1/31 - CIA - The Art of Simple Sabotage
The rascally spies of OSS knew a thing or two about mischief making, especially when it came to undermining America’s enemies in World War II.
This previously classified booklet describes ways to train normal people to be purposely annoying...
In other words, teaching people to do their jobs badly.
[Hmmmm...]
While the guidebook does contain ideas for serious, hardcore sabotage you’d expect during wartime, there are many timeless (and dare we say all-too-familiar) tactics that could drive even the most sane person batty.
["all-too-familiar"]
1. Telephone: At the office, hotel, or local telephone switchboards, delay putting calls through, give out wrong numbers, cut people off “accidentally,” or forget to disconnect them so that the line cannot be used again.
[... or use modern-day robo-calls?]
2. Movie Theater Patrons: To ruin everyone’s time at the movies (without a cell phone, that is) bring in a paper bag filled with two or three dozen large moths. Open the bag and set it in an empty section of the theater. “The moths will fly out and climb into the projector beam, so that the film will be obscured by fluttering shadows.”
[... or interupt the stream today]
3. Managers and Supervisors: To lower morale and production, think of the worst boss you’ve had and act like that. Be pleasant to inefficient workers; give them undeserved promotions. Discriminate against efficient workers; complain unjustly about their work. When possible, refer all matters to committees for "further study and consideration." Attempt to make the committees as large and bureaucratic as possible.
[This explains each of these instances bewildering me over twenty-plus years at a gubment job]
4. Employees: Be forgetful. Clumsy. Work slowly. Think of ways to increase the number of movements needed to do your job: use a light hammer instead of a heavy one; try to make a small wrench do instead of a big one.
[Yep, those make-the-job-last-longer tactics make more sense now]
5.Transportation: Make train or air travel as inconvenient as possible. One particularly effective trick: issue two tickets for the same seat on a train in order to set up an “interesting” argument.
[... or disturb everyone during a flight]
[The problem is, 80 years later this incompetence and behavior evolved as standard procedure. We need an order of order and a dose of Emily Post... stat! - OC Padrino]
1/30 - RASMUSSEN REPORTS - 57% Approve of Immigration Raids
By an 18-point margin, more voters approve than disapprove of the immigration enforcement raids launched since Donald Trump became president.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 57% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of the raids by federal immigration officials to apprehend and deport illegal immigrants, including 38% who Strongly Approve. Thirty-nine percent (39%) disapprove of the immigration raids, including 24% who Strongly Disapprove.
57% Approve of Immigration Raids
1/30 - Number of Genders
[Thanks S.A.M.]
1/29 - NEW YORK TIMES - Labeling Cartels ‘Terrorists’ Could Hurt U.S. Economy
President Trump’s executive order designating Mexican cartels and other criminal organizations as foreign terrorists could force some American companies to forgo doing business in Mexico rather than risk U.S. sanctions, according to former government officials and analysts — an outcome that could have a major effect on both countries given their deep economic interdependence.
Even more complicated, these criminal networks have extended their operations far beyond drug trafficking and human smuggling. They are now embedded in a wide swath of the legal economy, from avocado farming to the country’s billion-dollar tourism industry, making it hard to be absolutely sure that American companies are isolated from cartel activities.
[Uh... ever consider that those "legal" operations are how they traffic drugs and humans? - OC Padrino
How Labeling Cartels ‘Terrorists’ Could Hurt the U.S. Economy
1/29 - TRANSACTIONAL RECORDS ACCESS CLEARINGHOUSE - Deportations 2003-2024
[Where were the tears during Obama? - OC Padrino]
1/28 - OC PADRINO - One More
1/28 - X (formerly Twitter) - External Revenue Service (ERS)
"For far too long, we have relied on taxing our Great People using the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Through soft and pathetically weak Trade agreements, the American Economy has delivered growth and prosperity to the world, while taxing ourselves. It is time for that to change. I am today announcing that I will create the EXTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE to collect our Tariffs, Duties, and all Revenue that come from Foreign sources. We will begin charging those that make money off of us with Trade, and they will start paying, FINALLY, their fair share. January 20, 2025, will be the birth date of the External Revenue Service.
MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Donald J. Trump / @realDonaldTrump
1/28 - OXFORD ACADEMIC - Analysis of COVID-19 on Lunar Temperature
A study by Durga Prasad and Ambily (2024) observed an anomalous decrease in the lunar surface temperatures during the period April-May 2020, which they then attributed to the anthropogenic effects of the COVID-19 global lockdown effect. We have re-examined their data and while the anomalous decrease in the lunar surface temperature during April- May 2020 appears in our analysis as well, so does another significant dip in early 2018. Furthermore, the decline to the minimum observed during April-May 2020 is seen to begin in 2019, that is, quite some time before the COVID-19 event that led to the global lockdown and the suggested anthropogenic effect of reduced pollution. We, therefore, conclude that one cannot attribute the effects of the observed changes in the lunar surface temperature during April-May 2020 directly and unambiguously to reduced human activity during the COVD-19 lockdown as claimed by Durga Prasad and Ambily (2024).
[Maybe it's lunar-warming]
1/26 - U.S. DEPT. OF THE INTERIOR - Orphaned Wells [not the actor]
Analysis conducted by the Environmental Defense Fund estimates that 14 million people in the United States live within one mile of an orphaned well. ... these orphaned oil and gas wells can be located adjacent to occupied residences, posing a direct threat to human health [BOOM] and the environment because of deteriorating infrastructure, methane and other gaseous emissions, and oil leaks.
... the true number of orphaned wells in the United States is unknown, but there are over 141,000 documented orphaned wells on state and private land, and over 16,000 more on federal land. The IOGCC [Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission] estimates there may be an additional 250,000-740,000 undocumented orphaned wells. Together, all documented and undocumented orphaned wells may emit nearly 63 million grams [63 metric tons] of methane per hour into the atmosphere, the equivalent of over 3.6 million gasoline-powered passenger cars driven per year.
The total damage of methane emissions from orphaned wells has been calculated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at approximately $4,140 per metric ton, factoring in the damage that methane emissions cause to human health, the economy, and the environment. Using the EPA’s value for the cost of methane, the total socioeconomic cost of the methane emitting from remaining unplugged documented and undocumented orphaned wells in the United States is estimated to be between $1 and $2.3 billion every year. [$4140 x 63 tons x 24 hours x 365 days = $2.28 billion]
[So we've been chided and taxed for how-many decades that we peons are respon$ible for poluting the air with harmless CO2 while tons of methane (the REAL "greenhouse gas") has spewed out of the ground daily all over the world for the last century and a half. The tremendous lack of management and enforcement might also explain some of those "unexplainable" instances of all-electric suburban houses loudly converting to toothpicks. - OC Padrino]
ORPHANED WELLS PROGRAM ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS
1/26 - TOWNHALL - Elon Musk Handles the Fake Nazi Salute Allegations
Elon Musk is being smeared as a proto-Nazi after he made a gesture at the inaugural rally that liberals thought was the infamous salute. He was giving his heart out to the audience. Many a celebrity have done the same thing, but the Left has Trump and nazis on the brain, which has made them mentally challenged in most aspects. The Anti-Defamation League even said this wasn’t a nazi salute. It’s a dead story, but Elon is having fun with it. It’s the only thing left to do, and it might be the go-to response to any liberal tantrum over the next four years. Musk is literally just mocking all the rage (via The Hill):
“Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations! Some people will Goebbels anything down! Stop Goring your enemies,” Musk wrote on his social platform X.
“His pronouns would’ve been He/Himmler! Bet you did nazi that coming,” he added with a laughing emoji.
How Elon Musk Is Handling the Fake Nazi Salute Allegations Is Absolutely Hilarious
1/25 - House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform - The Bidens’ Influence Peddling
Since taking the gavel in January, the Committee on Oversight and Accountability has accelerated its investigation of the Biden family’s domestic and international business practices to determine whether the Biden family has been targeted by foreign actors, President Biden is compromised, and our national security is threatened. Records obtained through the Committee’s subpoenas to date reveal that the Bidens and their associates have received over $20 million in payments from foreign entities.
...
The total amount from Romania to the Biden family and their associates is over $3 million.
...
The total amount from China, specifically with CEFC and their related entities,
to the Biden family and their associates is over $8 million.
...
The total amount from Ukraine to the Biden family and their associates is $6.5 million.
...
The total amount from Russia to the Biden family and their associates is $3.5 million.
The Bidens’ Influence Peddling Timeline
1/24 - OC PADRINO - Not to be left out.
1/23 - YOUTUBE - Ending Income Tax as We Know It?
Mark Moss: "What if I told you income tax, as we know it, could disappear forever?
That’s exactly what [President] Donald Trump is suggesting with his groundbreaking announcement of the External Revenue Service—a plan to stop taxing Americans and start collecting revenue from foreign trade instead.
This isn’t just a small tweak, but rather a complete rewrite of the U.S. taxation system that could be the solution to freeing Americans from income tax, and… it’s not just some crazy idea, its actually taking things back to how they were in the past."
Trump Introduces ERS: Ending Income Tax as We Know It?
1/22 - TOWNHALL - The U.S. Military Is Headed to the Border
President Donald Trump has deployed thousands[?] of active duty U.S. troops to the southern border with Mexico in an effort to restore deterrence against illegal immigration and trafficking into the country. The move comes just two days after Trump signed an executive order from the Oval Office "directing the military to prioritize our own borders and territorial integrity in strategic planning for its operations."
"The Armed Forces of the United States have played a long and well-established role in securing our borders against threats of invasion, against unlawful forays by foreign nationals into the United States, and against other transnational criminal activities that violate our laws and threaten the peace, harmony, and tranquility of the Nation. These threats have taken a variety of forms over our Nation’s history, but the Armed Forces have consistently played an integral role in protecting the sovereignty of the United States," the order states.
Now, 1500 U.S. troops will be initially sent to assist Customs and Border Protection agents with their mission. Their directive could eventually be changed to help will illegal immigrant and cartel arrests. As many as 10,000 could be deployed.
[1500 = 3 shifts of 500 over a huge border, is sounding more like a bureaucratic role of dealing with the excessive processing and letting border agents get back to their real jobs. - OC Padrino]
The U.S. Military Is Headed to the Border
1/22 - OC PADRINO - Trump Openly Returns Double Hitler Salute at Rally
[Thanks AI]
1/20 - ODDITY CENTRAL - Camel Traffic Lights in the Middle of the Desert
During the month of May, camel riding is such a popular pastime at the Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring scenic spots in China’s Kumtag Desert that local authorities use camel traffic lights to avoid traffic jams.
As bizarre as using traffic lights in the middle of a desert might seem, it does make some sense. In 2023, on the first day of May, Mingsha Mountain received over 10,000 visitors, and their number grew to 20,000 in the following days of the Spring holiday. Many of them walked along the ancient Silk Road, but a few thousand opted to take in the scenery on camelback, and this created traffic jams along the popular route.
Luckily, in Gansu Province’s Kumtag Desert, ‘camel jams’ will no longer be a problem thanks to these ingenious camel traffic lights. The problem is that they’ve now become somewhat of a tourist attraction in what is an already overcrowded tourist spot.
[Sure, novel now... but wait till the red-light cameras show up. Then again, one could make a fortune setting up a "Tea and Lo Mein" rest stop at each light. - OC Padrino]
Camel Riding Popularity Inspires Special Camel Traffic Lights in the Middle of the Desert
1/17 - ZEROHEDGE - Chinese Drone Firm Eliminates No-Fly Zones Before Inauguration
DJI, the world's largest civilian drone manufacturer and a Chinese-owned company, has reportedly announced it will replace its geofencing system with official Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) data for all flight operations in the US. The changes, which took effect on Monday, come just one week before President Trump's inauguration in Washington, D.C, as well as concerns about drones across US cities and hovering near US military installations.
[Drone geofencing uses GPS to create a virtual boundary around a location. This technology is used to keep drones from entering restricted areas. - OC Padrino]
The official DJI blog, "ViewPoints," provided more color on the geofencing policy change, which will now allow drone operators to fly in previously restricted 'No-Fly Zones':
The timing of this policy change is alarming.
[We all know what terrorists are responsible for. - OC Padrino]
Chinese Drone Firm DJI Eliminates Automatic No-Fly Zones One Week Before Trump's Inauguration
1/17 - ZEROHEDGE - Preventable Deaths And Vitamin D3
The inconvenient truth is that even at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a very simple, inexpensive and effective treatment was available that could have saved the majority of lives lost (1-3). All that the WHO and public health bureaucracy had to do was to recommend and support people taking sufficient Vitamin D3.
This failure to act traces back to the unscientific bias and pro-vaccine obsession of Dr. Anthony Fauci. And once again the legacy media, while being paid by the US government and the pharmaceutical industry to promote vaccination, acted by censoring, defaming and suppressing the ability of physicians to inform people of scientific truth. The disease you suffered, the loss of life among your family and friends, could have been greatly reduced by simply getting enough Vitamin D3. This is another example of what happens when unelected bureaucrats are allowed to control free speech. Crimes against humanity.
The effectiveness of Vitamin D3 as an immune system-boosting prophylactic treatment for influenza and other respiratory RNA viruses was first discovered in 2006 (4, 5). Despite that fact that this treatment is amazingly effective for preventing death (by strengthening your immune system), it has never been investigated by the NIH, promoted by the CDC or by the US government for the treatment of influenza. One major issue has been that uncontrolled variables of dosing, timing of dosing and disease status have resulted in inconsistent clinical trial results (much as we have seen with the Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine COVID trials). However, when Vitamin D3 is given prophylactically at sufficient doses, there is clear and compelling evidence that Vitamin D blood levels of around 50 ng/ml will substantially reduce symptomatic infection, severe disease and mortality.
Preventable Deaths And Vitamin D3
1/16 - THE PATRIOT NEWS - Peddling Nuclear Material on Black Market
Peddling nuclear material on the black market is a little over the top. Fiction writers have been raising the possibility for decades and today it’s a fact. This deal was intercepted but highly suggests there could be others which weren’t. Takeshi Ebisawa is a well known “crime boss.” In Japan, they call their version of the Mafia “Yakuza.”
The feds claim they didn’t entrap Takeshi Ebisawa into selling them nuclear material. He offered it to them on his own. They don’t say much about where or how he got his hands on it. The FBI does confirm he was selling the real deal.
He thought it would be going into the safely responsible hands of an Iranian general but the 60-year-old gangster had been tricked.
On Wednesday, January 8, Ebisawa “pleaded guilty to conspiring to sell nuclear material from Myanmar to Iran.” Authorities in the United States also had him dead to rights on “drug trafficking and weapons offenses.”
They physically hauled him into a Manhattan courtroom where he accepted his fate on six counts. The judge will decide what to do with him on April 9.
Crime Boss Caught Peddling Nuclear Material on Black Market
1/16 - TOWNHALL - Walgreens Closes 12 Additional San Francisco Stores
Walgreens has announced the shuttering of 12 additional brick-and-mortar locations in San Francisco, citing the unsustainability of continuing to operate them in the red. As this local news report points out, the company didn't explicitly mention endless retail crime as a contributing factor, but area residents say the issue is an unavoidable reality. The on-air package even referred to it as a "major crime spree." Remember, popular fast food chain In N Out shut a location in the Bay Area last year for the first time in the company's history due to nonstop crime.
That final [on-air] soundbyte from a woman worried about a diminished quality of life speaks to the real toll such closures take on communities. Leftists like to blame corporate greed, but when stores cannot operate due to failed policies and rampant crime, such conditions forces businesses' hand. The fallout impacts employees whose places of business no longer exist, as well as neighbors who rely on the locations for convenient access to life essentials and medications. "Progressive" urban rot has real, tangible victims.
Rot: Major Retail Chain Announces Closures of a Dozen Additional Stores in This Blue City
1/14 - RASMUSSEN REPORTS - Think Climate Change to Blame for L.A. Wildfires?
A majority of voters – including more than three-quarters of Democrats – think climate change explains the wildfire that has devastated Southern California.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 53% of Likely U.S. Voters consider it likely that the recent wildfire in Los Angeles was caused by climate change, including 28% who believe it’s Very Likely. Thirty-nine percent (39%) don’t think it’s likely that climate change is to blame for the L.A. wildfire, including 21% who say it’s Not At All Likely.
[If you believe it, I have a nice reservoir I can sell ya. - OC Padrino]
L.A. Wildfires: 77% of Democrats Blame Climate Change
1/14 - THE PRESS PRESS - Pacific Palisades' Santa Ynez Reservoir Empty
The Palisades fire has, at the time of writing [Jan 11], burned over 22,000 acres, thousands of structures, and is still only 11 percent contained. It broke out in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Tuesday, January 7, and by Wednesday at 3 a.m., firefighters were essentially out of water to fight it.
The Santa Ynez Reservoir holds 117 million gallons of water and is the water supply for the Pacific Palisades. When The Free Press’s Austyn Jeffs arrived at the Santa Ynez Reservoir to take a look on Friday morning, it was closed to the public, but he hiked around the perimeter. What he found was a completely empty reservoir.
It’s been that way since about February of last year, when officials say it was drained to allow repairs to a torn cover that prevents evaporation. Austyn saw no construction materials or vehicles around the reservoir on Friday.
Firefighters told Austyn that there was no communication from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) to the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) about any water supply issues. No one informed them that the reservoir was empty when they began fighting the Palisades fire. Instead, the LAFD had to use water supply from three backup tanks, each holding only about 1 million gallons of water. They blew through it in less than a day.
Why was the Santa Ynez Reservoir allowed to stay empty for nearly a year? When it became clear that the Santa Ana winds would coincide with this remarkably dry rainy season, why didn’t the DWP start refilling it?
Governor Newsom has ordered an independent investigation, while the DWP general manager Martin Adams said that the Santa Ynez Reservoir being filled with its 117 million gallons of water would have “helped” but not “saved the day.”
[Only a 40-day replenishable supply. Eh... the water would only have been wasted "helping" put out private homes and property. But don't worry... 22 miles away from the fires, Marty's house and family in Burbank are safe and sound. - OC Padrino]
WATCH: Why Is the Santa Ynez Reservoir Empty?
1/14 - NPR - Special counsel in Hunter Biden case denounces president
The Department of Justice on Monday released special counsel David Weiss' final report after his investigation of criminal allegations against President Biden's son Hunter Biden.
Biden last month signed a full and unconditional pardon for his son, after earlier promising not to do so, saying "raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice."
Weiss in the report called such accusations "gratuitous and wrong."
"Other presidents have pardoned family members, but in doing so, none have taken the occasion as an opportunity to malign the public servants at the Department of Justice based solely on false accusations," he wrote.
Hunter Biden was convicted in June of federal gun charges for lying about his addiction to crack cocaine when he purchased a gun. Three months later, he entered a guilty plea to tax offenses for failing to pay at least $1.4 million in federal taxes. Sentencing was expected in December in both cases.
Both of the prosecutions were brought by Weiss. ...
In the report, Weiss said he brought the charges independent of any politics and purely because Hunter Biden broke federal laws.
[That's right... NPR]
Special counsel in Hunter Biden case denounces president for criticism of the probe
1/14 - THE MIDWESTERNER - Garbage truck from campaign to be in inaugural parade
A garbage truck from an Upper Peninsula company will be Michigan’s contribution to President Donald J. Trump’s inaugural parade next week.
A source with the inaugural committee tells The Midwesterner a truck from Loadmaster, a firm based in Dickinson County, population 25,937, will be one of 39 entries in the parade that runs down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House.
The company provided the truck that sparked one of the most viral moments during the 2024 campaign: when a safety vest-wearing Trump climbed into the cabin for a spin around a Green Bay, Wisc. airport tarmac.
“How do you like my garbage truck? This truck is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden,” [Trump] told reporters from the passenger seat. Trump seized on an ugly comment by Biden when he called Trump’s supporters “garbage”.
1/12 - WORLD TRIBUNE - Kash Patel on Judge Merchan
In an interview on the Alec Lace Show podcast, Kash Patel, selected by President-elect Donald Trump to head up the FBI, said House Republicans should issue a subpoena for Judge Juan Merchan, who on Friday sentenced Trump in the New York “hush money” case to an “unconditional discharge.”
Patel also will soon meet with House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer to discuss how the new Trump administration plans to face down the Deep State.
“[Patel] and I are fixing to meet because with respect to him, they need to hold some people accountable for a cover up,” Comer said. “It’s a big deal to know that the president of the United States is on the take, and yet you do nothing — and I would go further, obstructed our investigation and coordinated with the media to write things that just weren’t true.”
Kash Patel on Judge Merchan and Republicans in Congress
1/8 - OC Padrino - Point to ponder:
Why didn't Biden give Obama a Presidential Medal Of Freedom?
1/7 - TOWNHALL - Trump Has a New Name for the Gulf of Mexico
In remarks on Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump revealed that he plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America when he takes office.
“Mexico’s really in trouble. A lot of trouble. Very dangerous place. And, we’re going ot be announcing a future date pretty soon… we do most of the work there… we’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring… covers a lot of territory. The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name,” Trump said on Tuesday. “And it’s appropriate.”
[Baja California could become West Mexico]
'Has a Beautiful Ring' to It: Trump Has a New Name for the Gulf of Mexico
1/6 - OC PADRINO - I asked AI...
ME: What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?
AI: The question often arises whether we are discussing an African or a European swallow.
[I swear]
1/6 - TOWNHALL - Mexican President Shifts Stance on Accepting Deported Illegals
In a surprising reversal, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has shifted her stance on accepting deported illegal immigrants from other countries— a move that could have had significant implications for President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming border policy. After months of resistance to taking in deportees, Sheinbaum now appears to be softening her position, signaling a potential new strategy for handling immigrants who are sent back to Mexico. Critics argue this change could further strain Mexico’s already overburdened resources and allow the flow of illegal immigration to continue unchecked as the new Trump Administration grapples with an inherited record surge in illegal alien crossings.
During a press conference, Sheinbaum reversed her previous stance and suddenly said that Mexico is not ruling out the possibility of taking in illegal immigrants deported by the U.S.— regardless of nationality. However, she did say she would request that the U.S. compensate Mexico for returning them to their home countries.
In November, Trump announced that he and Sheinbaum agreed to stop the massive flow of illegal immigrants into the United States by “strengthening collaboration on security issues.” The sudden change of heart came after Trump threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on Mexico if it did not take action to stop illegal immigrants from entering America through its southern border.
[So let me get this straight. Immigrants illegally enter the U.S. unobstructed via Mexico and when deported back to Mexico, we're supposed to pay for their return to wherever they came from prior to entering Mexico. Mexico didn't seem to consider its "already overburdened resources" when allowing these new citizens into their country. If the immigrants have no intention of returning to their country of origin, wouldn't Mexico be their new home under any circumstance? Certainly the Mexican government wouldn't be involved in merely trafficking humans. That would be violating international law! So, how is the deportation of illegal imigrants crossing the same border back to their latest home country a problem? - OC Padrino]
Mexican President Shifts Stance on Accepting Deported Illegal Immigrants
1/5 - ARMY TIMES - US Military Task Force In Honduras
Over the past four decades a small outpost in Honduras has housed a mix of U.S. military forces, backed by aid organizations to do a Swiss Army-knife type mission of providing medical assistance, disaster response and military training for Latin American allies.
Joint Task Force Bravo contains between 500 and 1,500 U.S. troops at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, and hosts both permanent active-duty staff and rotating Guard and reserve troops for its regionally focused mission.
[I'm sure it has nothing to do with the location being a good interdiction choke-point... with reinforcements just a transport-hop away.]
[Thanks S.A.M.]
Deep in the mountains of Honduras, few know what this US military task force does
1/4 - RED STATE - Honduran President Warns Trump American Troops Will Be Kicked Out
American troops, when stationed abroad, spend a lot of money. They buy local merchandise, they eat at local dining establishments, and believe you me, in nations where it's a thing, they drink in local watering holes. Locals may approve or disapprove of the presence of American service members, but they will surely take their money.
Honduran President Xiomara Castro warned in a television broadcast message this week that she could decide to have the United States haul out its service members from the Central American country if Trump tries to deport Hondurans with criminal histories back to their home country.
“Faced with a hostile attitude of mass expulsion of our brothers [comrades], we would have to consider a change in our policies of cooperation with the United States, especially in the military arena,” Castro said during the Wednesday broadcast.
The U.S., Castro said, maintains military bases in Honduras “without paying a cent for decades,” though the country receives significant foreign aid from the U.S.
Now, let's take a stab at constructing the incoming Trump administration's response:
"Fine, fine, President Castro. Go ahead and decree that all American forces should withdraw from your country, and we'll pull them out. We will close the 10 bases we have in Honduras and bring home our 600+ service members. We'll pull out all the money they spend in your economy. There will be no more American service members buying local merchandise, dining in local restaurants, or spending any of their pay in any way in Honduras. Oh, and we will be cutting off the roughly $175 million annually in foreign aid to Honduras, as well. We are deporting people who are in the country illegally, and who have committed crimes in our nation or their nation of origin, including Honduras. We are sending these criminals back to you, where they belong, in your country, not ours. Your terms are acceptable; we will remove our people, we will cut off American aid to your nation, and regardless of what else happens, we will return your people to your country."
1/4 - THE PATRIOTIC VOICE - Antarctica Sea Ice Doesn’t Lie
Another one of the central tenets of climate alarmism has been debunked by actual scientific data. A team of researchers from Norway, Sweden, and the California Institute of Technology looked at the entire history of satellite data over the ice shelf in Antarctica, dating back to 1979. The ice shelf has slowly and gradually become thicker over the past 45 years. It’s not shrinking. It’s not melting because of cow farts or hair spray. Colorado is not going to become oceanfront property any day now. Once again, climate “scientists” have been caught with their pants on fire.
While the scientists did find that there are fluctuations in the amount of ice from year to year, the gradual trend shows that the ice in Antarctica is thickening. All the other climate scientists must have missed that little detail for 45 years. No biggie. [right?]
[Gotta keep that grant money comin'.]
[Thanks Dave L]
Antarctica Sea Ice Doesn’t Lie — But Climate Scientists Do
1/3 - TOWNHALL - Seattle Residents Are Refusing to Tip
In Seattle, a growing number of people are growing tired [that's a lot of growing] of tipping and are reportedly refusing to tip restaurant staff due to the city’s significant minimum wage hikes.
According to a Daily Mail report, residents in the Democrat-run city feel it is unnecessary to tip service workers. The minimum wage will increase from $19.97 to $20.76 an hour on January 1, 2025. Seattle’s Minimum Wage Ordinance requires the wage rate to reflect the city's inflation rise.
One Reddit user said they are “done tipping 10-20 percent come January 1st,” while another person claimed that with the minimum wage hike, food industry workers have “finally reach[ed] a level playing field.”
[$41,520/yr... ABSOLUTELY! For greater undeclared income, move.]
Why Residents In Seattle Are Refusing to Tip
1/3 - REDSTATE - Seattle Restaurant Closing Due to Mandated Wage Hike
The owner of a popular waffle shop in West Seattle said she had no choice but to shut down her business after the city’s new minimum wage law went into effect on New Year’s Day — hiking hourly pay to $20.76.
Bebop Waffle Shop, which was founded by a former New York City resident more than a decade ago, closed its doors for good on Monday.
“I’ve cried every day,” Corina Luckenbach, the waffle shop owner, told Fox 13 TV.
What's heartbreaking about this is the way it hits small, independent businesses - like the Bebop Waffle Shop. The big chains have resources; they can adopt technologies, like self-ordering kiosks and burger-bots to attenuate the fiscal damage done by mandated minimum wage hikes. Small businesses cannot, and while it's tempting to point out that the people of Seattle voted for this city government and likely will continue to support blue-city policies, this doesn't help Corina Luckenbach's former employees any.
The Real Minimum Wage Is Zero: Seattle Restaurateur Closing Down Due to Mandated Wage Hike
1/1 - TOWNHALL - Ready for President Chuck Grassley?
On Friday the House of Representatives will take a vote on who will be the Speaker for the 116th Congress. Current House Speaker Mike Johnson is hoping to keep his job, but a handful of Republicans are considering voting against him in an effort to seat someone new. Who that new Speaker might be is still a mystery.
The House cannot operate without a Speaker. That vote occurs Friday, January 3. The vote to certify the 2024 presidential election is just three days later on January 6.
But there are only two weeks between January 6 and January 20. If the House can't find a Speaker in time to get the election certified, President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance cannot take office...
With a non-functioning House, Trump, Vance and the House Speaker are out of the chain-of-command, which puts the Senate pro tempore in as acting president. On January 20, 2025, that will be Republican Senator Chuck Grassley.
Are You Ready for Acting President Chuck Grassley?
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