Private equity is AWFUL. Not a single good word for it.
Same here, Sister. .
Excellent point, thank you.
What comes into my mind is the old statement: “As the rich get richer, the poor get poorer”. In essence, fewer and fewer people enter the rich category as time progresses — but larger numbers of individuals find themselves in the category or class themselves as being poor!
Or, it’s hard to get rich…it is easy to become poor! Now of course all of this applies to monetary or financial wealth. There are some to significant numbers of poor individuals who are rich in knowledge and intelligence as well as moral values; however, the same cannot necessarily be said about or applicable to those that might or are classified as wealthy financially or monetarily!
Actually, what I prefer is Cole Porter's lyric, "The rich get richer and the poor get children."
It's what the MAGAits are shooting for. Women home having babies, without adequate health care, of course.
Thank you. I lived in a trailer park for years and my daughter, a single mom, does now.
Exactly. Living in a trailer doesn’t mean loss of dignity. But *everything* Trump touches is sullied.
Including the annual 4th of July fireworks....
Sooooo tired of the old money democrats at this point. Talk about freaking tone deaf. Like that witch a couple days ago comparing this White House to the Beverly Hillbillies.
The Clampetts were warm and caring people who were out of their normal social structure. They weren't evil, greedy sociopaths like the 'rich' people who live in the White House.
Every time I hear negative 'trailer park' and 'hillbilly' talk... it really makes me realize why the working class was so easily led by MAGA.
Trailers are lower cost homes. They are still homes. But you know these same people would lose their minds if someone tried to put a park... or a homeless shelter.. within a mile of their perfectly manicured lawns.
The Clampetts were fiction. Their characters were part of a long tradition of poking fun at those who were snobs and stuffed shirts.
The people occupying thr White are wealthy, shallow people who value only what their wealth can buy.
Thr UFC cage match was a spectacle available only to an audience that paid for Paramount 's streaming service.
It included a man who publicly slandered Michelle Obama.
Now, I consider that man, and his slander disgusting and tawdry.
Good points, bbb. The Trumps and their ilk are people whose self-worth is seemingly based on their net worth. Their crass and vulgar displays of wealth are meaningless in the long run and will not be remembered kindly by history.
Connection, BLB. It's way past time to stop "othering". We see where it leads and it's not to a good place.
Kamila, did you mean to write the word "Correction"?
Hi, Donna. No, I meant connection. It's a holdover from my days as an early childhood teacher and my Responsive Classroom training.
Thank you, Kamila. Now I get it! And agree with you.
!!
#PublicHealthHaiku
Thanks, Sharon. Your point is really important. It highlights the internalized "othering" and distancing that some folks have against what they perceive as economic differences. These so-called differences are interpreted as moral weakness or inadequacy.
It's always appropriate to call out these types of discriminations and to educate all of us about these divisive actions.
Well said.
My family lived in trailers several times at different stages of working toward the American dream. It was a transitional necessity until we could "more up". In those days, a lot of Americans were able to improve their lives. None of us were, or are "trailer trash". That's a pejorative I would like to see disappear from our civil discourse.
You are correct. I live in Florida where there are many beautiful mobile home parks and many seniors and families live in them. I’m thinking white trash is a perfect moniker-it reflects their racism as well as their values.
Jen, you are correct, but perhaps people haven't seen them. I wrote a long reply to Sharon above, and the person I knew whose family owned parks owned one in FL. I'd never seen it in real life, only in photos, but it was beautiful. She said it was really nice.
I can only speak for swfl-they are mostly for seniors (some exclusively-intentionally so) but have pickleball courts, pools, community buildings for events, and more. Well-maintained and a more affordable option for those with limited means. Some are largely for snowbirds but all have year-round residents as well. The biggest concern here is hurricanes-I was a pastor (retired now) of a largely senior congregation where many lived in mobile homes when hurricane Ian hit. For those who thought this was their forever home, it was a tragedy of catastrophic proportions where roofs were pulled off like peeled back tuna cans, exposing everything to the winds and water, flooding, and flying debris. Most moved north to live with family when they lost everything and our governor failed to ensure insurance companies’ compliance with reimbursements. After that, it’s a matter of faith if one chooses to live there. I prefer brick and mortar-but I’m privileged to have that choice.
Jen, last week 17 tornados ripped though Chicago area, including NW Indiana. There was a horrific tornado that tore up my suburb long before I moved here. I think I was about 10 at the time, and our dad drove us through the area to view it. It left quite an impact on my young mind. I consider having a basement (with an ace-in-the-hole battery powered backup sump pump!) to be an absolute necessity.
Here, we go to the nearest brick and mortar dwelling, ride out the hurricanes (tornadoes that accompany them) in windowless rooms. We stock up on supplies in prep for the season (June to November), and pray-a lot. Desantis used fema money to build Alligator Alcatraz, so if a big storm comes, it will be even more chaotic. With Ian, I had no power for close to three weeks, broken windows and a smashed back wall of my house where all the neighborhood sheds and fences hit, but I was safe, as were my family and our furry family members. Our community became friendlier for a time-most everyone sharing what we had with those who needed. I fear what will happen when the next big one hits-we no longer have the roofing crews that tarped, repaired, and replaced. There’s also do much maga hatred around here-ppl are truly different now. You mentioned the tornadoes-a great place to donate is Lutheran Disaster Response-whenever there is a catastrophic issue (flood, storm, tornado, etc) they are immediately boots on the ground and serving those in need. (As a former northeast gal, I remember basements and sump pumps!)
The same reasoning can be used for using the term "Karen." My wife's ex sister-in-law goes by that name; she will be a Trump supporter, it appears, until the day she dies. There have been many times I wanted to use the "Karen" insult against her due to her political beliefs until I checked myself to understand two poignant realities: 1) she can't help having been named Karen, and 2) there must be literally millions of Karens who are on the same side of the argument that I hold. Like implying those folks who live in trailers as being somewhat or somehow less than, we should think twice about using the name "Karen" with derision.
Thank you for that, Riah!
My beloved late sister was named Karen. A very dear friend I have now,--thankfully living as I'm at that age--is also named Karen. I purposely chose the name for a main character in one of my manuscripts, both as an honor to them and also hoping to put the name in a better light.
I've heard that "Jessica" is replacing "Karen" as a derogative now.
If we need to call them a name at all, how about Eva Braun-those who know history will understand the connotation. Or a Melania….???????
⬆️🎯👏🏼
Yes, I've often felt sympathy for women and girls named "Karen" who migiht be embarrassed by the connotations now given to those bearing that name.
I absolutely get it, Sharon. I have two dear friends (both former homeowners) who now reside in "55 and over manufactured home communities". My sister and her husband lived in one when they were first married. I believe that MHP (Mobile Home Parks) provide great and affordable housing. That said... I still remember the street addresses of a half dozen MHP's that were often the source for law enforcement calls for service 13 years after retirement.
My sidebar story to that is going to a death investigation at one of those MHP's. Neighbors who were going to help an elderly woman put up her storm windows discovered she had passed during the night. They forced entry, found her, and called us. One of the neighbors (a vet tech at one of our two animal clinics) took her dog. She had no known living relatives. The only prior call at that residence still on our call log was my victim as the complainant in her husband's death in some 30 years prior.
I agree Sharon, trailer parks are portrayed negatively. I for one, live in a trailer park which I chose to do. It’s really quite nice!! Now, if they say “trailer trash” thats a whole different ball game. What comes to mind when I say “old white men”?
Congress
😂😂😂
And also some old white women.
I've been guilty as Annabel, Sharon.
But I have also, in my years, visited many living in trailers -- and received wonderful decency and generous hospitality from them.
I hope Dems, especially newer, younger Dems, get over the money-&-celebrity-oriented illness long of establishment, status quo Dems. Hope they seek out red state America, and red-area, rural America even in blue states.
But you know what most-guaranteed blinds, neuters, dehumanizes most Dems? Testing.
I live in a double wide on a few acres of my own. Folks who live in a trailer park dont deserve to be put in the same bracket as this bunch of grifters, crooks and conmen!
Frankly, a lot of "mobile home parks"(better term) are much nicer and classier than the current boobs in the WH! These days all of us are doing the best we can.
You've got it exactly, Annabel.
Please let me piggyback something a bit off from what you've got right on.
How again a commenter here calls citing humanities as nothing more than self-exhibition.
I’ve often cited here novels, songs, films, and other arts. I’ve often urged schools in the U.S. and elsewhere to embrace essay writing so students nurture seeing and quoting others as individuals in their cultures. This would open, too, citing memoirs, histories, essay collections, and other arts.
One other commenter here has often resisted any role for humanities in our forum – Heather’s forum. But now a second commenter has labeled me with the same words as the first, as if any use of humanities aimed only to show off how smart I might be.
Please enlarge this scenario by going back 50 years. It was then that I first noticed this charge being thrown at prominent lefties and progressives in our universities then. This discomfited me 50 years ago, especially since the mid-1960s books, films, and songs vitally energized those passionate for anti-war, feminism, civil rights, farm workers, gays, and the environment.
I didn’t know it at the time, but it was the Heritage Foundation and the Hoover Institution (one new, the older with venerable legacy) then paying conservative intellectuals to shame those in our universities using humanities to help focus their energies. The far right then wanted universities instead only to rely on neutral specialists only – to shear all literacy of what the far right scorned as, at best, marginal ornamentation only, amateur excrescences, decorative irrelevances. They spent a lot of money on this campaign – and by the end of the 1970s had won.
Another post Powell-memo new foundation, ALEC, was successfully lobbying all state legislatures seriously to cut public subsidies to higher ed. It also began the tide of lobbyists in Washington, D.C.
This isn’t just lamentable history from 50 years ago. It’s also now two fellow commenters yet crusading to shame humanities now as then.
The long arm of plans, deliberate and with malice, to strip the government of any human endeavor. Media laser focused on the goals you mentioned. Hard to see as the storm gathered strength. Now we are seeing the damage.
And I say to the slime pit of the ages, “Please Drop dead now so I can poop on your gold-plated mausoleum and be the first to do it so I can get into the Guinness Book of World Records .” I’ll also bring poop from my house cats to sprinkle all over the unhallowed grounds.
In 2016 I used a Trump political poster as mat under my cat's litter box. Best use ever for this prop.
Hey, I need such, but I can’t tolerate his visage. He is ugly beyond words. Covered with cat schitt is so appropriate
Love this
Save the poop for the compost. Poop will produce flowers after the smell subsides.
Not from cats or dogs. It does nasty things, especially if you plan to use the compost in a food garden.
Yes that should be clear- but it is composted professionally- raised to appropriate temps and used. We do buy (they sell) bags of manure which must be appropriately treated.
Potter, certain poop does not belong in compost.
You are right. I have made a lot of compost from plant gardening over the years. But compost is made out of animal poop, I read, and usable only when heated to high temps... which some facilities do. People compost their poops in special toilets. We send our animal poop out with the trash and who knows where it ends up-- all goes back to the earth one way or another. Plastics really are a problem.
I once developed a 50’ garden and before I planted, I bought cow manure and my g garden stank for quite some time. Besides, I would want a photo of me taking a… at the said location for the archives.
Now you are reminding me. Cow manure has been quite okay traditionally. We lived in a house that had a barn with aged horse manure under the floor. I used that in my large vegetable garden. I did not get sick. I am still here. It maybe the horse had a vegetarian diet and it was aged... so too the cow.
Understanding without understanding the humanities is like learning how to drive despite having no place to go.
Huh? Don’t you read HCR? What do you think the study of History is?
I am simply stating the importance of the study of the humanities. I honestly can't make any sense of your comment.
I apologize. I read your comment as stating that the study of Humanities was like learning to drive with no place to go-apparently the exact opposite of your meaning. My bad. We are in complete agreement. 😜
Einstein said that “It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure.” Pythagoras said "There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres". I think that beauty can be identified in all of it. Likely Keats' best known line is "Beauty is truth, truth beauty," which leaves out a lot, but which I think is fundamentally defensible. There are truths to be identified in everything, and experience in nothing if not experiential, by which I mean the taste of honey, not just it's atomic architecture. We think and feel, therefore we are.
In every moment we process decisions about what is real and what, for us, has value. Where the focus of one's eye will next linger, whether what I write is worth the time spent to write it, or read it. Human value gets tricky because it can both be quite uniquely personal, and yet also shared. This blog is filled with such sharing. What, as social beings, do we most care about? What do we most wisely pursue in the pursuit of happiness? In an instant. In a lifetime?
Can we agree to disagree and yet respect each other's need for well-being? We could start with a proposition that all people are created equal, and deserving the respect of some kit of fundamental human rights; and hence, weave that theme into our decision process. That proposition has been argued for centuries.
"One other commenter here has often resisted any role for humanities in our forum..."
You literally haven't the FAINTEST idea what you are talking about.
Sixty or so years ago I questioned a much older friend’s assertion that right wing forces were quietly but effectively undermining public education. The effort was intended to stultify creative thinking, to produce a population that could be easily manipulated. I don’t question that today. The election of Trump, a person for whom creative pursuits just deters one from cheating others of their money, is clear proof the strategy worked. Our government today is a farce, the world’s joke. But a joke with power. For those who laugh at this a reading of the essays of the journalist Edward R. Murrow will be eye opening, even shocking. Americans of every stripe listened to his broadcasts. They were complex. They were challenging. If broadcast today they would be ignored. As a society, we are wealthier. We are awash in things. But we are not awash in knowledge or integrity. We still possess great wealth and power, though the wealth is now concentrated among the favored ones. But we are no longer respected or admired anywhere, and the countries we admire are no longer those that favor democracy but those that are dominated by dictatorial regimes. While Trump has struck with the sword that has toppled our democracy, his right wing forebears had done the work that made the ascension of a Trump possible. The damage will not be undone when he leaves the stage. As a society, we have not acknowledged how far we have fallen. We can rise to wherever we once were, and hopefully higher, but not unless we can honestly acknowledge where we are today.
Further to your point, in the June 2026 issue of "Church & State" magazine, there is an article entitled "The Trump Admin is hitting Americans with Incessant Christian Nationalism." It's shocking to learn the lengths that Dept of Defense Secretary Hegseth and Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, are going to to proselytize their departments' employees.
Present tense: are proselytizing. It is past the "are going to" stage.
It seems to me that "Christian Nationalism" is a contradiction of terms, at least insofar as jingoistically applied. I was told repeatedly by "youth leaders" in my childhood that God favored the US in every conceivable way, above all other nations, and that we were assigned to lead the rest of the world; but I never saw that part in the Bible. I see some overlap in the US proposition of social equality at birth (though the "original sin" thing never made one bit of sense to me. Nor do the "Christian Nationalists" seem to me to illustrate the teachings of Jesus except as bad examples. )
“The Ugly American”… antidote to the hubris?
Jesus might simply stare with an expression of pure PITY!
Gary, your comments really nailed it. It comes down to two words: character and values. We are a nation divided by questions of values. The ChristoNazis believe they have the greater grasp of values; some of us think their value system is damaged and they wish to force that distortion on us. IMO these folks are simple-minded; as Marx said, religion is the opiate of the masses. The "basket of deplorables" lives on, ignorant and lacking in character (within which exists integrity). People like DJT have no values, no character, and they (the greedy oligarchs) have taken over. What are we to do?
We need to GOV, the Dems need to have a landslide win in November, and begin immediately holding the corrupt accountable.
Signe, I'm not sure it's in the end a question of values. We probably all claim, for example, to value "honesty," but how we define that seems to vary immensely. Ditto for a value like "loyalty." And it's a question of how we prioritize values. What's more important, for me to be honest to a police offer about my friend's crime, or to be loyal to that friend and stay silent?
What divides us as a nation is what in the sixties began to be referred to as cultural values: whether we could accept divorce, or homosexuality, or equal participation of the sexes in the workplace, or interracial marriage, e.g.
Donna, yes -- and it drills down to absolutist versus relativist interpretations and practices. Is murder always wrong? Would it be ok if I killed a person to stop them from blowing up the planet?
I think that in some ways every age is the best of times and the worst of times, depending where you look. That said, some societies seem more happy and more just overall, when compared to others, both in location and era. As a society we can point to apparent progress in reducing inequalities that were more common in Edward R. Murrow's day, let alone Jefferson's, yet also, a lot of presumed progress has eroded. The contest between those who assert the right to bully and those who would rather just get along appears ceaseless. We have evidence of just how nightmarish existence can become when the bullies fully dominate; and yet we must find means to defend ourselves and constrain certain types of aggressive or dangerously irresponsible behaviors. Whatever else can be said of them, the cohort that produced the famed July 4th document, and our Constitution made an earnest effort in the direction of justice which has been highly consequential since.
Lincoln saw the glaring malpractice in the existence of slavery and focused on it as grossly unacceptable to the supposed sacred status of universal liberty; as stirrings for women's rights accompanied the call of abolition. Jim Crow politics was still "normal" in the US in my youth, until protests were noticed. When my father was born, the full right of women to vote was not yet official. It does seem to me that we liberals speak less about long-term values than we did in what I remember of my youth, leaving it to Republicans to speak of values that are in fact a sham. What do we stand for in the grand scheme of things? Our founding documents were prescriptive but we while alive give them their meaning and agency.
I can see why you might feel impatience with how Phil raises the point repeatedly, but I think there is plenty of evidence that the humanities, which I understand to be expressions of our experiential humanness, are under attack by authoritarians, as they historically have are and have been in despotic regimes, left, right, and theocratic. I see it as only part of the picture, yet a very important part, and I think there is a lot a evidence available to back the claim that suppression of free expression of the arts is a core strategy of tyrants. That is subtler in our current, specific circumstances, but it is, I think, demonstrably there, and I think only the general momentum of a tradition of a comparatively free society has so far held back more draconian suppression by those seeking absolute power.
J L, Paul Krugman had a chart on the decline of reading in the US.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-201920438
In 1985 the percentage of teens who read in their leisure time every day has dropped from 35% to around 15%. The number of teens who hardly ever read has risen from 15% to around 47%. Dr. Krugman suggest the smart phone usage is a major cause of this change. At any rate, it is not the sole responsibility of the education system to monitor cell phone usage nor is it the sole responsibility of the education system to make sure American students read the literature they are assigned to read.
He wasn't talking about a point -- he was talking about ME -- somebody he knows diddly about. Who else do you think he had in mind, Rick Sender? You betcha I'm gonna call him out for chickenshit behavior like that....
Dear, dear ICTT, just take a deep breath; you're certainly not alone.
Mr. Balla's head remains tucked so far up he can neither see his faults nor hear the critiques others of us have advanced. That so many of HCR's followers even now still click 'likes' to his pathetically invalid hypothesis is certainly not much of a compliment to either us or her. His grand, but specious, theory -- about "Powell," and the Chamber, and conservative foundations, and "standardized testing," and American schools, and their culpability for the "death of the humanities" in America, offering Diane Ravitch as affirmation -- is all just poppycock. Perhaps the east Asian sun has bleached white his gray matter, but it certainly has not diminished his resolution to advance a tiresome theory tirelessly. That's wholly on him.
Anyway, I've got more important quests to pursue. Two months ago I sent an (imperfect) essay documenting close to forty indicators that America's republic, at 250, needs serious attention ere it collapse. I linked it to the midterm elections, the needed exercise of the oversight functions respecting those forty indicators, and requirements for the coming 2028 presidential election. The organizing and starting work of constitutional reconstruction can't begin until 2029!
I closed the essay with the observation that the span of time from the Declaration of Independence to the ratification of the Constitution had been a dozen years . . . that would bring America to 2041; none of us -- Balla, ICTT, or Gideonse-- will be here. Consider also that the 120th Congress will not have the free hand available to the founders; it must work within the established frame of the Constitution presently in place. Think on THAT! Good luck, America; you'll need it . . .
P.S. Not a single one of the 60 leading Democrats sent that 20-page essay to their Washington offices has so far commented on or even acknowledged receipt of the afore-mentioned essay. That just speaks volumes to me . . .
Thanks Hendrik. The failure of a member of Congress (I'm assuming?) to respond to you speaks about something, indeed. When I was a Congressional intern way back during the Late Pleistocene, we answered *everything.* it made no difference if it was a request to intervene after a Social Security disability denial, a note expressing thanks, a complaint, a form chain letter, a handwritten scrawl, a long screed -- whatever. Every letter always began with "Dear....thank you for your letter/note of [date]..." There were no exceptions. I hope you will eventually receive something.
Hendrick: You're in good company (at least I consider him "good company;" others wouldn't.) Ralph Nader writes to members of Congress all the time and rarely gets the courtesy of a reply.
re Phil Balla: he's set up this strawman (an attack on the humanities) and sees in this substack a conspiracy of humanities haters. He alone can save readers from us. (ICTT is the most frequent of Phil's targets, I've also been named as one who doesn't like the humanities. Pure poppycock.) His other strawman is standardized testing. Yes, testing can be overused. But personally, I'd hate to live in a world where our surgeons, our pilots, our nurses and teachers our drivers, didn't have to demonstrate their mastery over their practiced subject. I.e,. pass a standardized test.
The enemies are intolerance and failure to recognize one's own shortcomings. Which our humanities expert Phil often enough displays.
We generally ignore trolling rick
In all fairness to Phil's persistence, I separate, in my mind, the delivery system for humanities, by which I mean where and how it is flourishing that is not in the structures we call schools (not in the disciplines we call courses). So where is it? Look around because that varies: In culture as inventive language, hip-hop in streets and playgrounds, the way people dress to align themselves with sub-cultural groups, graffiti, posters on bulletin boards in post offices and bodegas, tattoos, protest signs everywhere.
J L, this is true. However, education is only part of the problem. I taught in a small rural town (which now is a haven for MAGAs) and we had the humanities, civics, etc. Students generally reflect their parents' views and it was difficult to change those views in the classroom.
I CTT, why do you need to argue with Phil, honestly?
What would you do if a sniper took a pot-shot at you from behind the shadows? Lecture the person who went after him?
Gloria, It's not necessarily a need to argue. In a post last week he accused, by name, both ICTT and me of "excluding humanities," whatever that means. He made similarly disparaging comments today. Phil seems to think he's the only one on this substack who values and has been exposed to the humanities. I take exception to that, not only with respect to myself (and ICTT, but he's capable of defending himself) but because it demeans sincere and intelligent people whose comments show they're Phil's equals when it comes to appreciating and reflecting the values of a humanities-centered education. Phil often makes valuable comments. But his need to present a list of book titles when he writes, as if he's the only one who reads, is insulting and tiresome.
PS: Today Phila wrote "It’s also now two fellow commenters yet crusading to shame humanities now as then." Those two commenters may be ICTT and myself, since we've both disagreed with him at times. I'd love to see on what Phil bases his statement that two commenters are "crusading to shame humanities... ."
Phil, Thank you! I found my Humanities courses in the early 70s to be exciting and invaluable.
Down deep in their shitty little hearts, Republicans have long understood that reality has a liberal bias. One important subject in the study of the humanities is history- the never-ending debate in history is to determine which historian gets closest to the truth of what happened. My history professor at the University of Minnesota in the 1970s was David Noble. I think it was Professor Noble who inspired me to read Howard Zinn’s people’s history of the United States. Zinn, as it turned out, wrote one of the truest histories of the United States ever written. And how do I know that to be true? Trump and his fellow autocrats, plutocrats and nazis are doing it to us again.
Thank you for this. I will order Zinn's book(s.) This reminds me of John Dean's famous quote about a "cancer growing on the presidency." In fact, we have a cancer growing on the body politic here and IMO, it is white Christian Nationalism. The oligarchs are using it to extra trillions out of the U.S. economy - $39 trillion and growing. Pres. G.W. Bush was right about one thing when at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on 3-31-2001 he said: "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on."
The cancer is on (in?) the entire presidential administration.
I watched some Zinn documentaries on Netflix - if I remember correctly, which is an iffy undertaking these days. ; ()
What concerns me most is that the biggest lesson imparted by this motley collection of conmen, thugs, thieves and rapists is that crime pays. And it has, handsomely, for them.
So what do the humanities have to do with that? Well, something, but it’s not a silver bullet, either. Perhaps if we wrote essays that were rigorously critiqued and not simply given an inflated grade for the effort, people would be better able to discern through articulation and the application of reason in writing. Perhaps if we were familiar with the philosophical writings of Descartes, Hume, Hobbes, and Sartre and others we would be better able to identify strengths and the flaws in our own modern thinking that might help conceptualize solutions. Not all modern thinking is bad either. The expression is just different, as another poster put it.
But at the end of the day it’s all just words on a sheet of paper without action. Words can inspire but only if we are open to them, to the idea of putting ourselves at risk for the greater good. There are plenty of well educated Americans who got their liberal arts education and are now silent bystanders to the daily shitshow.
Phil, Annabel wrote that the American oligarchy were "devoid of ANY of the values that made this a great nation despite its flaws." In replying to her you said "How again a commenter here calls citing humanities as nothing more than self-exhibition." And, "But now a second commenter has labeled me with the same words as the first, as if any use of humanities aimed only to show off how smart I might be."
Last week, you and I had a thread of comments replying to each other. In one reply I suggested you "seemed to believe that those who list more authors in their comments have a better grounding in the humanities and better reasoning abilities. That therefore their opinion is somehow more valid. ... But does a litany of book titles embedded in a comment establish the superiority or even the bona fides of an opinion? Not necessarily. It may; or it may only demonstrate a person’s tendency to be pedantic.”
Are you the only subscriber to this newsletter who values the humanities and has a humanities background, Phil? Your reply to Annabel sounds like a screed against "... two fellow commenters yet crusading to shame humanities now as then." I don't think I've read a single comment in this newsletter which shames the humanities, Phil, not from anyone. Your inclination to turn so many of your comments into a suggestion that you alone are holding the fort against some conspiracy against the humanities gets tiresome, Phil.
Worse than tiresome...offensive.
I can’t help thinking about my college-level initial required readings: “Animal Farms” and “1984”. I would add that if could offer my recommendation to add to that list of essential readings would be “The Diary of Anne Frank” and “To Kill A Mockingbird”. Homer’s “The Odyssey” and “The Iliad”…probably should have been swapped between high school and a few of those from college level required reading…just my opinion?
The jumping castle was perfect for the toddlers birthday party.
Celebrating 80 years of bullying greed and pay back
LOL
Sheesh, a giant trampoline coulda saved us all a lot of tax dollars!
And probably a lot more fun too, Marj!!!!
How fitting:a castle instead of a legislative building or court house.
lol...
Hilarious
"... turn the White House into a trailer park" disparages trailer parks and those who live in them. Most Americans who live in trailers do so because they are lower income and cannot afford otherwise. Housing policy in the U.S., under both Democrats and Republicans doesn't serve them.
Many on the Left, frequently self-righteously, champion certain underdog identity groups such as immigrants, migrants, racial minorities, Muslims, and LGBTQTIA+ but they lack awareness to the poor. Poor Americans like trailer dwellers can be classed "trailer trash" and their trailer homes used to represent something degraded. Likewise rural Americans can be disparaged as "hicks" and "red necks" which are put-down terms for largely white people who are also lower income and have less education.
I think the Left's commitment to an identity group focus over economic justice is a mistake. To its credit the Left desires human thriving and it has its best chance of succeeding when it addresses the material circumstances of people and understands that poverty cuts across all identity group boundaries.
PS - I don't think A. Ascher means to disparage trailer dwellers, but her language reflects a prejudicial thinking about the low income and poor that is built into our language, maybe built into the American psyche where it is your fault if you are poor in the land of freedom and opportunity. On the Left prejudicial expressions about the poor are not called hate speech, but prejudicial expressions based on identity are.
I agree with your calling out the trailer park language, don’t fall for the line that it’s the left that are all about “identity”. MAGA is all about white Christian identity. That’s the thing they’ve been selling. And, leftist movements that have focused only on economic situations and systems, such as unions, have a long history of excluding people of color. To raise issues of racism and its effects on people’s lives to increase awareness is not only a natural outcome but a needed one. We can do both-evaluate our own biases and not throw groups under the bus while we strive for a better economic situation for all.
I did not suggest we "throw groups under the bus." If we want people to thrive and have dignity they need respect and full civil rights. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, however, identified physiological, hence material needs as needing to be met first. I do not see an aware, well-informed, and committed effort in addressing policies and structures that will enable people to meet their material needs. For example, we seem fine with having exploited labor pick our tomatoes if it means cheaper prices for us.
No perfection, no where. But the goals are polar opposite
I’m not sure what you mean. People of color are saying-have always been saying-we are also Americans, deserving of a government and society that supports economic opportunity and security as everyone else. Historically, the purveyors of race or identity politics have been elite white groups using race to separate middle and lower class folks from each other. And it has worked because racism is a thing. See the language of Andy Beshear and Reverend Barber as guides -or if you want a historical reference, the Fusion politics of early 20th century North Carolina-for how to message about liberty, justice and economic security for all.
In my long life I hsve never felt that the left, whatever that is (not repub) had hatred for any group. McCarthy and Nixon were haters snd crooks. Just my Takeuchi
I saw someone else call the Trump weirdos (no offense to weirdos) "white trash." Most of these weirdos are white and I don't think trash will be offended or that is has a negative connotation. Their value system doesn't coincide with what is considered normal in our culture or actually any culture I am aware of.
Most of HCR's readers are not starving, homeless and broke, but there is no reason to be condescending to anyone who is. In 2020, 1.6 million people filed for bankruptcy due to medical debt. This does not make them "trailer trash."
https://worldmetrics.org/medical-bankruptcies-statistics/
Elizabeth Warren has been trying since before the ACA passed to eliminate medical bankruptcy. And the OBBBA just increased the risk of medical bankruptcy for hundreds of thousands of people.
Anyone watch "The Pitt"? They address the trauma of potential medical bankruptcy caused by an unexpected illness or trauma.
I can't help but think of the phrase "divide and conquer"while reading some of these comments. Someone is pleased with this exchange. Unity should be our strength.
oh yea.. unity.
Because she should be able to say whatever nasty thing she wants about those disgusting 'poors' and we should just shut our mouths and agree with our betters?
Yes, the Pitt did an excellent job of portraying the sometimes, very bad decisions people make concerning their health due to no medical insurance, and needing to go to work, despite being seriously ill. I am a nurse practitioner, mostly retired at 75, but I dealt with the same sad decision
S from patients who had to chose between rent and medication or food and basic care.
GJ, I just read yesterday that someone(s) in, or adjacent to, the current Admin (who, I cannot recall) recommended dealing with medical debt by having patients borrow from their insurance and/or health provider….that is, the debt becomes a loan instead (applicable % applies, etc). The whole thing sucks as it is, this would just make it suckier, IMHO.
Another really stupid idea from wealthy people who can qualify for any loan they need. Plus, when they default they are right back where they started from.
I love The PITT - show with a social conscience!
I live in a trailer park. Some are vacation spots and low-cost alternatives in sunny climes where they’re second dwellings. But in my neck of the woods it’s where retirees go because they can’t afford to live in a better house. At the same time, it’s where we endure meth labs, couples fighting in the street over child support, and cars up on blocks perpetually. Kids stealing out of your car if you leave it unlocked, landlords who promise you neighborhood improvements for your ever-increasing rent, but then disappear when you need them to fix a street light. There is good in trailer parks and there is trash in trailer parks. I’ve used the term myself and don’t consider it a slur on my neighbors. We all know what it means - we have some of our neighbors prove it for us routinely. They’re not just the poor low income workers and retirees. Some are far worse and they congregate here because often neighborhood rules are lax, no other communal living would tolerate them, and the police ignore us.
Thank you for words from the maelstrom
Thanks, Sandy. As a retired cop, I have had a lot of contacts at MHP's; I still recall street addresses for many of them. I met good folks as well as some not so good folks.
Thank you Sandy. Yes, 'we all know what it means'. And your comment points out the absurdity of spending the last 45 minutes here 'listening' to the great brainiac's expound upon their own profundity.
🎯
There is no question but that the metaphor evokes a graphic negative image in one's mind. That having been said, however, it is probably time to use another way to describe the situation. I recently sold a manufactured home here in Florida that I purchased as an investment. It was 1400 sq.ft. and located in a park adjacent to a lake and across the street from very, very expensive homes in gated communities. So, there are "trailer parks" and then there are "trailer parks." They aren't all the same.
"Many on the Left, frequently self-righteously, champion certain underdog identity groups such as immigrants, migrants, racial minorities, Muslims, and LGBTQTIA+ but they lack awareness to the poor. Poor Americans like trailer dwellers can be classed "trailer trash" and their trailer homes used to represent something degraded. Likewise rural Americans can be disparaged as "hicks" and "red necks" which are put-down terms for largely white people who are also lower income and have less education."
Bingo, Judy. This, I think, is what lost Dems the election in 2016, the perception that they championed certain oppressed groups but overlooked the poor including the working poor who had been their natural constituency for generations. The current president managed to sell himself as an outsider who would fight the "elite" and promote the interests of the working class. And America believed him.
Judy, nicely put. I agree with your third paragraph and that means here locally, that people need to pay attention to the demographics of a district. For example, we had Chavez DeRemer as our rep for one term because her opponent, a member of one of the group you mention, could not win in Marion Country.
America, Now With Premium Algae
The Trump administration has finally solved Washington’s biggest problem: not war, corruption, constitutional rights, or government by spectacle, but the insufficient branding of standing water.
After reportedly turning a $1.5 million Reflecting Pool renovation into nearly $16 million of patriotic moisture management, the administration announced triumph while the pool bloomed green again. That is not failure, citizen. That is freedom algae. Possibly the most luxurious algae ever produced by federal contracting.
And really, what better symbol for this era than a reflecting pool that no longer reflects? It was once meant to mirror the Lincoln Memorial, democracy, sacrifice, and national memory. Now it reflects the operating principle of the regime: say it is beautiful, blame Obama, invoice the public, and hope nobody looks too closely.
The same logic apparently applies everywhere. Cover the Kennedy Center with a tarp and call it compliance. Stage cage fighting on the White House lawn and call it patriotism. Announce peace before the terms are visible and call it history. If reality refuses to cooperate, just rename the puddle.
The genius of the green Reflecting Pool is that it tells the truth by accident. Beneath the gold lettering, the press releases, and the “thank you, sir” propaganda, the water is still doing what water does when neglected: turning stagnant.
Outstanding prose, Michael!
They could try covering the pool with a reflecting tarp.
🤣 yeah, on the heels of his most recent, and quite literal, cover up of the Kennedy Center. Lordy the jokes just write themselves!
How to describe the desecration of our monuments and memorials, indeed our very seat of our peoples’ government? May I suggest that we remember we are all in this together including the folks who live in trailer parks and work at Hooters. Indeed including those who are homeless or who work incarcerated. As I step down from my soapbox may we find a way to bring us all into the fold and hold accountable those of us who would harm and divide us. Peace.
"while they proceed with the real business--implementing Project 2025 while further enriching themselves on the backs of regular citizens."
In other words, the same old serpent of conquest and plunder.
Bill Clinton, the Rhodes scholar, was raised in a trailer park.
Hence, the empathy of being able to feel the pain of poverty.
I was raised in a neighborhood with 2, 3 & 4 bedroom homes between 800-1200 sq ft. It was a Catholic neighborhood lower middle class. The homes were spaciously spread 10-12 feet apart with 60'x120' lots. /s We played kickball in the street which was about a 30 degree slope. Some of the families had 12 kids in a 3 bedroom house. 5000 people to a square mile with the Interstate as one of the boundaries.
But, there was ALWAYS someone to play with or ride bikes with or play baseball or football in the school yard. When we got to junior high, it was the first time many of us had ever met or hung out with rich kids.
Given a choice, I would choose to be raised in the same place.
Thank you Annabel. Couldn't be said any better.
Senate Dems are expecting that Trump will doing much more that 'cheat the system', before, during & after the November 2026 national election that is state controlled election process NOT controlled the Feds.
So Senate Dems have gamed out at least three (3) expected Trump attacks on the November election in detail. So How are Senate Dems are planning to defend 11/25/26 election interference?
Senate Dems convened a slate of experts that include former AG Eric Holder, the highly successful Dem election Attorney MARC ELIAS, election law expert NORMAN EISEN & the top litigators at DEMOCRACY FORWARD along with the non-partisan, non-profit Protect Democracy to organize a potent & effective response starting now.
Spoiler Alert:
*************
A civil lawsuit was filed by 22 AG’s across the Nation in April 2026 in Massachusetts. You can follow the Massachusetts's court action directly via the 'Court Insider' platform. But, DEMOCRACY DOCKET is doing a very good job tracking & reporting case status including the MA Judge's planned case deadlines.
The Judge has announced to the parties that the court will set a date for AG's "Motion for Summary Judgment" which is a procedural process spells out in detail to the Judge the admissible evidence to the Court that entitles Plaintiff AG's [you & me] to Judgment against the election disrupters as a matter law. I am expecting collateral civil lawsuits as well.
Buckle Up.
Is there a list of the 22 states somewhere? I bet my state’s not on it.
Yes on the face of the complaint, 1:26-cv-11581.
But, but the named states include AZ, CA, CO, Delaware, the District of Colombia IL & their Governor, Josh Shapiro, HCR's state Maine, MN, NJ, New Mexico, NC, NY, yes Ally Oregon, yes Deba RI, yes Margery, VT, WA, yes Washington state folks I have conceded your AG is tops "West of the Mississippi", Virginia, & Wisconsin.
Alas MLM, no Tennessee but, the legal remedy Early Voting & Vote-by mail is OK & is protected for all voters!
Thank you, Counselor!
On the "trailer park" issue: The term is used as an exemplar of a certain lifestyle, and it shouldn't be, anymore than the name "Karen" should be used as a pejorative for a certain kind of white woman.
But humans think in exemplars.
There are a lot of bright people on this thread. Could we brainstorm other words that would capture the concept that "trailer park" does?
For context--I don't live in a trailer, but I do live in an old house with a dining room ceiling about to come down the next time it rains and no way to repair it. There are far too many ways to be poor. Before living here in Rochester's Bull's Head, I lived 9 years on the mesa 25 miles out on the high desert west of Taos NM. There is a whole single wide section on my road. I knew people that were burning rags to get through the brutal winter.
This is not what the term "trailer park" as used in the context it is usually used, is referring to.
I will also say that most people who live in a falling down duplex or a single wide on the high desert are not looking for a McMansion. Just a reasonably comfortable roof. And the "McMansion" itself is also a pejorative term. The difference is that the people who build, buy, and live in McMansions are CLEARLY choosing it. They have enough money to do better. The ones burning rags do not.
Please put any ideas for better word choices here. And stop calling officious white women "Karens" while we are at it.
What bothers me the most about the spectacle on Sunday is that so many tech people, like Zuckerberg, took part in the crass event. These tech giants are taking part in bringing down our country. Shame, shame, shame!
Should we expect anything more from those who've sold their souls for money and access to those who promise to let them make more money?
Although I would have paid to see Zuckerberg and Musk in thongs duking it out...
Oh, Gary, don’t know whether to laugh 🤣, or puke 🤮 at that mental image!!!!!
Well put
Annabel, I think you’re right about Da Donald as perfect frontman for the openly treasonous American oligarchy. They & Christian Nationalist freaks know they must complete their democracy destroying revolution fast before enough people realize how sick and dangerous they are. The so-called Republican Congress contemptuously allows the biggest loser to have his way and keep just enough Americans dumbfounded by their bizarre mess. <> Rebecca Solnit, Gil Duran, and Christopher Armitage are independent writers in addition to Heather, who consistently explain & exposed the oligopolists who openly aggitate to replace democracy with their fascist - corporare dictatorship. + Robert Reich shared a warning last week from two Democratic former senators on the emergency that is Trump’s rolling coup: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/warning-trumps-rolling-coup-is-underway?r=41pd0&utm_medium=ios + Republican Congress & corrupt 6/9 SCOTUS are the mercenaries for the real fascist - corporate revolution leaders for dictatorship. We can boycott them into oblivion and stop them but we must reform & strengthen democracy to disrupt the long repeating cycle of oligarch’s earth & people destroying aggression.
Bingo! The carnival barker's last hurrah...
Can we say, "basket of deplorables" in place of 'trailer park'?
It may be smarter to eliminate both descriptions if unity is the goal.
So all the taxpayers spent $16 million on The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to be painted. The regime just bypassed the traditional open bidding process, and hired some of his cronies companies to do the work. Atlantic Industrial Coatings is the company that got the job because they had previously done work on the swimming pools at his Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia.
We are now hearing the absurd lie that there is “residual algae" being pushed out from the pool's underground water supply lines.
Well the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool will always have algae because it is a large, shallow, outdoor body of water. Because the water bakes in direct sunlight, and the temperature in DC reaches above 90 in the summer. It’s also humid. The water lacks a natural moving current, and frequently collects nutrient-rich bird droppings, it creates a perfect, natural breeding ground for algae growth. Think of a large pond with standing water.. Algae is always floating on top..
So we dropped a ton of money in this national monument for absolutely no reason, and the moron thought algae would not continue to remain.. and lies as to why it’s there..
For the Iranian deal, all the particulars haven’t been released in full. Why is it such a secret? Is it the same as the JCPOA, better or worse? Thinking it’s waaaaay worse. It’s difficult to say, because at this point when we’ve been lied to as often about these deals with Iran from this regime, it appears that the Iranian news is much more accurate. Going to wait to see the paperwork.
For me the question arises — why are they waiting for this ceremonial signing until Friday? Well there’s a few thoughts it’s Juneteenth and The Obama Presidential Center officially opens to the general public on Friday, June 19, 2026.
Take the tarp down from the Kennedy Center..
It took about a week and a half, maybe less, for the Reflecting Pool to turn from Ti-D-Bowl blue to algal pea-green. Painting the bottom of the Pool bright neon blue allowed it to absorb even more heat from sunlight, which in turn accelerated algal blooms which form naturally in the Pool because of its shallowness and water siphoned directly from the Potomac River.
Had the Very Stable Genius (with his Tiny Little Penius) had an elementary knowledge of chemistry or worked with a reputable contractor who did, this would have been obvious from the get-go.
And the bottom of the pool still leaks, by the way. Just saying....
Yep as he posted on that Lie Social media platform of his that he had achieved a perfect 30 out of 30 score on a high-difficulty cognitive test, asserting that his perfect score was considered proof of “extreme intelligence” nothing like being able to pick out an elephant in a group of three animals… simple chemistry as well as most subjects totally alludes that “stable genius”….
Some donkeys and asses are stable creatures.
Chemistry, physics, and biology (not to mention common sense) are all way to constraining for the Master of the Universe.
It was pointed out in photos that the guy who said that thing about Michelle Obama hardly has one at all. Might even be an internal organ.
Anabolic steroids have that effect, they say...
"Penius" Brilliant! Now we can abbreviate Trump as the TLP and thus avoid calling him a sleazy dickhead.
David, listen to some of Randy Rainbow’s elaborate video performances…one I saw recently used the phrase ICTT mentions.
The "renovated" pool more accurately reflects the nausea that most of us are feeling under the current regime.
The “genius who never was” obviously does know the difference between a swimming pool which has filtration filters and chemical treatment , and a reflecting pool, which needs still water to accomplish it’s purpose of reflecting the monument.
This whole hysterically funny farce is just so typical of Donnie’s ineptitude and smug insistence that he knows better than anyone else.
Meanwhile the great businessman has squandered seven times his estimated cost for doing a job so stupidly wrong that it has caused laughter and derision around the world.
Lord, why can’t we be freed from this stupid man and his equally evil, morally vacant associates.
Thanks for the reminder about what else is happening on June 19th!
Polymarket has $72 million betting that "US x Iran permanent peace deal by June 15, 2026?" is a 97% sure thing. The resolution on whether it is true or not is due in 2 days unless there is a dispute...
Anybody wondering why Trump was so anxious to say the deal was signed yesterday? Anybody wondering what Eric and Don Jr. are telling their buddies about their speculations? Oh, and remember, Don Jr. is on the Polymarket advisory board, and Polymarket makes the call on whether the bet is resolved as yes or no.
Here is what has to happen for this to be resolved as yes:
"This market will resolve to “Yes” if Iran and the United states agree to a permanent peace deal by the specified date, 11:59 PM ET. Otherwise, this market will resolve to “No”.
A permanent peace deal refers to any agreement which explicitly indicates that military hostilities between the United States and Iran have ended or will permanently cease, or uses equivalent language clearly signaling a lasting end to military hostilities between the United States and Iran. Agreements that are explicitly temporary or which do not include a definitive agreement to end military hostilities between the US and Iran on a lasting basis (e.g. a temporary extension of the two-week ceasefire agreement announced on April 7, 2026), will not qualify.
A qualifying agreement will be considered to have been established if either of the following conditions are met:
The United States and Iran each sign or formally adopt a written agreement (e.g. a treaty or multi-point agreement) which meets the above criteria.
Both the governments of the United States and Iran provide clear public confirmation that a qualifying agreement has been definitively established. Negotiations, statements of progress, or other statements which do not constitute a definitive announcement that a qualifying agreement has been reached will not count.
The primary resolution source for this market will be official information from the governments of the United States and Iran; however, a consensus of credible reporting may also be used. "
$72 million is a big payoff if you bet NO and the resolution is deemed to be no, so 3% of the bets would get 100% of the pool
If it resolves to YES then that also resolves the additional $48 million bets based on later dates as well, all now at 98%-99% to resolve to YES. So not much of a payoff. Not clear from the resolution statement what will happen if hostilities resume before those dates. Big pots but not much payoff if you are betting with the crowd.
Whatever the outcome, I wouldn't bet on it.
The fix is in on all of the political outcomes. The insider information is transparent, with the statements being meant to drive the stock markets and now the prediction markets. The people who are deciding the resolution have direct access to Trump through Don Jr., and the politicized regulatory agencies are no longer seeking to enforce the rules. You are asking to be fleeced.
Either that or this is a ruse to obscure the source of payoffs by going through a fixed prediction market with all of the transactions in crypto, so all you see is a wallet ID, and the owner of the wallet can maintain anonymity. If you know the preordained resolution, you, as the payer, take the losing side against a winning bet taken by the person being paid off. You get to deduct up to 90% of your gambling losses against your gambling winnings.
You soon may be able to bet on prediction market outcomes through binary event outcome ETFs in retirement accounts. The 1% are unwilling to let any small accumulation of wealth by the 99% be unavailable for potential plundering in the corrupt prediction markets.
Issuers like Roundhill, GraniteShares, and Bitwise filed for ETFs that track binary event outcomes (elections, recessions, layoffs, economic prints, etc.), packaging prediction‑market bets into an ETF wrapper. These were supposed to have received approval this spring, but the SEC requested more information.
Right now, the SEC is seeking public comment and working through suitability, manipulation, and structural issues before making a final decision on whether any of these funds can become available.
I guess you could go to Kalshi or Polymarket and set up a market on the binary event outcome of the SEC approving the binary event outcome ETFs…
https://www.roundhillinvestments.com/prediction-markets
You might as well put your money in the toilet and flush it as bet on those rigged games. In Las Vegas the odds are always in favor of the house but people do win pots large and small, Polymarkets are just another way to separate the gullible from their money.
Not much to the ignorant. Millions to Polly Market and his partner Trump.
https://polymarket.com/event/us-x-iran-permanent-peace-deal-by
This is the link to the graph of how sentiment started to flip from 4.7% Yes starting at 8am June 11 to 88% Yes at 8 pm June 14. You may need to sign in with a google account to see it. Final review is at 8 pm on 6/17.
I would bet on resumption of hostilities.
So would I. Pick your date, but be careful of how the resolution will be determined. Would defensive actions count as a resumption of hostilities? Which side would have to start it? How big a reaction would be sufficient to trigger the resolution? We had a “ceasefire” that certainly had a lot of firing going on…
We are in Orwellian times—are we at peace or war? Trump says we have not been at war at all…
And will likely act accordingly in the markets.
He is the master of distraction, is he not. With our piggy bank…
And destruction
TJ, I do think there was a ‘reason’ for the Reflecting Pool debacle. As in the past with other Drumpf interventions,such as the long ago debacle at the Rockefeller building skating rink. It’s yet another opportunity for this career criminal to pocket cash under guise of a public project.
The Iranian deal is likely to be way worse when we get the bill for the war. Trump want's to tear down what other built just to leave his mark on it.
Trump does not have a “ deal”. He has surrendered to the Iranians for a nonbinding agreement to negotiate.
To hear his ongoing lies about this, one would think that he has achieved a “bigger,better” agreement than the Obama POAC that he tore up in debacle #1.
That, in his very warped mind is what he wants to believe, and what he wants his followers to believe in spite of facts on the ground. It is a sorry thing to say that we can believe the Iranian wacko religious fanatics more than our own pathetic “ government”.
Like his "better and cheaper" "Health Plan", it's still at the "concept of a plan" stage.
Yes! Take the damn tarp down!!!
I desagree with your statement about dropping a ton of money for absolutely no reason....the reason TJ, is that somebody it's making a ton of money out of our taxes. Other than that I agree with you 💯 %...😁
Yea there is that grift…
Grift is the drift in MAGA.
It’d be shame if a large crowd tripped and grabbed the tarp for balance…
I imagine it's secured, as few things now are in this country.
You’re so right he finds any way he can to cheat the system.
Trump/the administration is dangerous for our country/the world 💔🤍💙 Don’t just doom scroll about everything! Read and speak up!
Resource below to easily contact all of Congress - Be LOUD. Unrelentingly.
Use/share this spreadsheet (bit.ly/Goodtrouble) to contact members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Call. Write. Email. Protest.
Reach out (beyond your own) to as many in the Senate and House as you can. All of this is bigger than “I only represent my constituents” issues.
Comments/reactions help keep this bumped ✊
Megan, you're absolutely right that we need to act! I'm actually two weeks away from launching a grassroots movement to retake control of our government, legally and without violence. Want to help?
And again, I hope to see some serious remembrance of the import of the Declaration of Independence, alternative to whatever flashy flimflam the regime is planning.
Yes. You will not be disappointed, I promise. I could never hope to be as wonderful and accomplished a historian as Heather, so I won't be writing about the original July 4, but I am doing everything I can to bring the spirit of their independence and refusal to bow to a stronger power into the 21st century. No flash, no flimflam: just me, Danielle Church, gently telling you how we will win, so long as enough of us join forces.
You’re welcome to reach out and let me know how I can help!
Sent a DM!
Hello Megan... Besides being Supremely Incompetent. DJT is Supremely Corrupt... DJT can only 'Win' by Cheating, and Declaring Victory Afterwards....
I 100% agree with you.
Thank You Megan...
According to Dana White...
The UFC cage fight on the White House lawn on June 14th...
WILL definitely be the LAST...
As the UFC LOST $30 million on that cage fight!
The American taxpayers LOST at least $60 million AND the UFC LOST $30 million on trump's VANITY program.
Proving YET AGAIN...
EVERYTHING trump TOUCHES DIES!!
VOTE 'EM ALL OUT!!!
Obviously there is $90 mil that went SOMEWHERE though! I expect a good portion of that went into Trump's pocket (or wallet).
One speculative comment is that the UFC paid out a bunch of that money in US$ to the Crypto bank owned by the Trumps and they paid out crypto dollars to the cage match participants and kept the real dollars itself. That certainly wouldn't surprise me LOL. Its like buying into a Monopoly game with actual US currency, and the Bank giving you back Monopoly money and keeping the real $. As they sometimes say, "it's nice work if you can get it!"
so to Iran goes 300 billion to re-construct the destruction trumpstein caused by bombing, 24 billion in frozen assets...and the billions spent on doing trumpstein's war...to say nothing of the deaths, families ruined and new decades-long ill will... and oh yeah, obama got it wrong...??! wow, what a world...
Apparently so Foosbeal. Our out of his depth LOSER president, aided and encouraged by his unbelievably sycophantic cast of caricatures, starts a war with no support from the public. Then he cries out for help from the same international allies he’s been trying unsuccessfully to bully and fleece. Then he claims that the war he LOSES is over, leaving behind an even more fragmented Middle East, a re-established and strengthened Iranian regime and a world situation much more chaotic than it was before he started his vanity project war.
Then he creates a spectacle on the White House lawn that he thinks will divide and divert us from seeing the reality of what he has done and who he is? Really? We don’t have eyes? Did no one see what the LOSER looked like in his photos with Macron?
Then, after costing the US and the world untold billions of dollars and lives, he has to end up crawling back to the Iranians and sues for peace to the tune of over $300 billion just to end up in a much weakened position than we began with?
Did I mention that the failing Trump administration is led by and staffed with LOSERS?
Protect the country! Protect the Constitution! Protect the vote!
"Protect the country! Protect the Constitution! Protect the vote!"
How?
Barbara,
Thank you so much for asking. I don’t pretend to have all the answers but I know I need to start somewhere.
I make sure to vote, and where I live I can verify that my vote is received.
I write my two senators and my congressperson at least monthly, and when I do, I make it obvious that an individual is writing instead of simply forwarding someone else’s words.
I attend the occasional No King’s rally.
Small actions are better than no actions, and they all add up.
Yes, foosbeal, and we remain cycling around and around repetition after repetition.
The one change we really need: how having a Palestinian state would oblige Israel to stop West Bank persecutions and land thefts.
I’ve seen many recent news shows, podcasts, and Substacks – but seen no one on the need for a healthy, viable Palestinian state to mitigate the Iranians behind Hezbollah, Hamas, and Houthis.
A free Palestine, its open, public existence precluding Iranian funding for terrorists, could, too, begin the opening of Iran to being much less of the repressive mullah dictatorship it’s been since 1979.
But the one fact we refuse to remember is our role whatever it was, in the destruction of Mossadegh’s election—Iran’s republican moment. As know-it-allls we don’t do very well.
I don't have much support for much of America's policies in the middle east, but at the same time, to be fair, the Mossadegh election was 73 freaking years ago, when most of us here were either not born yet or just kids. Since then we have engaged in multiple major wars all over the globe. I think the Mossadegh disaster is one of those things we probably need to put into the rear window and get on with trying to actually fix things. Flailing on that old saw is not going to do much of anything in the way of helping diplomacy.
Jon Rosen, it is good to remember history to have a guide to the future by seeing mistakes made. The sentence of Santayana on the small desk at the exit from Dachau has been repeated many times (this may not be exact, but the meaning is there): “Those who forget the mistakes of history are condemned to repeat them.”
I give you a "like," Jon, for your good common sense.
But there's another sense -- our need for perspective, even from colossal mistakes of 73 years ago.
Not really your problem what and when the Palestinians voted, is it? Would you consider it the Palestinians problem, whom the US elects as their leader or the process they use?
Why don't you just shove off out of the Middle East, where you have no business to be?
You don't think it was the Palestinians' problem when we elected Donald Trump? I think there are a lot of dead Palestinians who would absolutely disagree with you. We live in a global village today, where air travel and radio communications have shrunk the distances between countries and borders. EVERYONE is invested in the outcome of EVERY election, especially if there is a likely direct impact on their country.
Yes, some major U.S. arrogance going back a long time, Virginia.
Not only arrogance, but overt aid to lift up the murderous fossil fuel giants of that time -- that day's equivalent of the later Trump-Epstein class.
Even after the break-up of Standard Oil, Oil has been the ultimate monopoly. One of the few things Nixon got right was that we needed to be working harder on alternatives decades ago. THAT, however, would not have pleased the monopolists. The difference between the board game Monopoly and the real thing is that the oligarchs already own most of everything before you make your first move.
Nixon may have recognized alternatives, but took President Carter’s solar panels off the White House so we got “drill, baby, drill “ and the cage.
Uhm, I think that was Reagan who removed the solar panels..
I sold my Exxon stock which had started out as Mobil because I couldn’t bear the moral stain of Exxon Valdese. Years later realized I should have kept it and raised hell as a stockholder.
That has so seemed to backfire bigly. And yeah, as arrogant as it gets.
Yes, J L Graham. To continue to “grab” oil in a world of climate change and scientific knowledge about the effects of burning oil, we have Donald Trump and Elon Musk, two wealthy racists who have no respect or feeling for fellow humans and who will continue killing them as long as they can. That is indeed arrogance.
Exactly there will never ever be peace in the middle East until this happens. Even then the UN (hopefully still around) would be needed to make sure Israel abides.
Yeah, because that has worked so well so far 😂😂😂 with Israel continuously not complying and the US constantly vetoing to keep its parasite alive.
I'm thinking, Colly, the Gulf states might cohere around a new state of Palestine.
Israel will see the need to treat its neighbors as human beings, as it can begin to model by finally fair treatment for Palestinians on the West Bank.
And, hell -- why not? -- schools throughout the region teaching older youth English can have essay writing program so all learn to see others (starting in home classrooms, then in exchange with farther off neighbors) as individuals, all in respect for variously fraught contexts, all the cultures with their varied complications.
Are you out of your mind? You expect a people to be displaced after being made to cross hell several times - to be forced to live next to its torturers?
That would be like forcing a Holocaust surviver next to a Nazi who never changed attitude or gave up his weapons.
Your - as in the majority of US citizens - complete ignorance about the rest of the world is absolutely mind-boggling.
Do you not think Palestinians need their own independant state then? I am confused, I do not imagine they will want to leave what is their own land ( or whats left of it), and certainly do not believe they should have to. I realise how the Israelis have treated Palestinians since Israel was incorrectly ( in my view) created, what has Gaza been called ‘the worlds biggest open air prison’. Where do you suggest it be created?
In my opinion Israel should be relocated to eg Florida. My reasons are - most Zionists are secular anyway, 1.5 million of the 7.5 million American Jews already live there, it's 6 times the size of Israel, so no need for "Greater Israel" even the "settlers" should have enough room. I can't see why the Palestinians should lose their land. Not likely to happen in a hurry, but the only fair option for peace in the Middle East imo
As is your ignorance, too.
I doubt being bombed by the US has loosened the dictatorship in Iran that hardened after we sabotaged their formerly secular elected government.
You are obviously forgetting that the company line in Palestine has been that Israel has no right to exist and should be destroyed. That has been true for decades and as far as I know, at least at the governmental level, it hasn't changed. Ditto for Iran. And while I am NOT AT ALL in favor of Netanyahu's aggressions, I would like to see some moderation by both the Palestinian and Iranian governments towards Israel before I was willing to trust either of them all that much.
Might key players on all sides find it time to give up on the violence, Jon?
Who from the civilized world might call off those from the fossil fuel juggernaut and call on others as key players?
Aren't there any "good billionaires" who could enlist quality people aiming to go beyond the rut of hatreds, revenge, stereotyping, blanket religious abstractions, more murders, more bulldozers? Do the leaders of the Gulf states all feel satisfied with this status quo?
Might many grow out of the criminal Donald era, and all these parallel horrors?
You do seem to be forgetting that this is NOT a war of money or oil or even territory, ultimately it is a war about faith and religion. And in that realm, the mix of players looks like a Mad Magazine article. Until the "key players on all sides" as you note stop dealing in the idiocy of religious conflict, there isn't going to be any long-term solution because such a solution flies in the face of the righteous belief that only one side here is "right". All the criminals (including Donald and Putin, but also the sheiks from places like Saudi Arabia) are doing is acting like hyenas, staking out the various corpses that drop onto the desert from time to time and picking them clean. Until "lining their own pockets" becomes hated by all of their own societies and the people turn on them, they will continue these games including the one facing us now, i.e., a phony war that just prolongs the pain and heartache of death and destruction.
"Oh, what tangled webs we weave, when first we practice to deceive!"
Jon, wars are always about land. Very often masked as religious--and for the 'grunts' in the wars they sometimes are. But they are fought over the right to possess, to control land. Deep dives into history bear this out.
You know, speaking of "tangled webs," Mark Twain didn't care for Sir W. Scott.
Most of his webs, Jon, wove in the labyrinths of knightly and other aristocratic, pretentious, tendatious, privileged romance, of the sorts that float Alito, Long Dong Clarence, and Elon Musk today. Plus the other outright criminals you cite just above.
There is nothing more hateworthy on this planet than a Zionist, imo.
Well, that is a pretty ignorant opinion. Zionists aren't exactly Mother Theresa (then again, Mother Theresa isn't exactly Mother Theresa either) but I think radical Islamists have proven to be a far WORSE threat to peace in the world than Zionists. Zionists are MOSTLY about protecting Israel from destruction by a bunch of Arab countries who have fought many wars over the past 75 years to destroy Israel which they have managed to fight off. Radical Islamists have attacked not only Israel but the United States, and other countries as well, including their own neighbors and sometimes even their allies.
I would not offer apologies for Zionist policies, but I would NEVER consider what they have done as worse than what radical Islamists have done. Anyone who suggests otherwise is both stupid AND ignorant, and willing to ignore the truth.
Opinions differ - indeed for me the actions of Zionists have by far passed those of the Nazis, they were at least not proud of their crimes committed on the Jews.
You are really nuts as well as ignorant. The Nazis (at least the senior ones) were absolutely proud of their crimes. Hitler, Himmler and Goebbels all boasted about it in letters and official correspondence.
And Israel has NEVER engaged in any systematic attempt to exterminate the entire Palestinian population. You may not like their demands to move the Palestinians, but to equate that in any way, shape, or form to what the Nazis did is just insane and stupid.
Ditto with respect to the intent of the Islamic radicals to remove Israel completely, using the expression "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free". Show me ANY rhetoric from Israel or Jews in general that threaten such genocide against Palestinians. For MANY years, Israel made attempts to live in peace with the Palestinians. For almost all of those years, Islamic radicals have always threatened Israel with extinction.
I do not agree with Israel's aggression against the Palestinians, but as I said before, lets at least see Islamist radicals and Palestinians admitting that Israel is in the middle east to stay and has that right under international law and willingly backing off from aggression against the state of Israel.
A viable path before the “coalition of catastrophe”
Yet he is the hero of this narrative. Orwell was our Nostradamus
You got it. Art of the Deal in action.
"Families? Families? We don' need no stinkin' families!"
The reverse Midas. Everything he touches turns to scum. The reflecting pool is merely a mirror of his soul.
All his ranting about draining the swamp while it is Donold that is one of the most vile hideous swamp things to emerge from the toxic sludge, polluting, plundering, desecrating, demolishing, destroying our Nation...
Exactly.
No truer words....
I like that; pond scum says it all.
Three Things That The American Electorate Needs To Do To Protect The Midterms
It’s increasingly obvious that the Nazi Republicans are hell bent on election subversion and interference in the upcoming 2026 midterms. Cheeto has never been more transparent about what his Nazi suppositories/syncophants are willing to do in order to get the election outcome that they want in order to stay in power.
Rachel Maddow interviewed Marc Elias who heads the independently run Democracy Docket which reports on election interference and after brainstorming with a task force of Democratic senators about what the Nazis may plan to do in November Elias came away with 3 important things that the electorate should be prepared to do.
1 Make a plan to vote. Vote early so that if your vote is challenged by Nazi Republican suppositories you can do the appropriate things to cure the reported issue that prevents your vote from being counted.
2 Information sharing and education about the threats is important for those voters who are not paying attention so that the electorate has understanding of what the Nazi suppositories are up to.
3 The public should be prepared to mobilize, organize and protest peacefully against Nazi suppositories interfering at drop boxes and polling locations.
The Nazi Republicans will do anything to retain power and WE the People need to show up and overwhelm the suppositories. Talk to friends, relatives, neighbors, family about the importance of the next two elections. Join an Indivisible chapter near you to be ready to peacefully protest and put down this federal insurrection.
There is a powerful movement that has been largely ignored by corporate media. The Democratic Party is in the midst of a radical revolution from within. The conflict boils down to the entrenched corporate elite and the progressives. The main issue is PAC money. The Democratic Party and the Republican Party candidates and incumbents take money from the same PACs. This has resulted in a watering down of the 2-party system in this Country, the disintegration of any meaningful progress for the working class and the rise of a fascist regime. The largest controller of America is Israel. Through massive millions poured into campaigns Israeli has bought power over Congress. Go to AIPAC Tracker and integrityindex.us. See which candidates/incumbents are controlled by foreign interests.
For me personally I will not vote for any Democratic candidate who takes AIPAC/PAC funds, has not condemned the genocide in GAZA and who has campaigned against progressive candidates.
We will not defeat the fascist regime in DC until we reform the Democratic Party. Vote blue no matter who helped get us here.
Exactly my same sentiment about the Jewish Zionist movement that I have encountered on Substack channels. Hopium Chronicles run by a self proclaimed "proud Zionist" Simon Rosenberg hides his beliefs behind the facade of a DNC political advisor and operative. But he is part of the rot in the American political scene and is responsible in part for the antiMuslim sentiment in the Democratic party that lost the 2024 election.
Lincoln Square has thrown support behind Rosenberg's bigoted hateful racist apartheid fascist position. Mehdi Hasan faced backlash for his antiZionist position and MSNOW got rid of him. Too radioactive.
People in the political sphere know how to avoid the uncomfortable issues. So they become dodgey when being exposed. The veil of both parties need to be exposed to the light so that real healing of our toxic political system can get done.
Really well said. Thank you.
I subscribe to Zeteo-Medhi Hassan's work, read The Intercept and watch Wajahat Ali and others. There has been an insidious undertow in the Democratic Party for years. The "vote blue no matter who" is nuts.
yes Wajahat is great and have intermittently read the Intercept Thanks
It is all too easy to put 100% of the blame on the Republicans. Know this. The Democratic Party has rolled over and been compliant for 10 years. The Democratic Party is as soaked in AIPAC money as the Republican Party. We must demand real reform in our political system. If we don't we will be on rinse and repeat forever. See the following link for what the Democratics need to do. Remember the Democrats lost the working class vote and the GAZA issue in the last election.
https://www.levernews.com/nyc-primary-erupts-over-corporate-spending/?action=subscribe&success=true#:~:text=NYC%20Primary%20Erupts%20Over%20Corporate%20Spending
Totally agree. The electorate by polling dislikes both parties, it just dislikes the Democrats less. Intuitively the voting public knows there is something terribly wrong with the DNC but can't put their finger on the immoral rot. I believe it's this lack of truth and honesty about the party's Zionist position, all to appease for donor $$$. How can people respect those who are willing to support apartheid in all its venomous hate and bigotry for $$$. For most Americans it makes one want to vomit.
The Goldman Lander is essentially uncontested with the incumbent behind by 30+ points and shows the other side of the Jewish diaspora that Mamdani exposed. Revolution is in the air. Thanks for the link. Subscribed.
This 👆
It shouldn’t be lost on anyone that we must pay hundreds of billions of dollars to Iran for them to accept our surrender.
…..while we, the public, bear the burden of “we have no money for health care, school lunches, medical insurance, veteran’s aid, funds for education, thousands of federal workers, whole governmental agencies, global development, dues for the UN, etc etc etc”. It makes ones’ blood boil to see all of the waste, fraud and abuse perpetrated in broad daylight by this regime all while stuffing their pockets with dirty lucre at the same time....
Beautiful way to put it, Mike.
There is so much petty detritus in the news that we risk overlooking the most important development of all --- or non-development -- in the Middle East.
To put it bluntly, there is NO written, published, mutually agreed upon Memorandum of Understanding confirming anything Trump has claimed. There is no such thing as a "deal" absent such a Memorandum, agreed upon by both sides and published openly. There isn't even the concept of a Memorandum of Understanding. If there were, everyone would be discussing the details. But there are no details here to discuss.
When President Obama negotiated the JCPOA, signed by 5 countries in 2015, the final report was hundreds of pages long. At the very beginning of that report was Iran's commitment not to seek, acquire or develop a nuclear weapon. The agreement was negotiated by scores of nuclear physicists (not 2 real estate developers), with details that took three years to hammer out. The Strait of Hormuz stayed open during this time, and Iran was left not only with barely any enrichable uranium, and agreed-upon on-site inspections by international nuclear teams to make sure it stayed that way.
In the past few days, the Gulf States have quietly been negotiating their own side deals with Iran, which translates to hundreds of millions already passed in secret bribes — their standard modus operandi. Reuters reports that tens of billions in frozen funds are being readied to give to Iran -- something Obama never did.
A couple of days ago, General Mark Hertling put it bluntly -- this is all straight out of “I Dream of Jeannie,” with a scantily-clad Barbara Eden blinking her eyes and nodding “yes, Master” to whatever Larry Hagman desired. Pure, made-for-TV fiction, arranged for the 17th time to suit the markets — and his birthday — rather than the peace of the Middle East.
We have until Friday to find out if the agreement to have an agreement to have a 60-day cease-fire amounts to a hill of beans. Whatever this is, it isn't a "deal."
I’m sickened by trump and his minions. I’m old and don’t have children to suffer the consequences of a maniacal and unstable administration. I still have hope , deep somewhere in my heart, for a brighter future…
Next distraction from the Epstein files: Invasion of Cuba?
From the wonderful, devious mind of Substacker Leslie -- In honor of the festivities, that tarp has now been decorated with blue pinstripes and emblazoned with enormous writing -- the "Donald J. Trump Memorial Butthurt Curtain."
He’s telling us to f***k off.
The briefing that Vance gave on CBS is really telling. DJT told the Iranian people to rise up and take back their government. They were mowed down by the Basij. He said that the Iranian nuclear program was obliterated with 'midnight hammer'. Then, if the Iranians didn't open the strait he would wipe out a 'civilization'. Now, Vance is talking about how we will open our arms to Iran with cooperation and even trade, as long as they behave. So we have gone from wanting to 'help' the people of Iran to propping up the Regime. It is like living in the twilight zone.
Meanwhile, gasoline is expensive as are groceries and goods, farmers and small businesses are going bankrupt and the fool on the hill is spending money like a drunken sailor on his vanity projects.
All the while, the DOJ, OMB, FCC, DNI, and all the agencies that are supposed to be working for the citizens of this country are working in concert to undermine our democracy.
Our own government is working to destroy the U.S. in ever more diabolical ways. And, yes, this is P2025 hard at work in the background. Reversing this is going to take a herculean effort.
ICYMI: (1) Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Professor of History and Italian Studies at NYU, scholar on fascism and authoritarian leaders, author of “Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present”, political commentator (Lucid/Ruth Ben-Ghiat/substack), explains how Trump came to power and what it means to have him as President: “Trump’s Dictator Playbook, with Ruth Ben-Ghiat - YouTube”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k8BWHLI9gI
(2) Timothy Snyder, Professor and Temerty Chair in Modern European History at the University of Toronto, famous author of “On Tyranny” and thirteen other books is interviewed by Brian Tyler Cohen (author of “The Day After: How to Wield Power in a Post-Trump World”). They discuss the current state of our democracy and what the crucial things are that need to be done to save our country. N.B. It’s not going back and restoring the old status quo. “Tim Snyder, tyranny author, talks Trump, midterms, and 2028 - YouTube”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsiyqzM5HVU
(3) And the pièce de résistance - Timothy Snyder and Ruth Ben-Ghiat together discuss and explain how the nihilistic Trump Administratin is wrecking the government and destroying the institutions that support democracy. They are working to kill U.S. science and technology in ways than could be an extinction event for U.S. science. Creating an atmosphere where there is no real truth but only the charismatic leader and violence. An historic discussion by two highly informed scholars. They pledged to continue their discussion in a few weeks to include where to go from here. Listen and understand the reality of what is happening.
If you think this is idle speculation and fear mongering intellectual fantasy, the Trump Administration has proclaimed it is setting up a board of its toadies to review all government grant applications to ensure that they correspond to their political objectives. The premier scientific journal “Science” has recently published an article describing how scientists feel about the danger of this when combined with the rapid developments in AI (controlled by the tech oligarchs). Here is an excerpt:
“Already, by making it faster and easier to produce professional-seeming papers, AIs threaten both to overwhelm journals and peer reviewers and to take opportunities away from junior scientists. But far upstream of that, many scientists interviewed by Science sense a phase change underway. Many fear that if unleashed in all parts of the scientific process, AI tools could lead to nothing less than the death of astrophysics as a human endeavor. “A lot of people think that it’s too late to intervene—we’re done,” says David Hogg, a computational astrophysicist at New York University (NYU).”
“ALTHOUGH FEARS OF A ROBOT takeover are inspiring soul-searching across society in general, astrophysics is a strange, special case. It relies on reservoirs of prestige, deep public appeal, and invocations of wonder: Human beings and funding agencies alike just seem to like studying the stars, and astronomical progress has long been thought of as a synecdoche for human progress in general. Yet because astrophysics is already mostly data science and math, many of its juiciest problems may be low-hanging fruit for LLMs.” Science.org, 4 June 2026 by Joshua Sokol, Science vol. 392 Issue 6802 It has a paywall so you will have to use University or Public Library access.
It's like a rotten movie that runs on a 24/7 loop.
The life-long con man who is currently the POTUS continues his life-long con, free to do so by a Republican Party that serves him rather the We the People or the Constitution (which they took an oath to defend and protect) They should all be thrown out of office as soon as possible.