About Hue White

Former BBS operator; software engineer; cat lackey.

Don’t Sell At The Bottom, Ctd

On a day where the NASDAQ is up nearly 2.5%, the price of DJT, the stock of the company of Donald J. Trump … fell:

This five day chart clearly shows shares of DJT dropped 10% today, in contrast with the indices. What went wrong? Bad news?

How about this?

Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) is doubling down on cryptocurrency, unveiling plans Tuesday to create what it claims will be one of the largest bitcoin treasuries held by any public company.

The initiative is backed by a $2.5 billion private funding round, with commitments from roughly 50 institutional investors, according to a company press release. The deal includes $1.5 billion in Trump Media common stock and $1 billion in convertible senior secured notes, set to close on or around May 29.

Once finalized, the move will place bitcoin directly on Trump Media’s balance sheet, alongside existing cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments totaling $759 million as of the end of Q1 2025.

That’s dated today. It sounds like good news.

Or are the rumors concerning Walmart steaks being served at his dinner party for big-time investors in $TRUMP, the President’s vehicle of corruption cryptocurrency, true?

Donald Trump’s exclusive dinner party for investors in his $TRUMP meme coin turned into a spectacle of disappointment, with critics slamming it as an “orgy of corruption” and guests complaining about the food and lack of access to the US president.

Held Thursday evening at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia, the high-profile event gathered 220 crypto investors who collectively poured in $148 million for a chance to meet Trump and dine in style. Instead, many left underwhelmed—by both the meal and the man.

Social media personality and prankster Nicholas Pinto, who says he invested $360,000 in the memecoin, attended the event and told WIRED and Fortune that it was “the worst food” he’s ever had at a Trump property. “The only good thing was the bread and butter,” Pinto added, calling the steak “trash” and likening it to something bought at Walmart. [The Economic Times, via MSN]

Tacky but irrelevant, you mutter? Try adding in his performance in speechifying:

The president began both speeches by sticking to a script but then veered off course. At West Point on Saturday, his speech went on for over an hour. He attacked diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and said: “The job of the U.S. Armed Forces is not to host drag shows to transform foreign cultures, or to spread democracy to everybody around the world at the point of a gun,” he said. “The military’s job is to dominate any foe and annihilate any threat to America, anywhere, anytime, and any place.” (In fact, the mission of the Department of Defense is “to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation’s security.”)

Trump veered off into immigration and a chat about golf, then repeated a story about William Levitt, a real estate developer whose post–World War II housing developments became synonymous with suburbia, that he had told at a 2017 Boy Scout jamboree. On Saturday, Trump talked about Levitt becoming “very rich, a very rich man, and then he decided to sell. And he sold his company, and he had nothing to do. He ended up getting a divorce, found a new wife. Could you say a trophy wife? I guess we can say a trophy wife. It didn’t work out too well, but it doesn’t—that doesn’t work out too well, I must tell you. A lot of trophy wives. It doesn’t work out. But it made him happy for a little while, at least, but he found a new wife. He sold his little boat, and he got a big yacht, he had one of the biggest yachts anywhere in the world. He moved for a time to Monte Carlo, and he led the good life, and time went by, and he got bored and 15 years later, the company that he sold to called him, and they said, ‘The housing business is not for us.’ You have to understand when Bill Levitt was hot. When he had momentum, he’d go to the job sites every night, he’d pick up every loose nail, he’d pick up every scrap of wood, if there was a bolt or a screw laying on the ground, he’d pick it up, and he’d use it the next day and putting together a house.” [“May 26, 2025,” Professor Richardson, Letters From An American]

Somewhere else – I regret that I cannot find the link – I read that whitehouse.gov is no longer publishing an index to his speeches. Or maybe his speeches at all.

His probable dementia is affecting his most effective communications device – his performance art.

The cryptocurrency folks, the earnest ones, must have been appalled, even terrified, to find themselves in the presence of a leading conman, although how the dementia plays in his harder to say; the rest were, no doubt, trying to figure out how to work the crowd, regardless.

But these rumors and/or facts appear to have reached the market, and the thought that Trump Media and Technology Group Corp is buying $2.5 billion worth of bitcoin may be a bit unnerving for larger investors, when the company is under the influence of someone with dementia. Add in the chance that President Putin’s not happy with President Trump and may be manipulating the market to let the price drop ….

Well. All speculation on my part, I’ll freely admit. Someone make some popcorn for me, eh? I’d feel faint if I owned any DJT, not because it fell, but because it’s completely unpredictable.

MAGA Embarrassment Headed Off

I gotta love this report from Steve Benen’s campaign roundup (I’d take it right from the Wall Street Journal, but I lack a subscription):

And according to The Wall Street Journal, [President] Trump was directly involved in convincing Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene not to run for the Senate in Georgia next year. The president apparently showed her a polling report that suggested she could win a primary, but she’d lose to Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff by 18 points.

The contrast of winning a primary but losing by 18 points to the incumbent, all in a reddish State, suggests the intolerant zealots retain their grip on the Republican Party, while independents and moderate Republicans are increasingly unimpressed by those same zealots and their choices. And this in a State with a popular and apparently competent executive in Governor Kemp (R-GA), who also refuses to go up against Senator Ossoff (D-GA).

In the end, Georgians may end up just hoping Senator Ossoff has no major character flaws as he turns out to be the only acceptable choice.

An Annual Appearance

The lovely orange azalea has now entered into bloom, which will last maybe a week.

I’ve not been paying much attention to the outside world this weekend, as it’s a tiring and dispiriting situation, despite my optimism that, soon enough, even his outer-ring supporters will realize he’s only working for himself, and not them.

But this weekend, peering through cataracts and typing hampered by recovery from shoulder surgery and triggerfinger in both hands, I’ve been taking care of myself.

Word Of The Day

Jacquard machine:

The Jacquard machine (French: [ʒakaʁ]) is a device fitted to a loom that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with such complex patterns as brocadedamask and matelassé. The resulting ensemble of the loom and Jacquard machine is then called a Jacquard loom. The machine was patented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804, based on earlier inventions by the Frenchmen Basile Bouchon (1725), Jean Baptiste Falcon (1728), and Jacques Vaucanson (1740). The machine was controlled by a “chain of cards”; a number of punched cards laced together into a continuous sequence. Multiple rows of holes were punched on each card, with one complete card corresponding to one row of the design.

Both the Jacquard process and the necessary loom attachment are named after their inventor. This mechanism is probably one of the most important weaving innovations, as Jacquard shedding made possible the automatic production of unlimited varieties of complex pattern weaving. The term “Jacquard” is not specific or limited to any particular loom, but rather refers to the added control mechanism that automates the patterning. The process can also be used for patterned knitwear and machine-knitted textiles such as jerseys[Wikipedia]

Noted in this reader-provided article, “Gaurav Gupta Channeled a Message of Healing for Spring 2025 Couture,” Alex Wynne, WWD:

In one look, a specially created jacquard with a Sanskrit chant woven into the cloth was used to create a dramatic sculptural collar in gold on black, with the text repeated on the model’s face.

This is related to the fashion show I linked to for a Video of the Day, and I think I recall the referenced work. My thanks to the readers who contributed to the VOTD thread.

Belated Movie Reviews

Ah, ladies, you’re charming but … two-dimensional.

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) is a version of the tale known to most Americans as Aladdin and the Lamp. but wherein Aladdin is a supporting character.

Prince Achmed is tricked into mounting a mechanical flying horse provided by the Evil Sorcerer. Upon proof that it does fly, Caliph offers anything in his kingdom for the horse; the Evil Sorcerer selects Princess Dinarsade.

The horse then conveys Achmed away on an uncontrollable and wondrous voyage to Wak-Wak, an island ruled by the beautiful Pari Banu. The Prince, entranced, presses himself upon her until she finally relents.

Meanwhile, the father of Prince Achmed, the Caliph, places the Sorcerer in chains, but these are nothing to an Evil Sorcerer, and, escaping, he takes Dinarsade away in pursuit of Achmed.

Achmed, and this all gets confusing in retrospect, loses Pari Banu to the Sorcerer and is trapped. While the Sorcerer takes Pari to China and sells her to the Emperor, the Sorcerer’s arch-enemy, the Witch, frees Achmed; Achmed rescues Aladdin from a monster, and it turns out Aladdin, who has a magical lamp, is secretly married to Princess Dinarsade.

Then it’s just a matter of taking care of the Evil Sorcerer and getting home.

It all sounds a bit silly, but it’s actually rather fascinating because this is allegedly, and subject to future cinematic discoveries, the earliest surviving animated film, and the fifth (another source claims third) animated film ever made. It was constructed using the silhouette animation technique, resulting in a shadow effect in which living things are portrayed in black, while background and buildings are in various shades of the dominant color.

The effect captures the eye, and the efforts of the artists involved, these being the director Lotte Reiniger, and animators Walter Ruttmann, Berthold Bartosch, Carl Koch, and others, are sometimes amazing; they had my Arts Editor exclaiming with delight. This alone makes it worth tracking down a print for viewing.

Speaking of prints, the principals of this film are German, and, it being quite an old movie, it’s a silent movie. The expository intertitles are in German.

We viewed a German-only version of The Adventures of Prince Achmed first, and found it a bit mystifying, as neither of us are fluent, or even knowledgeable, in German. Then we viewed a version with English captions, and it really brought the story to light for us, as if an extra light source had been added to the film.

Metaphorically, that’s exactly what happened.

This seems to be the English print we viewed. Enjoy!

Strip Mining

Back in January I mentioned, and haphazardly analyzed, the Trump memecoin, a species of cryptocurrency:

But the big news of late was just-now-President Trump has his own cryptocurrency, called $TRUMP, which may cause illness in those aware that President Trump allegedly grew up in a prosperity theology church. Maybe he figures inadvertent chanting of “$TRUMP” will bring him more money?

And so what’s been happening? WaPo has the analysis from a couple of weeks ago:

At least 67,000 new or small-time crypto investors like Davis have bet on Trump’s meme coin, pouring $15 million into the volatile venture endorsed by Trump and benefiting his personal wealth, a Washington Post analysis found.

But virtually all of them bought near the coin’s peak, just before the inauguration, and 80 percent of them have seen the value of their holdings nosedive, The Post’s analysis shows. One buyer who spent $10,000 has already lost, on paper, more than $8,000.

The President and his team?

The losses point to the risks for Trump supporters and crypto speculators eager to bet on the loosely regulated venture of the self-described “first crypto president.” But they also draw a stark contrast with the president’s team, which has made millions in trading fees from transactions for the meme coin, even when its value goes down.

Welcome to the con, folks. People with money to the right, people without will please leave through the door with the attached automated boot.

Transforming A Tool Into A Punishment

Erick Erickson is confusing tools with punishments:

Only the House Freedom Caucus has the will to reform entitlements. Entitlements are weighing down the country and pushing us off the fiscal cliff. The “big beautiful bill” does not reform entitlements enough, does not close the deficit, and grows the national debt further.

This is not sustainable. At some point, bond investors will give up on the American economy. In the worst-case scenario, they’ll stop buying leaving the government without an influx of cash. In the less worst scenario, they’ll demand much higher yields, which will suck up more tax revenue and expedite the debt spiral of doom.

Without massive reforms, all our taxes will go up and our economy will shrink. In the meantime, our costs of doing business will go up, including higher mortgage costs, etc.

I’m not entirely sure that he understands this, or is just so foursquare against taxes that he blindly afflicts the citizenry with hammer blows and saw blades under the assumption that taxes are punishments.

A lot of people think – as a shortcut, perhaps – of taxation as confiscatory. It’s not. It’s your contribution to improving society where the free markets are inefficient, or even inoperative. To do something that the free markets won’t doesn’t mean it’s a waste of time or money. Consider the campaign to land on the Moon. Was it worth it? Yes – not because of what we found, but from the technologies we developed to get there. Tomes have been written detailing all the lovely things we developed to support the endeavour, from physics to dental drills.

Back on point, railing about taxes is reflective of this key misunderstanding about their purpose. If we need to boost taxes to cover debts incurred by foolish politicians, regardless of their Party affiliation, then lets do it, learn from our mistakes, and get on with the business of governing the United States.

Eh?

Your Clothing Keeps Attracting Fish

My Arts Editor directed me to this:

AlgiKnit is the New York-based biomaterials research group that researches biomaterials derived from kelp, a rapidly reproducing organism that is readily and abundantly available. The team creates their material using a biopolymer derived from kelp and then transforms it into bioyarn through an extrusion process. This process allows the creation of a monofilament comparable to a traditional yarn, which is then able to be knitted.

They have developed a compostable yarn from kelp which can be knit into zero-waste, fully-fashioned garments or transformed into a textile for applications in footwear. AlgiKnit was developed from the winning concept presented at the first Biodesign Challenge in 2016. The FIT team competed against renowned science institutions such as the University of Pennsylvania, New York University, and Carnegie Mellon University to name a few. The students were challenged to come up with innovative biological design ideas that could have a positive impact on the planet. [FIT]

It’s a cool thought. I wonder how long clothes made in this manner will last; my Arts Editor reports the clothes made from this process are expensive, so their lifetime matters.

A Gray, Seething Mass Of Words

Sorry, sorry, I was feeling a bit purplish and decided I had best vent the pressure before something bad happened. Now there’s Smucker’s goo all over the wall.

Provocation? This misleading mess:

An Arizona grand jury last year indicted 18 people as part of the effort to reverse Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential win in the state, including seven attorneys and aides affiliated with Donald Trump’s national campaign and 11 Arizona Republicans, including some who sought to act as presidential electors. [WaPo]

What? The Republicans are still at it?

Sure, sure, if I stare at it cross-eyed, for a period not to exceed eighteen months or so, I can see how it can work. But it’s a tertiary interpretation which, frankly, neither I nor anyone else, beyond English grammar gourmands, will wish to digest. It’s like ropy gazelle guts.

I can get those down if I really try….

Earl Landgrebe Award Nominee

It appears Rep Buddy Carter (R-GA) is trying to make up to President Trump with this proposed legislation:

 

Introduced in House (02/10/2025)

Red, White, and Blueland Act of 2025

This bill authorizes the President to enter into negotiations with the government of Denmark to purchase or otherwise acquire Greenland. The bill also renames Greenland as Red, White, and Blueland.

My bold of the last sentence. My oh my my. Yeah, I missed this, but it’s an avalanche out there. I suppose Rep Carter might have felt it’d never go anywhere, so he could put trivial nonsense into it.

Caught Me Off Balance

A study says:

The study population consisted of 11,905 individuals, and the response rate was 54% among cases (n = 1398) and 47% among controls (n = 4193). The tattoo prevalence was 21% among cases and 18% among controls. Tattooed individuals had a higher adjusted risk of overall lymphoma (IRR = 1.21; 95% CI 0.99–1.48). The risk of lymphoma was highest in individuals with less than two years between their first tattoo and the index year (IRR = 1.81; 95% CI 1.03–3.20). The risk decreased with intermediate exposure duration (three to ten years) but increased again in individuals who received their first tattoo ≥11 years before the index year (IRR = 1.19; 95% CI 0.94–1.50). We found no evidence of increasing risk with a larger area of total tattooed body surface. The risk associated with tattoo exposure seemed to be highest for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (IRR 1.30; 95% CI 0.99–1.71) and follicular lymphoma (IRR 1.29; 95% CI 0.92–1.82). [eClinicalMedicine]

Keeping in mind this is a single study with no confirmation, it’s a bit dismaying that a seemingly harmless activity such as getting a tattoo can result in cancer.

Hopefully, if confirmed, the composition of tattoo ink can be changed.

Don’t Sell At The Bottom, Ctd

Checking in on Trump Media and Technology Group Corp, stock symbol DJT:

This monthly chart shows DJT’s picked up nearly 30%, although Friday’s after-hours trading cut that gain a bit. Over the same period the NASDAQ is up nearly 18% and the S&P 500 is up nearly 13%.

News? Well, President Trump authorized creation of a strategic bitcoin reserve, which is a bit bizarre since, in an emergency, the Internet would certainly become erratic, despite its elegant design, and might even disappear. No Internet, no bitcoin. This is also true if a solar flare comparable to the Carrington Event were to occur and impact Earth – at the very least, most computer communications would go down; if of sufficient magnitude, most computers would crash irrecoverably.

And so much for bitcoin miners.

But we’d have greater problems than all the cryptocurrencies disappearing, so it’s not all that important in a direct and practical manner. It’s simply President Trump trying to advance an industry that he’s become deeply enmeshed in, and, for those of us who still believe corruption is a vast societal negative, that’s a problem. Or an opportunity, as he accumulates more and more criminal charges.

I also see the Company has reincorporated in Florida:

At the Annual Meeting, the Company’s stockholders approved the reincorporation of the Company from Delaware to Florida (the “Reincorporation”). In connection with the Reincorporation, the Company filed its Articles of Incorporation (the “Articles of Incorporation”) with the Florida Secretary of State and adopted new Bylaws (the “Bylaws”). The Reincorporation became effective as of April 30, 2025. The forms of the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws were each attached as an exhibit to the Proxy Statement. The Articles of Incorporation are filed as Exhibit 3.1 and the Bylaws are filed as Exhibit 3.2 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.

They don’t like Delaware, a traditional incorporation location because of its judicial capabilities when it comes to corporate governance? Florida is Republican?

Corporate scams are easier in Florida?

Whatever the real reason, I expect it’ll be unsavory and a segment of the American population will trust in DJT – and regret it.

But DJT’s jump in price may be due to the covert influence of those attempting to please the President for their own reasons. We live in a world where the gloriously, deliriously wealthy are jealous of each other. They compete to accumulate more wealth, more power, and more prestige, because that’s what they’ve done all their lives, and they don’t know how to change the focus of their lives to something else, such as advancing society in general. As if their wealth is independent of the society in which they live, rather than inextricably and completely dependent.

It’s a bit pathetic, really.

If we see the markets plunge again, we may or may not see DJT’s price drop even more. I’m neither a financial professional nor a clairvoyant. I’ll simply state that I won’t go anywhere near a stock which is weak enough to be manipulated, and for which the risks of manipulation are actually worth it. Predictability, the philosopher’s stone of the investor, approaches zero in these situations.

Do They Dare?

There may be a bit of an uproar over this:

President Donald Trump on Saturday said Walmart needs to stop “trying to blame tariffs” after the retail giant announced its products would become more expensive.

Walmart’s CEO said the price increases were a result of Trump’s tariffs being “too high,” particularly when it came to Chinese goods.

“We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible. But given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins,” Walmart CEO Douglas McMillon said Thursday in an earnings call.

Trump responded on Saturday, posting to Truth Social that “Between Walmart and China they should, as is said ‘EAT THE TARIFFS,’ and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!” [CNN/Business]

And who would take it in the rear if Walmart decides to accede to President Trump’s delusions of how economy and tariffs work?

Investors.

Regardless of whether it’s a public or a private company, I think the lion’s share of eating the tariff has to come out of profits; workers and logistics have been the target of cost reductions for decades. What does that leave?

The greedy investors.

How will the clash between President Trump, his delusions, and investors play out? It’s hard to say, but this may turn out to be just the first exchange in a long war between retailers and the President Trump-led xenophobes.

I don’t have much insight here, but it’ll be interesting to see how long President Trump can hold it together. His history suggests he may back down fairly quickly.

Get Out The Goat Entrails, Ctd

The next entry in the unfortunate story of elections since the 2024 national election – for metaphorical goats – is coming from Omaha, NB. Parts of Omaha, as I understand it, are heavily Democratic, but the 2021 regularly scheduled mayoral election, which is officially nonpartisan and features a nonpartisan primary from which the top two proceed to the general election, resulted in victory for incumbent
Jean Stothert. In fact, it was solid:

Just short of a 30 point victory for the incumbent. But in 2025? Stothert faced Democrat John Ewing just a few days ago, whose political experience consisted of winning, and keeping, the post of Douglas County Treasurer in 2007. How did his mayoral run go?

A ten point victory over a favored incumbent is hard to dismiss. Of interest is the turnout, substantially less in 2025 than in 2021. I’d interpret that to mean Independents and Republicans, disgusted with the national Republican scene, expressed themselves by staying home in numbers of around 30,000, or voting Democratic; meanwhile, Ewing’s improvement over previous defeated challenger Neary of around 12,000 is less impressive, but still worth noting.

Electoral victories are not trophies. For the Democrats, who seem little disposed to admit errors, this is an opportunity not to wave victory flags, but to convince skeptical conservatives that they can deliver sound governance and be worthy of future serious consideration, especially if the Republicans continue to nominate buffoons for national seats.

I think the Democrats need a major reform, but good luck to Mr. Ewing. We need two respectable political parties, and we have zero. His victory will push the Republicans to consider reforms, no matter how much that stings the arrogant assholes currently running the show. Hopefully, the Democrats will figure that out, too.

Future Quarters?

I need to catch up on my reading, because something Steve Benen said a couple of weeks ago is really resonating for me. It’s all about Alcatraz:

With this in mind, Trump’s directive to “rebuild” and “substantially” enlarge the prison, preparing it to house dangerous felons again, isn’t just pointless. It would also be, as The New York Times put it, “extraordinarily expensive” — even as the administration plans to cut billions of dollars from federal law enforcement.

So why make enormous investments of time and resources into renovating an unnecessary prison? Apparently because the incumbent president — himself, a convicted felon — thinks it would be cool to use this as a “symbol.”

My bold.

That’s right – President Trump’s preparing a future prison cell for himself.

I’m surprised Colbert didn’t catch that.

Word Of The Day

Wheatpasted, wheatpasting, etc:

Flyposting (also known as bill posting) is a guerrilla marketing tactic where advertising posters are put up. In the United States, these posters are also commonly referred to as wheatpaste posters because wheatpaste is often used to adhere the posters. Posters are adhered to construction site barricades, building façades and in alleyways. [Wikipedia]

Kind of cool, even without context. Noted in “Furor over Trump’s targeting of law firms heats up with court fight and ad campaign,” Ryan J. Reilly, NBC News:

“Big law, stop bending the knee,” reads a poster from the “Big Law Cowards” campaign by the liberal nonprofit group Demand Justice. The group says the ads will be wheatpasted strategically around Washington on Thursday near the locations of the firms that have reached deals with the administration. The group will also have a mobile billboard circulating with ads criticizing the firms, along with a broader digital campaign.

Attention solely focused on making money, as Big Law does, often misses the bigger context. That is, essential strategic thinking at the highest of levels can be missed. Money is all.

Dodging The Question, Ctd

In this post, I mentioned replacing the current Parties as a solution to current political dilemmas, and it appears a few other people are having the same thought. Let’s have WaPo summarize the strategy of Independent Center:

Their objective is both relatively small and, in terms of impact, potentially massive.

Rather than trying to run a third-party presidential campaign that would require billions of dollars and untold resources to get ballot access in all 50 states, they hope to win up to a handful of House races with centrist candidates who will not accept support from either major party.

In this era of such narrow margins, that might deny Republicans and Democrats the 218 votes needed for the majority and create a protracted negotiation for a coalition government.

“We’re going to that new center. So I will say that people are scared of this being a spoiler. Yes, we’re trying to wreck the system. We’re trying to disrupt the entire duopoly,” Brandon said during Thursday’s video call.

But for what do they stand?

The Independent Center is founded on the core beliefs of enhancing individual freedom and personal choice. We trust the people of our country to decide what is right and good and important. We believe that people flourish when our system of government allows them to choose what is best for themselves, their families, and their communities. And we know that our nation will succeed and thrive when we work together to achieve economic growthfiscal responsibility, and social tolerance so we can enjoy a happy, safe and prosperous future.

Looking over the balance of the agenda, it has a definite Republican tilt. For example:

♦ that individual creativity and innovation are the drivers of economic growth in our country. We embrace new technologies and innovations to advance our economy and improve our living standards. We can ensure that future generations inherit a more abundant, stronger and more secure nation.

New technologies? I hope they’re not hiding cryptocurrencies behind that expansive phrase.

Finally, the use of the phrase common-sense, as I’ve noted before, is a big red-flag when it comes from politicians. Common-sense, when applied to a nation of 300+ million, is a mythical attribute, and those spouting proposals defended by claims of common-sense should be ignored – and ejected from the profession.

Independent Center is chock-full of such claims. Here’s the title of their solutions section:

Our Common-Sense Solutions

Sorry, guys, but no. How about this, instead?

Our First Solution: We Will Not Lie To You!

That’d make me a lot happier.

Misplaced Qs

From the NBC News report of Jeanine Pirro’s nomination to the position of U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.:

Trump made the announcement on his Truth Social, mentioning Pirro’s previous roles as a prosecutor and a judge, and said she was “currently Co-Host of The Five, one of the Highest Rated Shows on Television.”

And Fox News noted (same article):

In a statement after Trump’s announcement, a Fox News spokesperson said Pirro “has been a wonderful addition to The Five over the last three years and a longtime beloved host across FOX News Media who contributed greatly to our success throughout her 14-year tenure. We wish her all the best in her new role in Washington.”

And her own producer?

Pirro pushed conspiracy theories about voting in the aftermath of Trump’s 2020 election loss, and she came up in litigation filed by Dominion Voting Systems. Fox News tried to redact what one of Pirro’s executive producers thought about one of her post-2020 election monologues, with the producer writing, “This is completely crazy.”

And, ah, how many folks cheered at the news that she’s co-host of The Five? What does that have to do with the qualifications for being a U.S. Attorney in one of the most important district offices?

Yeah. Not much.

President Trump continues to exhibit symptoms of chronic incompetence and/or dementia, and Fox News just encourages it. Regardless of what the Democrats are doing, this is not an honorable behavior by Fox News.

The sad part is that, professionally, she may be qualified for the position, although assertions that she’s nuts by those who should know is a detractor. But don’t throw this crap about television ratings into the mix. It just makes Trump look like a lunatic. Which he is.

Word Of The Day

Perseveration:

the act of saying or doing something repeatedly when there is no longer any reason to do so:

  • Many of the errors that the children made consisted of verbal substitutions and perseverations.
  • Perseveration may be a sign that a child is on the autism spectrum. [Cambridge Dictionary]

Noted in this WaPo article title. “Carolyn Hax: 4 a.m. bathroom breaks become perseverations on life’s mistakes.