The Morning Rant: Guest Edition [Pete Bog]

After Congress passed the wildly misnamed “Inflation Reduction Act” in August of 2022 I wrote a series of posts explaining why widespread inflation was inevitable. I bring that up for two reasons, first I was right and second the comments on those threads revealed a high level of economic understanding of the topic.

Recently I have been watching the financial media fantasize about the impacts of Trump’s tariff policy. Per the pundits, the new tariff regime will have devastating consequences on the economy, employment and the almost certain onset of “stagflation”, the simultaneous combination of slow or no economic growth and high inflation. I’ve been scratching my head over that one and I’d like to solicit the Horde’s thoughts, whether informed or otherwise.

Here is a snapshot of the current economic situation in the US. For years, including Trump’s first term, the Government deficit has been exploding. In 2025, we are on track to spend about $2.5 trillion more the Government takes. Much of that is paid through the Fed “printing” money and expanding the supply of dollars. That is the reason we have been suffering from inflation for the last several years, and it continues despite the constant redefining of statistical measures to claim inflation is only about 2.5%. Everyone in the real world knows this is Bull. Despite this, the economy has remained surprisingly strong until the last few months as growth has slowed.

The new tariffs will not have the impact prophesized by the media. It is true that the tariffs will cause economic shock as prices adjust to reflect the cost of importing goods to the US. That will be most keenly felt in the mountain of stuff that comes in from China, particularly consumer goods. That shock will be painful, but it seems that it is largely a one-time adjustment, and people will certainly change their consumption to reflect the new pricing. Much of the impact of tariffs will be borne by the Chinese manufacturers because the different tariff rates between countries will result in the production of those goods moving to the spots that can profitably put the goods in our market at the lowest price. This will include US manufacturers over time. Exactly the effect the tariffs are intended to induce.

The other factor that the media is missing entirely is the rapidly increasing impact of Artificial Intelligence on productivity and employment. Even relatively slow to adopt industries such as real estate are seeing massive changes from AI and it is only beginning.

So where is the stagflation?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 11:00 AM | Comments (366) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Mid-Morning Art Thread

The Laundress
Honoré Daumier

From the museum's website:

This painting depicts a subject visible from Daumier's studio on the quai d'Anjou in Paris: laundresses returning from laundry boats moored on the Seine. Despite the weight of her bulky load, the woman tenderly extends her hand to help a child up the steps of the embankment. With her sturdy form silhouetted against a bright background, the humble worker acquires a certain monumentality. This picture is the largest and possibly the last of three painted versions of the composition; Daumier's pigments have deteriorated, obscuring the last digit of the date inscribed at the lower left, but in 1893 it was recorded as 1863.

It can be frustrating to see a faded painting that must have been radically different when it was completed, and this is a fine example of that!

On the other hand, I am not sure I want my laundry done in the water of the Seine!

Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (217) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Morning Report — 5/ 13 /25

Good morning kids. So, President Trump is supposedly in hot water because he accepted the gift of a jumbo jet fromQatar. To be fair, does he as a private citizen who via the Trump Organization owns at least one if not more private jets, jumbo and otherwise, and as POTUS has access to Air Force One and the entire damned Air Force at his disposal really need this? Also, why give your/his enemies a way to attack you in the first place? Surely he and his advisers could've handled this more artfully. Or what am I missing.

On a positive note, after a year and a half being held captive by the subhuman bestial Hamas terrorists, Edan Alexander, the last American hostage was released thanks to the efforts spearheaded by the President, and of course to say nothing of the IDF's latest push to plough Gaza into the Mediterranean.

Unfortunately, the Democrats are looking to remove the DNC vice chair David Camera/Hogg from his position? I guess shoving Bernie Sanders, Titty-Caca Ocasio and Jasmine Crockett in front of the cameras is not the best strategy for winning over the American electorate.

This item on the immigration front jumped out at me, for obvious reasons:

Forty-nine Afrikaners — whose lives are threatened in South Africa — landed in Dulles Airport, Va., on May 12. Another 70,000 mostly poor, rural, white South Africans have applied to join the refugee program. The arrival of the legitimate refugees was greeted with hate and disdain by pro-migration groups and media.

“My read of this is that the administration is trolling the left,” Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies, told Breitbart News. He added: “Admitting these few dozen Afrikaners is kind of trolling to get the left to find one immigrant, one refugee group that they don’t want. The numbers are small, but the Episcopal migration service dropped out of the refugee business rather than help these guys. So [Trump’s trolling] is  already working.”

Many South Africans have already migrated to Australia, amid the Australian government’s invited inflows of Indians, Arabs, and Chinese to the country. “Australia wants them … Let them go there,” Krikoran said.

Donald Trump has frozen the U.S. refugee program, which was scheduled to import another 125,000 migrants in 2025. His administration is instead promoting policies to force more wealth-generating, wage-boosting investment in workplace productivity.

I can't wait for the usual gaggle of racialists, America-haters and others to trip all over themselves and expose themselves to the American people for their hypocrisy in shrieking about this while defending Hamas terrorists and the Tren de Aragua Illegal alien criminals as victims of President Trump's Hitlerite deportation orders.

And lastly, a quick shout-out and thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know.

Have a great day.

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
• 71% of likely voters say they think a free-market economic system is better than socialism. Only 12% of voters say socialism is better.  46% of voters say they do not want to “see a democratic socialist candidate win the next presidential election,” compared to just 31% who say they do. 
  Heartland/Rasmussen Poll: Democrats Hope China Beats America in Trade War, Voters Overwhelmingly Reject Socialism 
  
• Judge Howell blocked Trump’s order targeting Perkins Coie, defending legal speech—while sidestepping the firm’s partisan misconduct in the 2016 election and beyond.
  Court Order Blocking Trump From Targeting Perkins Coie Is Overreach

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:30 AM | Comments (405) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 13 May 2025

Top Story

• Listings have started to appear for Nvidia's RTX 5060 graphics card ahead of its official launch at Computex next week. (WCCFTech)
  
  There is one model priced at the MSRP of $299, which won't be available, with other models mostly priced towards or over $400, a price that should buy you the faster 5060 Ti with 16GB of RAM. But doesn't.
  
  The base 5060 with 8GB of RAM is not something anyone should buy. We'll see soon enough what AMD and Intel have to offer in competition.
  
  
  
• Meanwhile Nvidia is increasing GPU prices by 10 to 15%. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  Because of course they are.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:34 AM | Comments (251) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Monday Overnight Open Thread (5/12/25)

[Rerun? I'm not sure. Hey, I'm the subsitute Cob. What did you expect?]

*****

The Quote of The Day

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 10:00 PM | Comments (422) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Tabletop Transformer Cafe

Phillip Waller Photography

A foreign woman and her foreign parrot do dueling "Foreign Man" impressions.

The cutest little pride of lions.

Little horse knows she's a superstar.

The call of the mockingbird.

Koala mom snuggles her baby.

Baby panda jailbreak.

Beagle scares off an alligator.

Beautiful shots of the earth. Includes on sea stack.

Flaming cocktail display.

A sinkhole in a forest, and a forest in the sinkhole.

Rodent rage.

Smart dog.

Nice little mountain lake. (IG).

Skiing inside a glacial rift. (IG)

Posted by: Ace at 07:55 PM | Comments (262) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Silly Socialite and Aged Madame of the Deep State Whorehouse Sally Quinn Whines That Liberals Don't Feel "Safe" or Social in Trump's DC

Sally's sad again. The bitter vinegary bubble-head has written this same basic complaint before.

Washington is, and has been, a Democratic town. Trump won 5 percent of the vote here in 2020; in both of his presidential elections, George W. Bush won 9 percent; Ronald Reagan never won more than 14 percent. However, throughout the years, the Washington Establishment always welcomed incoming GOP administrations. The D.C. social scene -- which connected the most powerful people in any given administration with political donors, philanthropists, lawyers, lobbyists and journalists, all Washington fixtures -- had a way of surviving, no matter the politics of the president.

In that spirit, every four or eight years, I would write a piece for The Washington Post with advice to the incoming administration about how to get along. Four years ago I wrote one as well. It wasn't intentional, but the story turned into a satire, more suited for the Onion. After all, how do you give etiquette advice to someone who has bragged about grabbing women's private parts; who has mocked a disabled reporter; who has called journalists "scum," "phony" and "the lowest form of humanity"; who has falsely claimed that his predecessor was not born in America; who has demeaned a war hero by saying he preferred people who were not captured; who had insulting names for his Republican primary opponents and called his female opponent in the general election "a nasty woman"? The piece didn't work. It never ran.

The D.C. establishment simply viewed the Trump people as an occupying army, and from 2017 through early 2020, the Washington social scene as we had known it dried up. People had their own gatherings and carried on as if there were no president. The president, his wife and those who work closely with them in any administration normally set the social tone. This time it didn't happen. There were two camps and hardly any intermingling.

The winter holidays in 2019 were a round of obligatory parties, but subdued, desultory, dispirited by Washington standards. Everyone was exhausted -- mentally, physically and emotionally. The trees were up, the wreaths were on the doors, the decorations were on the streets, the Hanukkah candles were lit, the Christmas carols were on the radio. But people didn't have their hearts in it. The conversations were Trump, Trump, Trump. It was not very merry.

Is there anything more tedious than reading a privileged kept woman whine that no one wants to come to her stupid "society" parties any longer?

Well, get ready for more tedium.

Watergate-Era Washington Was Less Toxic Than This

It's spring in Washington, D.C., the most beautiful time of the year. Dogwood, forsythia, cherry trees, tulips and daffodils decorate every sidewalk, wisterias weep from porch overhangs, and redbuds pop up at every corner. The air is redolent of blossoms, a soft breeze sharing their scent through the streets. It's the perfect backdrop for the columned monuments and buildings that remind us of the miracle of our democracy. Spring is normally the happiest time of year here.

But not this spring.

This spring Washington is a city in crisis. Physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. It's as if the fragrant air were permeated with an invisible poison, as if we were silently choking on carbon monoxide. The emotion all around -- palpable in the streets, the shops, the restaurants, in business offices, at dinner tables -- is fear. People have gone from greeting each other with a grimace of anguish as they spout about the outrage of the day to a laugh to despair. It's all so unbelievable that it's hard to process, and it doesn't stop.

Nobody feels safe. Nobody feels protected. This is a city where people seek and, if it all goes well for them, wield power. But today in Washington those who hold -- or once held -- the most power are often the most scared. It is not something they are used to feeling. I lived through the paranoia and vengefulness of Watergate. This time in Washington, it's different. Nobody knows how this will end and what will happen to the country. What might happen to each of us.

Your fear is intoxicating. I'd like to laugh and say "You're just being paranoid," but... actually, you may be arrested. Take precautions.

You and your ilk have waged unholy war on the rest of the country for decades and we're finally ready to start fighting that war.

Even those who work for President Trump are scared. The capricious and shambolic way he governed in his first 100 days has them all insecure in their jobs. Mike Waltz is out. Bets are on as to how long Marco Rubio will remain in all his roles and Pete Hegseth in his. Elon Musk is on his way out, though who knows whether he'll be able to log back into the government's most sensitive systems from wherever he is? Those most afraid are the Republicans on Capitol Hill. They are afraid of not just being primaried but also facing retribution. Lisa Murkowski said it out loud. "We are all afraid," she said. "Retaliation is real. And that's not right."

...

One night during Barack Obama's second term, I sat next to Lindsey Graham at a Washington dinner party. He was, at that time, charming, funny, bright, thoughtful. Both of us were decrying the widening gap between Republicans and Democrats in our nation's capital. I remember him turning to me and suggesting that we start having small dinner parties for Republicans and Democrats to get together and talk. I agreed immediately.

We never got around to it. That conversation could never take place today.

The Trump socializing style is a striking departure from what went on in Washington for decades. Salons, where we got to know one another and exchanged ideas, are out. The preferred entertainment now is large galas in gilded halls and cavernous buildings with lots of flags, ribbons, hats and noise.

...

The restaurants of choice have changed....

Oh no, what will you do?

...

This summer a new club, the Executive Branch -- owned by Donald Trump Jr., Steve Witkoff's sons and Omeed Malik -- will open in Georgetown. With a Mar-a-Lago-esque membership fee of $500,000, expect it to be where the monarchical court life this president is imposing on Washington will play out.

With Mr. Trump in the White House, anyone who socializes with Democrats can come under suspicion.

...

Among once powerful lawyers, journalists, politicians, academics and lobbyists who have made up official Washington for the past few decades, the feeling is one of impotence, fear and frustration.

The hallmark of this administration is cruelty and sadism, vengefulness carried out with glee. Mr. Musk said it best: "The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy." The prominent historian Michael Beschloss said during Mr. Trump's last campaign that a second term could lead to "dictatorship and anarchy." At the time, he was accused of being alarmist. Not anymore.

"Everybody in Washington is being tested today," says Leon Wieseltier, the editor of the literary review Liberties. "The question is: What can we do? It's a time when we all have to ask: What am I capable of? It's time for people to ask: What am I willing to die for?"

But we still have to remember to live.

Their "existence" is being erased, you guys. They have to remind themselves just to continue existing.

She does have a plan for existing: Improv comedy.

Seeing the joy and relief of people getting together, not long ago, I scheduled an improv party. I have been taking improv classes for several years (performances and all), and for me, it's been two and a half hours once a week of nothing but laughter. I come out of each class or performance exhilarated. Some 23 brave friends showed up at my improv party prepared to make fun of themselves, and we all did. It was a riot.

Yeah you sound super-funny to me, I bet it was a real hoot.

...

I was thinking about how perhaps improv might be a way to think about the way forward for each of us. Right now, the established script for how D.C. operates, and our roles in it, has been shredded. It's time to write a new one. We need to be willing to surprise ourselves.

Posted by: Ace at 06:50 PM | Comments (358) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Quick Hits

Latitia James was heckled at a speaking/grifting event.

New York state Attorney General Letitia James was heckled by a President Trump supporter at a community hearing, where she claimed the freshly opened federal criminal probe into her alleged mortgage fraud is "baseless."

James was interrupted at a community impact hearing in Westchester on Thursday night, just hours after the Trump administration opened a formal criminal probe into James over the alleged mortgage fraud involving her Brooklyn and Virginia properties.

"Apologize to Donald Trump for wasting millions of dollars in the state of New York," the MAGA booster shouted from the audience.

Jaguar has fired the advertising firm that ran it's all-gay, all-trans rebranding campaign.

Jaguar Land Rover is looking to replace its current advertising agency just months after the company faced a backlash over its controversial rebrand.

The company launched a review of its global creative account - currently held by Accenture Song and its in-house agency Spark44 until mid-2026 - following widespread criticism over its campaign, The Telegraph reported.

Critics of the radical rebrand - including Nigel Farage and Elon Musk - accused the carmakers of abandoning their 'jag-man' heritage.

It comes after the company announced plans to shift to electric vehicles with a bizarre new advertisement featuring brightly dressed models but no cars.

The group also abandoned its iconic 'growler' cat badge, replacing it with a curved geometric J and L symbol.

Defending the campaign late last year, JLR's Managing Director Rawdon Glover told the Financial Times: 'If we play in the same way that everybody else does, we'll just get drowned out.'

However sales plunged by more than a quarter in 2024 with Jaguar selling 33,320 cars, a significant drop from the 61,661 sold in 2022 and the 161,601 sold in 2019.

Jaguar's failed campaign follows a series of other similar woke rebrands from other big corporations such as Nike and Coca-Cola.

Midnight's Edge points out that this Trans Rebranding effort didn't take place until the final quarter of 2024 -- meaning that this 25% drop in sales occurred in just three months.

The National Archive head who allowed Lizzo to use James Madison's priceless, fragile crystal flute has been fired.

The left keeps pushing us towards violence. They will not enjoy the end state of the process.

Wild video captured the disgusting moment an enraged woman spat on former Trump-nominee lawyer Ed Martin in the middle of a TV interview.

The sick ordeal unfolded as Martin was speaking to Newsmax on Thursday about President Trump's decision to withdraw his nomination to serve as the top federal prosecutor for Washington, DC, instead tapping Fox News' Jeanine Pirro.

Martin was mid-sentence when the unidentified woman suddenly appeared while walking a dog and started waving her finger in his face.

"You are Ed Martin," she could be heard saying aggressively.

She then hurled abuse at him before launching a huge gob of spittle at close range, before stomping off as a speechless Martin watched in horror.

"You are a disgusting man," the spitter shouted at one point.

The footage has already been viewed millions of times on social media, with many ripping the woman as a "crazed leftist" and "psychotic lib."

The disgusting interaction came just hours after Trump revealed he was pulling Martin's nomination amid bipartisan concerns about the conservative activist's modest legal experience, divisive politics and support for Jan. 6 rioters.

Three Memphis cops found "not guilty" in prosecution over killing of a black criminal.

BLM tried to make this a Rioting Opportunity. Alas for them, the three cops are black.

Three former Memphis police officers were found not guilty by a state jury on all charges, including second-degree murder, in the 2023 death of Tyre Nichols.

The jury, after deliberating for eight and a half hours over two days, acquitted Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith at the conclusion of a nine-day trial. Despite the state-level acquittal, the three former officers still face the possibility of years in prison due to their convictions on federal charges last year in connection with Nichols' death.

It's almost as if black criminals are living out a never-ending racial psychodrama in which they must prove their value as warriors to the tribe by pointlessly fighting with police at every opportunity, while demanding the rest of us apologize for making them kill themselves.

Libs of TikTok
@libsoftiktok

BREAKING: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly sent a memo to the DoD to begin the process of removing transgender servicemembers from the military.

The memo reportedly gives a June 6th deadline for "voluntary separation" before "involuntary separations" begin. -Reuters

There is no voter fraud committed by Democrats, Bigot:

Libs of TikTok
@libsoftiktok
HOLY CRAP

6 Texas officials were indicted on VOTER FRAUD charges including a Democrat JUDGE, City Council members, and a school board member:

Rochelle Lozano Camacho- Frio County Judge

Ramiro Trevino- Pearsall City Council member

Adriann Ramirez- Pearsall Independent School District board member

Carlos Segura- Former Frio County Elections Administrator

Racheal Garza- Pearsall City Council member

Rosa Rodriguez- campaign worker

Turns out the media-protected "Georgetown Scholar" -- sort of like a "Maryland Dad," except with the implication that this "scholar" might one day cure cancer -- is the son-in-law of a senior Hamas advisor and routinely posts Hamas propaganda online.

The woman who resigned rather than fence a man says she's tired of being told that every time men destroy women in sports it's just because women lack "skill."

Posted by: Ace at 05:41 PM | Comments (326) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Democrats to Biden: Drop Dead

Democrats claimed for years that Joe Biden ran the most successful presidency in history.

But, for some reason, the Democrats are now demanding Biden disappear, and stop reminding people of the most successful presidency in history.

I don't understand. If it's the most successful presidency in history, wouldn't you want to advertise?

Joe Biden's return to the spotlight this week is igniting anger among Democrats who wish the former president would ride off into retirement and stay there.

In a wide-ranging interview on "The View" with former First Lady Jill Biden on Thursday, Biden owned up to his role in Donald Trump's return to power even as he defended his decision to stay in the race as long as he did last year. But if he was expecting a warm reception, he's not getting it. Many in his party are desperate to turn the page on Biden's presidency, craving new leaders and fresh faces as Democrats look to find a way out of the political wilderness.

"It's time for Joe Biden to go away with all due respect and let the next generation of Democrats take the mantle," said Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha. "Every time he appears on a show or says something, it's just another week or a month that we have to defend him and remind everybody that we got beat by Donald Trump, again."

"For those of us trying to rebuild the brand, it does no good when you're constantly reminded about the old brand that won't go away," Rocha said, adding that the only good thing about the interview is that it was quickly overtaken by news of the selection of a new pope.

...

However unwelcome for many Democrats, Biden is an unavoidable subject.

The former president's allies are bracing for the potential release of audio of Biden's interview with Robert Hur, the special counsel who investigated Biden's handling of classified documents and raised questions about his mental acuity. That's in addition to an upcoming book by two high-profile journalists that promises to shed light on Biden's decision to run for reelection "despite evidence of his serious decline" mentally, according to promotional copy for Original Sin, set for release on May 20.

For many Democrats, both events are dredging up past problems-- not just around Biden's age, but also inflation and the party's handling of cultural issues.

...

"I think people have wanted to hear him acknowledge some sense of responsibility," said longtime Democratic strategist Karen Finney, who worked on HIllary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. She also said many Democrats were more upset that Biden, who had cast himself as a transitional figure, ran for reelection anyway.

That, she said, "goes back to his initial promise, where he said that he would only serve for one term."

...

"Most Democrats ... are tired of the distractions," said Georgia-based Democratic strategist Andrew Heaton. "The last thing we want is anything that's going to feed it to the naysayers who are going to point to see: 'once again, it was a big cover up in the party.'"

Heaton likened Democrats' current situation to a wildfire. At some point, he said, it will be important to understand how it started. But for now, he said, "Digging into the machinations of the Biden reelect is not something that I think a lot of folks are focused on right now."

He said, "Like, can we just move on?"

Below, two videos. In the first, a Biden insider reveals that Biden was always lying about only serving a single term. He says from the first moment they usurped the White House, the Biden team was fixated on winning -- "winning" -- a second term.

The second video is a compilation of headlines telling Biden to just die already. I mean, they don't say that, but that's what they mean.

Posted by: Ace at 04:41 PM | Comments (367) | Trackbacks (Suck)

David Hogg: Young Straight Men Just Wanna Get Laid (Or So I'm Told)

David Hogg offers an explanation for why Democrats lost so much support among young men, and he resorts to the standard Democrat answer for everything: People just wanna swing, baby! They gots to get dey freak on!

The Vigilant Fox
@VigilantFox

NEW: David Hogg gets a huge reaction from Bill Maher after saying Democrats need to reconnect with young men who just want to "get laid and have fun" without walking on eggshells.

He said the parties have flipped. Democrats are now the snobs that judge your every move.

"What I think happened last election is younger men--they would rather vote for somebody who they don't completely agree with, they don't feel judged by, than somebody who they do agree with, that they feel like they have to walk on eggshells around constantly because they're going to be judged or ostracized or excommunicated."

And because of that, young men are walking away.

"Nobody is perfect. But ultimately, what we have to do here is figure out how to bring people back in and work towards the bigger goal of advancing the future of this country and helping young people especially get by, so that they're able to focus on their lives and getting with a young woman or something like that, instead of how are they going to pay their rent, for example, or how are they working their two jobs.

"Young people should be able to focus on what young people should be focused on, which is how to get laid and how to go and have fun."

Maher clapped, stood up, and shook Hogg's hand after that comment.

Posted by: Ace at 03:37 PM | Comments (364) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Hamas Releases American Hostage After 583 Days of Terrorist Captivity

@OliLondonTV

American hostage Edan Alexander has been handed over to the Red Cross, to be transported to Israel after the Trump Administration mediated his release.

It is the first and only time the Red Cross have seen the 21 year old in his 583 days in captivity.

Fox News:

Hamas released the last living American hostage Monday, after he spent more than 580 days in captivity inside the Gaza Strip.

Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, was received by a specialized Israel Defense Forces unit and was brought to an initial reception facility in Re'im, where he will undergo preliminary medical and psychological evaluation by IDF Medical Corps personnel, an Israeli official told Fox News.

"This is a very emotional moment -- Edan Alexander has returned home. We embrace him, and we embrace his family," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. "This was achieved thanks to our military pressure and the diplomatic pressure applied by President Trump. That combination is a winning formula."

President Donald Trump, following Alexander's release, wrote on Truth Social "Congratulations to his wonderful parents, family, and friends!"

"The Al-Qassam Brigades have just released the Israeli soldier holding American citizenship, Edan Alexander, following communications with the U.S. administration," Hamas said in a statement. "This comes as part of the mediators' efforts to reach a ceasefire, open the border crossings, and allow the entry of aid and relief for our people in the Gaza Strip."

His family cheered his release. Well-wishers cheered on the convoy delivering him out of terrorist imprisonment.

Aviva Klompas
@AvivaKlompas

Statement from the family of Edan Alexander:

"Today, on Mother's Day, we received the greatest gift imaginable--news that our beautiful son Edan is returning home after 583 days in captivity in Gaza.

We express our deepest gratitude to President Trump, Steve Witkoff, and the US administration for their tireless work to make this happen.

We urge the Israeli government and the negotiating teams: please don't stop. We hope our son's release begins negotiations for all 58 remaining hostages, ending this nightmare for them and their families. No hostage should be left behind."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that Trump "is fighting to secure the release of every American detained abroad" and "We won't stop until this conflict is over and all our hostages are home." As news spread of his release, a crowd that gathered in Alexander's hometown of Tenafly, N.J., erupted in applause.

Sue Gelsey, the interim CEO of the Kaplan JCC on the Palisades, told Fox News an estimated 3,000 had gathered in downtown Tenafly, some arriving as early as 5 a.m.

Trump, who is slated to depart Washington, D.C., on Monday for visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, said prior to Alexander’s release that it was "great news."

There are still 59 hostages being held by Hamas. Reportedly, the Red Cross hasn't seen any of them.

Posted by: Ace at 02:30 PM | Comments (248) | Trackbacks (Suck)

US, China Agree to 90 Day Reduction in Tariffs

The stock markets are soaring.

U.S., China agree to 90-day tariff reduction after negotiations

The United States and China have agreed to reduce tariffs for 90 days following trade negotiations in Geneva, offering temporary relief to global markets. The deal marks a pause in the escalating economic conflict, with both countries pledging to resume talks during the truce.

Key Details:

The U.S. will lower tariffs on Chinese imports from April levels by 24 percentage points, maintaining a 10% base rate.

China will implement a matching reduction and suspend additional non-tariff measures targeting American goods.

S&P 500 futures jumped 3%, while U.S. bond yields climbed as investors reacted to signs of de-escalation.

Diving Deeper:

After weeks of mounting economic tension, the United States and China on Monday jointly announced a 90-day reduction in tariffs, signaling a temporary easing of the trade war that has unnerved businesses, investors, and policymakers across the globe.

The agreement, reached during weekend negotiations in Geneva, was confirmed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. "We had very robust discussions. Both sides showed great respect to what was a very positive process," Bessent said in remarks to reporters. According to Bessent, the U.S. will lower its tariffs to 30%, while China will cut its rates to 10% during this period--a proportional rollback from their respective April highs.

The White House clarified that the reduction affects tariffs announced by President Trump on April 2, cutting them by 24 percentage points while keeping the base ad valorem rate of 10%. In response, Beijing agreed not only to match the tariff rollback but also to lift administrative barriers and non-tariff measures it had imposed since April.

Both countries are expected to implement the agreed measures by Wednesday. The joint statement released following the talks indicated that discussions will continue over the coming months as the two sides explore a longer-term resolution.

Markets reacted quickly and positively. S&P 500 futures surged over 3% on the news, providing a shot of optimism after weeks of uncertainty. The U.S. Dollar Index, which had been under pressure due to investor anxiety about America's trade posture, rose more than 1%. Meanwhile, bond markets adjusted sharply, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury climbing to 4.445%, its highest point since early April.

The Dow is now up over 1000 points.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1037 points, or 2.5%, staying near its highs for most of the session with buying enthusiasm remaining strong. The S&P 500
popped nearly 3% on Monday, bringing its gain since its April intraday low at the height of tariff pessimism to more than 20%. The benchmark has cut its year-to-date losses to just 0.9%.

The Nasdaq Composite boomed by 4%, as the initial China agreement sent technology stocks tied to the country -- like Tesla and Apple -- flying higher.

Posted by: Ace at 01:19 PM | Comments (397) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Trump Signs Executive Order Demanding that US Drug Makers Sell Drugs to the US Market at the Same Prices They Sell to Other Countries

I don't know what his claim of power is based on. Congress passes a lot of laws granting the executive to take action on its own initiative, so maybe he has some power here. Maybe he has power as the ultimate administrator of Medicaid. I don't know.

American patients first: Trump orders drugmakers to match lowest global prices

On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at slashing prescription drug prices by requiring pharmaceutical companies to offer Americans the lowest prices they charge anywhere in the world.

Key Details:

The executive order instructs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to allow Americans to purchase drugs directly from manufacturers at "Most-Favored-Nation" prices, bypassing costly middlemen.

If pharmaceutical companies refuse, the order directs HHS to impose rules mandating most-favored-nation pricing and to use "other aggressive measures" to end anticompetitive practices.

Trump blasted the current system where "Americans pay massively higher prices than other nations" and said it was effectively "subsidizing socialism abroad with skyrocketing prices at home."

Diving Deeper:

President Trump on Monday signed a major executive order designed to overhaul the way Americans pay for prescription drugs, calling the move part of his broader promise to put "American patients first." The action, according to a White House fact sheet, is intended to "bring the prices Americans and taxpayers pay for prescription drugs in line with those paid by similar nations."

The order directs the U.S. Trade Representative and the Secretary of Commerce to crack down on foreign countries that "purposefully and unfairly undercut market prices," leading to increased costs for American consumers. "We're not going to let these other countries rob us blind anymore," Trump said, according to the release. "We are the biggest buyer in the world--and it's time we got the best deal."

A central feature of the order is a new mechanism through which American patients will be able to purchase drugs directly from manufacturers at a "Most-Favored-Nation" price--meaning the lowest price those companies offer to any other developed country. By cutting out pharmacy benefit managers and other middlemen, the administration aims to bypass entrenched pricing systems that often leave American consumers paying more than their counterparts abroad.

Should pharmaceutical companies refuse to comply, the order empowers the Secretary of Health and Human Services to take further action, including proposing binding rules to mandate the lower pricing and applying other regulatory pressure to break up what the administration describes as "anticompetitive practices."

Trump underscored the need for action by citing new data that shows Americans pay more than three times as much for brand-name drugs as citizens in other developed nations, even after accounting for discounts. The White House also noted that although the U.S. represents less than 5% of the global population, it accounts for roughly 75% of all global pharmaceutical profits--due in part to "subsidizing drug-manufacturer profits and foreign health systems."

"In case after case, our citizens pay massively higher prices than other nations pay for the same exact pill, from the same factory," Trump said. "You can see some examples where the price is beyond anything--four times, five times different."

Pfizer rigged the 2020 election by delaying their discovery of a "vaccine," so I'm all out of tears for Pfizer.

How are you?

Posted by: Ace at 12:15 PM | Comments (432) | Trackbacks (Suck)

THE MORNING RANT: Brian Kemp’s Presidential Ambitions May Have Saved Us from Another Senator Tillis/Cassidy/Murkowski/Cornyn

There is much consternation among Republicans about term-limited Georgia Governor Brian Kemp opting out of the 2026 Georgia Senate race against Democrat incumbent Jon Ossoff. Kemp was favored to easily get the GOP nomination and then go on to defeat Ossoff, flipping the seat back to the Republicans. Initially there was concern that Marjorie Taylor Greene would get the nomination but would prove unelectable. Rep. Greene has since announced that she won’t be running for the Senate seat either.

There is no reason for a state that Donald Trump carried in the 2024 election to have a hard-leftist such as Jon Ossoff representing it in the U.S. Senate. There are plenty of actual conservative politicians who could beat a hard-leftist such as Ossoff.

That said, I am passionately, fervently, Never-Kemp. I am relieved that he will not become another member of the RINO Senate coalition that works with Democrats to undermine Donald Trump and to sabotage the MAGA agenda.

Perhaps this is the most important question to ask: How would a Senator Brian Kemp vote in an impeachment trial if/when the Democrat-controlled House impeaches President Trump in 2027? I believe with the highest confidence that Senator Brian Kemp would vote for conviction and removal of Trump from office.

Brian Kemp’s animus toward Trump, and his cavalier attitude toward Democrat ballot fraud, made it possible for Biden to win Georgia’s electoral votes in 2020, and it is my opinion that Kemp also wanted to deliver Georgia to Kamala Harris in 2024. Putting this man in the Senate when we need to keep the Trump agenda moving forward would be akin to allowing the enemy into our trenches to jam our guns.

Would I rather have Ossoff in the Senate for one more term than Kemp in the Senate for decades? Yes, I would! If a Brian Kemp were in the Senate, he would probably remain a Senator until he dies or retires. We’ve seen the likes of Thom Tillis, John Cornyn, Lisa Murkowski, etc move further and further to the left, until they are fully allied with the Democrats and only voting conservative when there is a prominent show vote around re-election time. It is virtually impossible to turn out an incumbent RINO in a primary due to the power of incumbency (e.g. name recognition, money, etc.)

Even worse, these Republicans who are actually allied with Democrats get committee seats, and so long as there is a Republican Senate majority, the Republicans generally get just one more seat on committees than Democrats. These RINO Senators effectively flip committee control to the Democrats. I’d rather Jon Ossoff take up a Democrat committee seat on a Republican-controlled committee than have a Brian Kemp take a Republican committee seat and then use it to flip the committee to advance the Democrats’ agenda.

I don’t need to recount for this readership just how much we despair about RINO senators in states Trump won who are undermining the Trump agenda. This is from the boss just last week:

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM | Comments (380) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Mid-Morning Art Thread

Vahrn in Tyrol near Brixen
William Stanley Haseltine

Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (320) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Morning Report — 5/ 12 /25

Good morning kids. Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day. While I certainly miss my dear mother of blessed memory gone now 14 years already, given everything going on in the world and worse especially here in the USA. I'm glad she's not around to see it, especially the eruption of anti-Semitism.

And of course the complete flaunting of the rule of law by both elected officials and the bastardization of the law by judges who are sworn to uphold it. The most recent and horribly repulsive examples happened in Newark NJ and Worcester MA over the weekend.

Yesterday, news broke that a passel of Democrats—three Congresspeople and the Newark mayor—went all “insurrectiony” and tried to storm the Newark ICE facility. Newark’s mayor was arrested, but as of this writing, the congresspeople involved (Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Rob Menendez (D-NJ), and LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) were still free. However, a new video has emerged that makes it look as if federal prosecutors might at least want to think about investigating McIver, who really seems to have gotten into the swing of things, grabbing at, body slamming, and verbally abusing ICE agents. That’s just my take, of course. I’m not actually accusing her of anything.

You can reach your own conclusions by watching the bodycam video yourself:

And FYI Ras Baraka is the demon seed of one Amiri Baraka . . .

Anti-white, anti-Semitic writer, formerly named LeRoi Jones, Self-avowed “Third World Marxist-Leninist” . . . Was named Poet Laureate of New Jersey in 2002.

Meanwhile up the coast a ways . . .

A video making the rounds on social media appears to show residents in Worcester, Massachusetts surrounding and assaulting ICE agents while they were in the process of detaining a mother just a day after arresting the alleged father of the same family.

According to Boston.com: Worcester police said officers responded to the neighborhood around 11:13 a.m. for reports of around 25 people surrounding a federal agent, while another person called to report that ICE agents were refusing to show a warrant to the crowd.[…] In chaotic videos of the incident online, an individual who appears to be the teen girl is screaming as up to five officers detain her. Another individual pushes police officers, who then push her into a front yard before arresting her. Ashley Spring, 38, was also arrested after she allegedly threw an unknown liquid substance on and pushed multiple officers who were attempting to arrest the 16-year-old. Spring is charged with assault and battery on a police officer, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (unknown liquid), disorderly conduct, and interfering with a police officer.

As lurker extraordinaire and Ace cruelty fanboi Prof. Victor Davis Hanson laments,

Another hallmark of Western civilization was the creation of a judiciary that gave the state the power to enforce laws, ensure justice, and deter criminals by swift punishment, unaffected by ideology, bias, bribes, and personal vendettas. From the law codes of Justinian to the American Constitution, ascendant civilizations rose with a codified legal system applied uniformly, disinterestedly, and fairly.

Not any longer. Ideology has turned the American legal system into a commissariat of sorts in which relativism is now the norm. Vandalize a Tesla in a blue state and, like the South of old, the laws will be lightly if even enforced and applied selectively. No one seriously believes that Alvin Bragg, Letitia James, Jack Smith, and Fani Willis were interested in real crimes rather than concocting them to destroy a presidential candidate and thus warp the political system. In contemporary America, it was far more likely to suffer a jail sentence for walking peaceably but unlawfully in the Capitol than for torching a federal courthouse, historic church, or police precinct in the summer of 2020. . .

. . . Tribalism was a premodern obstacle to civilization. It remains so in many parts of the Middle East, where it is routine to hire, promote, retain, and reward on the basis of kinship and bloodlines. In America, we were supposed to have a singular meritocracy, civilization’s effort to ensure that those with the most expertise and experience were charged with the most important tasks and responsibilities to ensure the safety and welfare of the majority. Race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation were neither rewarded nor punished. Instead, we here, too, returned to premodern tribalism and race quotas, regressing to precivilization ideas that we owe our allegiance first to those who share a superficial appearance rather than to the body politic at large.

Tribalism indeed, but the ultimate goal at least for the Democrat/Left bone-in-the-nose tribe of cannibals is the acquisition and permanent hold on absolute power. Anything and anyone who stands in their way is fair game – By Any Means Necessary.

If the book is not thrown at the domestic terrorists in New Jersey and Massachusetts, then we are not far from a complete breakdown of the rule of law, if we're not there already.

Switching gears, President Trump signed an EO yesterday that at first glance appears to be a good thing.

Trump promised to implement what he called “most favored nation” pricing, which would cut pharmaceutical and prescription drug prices “almost immediately, by 30% to 80%,” he announced in a Truth Social post Sunday night. . .

. . . With his announcement, the commander in chief is revisiting a similar proposal that he tried to implement during his first administration, that was blocked by federal courts and then rescinded by the Biden junta.  At the time, the courts noted that Medicare was barred from negotiating drug prices. However, the legal roadblock was removed in 2022 with the passage of the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, which gave Medicare the power to bargain over prices for a small number of drugs.

Obviously, the details have yet to be released. And as I and likely all of you and your loved ones are taking one or more meds, which can be very expensive especially if your insurance does not cover some or all of the costs. Here's the thing. I'm no special pleader for Big Pharma which like so much of our manufacturing base has off-shored, most alarmingly to places like Red China, but dictating prices sounds kind of anti- free market, no? Dare I use the "F" word; "fascistic."

Look, if the pharmaceutical industry is doing some hinky garbage to bilk medicare and medicaid, that's one thing. Close the loopholes, clean up the bureaucracy and prosecute where criminality and malfeasance can be proven.

In any case it looks as if progress is being made with China on trade, as well as in Ukraine and potential cooling down of the latest flashpoint with India and Pakistan.

That said, we all know Iran is working overtime on an A-bomb. But a thermonuclear weapon?! Yikes.

Iran is developing “boosted” nuclear warheads at a secret military site disguised as a chemical plant, according to intelligence presented by Iranian dissident group NCRI, which accuses Tehran of expanding its nuclear arsenal with hydrogen bomb capability. . .

. . . According to the NCRI, the Rainbow site is focused on the extraction of tritium, a radioactive isotope used to amplify nuclear yield, especially in implosion-type warheads and thermonuclear devices. Tritium’s incorporation is seen as a key step toward the development of hydrogen bombs. Sources say this marks a significant escalation beyond Iran’s previously known nuclear efforts under the AMAD Plan, which was ostensibly halted in 2003. . .

. . . The development comes amid heightened tensions, as IRGC commander Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami threatened to “open the gates of Hell” on the U.S. and Israel — a stark warning issued just days before another round of indirect nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran. Last week, Iran unveiled a new solid-fueled ballistic missile, claiming it has stationed similar systems nationwide, according to state-run TV, which cited military officials promising the ability to strike U.S. bases and interests “wherever they are” if war breaks out.

I assume the Israelis are likely well aware of this. The individual quoted in this article is quite adamant about avoiding boots on the ground in Iran but does call for more open support of Iranian resistance within the nation as well as around the globe. And I agree. There are ways to help them topple the Mullahs and neutralize not only the threat posed by their possession of nukes but finally ending 46 years of their spilling oceans of blood all over the world via sponsoring terrorism in the name of jihad.

Have a great day.

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
• Victor Davis Hanson: From secure borders to functioning cities, America is shedding the hard-won pillars of civilization—by choice, not chance—in a sweeping, top-down descent into disorder.
  The Decivilizing of America
  
• The idea that Democrats have until now been taking the high road is one of the biggest of Big Lies we've ever heard.
  Let’s Face It, Dems Have Always Been ‘Dark Woke’
  
• “CBS loved it when 10+ million illegals from all over the world scammed our system by claiming false ‘asylum’ under Biden. Now a handful of real refugees arrive on our shores, but because they’re white, CBS has questions.”
  Media Suddenly Skeptical of Refugees After Reports of Impending Arrival of White South African Farmers

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:00 AM | Comments (362) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 12 May 2025

Top Story

• The killer app for generative AI is coding, say people who know nothing about coding. (Fast Company)
  
  "Our new spreadsheet performs calculations faster than ever before, and only gets half of them wrong."
  
  
  
• Fake NPM packages claiming to support the Cursor AI coding system infected 3200 users before they were taken down. (The Hacker News)
  
  And it's going to get much, much worse.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:37 AM | Comments (112) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Overnight Open Thread - May 11, 2025 [Doof]

(Mystery click dust warning)

Howdy Hordelings! Happy Mother's Day to all the mama 'ettes! Or is it Mothers Day? More on that later.

If your mom is still around, did you call her today? If your mom is no longer with us, The ONT calls for raised glasses in honor of her and all dearly departed mamas. Step on in, and let's talk about moms (and whatever else is on your mind).

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (306) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gun Thread: Mother's Day Edition!

Howdy, Y'all! Welcome to the wondrously fabulous Gun Thread! As always, I want to thank all of our regulars for being here week in and week out, and also offer a bigly Gun Thread welcome to any newcomers who may be joining us tonight. Howdy and thank you for stopping by! I hope you find our wacky conversation on the subject of guns 'n shooting both enjoyable and informative. You are always welcome to lurk in the shadows of shame, but I'd like to invite you to jump into the conversation, say howdy, and tell us what kind of shooting you like to do!

Holy Hallmark Shitballs! It's our festive annual Mother's Day Edition where it only seems fitting to pay tribute to the shooting Mom's in our lives, so Happy Mother's Day to all of you Mom's out there! In fact, all the shooting 'ettes deserve a special day of their own, don't you think?! Ma Barker, pictured above, certainly fits the definition of a shooting mom... or did she? While there is some question regarding her level of participation in the "gang" bearing her name, some of her sons were unquestionably familiar with firearms. In any event, it's an interesting story, some of which is chronicled at the Oklahoma Historical Society's website, and Wikipedia even has some interesting things to say on the subject.

With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?

Posted by: Weasel at 07:00 PM | Comments (229) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Food Thread: Porcine Perfection In Paris

That's what the lowly pork chop looks like in my new neck of the woods, and I for one heartily approve! The difference between it and the commodity pork that is readily available in the United States is significant, including (unfortunately) the cost. Yup, it is pricey, about $8/lb, But for that I get a spectacularly flavorful chop, with copious amounts of fat, and best of all, the delicious other muscles and fat along the perimeter that is almost always trimmed away by American pork processors.

Cooking it was easy! I seared the perimeter fat until nice and toasty, then seared one side to the same degree, flipped it over, plopped it into a warm oven for about 25 minutes (five minutes too long for me, but I wasn't the only one eating). It came out wonderfully browned, but tender and juicy. And the fat...that glorious fat! Delicious!

I know that America produces fantastic pork, but it is so damned hard to find! And I do appreciate the amazing job that our farmers and processors do with mass-market pork. I can get good stuff for a fraction of what I paid for that chop, and especially for smoking and BBQ, it is very, very good.

But a fella can dream, can't he?

Posted by: CBD at 04:00 PM | Comments (230) | Trackbacks (Suck)